Systems and methods for control signaling for beam search latency reduction

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for control signaling for beam search latency reduction. A gNodeB (gNB) may determine that a first synchronization signal block (SSB) and a second SSB will be spatially related and may accordingly select a first transmission (Tx) beam to transmit the first SSB and a second Tx beam to transmit the second SSB. The gNB may also transmit a correlation message including spatial correlation information to assist the UE in determining the spatial correlation. The UE may measure the first SSB on a first subset of a plurality of receive (Rx) beams and measure the second SSB on a second subset of the plurality of Rx beams and select an Rx beam for one or both of them. In some embodiments, instead of measuring the SSB, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) co-located (QCLed) with a given SSB may be measured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This patent application generally relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to control signaling for beam search latency reduction. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transfer data between a base station and a wireless mobile device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN), which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP radio access network (RAN) of an LTE system, a base station can include RAN nodes such as evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and / or a radio network controller (RNC) in E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device known as user equipment (UE). In a fifth-generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes can include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also referred to as next-generation Node B or g Node B (gNB)).

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

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

[0005] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or action, one or more of the most significant digits in the reference numerals refer to the drawing number in which the element was first introduced.

[0006] Figure 1 A timeline of beam search performed for multiple synchronizing signal blocks (SSBs) executed independently is shown.

[0007] Figure 2 A timeline of beam search that utilizes an understanding of the spatial correlation of signals according to an embodiment is shown.

[0008] Figure 3 A graph including the results of the number of sets of spatial correlation signal parameters provided by a gNB used by a UE according to an embodiment is shown.

[0009] Figure 4 A graph including the results of the number of sets of spatial correlation signal parameters provided by a gNB used by a UE according to an embodiment is shown.

[0010] Figure 5 A graph showing possible synchronizing signal block (SSB) and / or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) relationships according to embodiments herein is shown.

[0011] Figure 6 A timeline of using multiple channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) according to an embodiment is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 A timeline of using multiple channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) arranged according to frequency division multiplexing (FDM) according to an embodiment is shown.

[0013] Figure 8 A system according to one embodiment is shown.

[0014] Figure 9 A user equipment (UE) according to one embodiment is shown.

[0015] Figure 10 Shows a network node according to one embodiment.

[0016] Figure 11 Shows a device according to one embodiment.

[0017] Figure 12 Shows an exemplary interface according to one embodiment.

[0018] Figure 13 Shows a component according to one embodiment. Detailed Description

[0019] To increase the link budget between the gNB and the UE, both the gNB and the UE can utilize analog beamforming for high frequency bands. Relative to lower quality gNB-UE beam pairs, relatively good gNB-UE beam pairs can help expand the coverage area.

[0020] In some systems, the UE measures synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) or channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) using different receive (Rx) beams in order to determine good gNB-UE pairs between a given SSB and / or CSI-RS and a given Rx beam. In some systems, the gNB performs this task without first receiving any corresponding information from the gNB. In these cases, the UE independently performs beam search for each SSB and / or CSI-RS.

[0021] Figure 1 Shows a timeline 100 of beam search performed for multiple SSBs executed independently. First, the UE uses a first Rx beam 102 to search for SSB0 106. Then the UE uses the first Rx beam 102 to search for SSB1 108. Then the UE uses the first Rx beam 102 to search for SSB2 110. Then the UE uses the first Rx beam 102 to search for SSB3 112. The UE can continue to use the first Rx beam 102 to search for numerous SSBs used in this way.

[0022] Then the UE uses a second Rx beam 104 to search for SSB0 106. Then the UE uses the second Rx beam 104 to search for SSB1 108. Then the UE uses the second Rx beam 104 to search for SSB2 110. Then the UE uses the second Rx beam 104 to search for SSB3 112. The UE can continue to use the second Rx beam 104 to search for numerous SSBs used in this way.

[0023] The above process can be continued for up to numerous beams (e.g., beams other than the first Rx beam 102 and the second Rx beam 104) that the UE is configured to use / search on.

[0024] When information about the spatial correlation of two or more search signals is provided by the gNB to the UE (or otherwise known at the UE), the system described with respect to Figure 1 can be improved (e.g., performing beam search in a shorter time, thereby enabling lower latency beam search).

[0025] Spatially correlated signals can be understood as signals transmitted by the gNB such that the expected measurements (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP) or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements) of the reception of a first correlated signal on a first Tx beam at the Rx beam of the UE and the reception of a second correlated signal on a second Tx beam at the same Rx beam of the UE differ by less than a threshold. For example, if the signal measurements (e.g., RSRP or SINR) between an SSB transmitted on a first beam and a second SSB, CSI-RS, or another signal transmitted on a second beam at the same Rx beam of the UE are expected to vary by no more than a threshold, then the two signals can be spatially correlated. As another example, if the signal measurements (e.g., RSRP or SINR) between a CSI-RS transmitted on a first beam and an SSB, a second CSI-RS, or another signal transmitted on a second beam at the same Rx beam of the UE are expected to vary by no more than a threshold, then the two signals can be spatially correlated. Spatial correlation can include, but is not limited to, signals that are quasi-co-located (QCLed) with each other (e.g., QCL type D). The gNB (or other entity) that determines the spatial correlation between signals and transmits the signals accordingly can be considered to transmit signals according to a spatial correlation configuration.

[0026] For some spatially correlated signals, the UE can jointly perform beam search by leveraging its understanding of the spatial correlation of the signals. In other cases, the embodiments described herein that describe such behavior can contribute to improving beam search for secondary cell (SCell) activation, beam search for handover, beam search for new beam identification from beam failure, beam search for initial access, and / or beam search for assisting transmission reception point (TRP) discovery for multi-TRP operation.

[0027] Figure 2 A timeline 200 of beam search that utilizes an understanding of the spatial correlation of signals according to an embodiment is shown. In Figure 2 , the UE realizes that SSB0 202 and SSB1 204 have a first spatial correlation 206. Additionally, the UE realizes that SSB2 208 and SSB3 210 have a second spatial correlation 212.

[0028] The UE then continues to use the first Rx beam 214 to search for SSB0 202. The UE then continues to use the second Rx beam 216 to search for SSB1 204. Since SSB0 202 and SSB SSB1 204 have a first spatial correlation 206 (and this is known at the UE), it is inferred that the signal measurement of SSB1 204 on the first Rx beam 214 (assuming it is actually determined by the UE) will vary relatively little compared to the signal measurement of SSB0 202 that has already been measured on the first Rx beam 214. Therefore, the UE can estimate the Rx receive beam match between SSB1 204 and the first Rx beam 214 without actually directly performing the corresponding measurement. Additionally, based on this knowledge of spatial correlation, it is further inferred that the signal measurement of SSB0 202 on the second Rx beam 216 (assuming it is actually determined by the UE) will vary relatively little compared to the signal measurement of SSB1 204 that has already been measured on the second Rx beam 216. Therefore, the UE can estimate the Rx receive beam match between SSB0 202 and the second Rx beam 216 without actually directly performing the corresponding measurement.

[0029] The UE then continues to use the first Rx beam 214 to search for SSB2 208 and the second Rx beam 216 to search for SSB3 210. Due to the second spatial correlation 212, the UE can infer the Rx receive beam match information regarding the first Rx beam 214 with respect to SSB3 210 and regarding the second Rx beam 216 with respect to SSB2 208 in a manner similar to the above description regarding SSB1 204 and SSB0 202.

[0030] The above process can then be repeated with respect to the third Rx beam 218 and the fourth Rx beam 220.

[0031] At the end of the above process, for each of SSB0 202, SSB1 204, SSB2 208, and SSB3 210, the UE has Rx receive beam match information (either measured or estimated) for the first Rx beam 214, the second Rx beam 216, the third Rx beam 218, and the fourth Rx beam 220. Compared to the process in Figure 1 (which spans the same amount of SSB transmissions), the UE has more information. (In the embodiment of Figure 1 , the UE ends the process with Rx beam match information only for the first Rx beam 102 and the second Rx beam 104 with respect to each of SSB0 106, SSB1 108, SSB2 110, and SSB3 112).

[0032] Due to the pre-determined signal correlation patterns used by the gNB, the spatial correlation between signals (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS) may already be known to the UE. Alternatively, due to the application of pre-determined rules, the spatial correlation between signals may be known to the UE. For example, in some cases, it may be possible for the UE to assume that all relevant signals transmitted in the same time slot and / or subframe (e.g., all SSB and / or all CSI-RS) are spatially correlated.

[0033] In some embodiments, the gNB may provide spatial correlation information for, e.g., one or more SSB and / or CSI-RS to reduce UE beam search latency. Such spatial correlation information may be applied to SSB and / or CSI-RS within the same serving cell, and / or it may be applied to SSB and / or CSI-RS across multiple serving cells. In some embodiments, this signaling may come from higher layer signaling (e.g., System Information Block (SIB) signaling and / or Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages). In other embodiments, the signaling may come from physical layer signaling (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB) signaling).

[0034] In some embodiments where gNB signaling is used to provide spatial correlation information, the gNB may send a parameter indicating the number (N) of groups of spatially correlated signals. The UE may receive this parameter and may use it to determine the correlation between received SSB.

[0035] Figure 3 Figure 300 includes the results of a UE using the number of groups of spatially correlated signal parameters provided by the gNB according to an embodiment. In Figure 3 there are a total of 8 SSB, and the gNB has indicated that there are 4 groups of spatially correlated SSB (in other words, N = 4). The UE then divides the total number (8) by the number of group parameters (4) and determines that each group of spatially correlated signals has 2 SSB. Thus, the UE assumes that every consecutive 2 SSB are spatially correlated. Thus, the UE takes the first SSB 302 and the second SSB 304 as spatially correlated (group 1), the third SSB 306 and the fourth SSB 308 as spatially correlated (group 2), the fifth SSB 310 and the sixth SSB 312 as spatially correlated (group 3), and the seventh SSB 314 and the eighth SSB 316 as spatially correlated (group 4). Note that the sequence numbers (e.g., first, fifth) used in the discussion of Figure 3 are given for explanatory purposes and are not intended to be mapped to SSB identifiers (e.g., SSB1, SSB3) that may be used by the system.

[0036] Figure 4Figure 400 includes the result of a UE according to an embodiment using the number of spatially related signal parameter sets provided by a gNB. In Figure 3 there are a total of 8 SSBs, and the gNB has indicated that there are 4 groups of spatially related SSBs (in other words, N = 4). Then, the UE assumes that for each k from 1...N, the SSBs in the group can be calculated using the pattern {SSB k, SSB N+k, SSB 2N+k, SSB 3N+k,...}, so that every k-th SSB is understood to be spatially related. This pattern is followed when up to a multiple of N is needed to cover the entire set of SSBs.

[0037] In Figure 4 's embodiment, since N = 4 and there are a total of 8 SSBs, only {SSB k, SSB N+k} is needed. Therefore, the UE takes the first SSB 402 and the fifth SSB 410 as spatially related (group 1), the second SSB 404 and the sixth SSB 412 as spatially related (group 2), the third SSB 406 and the seventh SSB 414 as spatially related (group 3), and the fourth SSB 408 and the eighth SSB 416 as spatially related (group 4). Note that the sequence numbers (e.g., first, fifth) used in the discussion of Figure 4 are given for explanatory purposes and are not intended to be mapped to SSB identifiers (e.g., SSB1, SSB3) that can be used by the system.

[0038] In some embodiments where the gNB signaling is used to provide spatial correlation information, the gNB can use signaling to convey a list of spatially related SSBs. For one or more given SSBs on the list, this list can include the identification of one or more other SSBs that are spatially related to the given SSB.

[0039] In some embodiments where the gNB signaling is used to provide spatial correlation information, the gNB can use signaling to configure groups of spatially related SSBs. The groups so configured can be different from, for example, the groups discussed above with respect to Figure 3 and Figure 4 at least in the sense that the gNB can configure each group with a different (variable) number of SSBs.

[0040] In some embodiments where the gNB signaling is used to provide spatial correlation information, the gNB can use signaling to indicate one candidate pattern among multiple candidate patterns of related SSBs. These candidate correlation patterns may be known at the UE. The UE can then apply the candidate correlation pattern corresponding to the received indication to determine which SSBs are spatially related.

[0041] It is further contemplated that CSI-RS associated with one or more SSBs (sent on the same beam as them) can be used in the methods disclosed herein. Thus, it may be useful to understand when CSI-RS is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with an SSB and / or is spatially related to another CSI-RS.

[0042] The spatial correlation of CSI-RS can be determined based on the SSB configured as its source reference signal of QCL-Type D. In some embodiments, it may be that when a CSI-RS resource is configured with the same SSB as the source reference signal of QCL-Type D, the CSI-RS resource is considered to be spatially related.

[0043] In other embodiments, it may be that based on the spatial correlation of the corresponding SSB configured as the source reference signal of QCL-Type D, the CSI-RS resource is considered to be spatially related. In this case, the CSI-RS can be considered to be spatially QCLed with the SSB (which is spatially related to the source SSB of QCL-Type D for the CSI-RS). Additionally, the CSI-RS can be considered to be spatially related to the CSI-RS resource (whose source QCL-Type D SSB is spatially related to its own source QCL-Type D SSB).

[0044] In the case where QCL-Type D is not configured for the CSI-RS, the UE should not assume that the CSI-RS is spatially related to other CSI-RS or SSBs. In an alternative embodiment, the UE can expect QCL-Type D to be configured for the CSI-RS (when it is applicable).

[0045] Figure 5FIG. 500 shows possible SSB and / or CSI-RS relationships in accordance with embodiments herein. SSB0 502 may be spatially related to SSB1 504, but not to SSB2 506. SSB0 502 may be QCLed with CSI-RS0 508 (under QCL-Type D). SSB1 504 may be QCLed with CSI-RS1 510 (under QCL-Type D). SSB2 506 may be QCLed with CSI-RS2 512 (under QCL-Type D). Finally, since SSB0 502 and SSB1 504 are spatially related, it is possible that their corresponding QCLed CSI-RSs, CSI-RS0 508 and CSI-RS1 510 are also considered spatially related. Since neither SSB0 502 nor SSB1 504 is spatially related to SSB2 506, CSI-RS2 512, which is QCLed with SSB2 506, is not considered spatially related to any of its corresponding CSI-RSs, CSI-RS0 508 and CSI-RS1 510.

[0046] Embodiments disclosed herein also contemplate compatibility with networks enabling multi-transmission reception points (multi-TRPs). In these embodiments, the gNB may provide (e.g., via higher layer signaling) one or more of the following information sets to the UE: the actual transmitted SSB pattern used by the serving TRP, the transmission power of one or more SSBs from the serving TRP, the relative transmission power of one or more SSBs from the serving TRP, and / or the physical cell ID of the serving TRP. One or more of these information sets may be sent in, for example, a correlation message.

[0047] In some embodiments where the gNB signaling is used to provide spatial correlation information, the gNB may transmit spatial correlation information associated with the SSB spatial correlation configuration of the serving TRP. It is possible that this information may be formed by the gNB and used by the UE (relative to the TRP SSB) in any of the ways described herein.

[0048] In embodiments involving adjacent TRPs or cell search, it may be possible that the SSB period is relatively large. In these cases, the gNB may configure one or more CSI-RSs to assist the UE in cell discovery in a faster manner than using only SSBs. In some embodiments, one or more CSI-RSs have a wider bandwidth compared to the associated SSB, and thus their use may result in a more accurate and faster search than using only SSBs alone (even without considering the additional detection opportunities given for use cases relative to only SSBs). The CSI-RS may be configured as an auxiliary signal for cell search and beam measurement relative to its corresponding SSB. Thus, one or more CSI-RSs (e.g., in the manner described above Figure 5 which are QCLed (e.g., type D) with their corresponding SSBs) can be used as a useful reference signal (e.g., to generate Rx receive beam matching information) relative to their corresponding SSBs. In some embodiments, these CSI-RSs may be, for example, aperiodic CSI-RSs (A-CSI-RSs).

[0049] Figure 6 A timeline 600 showing the use of multiple CSIs according to an embodiment is shown. The gNB may transmit an SSB set that includes SSB1 602, SSB2 604, SSB3 606, and SSB4 608 with a relatively large period 610. To speed up adjacent TRP, beam, or other searches, the gNB may configure a CSI-RS for each of SSB 602 to SSB 608. For example, the gNB may configure CSI-RS1 612 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB1 602, CSI-RS2 614 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB2 604, CSI-RS3 616 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB3 606, and CSI-RS4 618 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB4 608. The availability of CSI-RS1 612 to CSI-RS4 618 may allow the UE to measure the Rx beam using the CSI-RS instead of its QCLed SSB, thus speeding up the process.

[0050] When the network has multiple panels and is capable of transmitting multiple beams simultaneously, multiple CSI-RSs may be arranged according to frequency division multiplexing (FDM) to make the Tx beam sweep faster. In these embodiments, the UE may measure the CSI-RS quality (e.g., RSRP or SINR) of a wideband signal and multiple CSI-RSs at once to obtain the best Tx beam faster. Additionally, the same CSI-RS may be repeated in the time domain to further assist the UE in Rx beam scanning. In some embodiments, these CSI-RSs may be, for example, A-CSI-RSs.

[0051] Figure 7 FIG. 700 shows a timeline of using multiple CSI-RSs according to an FDM arrangement according to an embodiment. The gNB may transmit an SSB set, including SSB1 702, SSB2 704, SSB3 706, and SSB4 708 with relatively large periodicity 710 thereof. To accelerate adjacent TRP, beam, or other searches, the gNB may configure CSI-RSs for each of SSBs 702 to 708. For example, the gNB may configure CSI-RS1 712 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB1 702, CSI-RS2 714 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB2 704, CSI-RS3 716 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB3 706, and CSI-RS4 718 that is QCLed (type D) with SSB4 708. In addition, as shown in the figure, each of CSI-RSs 712 to 718 may be arranged according to an FDM so that more than one of them (in the illustrated case, all four) can be transmitted simultaneously. The use of FDM may save time resources, so that one or more of CSI-RSs 712 to 718 can be repeatedly transmitted at different times (as shown in the figure). The availability of CSI-RSs 712 to 718 may allow the UE to measure the Rx beam using the CSI-RSs instead of their QCLed SSBs, thus accelerating the process.

[0052] Figure 8 FIG. 800 shows an exemplary architecture of a system 800 of a network according to various embodiments. The following description is provided for an example system 800 that operates in conjunction with the LTE system standard and the 5G or NR system standard provided in the 3GPP technical specification. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G) systems), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0053] As Figure 8As shown, system 800 includes UEs 802 and 804. In this embodiment, UEs 802 and 804 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smart phones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (ICs), head-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDT), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine control units (ECU), electronic / engine control modules (ECM), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or "smart" home appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0054] In some embodiments, UE 802 and / or UE 804 may be IoT UEs, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-lived UE connections. IoT UEs may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with MTC servers or devices via a PLMN, ProSe, or D2D communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connections to the IoT network.

[0055] UEs 802 and 804 may be configured to connect to an access node or radio access node (shown as (R)AN 816), e.g., communicatively coupled. In an embodiment, (R)AN 816 may be an NG RAN or an SG RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or a GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN", etc., may refer to (R)AN 816 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN", etc., may refer to (R)AN 816 operating in an LTE or 4G system. UEs 802 and 804 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 806 and connection 808, respectively), each connection including a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0056] In this embodiment, connection 806 and connection 808 are air interfaces to achieve communication coupling, and may be consistent with cellular communication protocols, such as GSM protocol, CDMA network protocol, PTT protocol, POC protocol, UMTS protocol, 3GPP LTE protocol, SG protocol, NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an implementation, UE 802 and UE 804 may also directly exchange communication data via ProSe interface 810. ProSe interface 810 may alternatively be referred to as a side link (SL) interface 110, and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0057] UE 804 is shown as being configured to access AP 812 (also referred to as a "WLAN node", "WLAN", "WLAN terminal", "WT", etc.) via connection 814. Connection 814 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 812 will include a wireless fidelity router. In this embodiment, AP 812 may be connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various implementations, UE 804, (R)AN 816, and AP 812 may be configured to utilize LWA operations and / or LWIP operations. LWA operations may involve UE 804 in RRC_CONNECTED that is configured by RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operations may involve UE 804 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 814) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent through connection 814. IPsec tunnel transport may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0058] (R) AN 816 may include one or more AN nodes that implement connection 806 and connection 808, such as RAN node 818 and RAN node 820. As used herein, terms such as "access node", "access point", etc. may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, or TRP, etc., and may include a terrestrial station (e.g., a land access point) or a satellite station that provides coverage within a geographical area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, terms such as "NG RAN node" etc. may refer to a RAN node (e.g., gNB) operating in an NR or SG system, while terms such as "E-UTRAN node" etc. may refer to a RAN node (e.g., eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 800. According to various embodiments, RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 may be implemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as a macro cell base station and / or a low-power (LP) base station for providing a femto cell, pico cell, or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, a smaller user capacity, or a higher bandwidth compared to a macro cell.

[0059] In some embodiments, all or part of RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer, as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN function partitioning, such as PDCP partitioning, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 818 or RAN node 820); MAC / PHY partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 818 or RAN node 820); or "lower PHY" partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and the upper part of the PHY layer are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower part of the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes. This virtualization framework allows the idle processor cores of RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 to execute other virtualized applications. In some specific implementations, each RAN node may represent a connection via each F1 interface ( Figure 8Each gNB-DU (not shown) connected to the gNB-CU. In these specific implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs, and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the (R)AN 816 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 may be a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a RAN node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations to UEs 802 and 804 and is connected to the SGC via the NG interface (discussed below). In a V2X scenario, one or more of RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 may be an RSU or act as an RSU.

[0060] The term "road side unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, where the RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", the RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", the RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the road side, which provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs (vUEs). The RSU may also include an internal data storage circuit for storing intersection map geometries, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz direct short range communication (DSRC) frequency band to provide extremely low latency communication required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X frequency band to provide the aforementioned low latency communication and other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz frequency band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communication. Some or all of the computing device and the radio frequency circuit of the RSU may be encapsulated in a weather-resistant package suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or a backhaul network.

[0061] RAN node 818 and / or RAN node 820 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for UEs 802 and 804. In some embodiments, RAN node 818 and / or RAN node 820 may perform various logical functions of (R)AN 816, including but not limited to the functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0062] In an embodiment, UEs 802 and 804 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any one of RAN node 818 and / or RAN node 820 over a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as but not limited to OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. OFDM signals may include a plurality of orthogonal sub-carriers.

[0063] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from RAN node 818 and / or RAN node 820 to UEs 802 and 804, and uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resources in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such time-frequency plane representations are a common practice, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM sub-carrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest amount of resources that can be currently allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0064] According to various embodiments, UEs 802 and 804 and RAN node 818 and / or RAN node 820 transmit data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) over a licensed medium (also referred to as "licensed spectrum" and / or "licensed band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as "unlicensed spectrum" and / or "unlicensed band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

[0065] To operate in unlicensed spectrum, UE 802, UE 804, RAN node 818, and / or RAN node 820 may use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms to operate. In these embodiments, UE 802, UE 804, RAN node 818, or RAN node 820 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations before transmitting in unlicensed spectrum to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to the listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0066] LBT is a mechanism by which devices (e.g., UE 802, UE 804, RAN node 818, or RAN node 820, etc.) sense the medium (e.g., channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed as idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed as unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which uses at least ED to determine whether there are other signals on the channel to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy on the expected transmission band for a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy with a predefined or configured threshold.

[0067] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 802, AP812, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. Additionally, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS, which exponentially increases in the event of a collision and is reset to the minimum value upon successful transmission. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to CSMA / CA of WLAN. In some embodiments, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have a variable-length LAA contention window between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values of the LAA's CWS. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (e.g., transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0068] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, for DL and UL, the number of aggregated carriers can be different, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC can have a different bandwidth from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are usually the same for DL and UL.

[0069] CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells can be different. For example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell can provide PCC for both UL and DL and can handle activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are called SCell, and each SCell can provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs can be added and removed as needed, while changing the PCC may require the UE 802 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCell can operate in the unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCell"), and the LAA SCell is assisted by the PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When the UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE can receive UL authorization on the configured LAA SCell, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0070] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to the UE 802 and UE 804. Among other information, the PDCCH carries information about the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also notify the UE 802 and UE 804 about the transmission format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Generally, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE804 within the cell) can be performed at either the RAN node 818 or the RAN node 820 based on the channel quality information fed back from either the UE 802 or UE 804. Downlink resource allocation information can be sent on the PDCCH for each of the UE802 and UE 804 (e.g., allocated to).

[0071] The PDCCH uses CCEs to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruples, and then a sub-block interleaver can be used to permute them for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets each having four physical resource elements, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0072] Some embodiments can use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments can utilize the EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs can be used to transmit the EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE can correspond to nine sets including four physical resource elements, called EREGs. In some cases, an ECCE can have other numbers of EREGs.

[0073] RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 can be configured to communicate with each other via interface 822. In an embodiment where system 800 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 830 is an EPC), interface 822 can be an X2 interface. The X2 interface can be defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface can include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U can provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted through the X2 interface, and can be used to convey information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U can provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information about the successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 802 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 802; information about the current minimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. The X2-C can provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from the source eNB to the target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0074] In an embodiment where the system 800 is an SG or NR system (e.g., when the CN 830 is an SGC), the interface 822 can be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the SGC, between the RAN node 818 (e.g., gNB) connected to the SGC and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC (e.g., CN 830). In some specific implementations, the Xn interface can include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U can provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and traffic control functions. The Xn-C can provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for the UE 802 in the connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing the connected-mode UE mobility between one or more RAN nodes 818 or RAN nodes 820. Mobility support can include context transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 818 to a new (target) serving RAN node 820, and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 818 and the new (target) serving RAN node 820. The protocol stack of the Xn-U can include a transport network layer built on the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer for carrying user plane PDUs on top of the UDP and / or IP layer. The Xn-C protocol stack can include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn application protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP can be on top of the IP layer and can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack can be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0075] (R)AN 816 is shown communicatively coupled to a core network - in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to CN 830. CN 830 may include one or more network elements 832 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UEs 802 and 804) connected to CN 830 via (R)AN 816. The components of CN 830 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical example of CN 830 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical example of a part of CN 830 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. The NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources that include a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0076] Generally speaking, the application server 834 may be an element that provides an application that uses IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 834 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.) for UEs 802 and 804 via the EPC. The application server 834 may communicate with CN 830 through an IP communication interface 836.

[0077] In an embodiment, CN 830 may be an SGC, and (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 830 via an NG interface 824. In an embodiment, the NG interface 824 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 826 that carries traffic data between RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 and the UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 828 that is a signaling interface between RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 and the AMF.

[0078] In an embodiment, CN 830 can be SG CN, while in other embodiments, CN 830 can be EPC. When CN 830 is EPC, (R)AN 116 can be connected to CN 830 via S1 interface 824. In an embodiment, S1 interface 824 can be divided into two parts: S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 826, which carries traffic data between RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 and S-GW; and S1-MME interface 828, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 818 or RAN node 820 and MME.

[0079] Figure 9 is a block diagram of a configurable exemplary UE 900 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including by executing instructions corresponding to any of the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein on a computer-readable medium. UE 900 includes one or more processors 902, a transceiver 904, a memory 906, a user interface 908, and a control interface 910.

[0080] The one or more processors 902 can include, for example, an application processor, an audio digital signal processor, a central processing unit, and / or one or more baseband processors. Each of the one or more processors 902 can include internal memory and / or can include an interface for communicating with external memory (including memory 906). The internal or external memory can store software code, programs, and / or instructions for execution by the one or more processors 902 to configure and / or facilitate UE 900 to perform various operations, including those described herein. For example, the execution of the instructions can configure UE 900 to communicate using one or more wired or wireless communication protocols (including one or more wireless communication protocols standardized by 3GPP, such as those commonly referred to as 5G / NR, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, etc.) or any other current or future protocol that can be used in combination with the one or more transceivers 904, user interface 908, and / or control interface 910. As another example, the one or more processors 902 can execute program code stored in memory 906 or other memory corresponding to MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP (e.g., for NR and / or LTE). As yet another example, processor 902 can execute program code stored in memory 906 or other memory, which, together with the one or more transceivers 904, implements corresponding PHY layer protocols, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

[0081] Memory 906 may include memory regions for the one or more processors 902 to store variables (including operations corresponding to or including any of the example methods and / or processes described herein) used in the protocols, configurations, controls, and other functions of the UE 900. Additionally, memory 906 may include non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), or a combination thereof. Further, memory 906 may interact with a memory slot through which removable memory cards of one or more formats (e.g., SD cards, memory sticks, compact flash, etc.) may be inserted and removed.

[0082] The one or more transceivers 904 may include radio frequency transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that facilitates communication of the UE 900 with other equipment supporting similar wireless communication standards and / or protocols. For example, the one or more transceivers 904 may include switches, mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry, filter circuitry, and synthesizer circuitry. Such RF circuitry may include a receive signal path having circuitry for downconverting an RF signal received from a front-end module (FEM) and providing a baseband signal to a baseband processor of the one or more processors 902. The RF circuitry may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for upconverting a baseband signal provided by the baseband processor and providing an RF output signal for transmission to the FEM. The FEM may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on an RF signal received from one or more antennas, amplify the received signal, and provide an amplified version of the received signal to the RF circuitry for further processing. The FEM may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify a transmit signal provided by the RF circuitry for transmission by the one or more antennas. In various embodiments, amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be accomplished only in the RF circuitry, only in the FEM, or in both the RF circuitry and the FEM circuitry. In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operations.

[0083] In some exemplary embodiments, the one or more transceivers 904 include transmitters and receivers that enable the device 1200 to communicate with various 5G / NR networks according to various protocols and / or methods proposed for standardization by 3GPP and / or other standards bodies. For example, such functionality may operate in cooperation with the one or more processors 902 to implement a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA techniques, as described herein with reference to other figures.

[0084] The user interface 908 may take various forms according to a particular embodiment, or may not be present in the UE 900. In some embodiments, the user interface 908 includes a microphone, a speaker, a slidable button, a pressable button, a display, a touchscreen display, a mechanical or virtual keypad, a mechanical or virtual keyboard, and / or any other user interface features commonly present on a mobile phone. In other embodiments, the UE 900 may include a tablet computing device having a larger touchscreen display. In such embodiments, one or more of the mechanical features of the user interface 908 may be replaced by equivalent or functionally equivalent virtual user interface features (e.g., virtual keypad, virtual buttons, etc.) implemented using the touchscreen display, as is familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. In other embodiments, the UE 900 may be a digital computing device, such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a workstation, etc., which includes a mechanical keyboard that may be integrated, disassembled, or removable according to a particular exemplary embodiment. Such digital computing devices may also include a touchscreen display. Many example embodiments of the UE 900 having a touchscreen display are capable of receiving user input, such as input related to the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein or known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0085] In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE 900 may include an orientation sensor, which may be used in various ways by the features and functions of the UE 900. For example, the UE 900 may use the output of the orientation sensor to determine when the user has changed the physical orientation of the touchscreen display of the UE 900. The indication signal from the orientation sensor may be used in any application program executed on the UE 900, such that the application program may automatically change the orientation of the screen display (e.g., from portrait to landscape) when the indication signal indicates a change of approximately 90 degrees in the physical orientation of the device. In this way, the application program is able to maintain the screen display in a user-readable manner regardless of the physical orientation of the device. Additionally, the output of the orientation sensor may be used in conjunction with various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0086] The control interface 910 may take various forms according to a particular embodiment. For example, the control interface 910 may include an RS-232 interface, an RS-485 interface, a USB interface, an HDMI interface, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE (“FireWire”) interface, an I 2 C interface, a PCMCIA interface, etc. In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 1260 may include an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet interface, as described above. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 910 may include an analog interface circuit that includes, for example, one or more digital-to-analog (D / A) converters and / or analog-to-digital (A / D) converters.

[0087] Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the above list of features, interfaces, and radio communication standards is merely exemplary and not limiting to the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the UE 900 may include more functions than Figure 9 shown, including, for example, video and / or still image cameras, microphones, media players, and / or recorders, etc. Additionally, the one or more transceivers 904 may include circuitry for communicating using additional radio communication standards including Bluetooth, GPS, and / or others. Further, the one or more processors 902 may execute software code stored in the memory 906 to control such additional functions. For example, the directional speed and / or position estimates output from a GPS receiver may be used in any application executed on the UE 900, including the various exemplary methods and / or computer-readable media according to the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0088] Figure 10 is a block diagram of an exemplary configurable network node 1000 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including by executing instructions corresponding to any of the example methods and / or processes described herein on a computer-readable medium.

[0089] The network node 1000 includes one or more processors 1002, a radio network interface 1004, a memory 1006, a core network interface 1008, and other interfaces 1010. The network node 1000 may include, for example, a base station, eNB, gNB, access node, or components thereof.

[0090] The one or more processors 1002 may include any type of processor or processing circuitry and may be configured to execute one of the methods or processes disclosed herein. The memory 1006 may store software code, programs, and / or instructions executed by the one or more processors 1002 to configure the network node 1000 to perform various operations, including those described herein. For example, execution of such stored instructions may configure the network node 1000 to communicate with one or more other devices using protocols according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including one or more of the methods and / or processes described above. Additionally, execution of such stored instructions may also configure and / or facilitate the network node 1000 to communicate with one or more other devices using other protocols or protocol layers, such as one or more of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A, and / or NR, or any other higher layer protocol used in conjunction with the radio network interface 1004 and the core network interface 1008. By way of example and not limitation, the core network interface 1008 includes an S1 interface, and the radio network interface 1004 may include a Uu interface, as standardized by 3GPP. The memory 1006 may also store variables used in the protocols, configurations, controls, and other functions of the network node 1000. Thus, the memory 1006 may include non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk, etc.), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), network-based (e.g., “cloud”) storage devices, or combinations thereof.

[0091] The radio network interface 1004 may include a transmitter, a receiver, signal processors, ASICs, antennas, beamforming units, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1000 to communicate with other equipment, such as, in some embodiments, multiple compatible user equipments (UEs). In some embodiments, the network node 1000 may include various protocols or protocol layers, such as the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A, and / or 5G / NR. According to additional embodiments of the present disclosure, the radio network interface 1004 may include a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA technologies. In some embodiments, the functions of such a PHY layer may be provided collaboratively by the radio network interface 1004 and the one or more processors 1002.

[0092] The core network interface 1008 may include a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1000 to communicate with other equipment in a core network (in some embodiments, such as a circuit-switched (CS) and / or packet-switched core (PS) network). In some embodiments, the core network interface 1008 may include an S1 interface standardized by 3GPP. In some embodiments, the core network interface 1008 may include one or more interfaces to one or more SGWs, MMEs, SGSNs, GGSNs, and other physical devices, and the one or more interfaces include functions known to those of ordinary skill in the art present in GERAN, UTRAN, E-UTRAN, and CDMA2000 core networks. In some embodiments, these one or more interfaces may be multiplexed together on a single physical interface. In some embodiments, the lower layer of the core network interface 1008 may include one or more of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Internet protocol over Ethernet (IP), SDH over fiber optic, T1 / E1 / PDH over copper wire, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0093] The other interface 1010 may include a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1000 to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc., for operating, managing, and maintaining the network node 1000 or other network equipment operably connected thereto.

[0094] Figure 11 An example of components of a device 1100 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the device 1100 may include at least application circuitry 1102, baseband circuitry 1104, radio frequency (RF) circuitry (shown as RF circuitry 1120), front-end module (FEM) circuitry (shown as FEM circuitry 1130), one or more antennas 1132, and power management circuitry (PMC) (shown as PMC 1134) coupled together as shown. The illustrated components of the device 1100 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 1100 may include fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize the application circuitry 1102 but include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, the device 1100 may include additional elements, such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, the following components may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device for a cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation).

[0095] The application circuitry 1102 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 1102 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). These processors may be coupled to the memory / storage or may include the memory / storage, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage such that various application programs or operating systems can run on the device 1100. In some embodiments, the processors of the application circuitry 1102 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0096] The baseband circuitry 1104 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 1104 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1120 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1120. The baseband circuitry 1104 may interact with the application circuitry 1102 to generate and process baseband signals and to control the operation of the RF circuitry 1120. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1104 may include a third-generation (3G) baseband processor (3G baseband processor 1106), a fourth-generation (4G) baseband processor (4G baseband processor 1108), a fifth-generation (5G) baseband processor (5G baseband processor 1110), or other baseband processors 1112 of other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., second-generation (2G), sixth-generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 1104 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors) may handle various radio control functions capable of communicating with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1120. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the illustrated baseband processors may be included in modules stored in the memory 1118 and may be executed via the central processing unit (CPU 1114). The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1104 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1104 may include convolutional, tail-biting convolutional, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. Embodiments of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments.

[0097] In some embodiments, baseband circuit 1104 may include a digital signal processor (DSP), such as one or more audio DSPs 1116. The one or more audio DSPs 1116 may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined on a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of baseband circuit 1104 and application circuit 1102 may be implemented together, for example, on a system-on-chip (SOC).

[0098] In some embodiments, baseband circuit 1104 may provide communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuit 1104 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), or wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which baseband circuit 1104 is configured to support radio communication of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0099] RF circuit 1120 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuit 1120 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuit 1120 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry for down-converting an RF signal received from FEM circuit 1130 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 1104. RF circuit 1120 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for up-converting a baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 1104 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 1130.

[0100] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuit 1120 may include mixer circuit 1122, amplifier circuit 1124, and filter circuit 1126. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuit 1120 may include filter circuit 1126 and mixer circuit 1122. RF circuit 1120 may also include synthesizer circuit 1128 for synthesizing the frequencies used by mixer circuit 1122 of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1122 of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from FEM circuit 1130 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1128. Amplifier circuit 1124 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuit 1126 may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuit 1104 for further processing. In some embodiments, although not required, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1122 of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0101] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1122 of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1128 to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 1130. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 1104 and may be filtered by filter circuit 1126.

[0102] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1122 of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 1122 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1122 of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 1122 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1122 of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 1122 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1122 of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 1122 of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0103] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 1120 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 1104 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuit 1120.

[0104] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0105] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1128 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard since other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit 1128 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0106] The synthesizer circuit 1128 may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a frequency divider control input for use by the mixer circuit 1122 of the RF circuit 1120. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1128 may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0107] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The frequency divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 1104 or the application circuit 1102 (such as an application processor) based on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the frequency divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application circuit 1102.

[0108] The synthesizer circuit 1128 of the RF circuit 1120 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase bins, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. Thus, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO period.

[0109] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1128 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency), and may be used in conjunction with the quadrature generator and divider circuits to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 1120 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0110] The FEM circuit 1130 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1132, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuit 1120 for further processing. The FEM circuit 1130 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by the RF circuit 1120 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1132. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit signal path or the receive signal path may be accomplished only in the RF circuit 1120, only in the FEM circuit 1130, or in both the RF circuit 1120 and the FEM circuit 1130.

[0111] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1130 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operations. The FEM circuit 1130 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1130 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 1120). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1130 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify the input RF signals (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1120), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1132).

[0112] In some embodiments, the PMC 1134 may manage the power provided to the baseband circuit 1104. In particular, the PMC 1134 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. The PMC 1134 may typically be included when the device 1100 is capable of being powered by a battery, e.g., when the device 1100 is included in a UE. The PMC 1134 may improve the power conversion efficiency while providing the desired form factor and thermal characteristics.

[0113] Figure 11PMC 1134 is shown coupled only to baseband circuitry 1104. However, in other embodiments, PMC 1134 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components, such as but not limited to application circuitry 1102, RF circuitry 1120, or FEM circuitry 1130, and perform similar power management operations for such components.

[0114] In some embodiments, PMC 1134 may control various power saving mechanisms of device 1100 or otherwise be part of the various power saving mechanisms of the device. For example, if device 1100 is in the RRC_Connected state, where the device remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately, after a period of inactivity, the device may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, device 1100 may power off for short intervals, thus saving power.

[0115] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, device 1100 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, where the device is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. Device 1100 enters a very low power state and performs paging, where the device wakes up periodically again to listen for the network and then powers off again. Device 1100 cannot receive data in this state, and to receive data, the device must transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0116] Additional power saving modes may cause the device to be unable to use the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this period, the device is completely disconnected from the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this period will incur a significant delay, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0117] The processors of application circuitry 1102 and baseband circuitry 1104 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuitry 1104 may be used, either alone or in combination, to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of application circuitry 1102 may utilize the data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functions (e.g., transmission control protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a media access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include the physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0118] Figure 12 An exemplary interface 1200 of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments is shown. As discussed above, Figure 11 the baseband circuit 1104 may include a 3G baseband processor 1106, a 4G baseband processor 1108, a 5G baseband processor 1110, other baseband processors 1112, a CPU 1114, and a memory 1118 used by the processors. As shown, each processor may include a corresponding memory interface 1202 for sending / receiving data to / from the memory 1118.

[0119] The baseband circuit 1104 may further include: one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 1204 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 1104); an application circuit interface 1206 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from Figure 11 the application circuit 1102); an RF circuit interface 1208 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from Figure 11 the RF circuit 1120); a wireless hardware connection interface 1210 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a near field communication (NFC) component, components (e.g., low power), components, and other communication components); and a power management interface 1212 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from the PMC 1134).

[0120] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a component 1300 capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 13 a schematic diagram of hardware resources 1302 is shown, which includes one or more processors 1312 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1318, and one or more communication resources 1320, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1322. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1304 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1302.

[0121] The processor 1312 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 1314 and a processor 1316.

[0122] The memory / storage device 1318 may include a main memory, a disk memory, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1318 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state storage devices, etc.

[0123] The communication resource 1320 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1306 or one or more databases 1308 via the network 1310. For example, the communication resource 1320 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, a component (e.g., low power consumption), a component, and other communication components.

[0124] The instructions 1324 may include software, programs, applications, applets, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors in the processor 1312 to execute any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1324 may reside entirely or partially in at least one of the processors in the processor 1312 (e.g., within the cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1318, or any suitable combination thereof. Additionally, any portion of the instructions 1324 may be transmitted from any combination of the peripheral devices 1306 or the database 1308 to the hardware resource 1302. Thus, the memory of the processor 1312, the memory / storage device 1318, the peripheral devices 1306, and the database 1308 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0125] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the following example sections. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the following examples. As another example, the circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples shown in the following example section.

[0126] Example Part

[0127] The following examples relate to additional embodiments.

[0128] Example 1 is a method for a gNodeB (gNB) for reducing beam search latency of the gNodeB (gNB), including: determining, according to a spatial correlation configuration, that a first synchronization signal block (SSB) and a second SSB will be spatially correlated; selecting a first transmission (Tx) beam to transmit the first SSB and selecting a second Tx beam to transmit the second SSB according to the spatial correlation configuration; and transmitting the first SSB with the first Tx beam and transmitting the second SSB with the second Tx beam.

[0129] Example 2 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the spatial correlation configuration is based on a predefined SSB correlation pattern.

[0130] Example 3 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the spatial correlation configuration causes the transmission of the first SSB and the transmission of the second SSB to be in the same time slot.

[0131] Example 4 is the method according to Example 1, further including the gNB transmitting a correlation message for a user equipment (UE), the correlation message including spatial correlation information to indicate to the UE that the first SSB and the second SSB are spatially correlated.

[0132] Example 5 is the method according to Example 4, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of spatially correlated SSB groups.

[0133] Example 6 is the method according to Example 4, wherein the spatial correlation information includes: a list of SSBs; and for at least one SSB in the list, an identification of one or more other SSBs that are spatially correlated with the at least one SSB.

[0134] Embodiment 7 is the method according to Embodiment 4, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined SSB correlation patterns is to be used by the gNB.

[0135] Embodiment 8 is the method according to Embodiment 1, further comprising: preparing a first channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first CSI-RS is quasi co-located (QCLed) with the first SSB.

[0136] Embodiment 9 is the method according to Embodiment 8, wherein the first CSI-RS is to be transmitted to the UE while a second CSI-RS is to be transmitted to the UE.

[0137] Embodiment 10 is a method for a user equipment (UE) for reducing beam search latency, comprising: determining that a first synchronization signal block (SSB) resource and a second SSB resource are spatially correlated; measuring the first SSB resource with a first subset of a plurality of receive (Rx) beams; measuring the second SSB resource with a second subset of the plurality of Rx beams; and selecting an Rx beam for both the first SSB resource and the second SSB resource based on the measurements of the first subset of the plurality of Rx beams and the second subset of the plurality of Rx beams.

[0138] Embodiment 11 is the method according to Embodiment 10, wherein the UE determines that the first SSB resource and the second SSB resource are spatially correlated based on a predefined SSB resource correlation pattern.

[0139] Embodiment 12 is the method according to Embodiment 10, wherein the UE determines that the first SSB resource and the second SSB resource are spatially correlated based on determining that the first SSB resource and the second SSB resource are in the same subframe.

[0140] Embodiment 13 is the method according to Embodiment 10, further comprising: receiving a correlation message from a gNodeB (gNB), the correlation message including spatial correlation information corresponding to the first SSB resource and the second SSB resource; wherein the UE determines that the first SSB resource and the second SSB resource are spatially correlated based on the spatial correlation information.

[0141] Embodiment 14 is the method according to Embodiment 13, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of spatially correlated SSB resources.

[0142] Embodiment 15 is the method according to Embodiment 13, wherein the spatial correlation information includes: a list of SSB resources; and for at least one SSB resource in the list, the identification of one or more other SSB resources that are spatially correlated with the at least one SSB resource.

[0143] Embodiment 16 is the method according to Embodiment 13, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined SSB resource correlation patterns is to be used by the gNB.

[0144] Embodiment 17 is a method for beam delay reduction of a user equipment (UE), including: determining that a first SSB and a second SSB are spatially correlated; determining that a first CSI-RS is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with the first SSB; measuring the first CSI-RS on a first receive (Rx) beam; and selecting the first Rx beam for use with the second SSB based on the measurement of the first CSI-RS on the first Rx beam.

[0145] Embodiment 18 is the method according to Embodiment 17, further including: determining that a second CSI-RS is QCLed with the second SSB; measuring the second CSI-RS on a second Rx beam; and selecting the second Rx beam for use with the first SSB based on the measurement of the second CSI-RS on the second Rx beam.

[0146] Embodiment 19 is the method according to Embodiment 17, further including: determining that a second CSI-RS is QCLed with the second SSB; and determining that the first CSI-RS and the second CSI-RS are spatially correlated.

[0147] Embodiment 20 is the method according to Embodiment 17, wherein the first CSI-RS is received at the UE while the second CSI-RS is received at the UE.

[0148] Embodiment 21 is a method for beam delay reduction of a gNodeB (gNB), including: determining, according to spatial correlation, that a first synchronization signal block (SSB) to be sent from an auxiliary transmission reception point (TRP) to a user equipment (UE) and a second SSB to be sent from the auxiliary TRP to the UE are to be transmitted by the auxiliary TRP; and transmitting a correlation message to the UE, the correlation message including spatial correlation information to be used by the UE to determine that the first SSB and the second SSB received from the auxiliary TRP are spatially correlated.

[0149] Example 22 is the method according to Example 21, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of spatially correlated SSB groups.

[0150] Example 23 is the method according to Example 21, wherein the spatial correlation information includes: an SSB list; and for at least one SSB in the list, the identification of the at least one SSB and one or more other SSBs spatially correlated therewith.

[0151] Example 24 is the method according to Example 21, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined SSB correlation patterns is to be used by the secondary TRP.

[0152] Example 25 is the method according to Example 21, wherein the correlation message further includes one or more of the following: the actually transmitted SSB pattern used by the secondary TRP; the transmission power of one or more SSBs from the secondary TRP; the relative transmission power of one or more SSBs from the secondary TRP; and the physical cell ID of the secondary TRP.

[0153] Example 26 is a method for beam delay reduction of a user equipment (UE), including: receiving a correlation message from a gNodeB (gNB), the correlation message including spatial correlation information, the spatial correlation information indicating that a first synchronization signal block (SSB) transmitted by a secondary transmission receiving point (TRP) is spatially correlated with a second SSB transmitted by the secondary TRP; determining, based on the spatial correlation information, that the first SSB and the second SSB are spatially correlated; measuring the first SSB with a first subset of a plurality of receive (Rx) beams; measuring the second SSB with a second subset of the plurality of Rx beams; and selecting an Rx beam for both the first SSB and the second SSB based on the measurements of the first subset among the plurality of Rx beams and the second subset among the plurality of Rx beams.

[0154] Example 27 is the method according to Example 26, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of spatially correlated SSB groups.

[0155] Example 28 is the method according to Example 26, wherein the spatial correlation information includes: an SSB list; and for at least one SSB in the list, the identification of the at least one SSB and one or more other SSBs spatially correlated therewith.

[0156] Example 29 is the method according to Example 26, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined SSB correlation patterns is to be used by the secondary TRP.

[0157] Embodiment 30 is the method according to Embodiment 26, wherein the relevant message further includes one or more of the following: the actually transmitted SSB pattern used by the assisting TRP; the transmission power of one or more SSBs from the assisting TRP; the relative transmission power of one or more SSBs from the assisting TRP; and the physical cell ID of the assisting TRP.

[0158] Embodiment 31 may include an apparatus that includes means for performing one or more elements of the method described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or any other method or process described herein.

[0159] Embodiment 32 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the method described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or any other method or process described herein.

[0160] Embodiment 33 may include an apparatus that includes logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or any other method or process described herein.

[0161] Embodiment 34 may include the method, technique, or process described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof.

[0162] Embodiment 35 may include an apparatus that includes: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, technique, or process described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part thereof.

[0163] Embodiment 36 may include the signal described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof.

[0164] Embodiment 37 may include the datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0165] Embodiment 38 may include the signal encoded with data described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0166] Embodiment 39 may include a signal or a part or component thereof that encodes a datagram, packet, frame, segment, PDU, or message as described in or related to any of the foregoing embodiments, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0167] Embodiment 40 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein the computer-readable instructions are executed by one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to execute a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of the foregoing embodiments, or a part thereof.

[0168] Embodiment 41 may include a computer program that includes instructions, wherein the program is executed by a processing element to cause the processing element to execute a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of the foregoing embodiments, or a part thereof.

[0169] Embodiment 42 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0170] Embodiment 43 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0171] Embodiment 44 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0172] Embodiment 45 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0173] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any one of the foregoing embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings, or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0174] Embodiments and specific implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0175] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into a single system, partially incorporated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that the parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described in only one or more embodiments, and it should be recognized that these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. can be combined with or substituted for the parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment unless specifically stated herein.

[0176] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to the user.

[0177] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the embodiments of the invention are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not limited to the details given herein but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for reducing beam search latency in a base station, comprising: Determining that a first synchronization signal block and a second synchronization signal block will be spatially correlated according to a spatial correlation configuration; Selecting a first transmission beam to transmit the first synchronization signal block and a second transmission beam to transmit the second synchronization signal block according to the spatial correlation configuration; Transmitting the first synchronization signal block with the first transmission beam and transmitting the second synchronization signal block with the second transmission beam; And Transmitting a correlation message for a user equipment, the correlation message including spatial correlation information to indicate to the user equipment that the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block are spatially correlated, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of spatially correlated synchronization signal block groups.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spatial correlation configuration is based on a predefined synchronization signal block correlation pattern.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spatial correlation configuration causes the transmission of the first synchronization signal block and the transmission of the second synchronization signal block to be in the same time slot.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spatial correlation information further includes: A list of synchronization signal blocks; And For at least one synchronization signal block in the list, an identification of the at least one synchronization signal block and one or more other synchronization signal blocks that are spatially correlated with it.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined synchronization signal block correlation patterns is to be used by the base station.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Preparing a first channel state information reference signal to be sent to the user equipment, wherein the first channel state information reference signal is quasi co-located with the first synchronization signal block.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first channel state information reference signal is to be sent to the user equipment while a second channel state information reference signal is to be sent to the user equipment.

8. A method for reducing beam search latency in a user equipment, comprising: Receiving a correlation message from a base station, the correlation message including spatial correlation information corresponding to a first synchronization signal block resource and a second synchronization signal block resource, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of spatially correlated synchronization signal block resource groups; Determining that the first synchronization signal block resource and the second synchronization signal block resource are spatially correlated based on the spatial correlation information; Measuring the first synchronization signal block resource with a first subset of receiving beams among a plurality of receiving beams; Measuring the second synchronization signal block resource with a second subset of receiving beams among the plurality of receiving beams; And Selecting receiving beams for both the first synchronization signal block resource and the second synchronization signal block resource based on the measurements of the first subset of receiving beams and the second subset of receiving beams among the plurality of receiving beams.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the user equipment determines that the first synchronization signal block resource and the second synchronization signal block resource are spatially correlated based on a predefined synchronization signal block resource correlation pattern.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the user equipment determines that the first synchronization signal block resource and the second synchronization signal block resource are spatially correlated based on determining that the first synchronization signal block resource and the second synchronization signal block resource are in the same subframe.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the spatial correlation information further includes: A list of synchronization signal block resources; And For at least one synchronization signal block resource in the list, an identification of the at least one synchronization signal block resource and one or more other synchronization signal block resources that are spatially correlated with it.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined synchronization signal block resource correlation patterns is to be used by the base station.

13. A method for beam delay reduction of a user equipment, comprising: Receiving a correlation message from a base station, the correlation message including spatial correlation information corresponding to a first synchronization signal block and a second synchronization signal block, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of spatially correlated synchronization signal block groups; Determining that the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block are spatially correlated based on the spatial correlation information; Determining that a first channel state information reference signal is quasi-co-located with the first synchronization signal block; Measuring the first channel state information reference signal on a first receiving beam; And Selecting the first receiving beam for use with the second synchronization signal block based on the measurement of the first channel state information reference signal on the first receiving beam.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: Determining that a second channel state information reference signal is quasi-co-located with the second synchronization signal block; Measuring the second channel state information reference signal on a second receiving beam; And Selecting the second receiving beam for use with the first synchronization signal block based on the measurement of the second channel state information reference signal on the second receiving beam.

15. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: Determining that a second channel state information reference signal is quasi-co-located with the second synchronization signal block; And Determining that the first channel state information reference signal and the second channel state information reference signal are spatially correlated.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first channel state information reference signal is received at the user equipment while a second channel state information reference signal is received at the user equipment.

17. A method for beam delay reduction of a base station, comprising: Determining, according to spatial correlation, that a first synchronization signal block to be transmitted from an auxiliary transmission receiving point to a user equipment and a second synchronization signal block to be transmitted from the auxiliary transmission receiving point to the user equipment are to be transmitted by the auxiliary transmission receiving point; And Transmit a correlation message to the user equipment, the correlation message including spatial correlation information, the spatial correlation information to be used by the user equipment to determine that the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block received from the secondary transmission reception point are spatially correlated, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of groups of spatially correlated synchronization signal blocks.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the spatial correlation information includes: A list of synchronization signal blocks; And For at least one synchronization signal block in the list, an identification of the at least one synchronization signal block and one or more other synchronization signal blocks that are spatially correlated with it.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined synchronization signal block correlation patterns is to be used by the secondary transmission reception point.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the correlation message further includes one or more of the following: The actual transmitted synchronization signal block pattern used by the secondary transmission reception point; The transmission power of one or more synchronization signal blocks from the secondary transmission reception point; The relative transmission power of one or more synchronization signal blocks from the secondary transmission reception point; and The physical cell ID of the secondary transmission reception point.

21. A method for beam delay reduction of a user equipment, comprising: Receiving a correlation message from a base station, the correlation message including spatial correlation information, the spatial correlation information indicating that a first synchronization signal block transmitted by a secondary transmission reception point and a second synchronization signal block transmitted by the secondary transmission reception point are spatially correlated, wherein the spatial correlation information includes the number of groups of spatially correlated synchronization signal blocks; Determining that the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block are spatially correlated based on the spatial correlation information; Measuring the first synchronization signal block with a first subset of receiving beams among a plurality of receiving beams; Measuring the second synchronization signal block with a second subset of receiving beams among the plurality of receiving beams; And Selecting receiving beams for both the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block based on the measurements of the first subset of receiving beams and the second subset of receiving beams among the plurality of receiving beams.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the spatial correlation information includes: A list of synchronization signal blocks; And For at least one synchronization signal block in the list, an identification of the at least one synchronization signal block and one or more other synchronization signal blocks that are spatially correlated with it.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein the spatial correlation information indicates which one of a plurality of predefined synchronization signal block correlation patterns is to be used by the secondary transmission reception point.

24. The method according to claim 21, wherein the correlation message further includes one or more of the following: The actual transmitted synchronization signal block pattern used by the secondary transmission reception point; The transmission power of one or more synchronization signal blocks from the secondary transmission reception point; The relative transmission power of one or more synchronization signal blocks from the secondary transmission reception point; and The physical cell ID of the secondary transmission reception point.

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