Medium access control layer based mobility signaling

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure provide a method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE). The method generally includes receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a set of cells that support physical (PHY) layer or medium access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling, receiving at least one MAC control element (CE) indicating mobility information for the set of cells, and updating one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

Description

[0001] CLAIM OF PRIORITY

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 17 / 363,943, filed June 30, 2021, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 047,756, filed July 2, 2020, the entire contents of both of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to mobility techniques that allow for dynamic updating of a set of cells activated to serve a user equipment (UE) based on medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs) and associated information. BACKGROUND

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, etc. These wireless communication systems can employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and so on. These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. New radio (NR), which can be referred to as 5G, is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, using new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using OFDMA with cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink (UL). To these ends, NR supports beamforming, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0005] The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to mobility techniques that allow for dynamic updating of a set of cells activated to serve a user equipment (UE) based on medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs) and associated information.

[0006] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in NR and LTE technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

[0007] A control resource set (CORESET) for a system such as an NR and LTE system can include one or more sets of control resources (e.g., time and frequency resources) configured for transmitting PDCCH within a system bandwidth. Within each CORESET, one or more search spaces (e.g., common search space (CSS), UE-specific search space (USS), etc.) can be defined for a given UE. SUMMARY

[0008] The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes.

[0009] Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to a method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE). The method generally includes receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a set of cells that support physical (PHY) layer or medium access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling, receiving at least one MAC control element (CE) indicating mobility information for the set of cells, and updating one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0010] Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to an apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE). The apparatus generally includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to receive RRC signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling, receive at least one MAC CE indicating mobility information for the set of cells, and update one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0011] Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to an apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE). The apparatus generally includes means for receiving RRC signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling, means for receiving at least one MAC CE indicating mobility information for the set of cells, and means for updating one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0012] Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for receiving RRC signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling, receiving at least one MAC CE indicating mobility information for the set of cells, and updating one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0013] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method for wireless communications by a network entity. The method generally includes transmitting RRC signaling to a UE, the signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling; transmitting at least one MAC CE to the UE indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and communicating with the UE via a subset of cells that are activated, having one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0014] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus for wireless communications by a network entity. The apparatus generally includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to transmit RRC signaling to a UE, the signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling; transmit at least one MAC CE to the UE indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and communicate with the UE via a subset of cells that are activated, having one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0015] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus for wireless communications by a network entity. The apparatus generally includes means for transmitting RRC signaling to a UE, the signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling; means for transmitting at least one MAC CE to the UE indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and means for communicating with the UE via a subset of cells that are activated, having one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0016] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for: transmitting RRC signaling to a UE, the signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling; transmitting at least one MAC CE to the UE indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and communicating with the UE via a subset of cells that are activated, having one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0017] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related aspects, one or more aspects comprise the features recited in the following claims, and the following description discloses one or more aspects and some implementations of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. However, the drawings represent some typical aspects of this disclosure and should not be considered limiting; the application lies in the claims.

[0019] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network in which some aspects of the present disclosure can be performed is illustrated.

[0020] Figure 2 Block diagrams illustrating example base stations (BSs) and example user equipment (UEs) are shown, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 3A An example of a frame format for a telecommunication system is shown.

[0022] Figure 3B How different synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) can be transmitted using different beams is shown.

[0023] Figure 4 An example architecture in which aspects of the present disclosure can be practiced is shown.

[0024] Figure 5 And Figure 6 An example scenario in which aspects of the present disclosure can be practiced is shown.

[0025] Figure 7A And Figure 7B An example of UE mobility, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, is shown.

[0026] Figure 8 An example operation for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, is shown.

[0027] Figure 9 An example operation for wireless communication by a network entity, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, is shown.

[0028] Figure 10A An example of MAC CE selection for a cell, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, is shown.

[0029] Figure 10B Another example of MAC CE selection for a cell, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, is shown.

[0030] Figure 11 An example of MAC CE update for system information (SI), in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, is shown.

[0031] Figure 12 and Figure 13 A communications device that can include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0032] For ease of understanding, the same identifiers are used in the drawings and the following text to refer to the same elements. Where a particular element is indicated by a certain identifier in several figures, it will be understood that similar elements in other figures can also be identified with the same identifier. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to mobility techniques that allow for dynamic updates to a set of cells and / or beams that are activated to serve a user equipment (UE). As will be described in greater detail below, the set of activated cells can be updated based on medium access control (MAC) layer (layer 2 or L2) signaling that indicates one or more cells that are to be activated and / or deactivated. The MAC control element (CE) can also carry an activate radio resource control (RRC) pre-configuration option for updating system information (SI).

[0034] The following description provides examples and does not limit the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes can be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples can omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the methods described can be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps can be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples can be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus or method can be implemented using any number of the aspects described herein. Also, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover devices, apparatus, and methods implemented by using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to, or other than, the various aspects described herein. It is understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein can be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

[0035] In general, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network can support a particular radio access technology (RAT) and can operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT can also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency can also be referred to as a carrier, a subcarrier, a frequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, 5G NR RAT networks can be deployed.

[0036] Figure 1An example wireless communication network 100 in which aspects of this disclosure can be implemented is shown. For example, such as... Figure 1 As shown, UE 120a may include an L1 / L2 mobility module 122, which can be configured to perform (or cause UE 120a to perform). Figure 8 Operation 800. Similarly, BS110a may include an L1 / L2 mobility module 112, which can be configured to perform (or cause BS110a to perform). Figure 9 Operation 900.

[0037] NR access (e.g., 5G NR) can support a variety of wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) for wide bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or above), millimeter wave (mW) for high carrier frequencies (e.g., 25 GHz or above), massive machine-type communication (mMTC) for non-backward-compatible MTC technologies, or mission-critical services for ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTI) to meet corresponding quality of service (QoS) requirements. Furthermore, these services can coexist in the same time-domain resources (e.g., time slots or subframes) or frequency-domain resources (e.g., component carriers).

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication network 100 may include multiple base stations (BSs) 110a-z (each base station is also individually referred to as BS110 or collectively as BS110 herein) and other network entities. BS110 can provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area (sometimes referred to as a “cell”), and may be stationary or mobile depending on the location of the mobile BS110. In some examples, BS110 may be interconnected to each other or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) within the wireless communication network 100 using any suitable transport network via various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connection, wireless connection, virtual network, etc.). Figure 1 In the example shown, BS110a, 110b, and 110c can be macro BSs of macro cells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS 110x can be a pico BS of pico cell 102x. BS110y and 110z can be femto BSs of femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS can support one or more cells. BS110 communicates with user equipment (UEs) 120a-y (each also individually referred to herein as UE 120 or collectively as UE 120) in the wireless communication network 100. UEs 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) can be distributed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE 120 can be fixed or mobile.

[0039] Wireless communication network 100 can also include relay stations (e.g., relay station 1 lOr), also referred to as relays or the like, that receive a transmission of data or other information from an upstream station (e.g., a BS 110a or a UE 120r) and sends a transmission of the data or other information to a downstream station (e.g., a UE 120 or a BS 110), or relays transmissions between UEs 120 to facilitate communication between devices.

[0040] A network controller 130 can couple to a set of BSs 110 and provide coordination and control for the BSs 110. The network controller 130 can be in communication with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The BSs 110 can also communicate with one another (e.g., directly or indirectly) via wireless or wireline backhaul.

[0041] Figure 2 A block diagram illustrating an example base station (BS) and an example user equipment (UE) is shown in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0042] At the BS 110, a transmit processor 220 can receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller / processor 240. The control information can be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The processor 220 can process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 can also generate reference symbols, e.g., for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specific reference signal (CRS). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, or the reference symbols, if applicable, and can provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. Each modulator 232 can process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 232a-232t can be transmitted via the antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0043] At the UE 120, the antennas 252a-252r can receive the downlink signals from the BS 110 and can provide received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 can condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator can further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 can obtain received symbols from all the demodulators 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to a controller / processor 280.

[0044] On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 can receive and process data (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) from the controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 can also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 can be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by the demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the BS 110. At the BS 110, the uplink signals from the UE 120 can be received by the antennas 234, processed by the modulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 can provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to a controller / processor 240.

[0045] The memory 242 and the 282 can store data and program codes for the BS 110 and the UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 244 can schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink or uplink.

[0046] The controller / processor 280 or other processors and modules at the UE 120 can perform or direct the execution of processes for the techniques described herein. As shown in Figure 2 The controller / processor 280 of the UE 120 has a L1 / L2 mobility module 122, which can be configured to perform (or direct the UE 120 to perform) the processes described herein for mobility management, as shown in Figure 8the operations 800 of FIG. 8. Similarly, the BS 110a can include a L1 / L2 mobility module 112 that can be configured to perform (or cause the BS 110a to perform) the operations 900 of FIG. 9. Figure 9

[0047] Figure 3A FIG. 3 shows an example of a frame format 300 for NR. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink can be partitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame can have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds) and can be partitioned into 10 subframes with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframe can be of 1 ms. Each subframe can include a variable number of time slots, depending on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot can include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols), depending on the subcarrier spacing. The symbol periods in each time slot can be assigned indices. A mini-slot (which can be referred to as a sub-slot structure) refers to a transmission time interval with a duration that is smaller than a slot (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols).

[0048] Each symbol in a slot can indicate a link direction (e.g., DL, UL, or flexible) for data transmission, and the link direction of each subframe can be dynamically switched. The link direction can be based on a slot format. Each slot can include DL / UL data as well as DL / UL control information.

[0049] In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. An SS block includes a PSS, a SSS, and a two symbol PBCH. The SS block can be transmitted in a fixed time slot location, such as the symbols 0-3 as shown in Figure 3A The PSS and SSS can be used by UEs for cell search and cell acquisition. The PSS can provide half-frame timing, and the SSS can provide CP length and frame timing. The PSS and SSS can provide the cell identity. The PBCH carries some basic system information, such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within radio frame, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. The SS blocks can be organized into SS bursts to support beam sweeping. Other system information (e.g., remaining minimum system information (RMSI), system information block (SIB), other system information (OSI)) can be transmitted on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain subframes. The SS block can be transmitted up to 64 times, for example, with up to 64 different beam directions for mmW. The up to 64 transmissions of the SS block are referred to as the SS burst set. The SS blocks in an SS burst set are transmitted in the same frequency region, while the SS blocks in different SS burst sets can be transmitted on different frequency locations.

[0050] As Figure 3B ​As shown in the middle, the SS blocks can be organized into SS burst sets to support beam sweeping. As shown, different beams can be used to transmit each SSB in a burst set, which can help a UE quickly acquire both transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) beams (especially for mmW applications). A physical cell identity (PCI) can still be decoded from the PSS and SSS of an SSB.

[0051] A control resource set (CORESET) for a system such as an NR and LTE system can include one or more sets of control resources (e.g., time and frequency resources) configured for transmitting PDCCH within a system bandwidth. Within each CORESET, one or more search spaces (e.g., common search space (CSS), UE-specific search space (USS), etc.) can be defined for a given UE. According to some aspects of the disclosure, a CORESET is a set of time and frequency resources defined in units of resource element groups (REGs). Each REG can include a fixed number (e.g., twelve) of tones in one symbol period (e.g., of a slot), with one tone in one symbol period being referred to as a resource element (RE). A fixed number of REGs can be contained in a control channel element (CCE). A set of CCEs can be used to transmit a new radio PDCCH (NR-PDCCH), with different numbers of CCEs in the set used to transmit the NR-PDCCH using different aggregation levels. Multiple sets of CCEs can be defined as search spaces for a UE, so a nodeB or other base station can transmit a NR-PDCCH to a UE by transmitting the NR-PDCCH in a set of CCEs that is defined as a decoding candidate within a search space for the UE, and the UE can receive the NR-PDCCH by searching for the UE in the search space and decoding the NR-PDCCH transmitted by the nodeB.

[0052] Example method for medium access control layer based mobility signaling

[0053] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to mobility techniques that allow for dynamic updating of a set of cells and / or beams that are activated to serve a user equipment (UE). As will be described in greater detail below, the set of activated cells can be updated based on physical (PHY) layer (layer 1 or LI) or medium access control (MAC) layer (layer 2 or L2) signaling indicating one or more cells and / or beams that are to be activated and / or deactivated.

[0054] The techniques presented herein can be applied to various frequency bands for New Radio (NR). For example, for higher frequency bands, referred to as Frequency Range (FR) 4 (e.g., 52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) waveform with very large subcarrier spacing (960 kHz - 3.84 MHz) is needed to combat severe phase noise. Due to the large subcarrier spacing, the slot length tends to be very short. In lower frequency bands with 120 kHz SCS, referred to as FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz), the slot length is 125 ps, while in FR4 with 960 kHz, the slot length is 15.6 ps.

[0055] In multi-beam operations (e.g., involving FR1 and FR2 bands), more efficient uplink / downlink beam management can account for increased intra- and inter-cell mobility (e.g., L1 and / or L2 centric mobility) and / or a larger number of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states. For example, TCI states can include the use of common beams for transmission and reception of data and control for uplink and downlink operations, a unified TCI framework for uplink and downlink beam indication, and enhanced signaling mechanisms for improved latency and efficiency (e.g., dynamic use of control signaling).

[0056] The techniques presented herein provide signaling mechanisms that can help support such enhanced features, improve latency, and improve efficiency by using dynamic control signaling more. For example, the techniques described herein utilize physical layer (PHY, Layer 1 or LI) or medium access control (MAC, Layer 2 or L2) signaling, rather than higher layer (e.g., RRC) signaling.

[0057] Figure 4 An example architecture in which aspects of the disclosure can be practiced is shown. As shown, the architecture includes a gNB central unit (gNB-CU). The gNB-CU generally acts as a logical node that hosts the RRC, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of a gNB that controls the operation of one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs). As shown, the gNB-CU terminates the Fl interface that connects with the gNB-DUs.

[0058] The gNB-DU generally acts as a logical node that hosts the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers of a gNB, and its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU. As shown, one gNB-DU supports one or more cells (but each cell is supported by only one gNB-DU). The gNB-DU terminates the Fl interface that connects with the gNB-CU. Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, one gNB-DU supports one or more cells (but each cell is supported by only one gNB-DU). The gNB-DU terminates the Fl interface that connects with the gNB-CU.

[0059] Figure 5 and Figure 6 Example scenarios are shown in which aspects of this disclosure can be practiced.

[0060] like Figure 5 As shown, in some cases, a UE can handover between (source and target) cells supported by different DUs (radio units or RUs) under the same CU. The RU typically contains only PHY layer logic. Figure 5 In this scenario, a cell can have non-co-located (in different DUs) PHY, MAC, and RLC logic, but share common PDCP and RRC logic (within the same CU). While the L1 / L2 signaling techniques described in this paper can be used for mobility, the data path from the PDCP to different RLCs presents some control aspects that can be addressed through coordination between DUs.

[0061] On the other hand, Figure 6 In the scenario shown, the source and target cells are supported by the same DU (belonging to the same DU). Therefore, L1 / L2 mobility may be particularly attractive in this scenario because the cells can share the MAC and upper layers (the same DU). In this scenario, when a handover is performed via L1 / L2 signaling, the data path above the MAC remains the same.

[0062] As described above, a distributed RU contains only the PHY layer and can be used in a manner similar to carrier aggregation (CA) (activation / deactivation), but the cells can be located on the same carrier frequency. Therefore, however, aspects of this disclosure can utilize mechanisms similar to those used in CA to implement L1 / L2 mobility (e.g., activating / deactivating the cell serving the UE).

[0063] As an initial step, RRC signaling can be used to configure the cell set for L1 / L2 mobility. For illustrative purposes, Figure 7A An example is shown, assuming a set of 8 cells (cell 1, cell 2, ..., cell 8) is configured. Typically, the cell set can be designed to be large enough to cover meaningful mobility (e.g., the expected movement of the UE in a given area and time period). As described below, mobility management can be performed by activating / deactivating cells in the set, such that a subset of the activated cells is used to serve the UE.

[0064] From the set of configured, at any given time, a subset of cells can be activated for serving the UE. This activated set of cells generally refers to one or more cells from the set of configured that are activated. If the activated set of cells includes two or more activated cells, the UE can switch from one activated cell to another activated cell via dynamic (PHY / MAC) signaling. In some cases, the active set can contain only one cell, such that when signaling is received to activate a new cell, the currently active serving cell can be placed into the deactivated set. In other words, in this active serving cell switching scenario, there can be only one active serving cell at a time.

[0065] Referring again to Figure 7A , the activated set of cells includes cells 2-4. In some cases, the activated cells for any given UE can depend on the UE reported measurement results. The deactivated configured cells (e.g., the deactivated set of cells) can include the set of (remaining) cells from the configured set that are deactivated (not activated). In Figure 7A , the deactivated set of cells includes cells 1 and 5-8.

[0066] Various aspects of the present disclosure can provide for mobility of activated cells within the activated set of cells. In some cases, the signaling mechanism can be relatively similar to beam management. For example, mobility management within the activated set can be performed through L1 / L2 signaling for activating / deactivating cells in the activated set of cells and the deactivated set of cells to select a beam within the activated set of cells.

[0067] As shown in Figure 7B , as the UE moves, cells from the set are deactivated and activated, e.g., based on signal quality (UE reported measurement results) and other considerations (e.g., load of the cell). In the example shown in Figure 7B , as the UE moves from left (time t1) to right (time t2), cell 5 (now closer) is activated and cell 2 (now further away) is deactivated. Thus, after this movement, the activated set of cells includes cells 3, 4, and 5.

[0068] The cells activated / deactivated by L1 / L2 signaling can be based on network control, UE recommendation, and / or UE decision. Generally, L1 / L2 signaling (e.g., DCI and / or MAC-CE) can carry activation and / or deactivation commands (e.g., indicating the cells to be activated and the cells to be deactivated). If the UE can only support one activated cell at a time, an activation command indicating a new cell can implicitly deactivate the current active cell (e.g., upon the UE acknowledging the command). As noted above, in the case where the active set contains only one cell, the currently active serving cell can be placed into the deactivated set when signaling to activate a new cell is received.

[0069] Aspects of the disclosure can provide mobility within a set of cells using MAC layer (L2) mobility signaling.

[0070] Figure 8 Example operations 800 that can be performed by a UE to identify an initial beam for communicating with a selected cell in L2-based mobility are shown in accordance with certain aspects of the disclosure. The operations 800 can be performed, for example, by a UE 120 as shown. Figure 1

[0071] The operations 800 begin, at 802, by receiving RRC signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling. For example, a UE can be configured with a set of cells that support MAC layer mobility via RRC signaling, as shown in the examples of Figure 7A and Figure 7B .

[0072] At 804, the UE receives at least one MAC CE indicating mobility information for the set of cells. At 806, the UE updates one or more characteristics of the set of cells based on the MAC CE. For example, as shown in the examples of Figure 10A and Figure 10B , the MAC CE can indicate one or more configured cells to be activated or deactivated. As another example, as shown in Figure 11 , the MAC CE can convey activation of an RRC preconfigured option for system information (SI) update.

[0073] Figure 9 Example operations 900 are shown that can be considered complementary to the operations 800 of Figure 8 . For example, the operations 900 can be performed by a network entity (e.g., gNB DU / CU) to dynamically activate cells and select beams to support mobility of a UE (performing the operations 800 of Figure 8 .

[0074] ​The operations 900 begin, at 902, by transmitting UERRC signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling. At 904, the network entity transmits, to the UE, at least one MAC CE indicating mobility information for the set of cells. At 906, the network entity communicates with the UE via a subset of the cells that are activated having one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0075] The operations 800 and 900 of Figure 10A , Figure 10B and Figure 11 may be further understood with reference to Figure 8 and Figure 9 , Figure 10A , Figure 10B and Figure 11 illustrate examples of MAC CE based mobility signaling according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0076] As illustrated in Figure 10A and Figure 10B , in some cases, a new MAC CE format can convey at least ID information from a cell of a configured set of cells to be activated and / or deactivated.

[0077] As illustrated in Figure 10A , the MAC CE can include a field with one or more bits (e.g., Cell_ID_Select) that serve as a pointer to one of the cell IDs of a set of cells configured by RRC. Continuing the example illustrated in Figure 7A and Figure 7B , assuming the configured set has 8 cells, a 3-bit field can be used to indicate one of the cells to be activated or deactivated. For example, Figure 10A the MAC CE illustrated in Figure 7B may have been received by a UE of at time t2 to activate cell ID 5. In some cases, an additional bit can indicate whether the identified cell is activated or deactivated, or the indication can be implicit (e.g., if the identified cell is not activated, the UE can implicitly determine that the MAC CE is for activation).

[0078] As illustrated in Figure 10B , the MAC CE can include a bitmap, where each bit corresponds to one of the cell IDs of a set of cells configured by RRC. While the bitmap representation incurs additional overhead relative to the selection field of Figure 10A , one advantage is that the bitmap can be able to indicate multiple cells to be activated and / or deactivated. In the illustrated example, a value of 1 in the bitmap indicates the corresponding cell to be activated (or remain in an activated state), while a value of 0 in the bitmap indicates the corresponding cell to be deactivated (or remain in a deactivated state).

[0079] As Figure 11 illustrated in some cases, a MAC CE with mobility signaling can be used to update the SI of one or more cells in a set. In the illustrated example, the MAC CE can have a field to activate and / or deactivate a set of SI values from a different set of SI values pre-configured via RRC signaling.

[0080] In some cases, the SI information elements (IEs) that are eligible for update (e.g., via MAC layer signaling) can be arranged in a pre-defined order (at configuration time). This can allow addressing these IEs based on a number or via a bitmap in a MAC CE, for example.

[0081] Additionally or alternatively, the MAC CE can activate some other RRC pre-configured options for the one or more cells when activating them. These options can relate to timing advance group (TAG) timing advance (TA) information, measurement configuration, and / or updates or changes to a primary cell (PCell), for example. In this way, when a cell is activated, the pre-configured options needed for that cell can be activated.

[0082] In some cases, the MAC CE for mobility signaling can carry one type of information or can be designed to carry multiple types of information in the context of (L1 / L2) mobility of the cells in the configured set. For example, one type of MAC CE can account for system information updates, while another type of MAC CE can account for measurement and TAG information changes.

[0083] Due to the importance of mobility signaling, the MAC CE should be able to be transmitted to the UE without data. This can allow for updates to the activated set of cells, SI, and / or other options without having to wait until the network has data for the UE.

[0084] For reliability, the UE can expect an acknowledgement of the MAC CE. This can be achieved via signaling through a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement, a MAC CE, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) indicating an acknowledgement.

[0085] This L2-based signaling can be combined with L1-based signaling. This can be achieved by sending at least one downlink control information (DCI) to the UE indicating mobility information for a set of cells (e.g., activating / deactivating cells for serving the UE and / or updating corresponding features), for example.

[0086] Example communication device

[0087] Figure 12 A communications device 1200 is shown, which can include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations shown in Figure 8 The communications device 1200 includes a processing system 1202 coupled to a transceiver 1208. The transceiver 1208 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device 1200 via an antenna 1210, e.g., the various signals as described herein. The processing system 1202 can be configured to perform processing functions of the communications device 1200, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communications device 1200.

[0088] The processing system 1202 includes a processor 1204 coupled to a computer- readable medium / memory 1212 via a bus 1206. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1212 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 1204, cause the processor 1204 to perform Figure 8 operations as discussed herein. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1212 stores: code 1214 for receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a set of cells that support physical (PHY) layer or medium access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling; code 1216 for receiving at least one MAC control element (CE) indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and code 1218 for updating one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE. In certain aspects, the processor 1204 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1212. The processor 1204 includes: circuitry 1220 for receiving RRC signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling; circuitry 1222 for receiving at least one MAC CE indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and circuitry 1224 for updating one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0089] Figure 13 A communications device 1300 is shown, which can include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations shown in Figure 9 The communications device 1300 includes a processing system 1302 coupled to a transceiver 1308. The transceiver 1308 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device 1300 via an antenna 1310, e.g., the various signals as described herein. The processing system 1302 can be configured to perform processing functions of the communications device 1300, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communications device 1300.

[0090] The processing system 1302 includes a processor 1304 coupled to a computer- readable medium / memory 1312 via a bus 1306. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1312 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 1304, cause the processor 1304 to perform Figure 9 The operations shown or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1312 stores: code 1314 for transmitting RRC signaling to a UE, the signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling; code 1316 for transmitting at least one MAC CE to the UE indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and code 1318 for communicating with the UE via an activated subset of cells having one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE. In certain aspects, the processor 1304 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1312. The processor 1304 includes: circuitry 1320 for transmitting RRC signaling to a UE, the signaling indicating a set of cells that support PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling; circuitry 1322 for transmitting at least one MAC CE to the UE indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and circuitry 1324 for communicating with the UE via an activated subset of cells having one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0091] Example Aspects

[0092] Aspect 1 : A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a set of cells that support physical (PHY) layer or medium access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling; receiving at least one MAC control element (CE) indicating mobility information for the set of cells; and updating one or more features of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0093] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the set of cells is supported by one or more distributed units (DUs) under a common central unit (CU).

[0094] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein the one or more DUs include a common DU that supports each cell in the set of cells.

[0095] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1-2, wherein the MAC CE indicates at least one of: an identifier (ID) of a cell in the set of cells to be activated to serve the UE that is not currently in a subset of the set of cells that is activated to serve the UE; or an ID of one of the cells in the subset of cells to be removed from the subset and deactivated to serve the UE.

[0096] Aspect 5: The method of aspect 4, wherein the MAC CE comprises: a field pointing to an ID of a cell to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling; or a bitmap having bit positions corresponding to IDs of the cell to be activated or deactivated in the table or list configured by the RRC signaling.

[0097] Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1-3, wherein the MAC CE indicates an update to system information (SI) for one or more of the cells in the set.

[0098] Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, wherein the RRC signaling configures one or more sets of SI values, and the MAC CE indicates an update to SI by at least one of: deactivating or activating one or more of the sets of SI values.

[0099] Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1-7, wherein one or more SI information elements (IEs) eligible for update via the MAC CE occur in a predefined order and are addressed based on at least one of a number or a bitmap in the MAC CE.

[0100] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1-8, wherein the RRC signaling indicates one or more sets of options for the cells in the set, and the MAC CE activates one or more sets of options for a cell when activated.

[0101] Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, wherein at least some of the options relate to: timing advance group (TAG) timing advance (TA) information, measurement configuration, or an update or change to a primary cell (PCell).

[0102] Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 1-10, wherein a format of the MAC CE depends at least in part on a type or types of information conveyed.

[0103] Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1-11, wherein the MAC CE is received without data.

[0104] Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1-12, further comprising: signaling an acknowledgement of the at least one MAC CE.

[0105] Aspect 14: The method of aspect 13, wherein the acknowledgement is signaled via at least one of: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement, a MAC CE, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) indicating the acknowledgement.

[0106] Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 1-14, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, at least one downlink control information (DCI) indicating mobility information for the set of cells.

[0107] Aspect 16: A method for wireless communications by a network entity, comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a set of cells that support physical (PHY) layer or medium access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling, transmitting, to the UE, at least one MAC control element (CE) indicating mobility information for the set of cells, and communicating with the UE via an activated subset of cells having one or more characteristics of the set of cells based on the MAC CE.

[0108] Aspect 17: The method of aspect 16, wherein the set of cells is supported by one or more distributed units (DUs) under a common central unit (CU).

[0109] Aspect 18: The method of aspect 17, wherein the one or more DUs include a common DU that supports each cell in the set of cells.

[0110] Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 16-18, wherein the MAC CE indicates at least one of: an identifier (ID) of a cell in the set of cells to be activated to serve the UE that is not currently in the subset of the set of cells that are activated to serve the UE; or an ID of one of the cells in the subset of cells to be removed from the subset and de-activated to serve the UE.

[0111] Aspect 20: The method of aspect 19, wherein the MAC CE comprises: a field pointing to IDs of the cells in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling to be activated or deactivated; or a bitmap having bit positions corresponding to IDs of the cells in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling to be activated or deactivated.

[0112] Aspect 21 : The method of any of aspects 16-20, wherein the MAC CE indicates an update to system information (SI) for one or more of the cells in the set.

[0113] Aspect 22: The method of aspect 21, wherein the RRC signaling configures one or more SI value sets, and the MAC CE indicates an update to SI by at least one of: deactivating or activating one or more of the SI value sets.

[0114] Aspect 23: The method of any of aspects 16-22, wherein one or more SI information elements (IEs) eligible for update via the MAC CE occur in a predefined order and are addressed based on at least one of a number in the MAC CE or a bitmap.

[0115] Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 16-23, wherein the RRC signaling indicates one or more option sets for the cells in the set, and the MAC CE, when activated, activates one or more option sets for a cell.

[0116] Aspect 25: The method of aspect 24, wherein at least some of the options relate to: timing advance group (TAG) timing advance (TA) information, measurement configuration, or an update or change to a primary cell (PCell).

[0117] Aspect 26: The method of any of aspects 16-25, wherein a format of the MAC CE depends at least in part on one or more types of information conveyed.

[0118] Aspect 27: The method of any of aspects 16-26, wherein the MAC CE is received without data.

[0119] Aspect 28: The method of any of aspects 16-27, further comprising: receiving an acknowledgement of the at least one MAC CE from the UE, and updating the one or more features of the set of cells only after receiving the acknowledgement.

[0120] Aspect 29: The method of aspect 28, wherein the acknowledgement is received from the UE via at least one of: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement, a MAC CE, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) indicating the acknowledgement.

[0121] Aspect 30: The method of any of aspects 16-29, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, at least one downlink control information (DCI) indicating mobility information for the set of cells.

[0122] Aspect 31 : An apparatus comprising: a memory including executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of aspects 1-30.

[0123] Aspect 32: An apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any of aspects 1-30.

[0124] Aspect 33: A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of aspects 1-30.

[0125] Aspect 34: A computer program product, embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising code for performing the method of any of aspects 1-30.

[0126] The techniques described herein can be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as NR (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network can implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and so on. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network can implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network can implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash- OFDMA, and so on. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called the “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). NR is an emerging wireless communications technology.

[0127] The techniques described herein can be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, while aspects can be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G, 4G, or 5G wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in other generation-based communication systems.

[0128] In 3GPP, depending on the context in which the term is used, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a Node B (NB), or a NB subsystem serving the coverage area. In NR systems, the terms "cell" and BS, next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), access point (AP), Distributed Unit (DU), carrier, or Transmission Reception Point (TRP) can be used interchangeably. A BS can be referred to as a gNB, gNodeB, NodeB, RAN node, RBS, eNodeB, eNB, 5G NB, 5G eNodeB, or 5G eNB. A BS can provide communication coverage for a particular area to UEs. A BS can be referred to as a macro BS, micro BS, pico BS, femto BS, or Home BS (H-BS). A BS can also be a home evolved Node B (HeNB). A UE can be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an electric

[0129] A UE can also be known as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an electric

[0130] Some wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, or the like. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing of adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can be dependent on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers can be 15 kHz and the minimum resource allocation (called a “resource block” (RB)) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, for a 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz) system bandwidth, the nominal fast fourier transform (FFT) size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be partitioned into sub-bands. For example, a sub-band can cover 1.08 MHz (e.g., 6 RBs), and there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 sub-bands for a 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz system bandwidth, respectively. In LTE, the basic transmission time unit is the subframe, having a duration of 1 ms. However, in NR, the basic transmission time unit is the slot, having a duration of 0.5, 1, or 2 ms, depending on the subcarrier spacing.

[0131] NR can utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include support for half-duplex operation using TDD. In NR, a subframe is still 1 ms, but the basic TTI is referred to as a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16... slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing. An NR RB is 12 consecutive frequency subcarriers. NR can support a base subcarrier spacing of 15 KHz with other subcarrier spacings being defined with respect to the base subcarrier spacing such as 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc. Symbol and slot lengths are proportional to the subcarrier spacing. The CP length is also dependent on the subcarrier spacing. Beamforming can be supported and beam direction can be dynamically configured. MIMO transmissions with precoding can also be supported. In some examples, a MIMO configuration in the DL can support up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. In some examples, multi-layer transmissions with up to 2 streams per UE can be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells up to 8 serving cells can be supported.

[0132] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communications between some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. The scheduling entity can be responsible for scheduling, allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communications, the subordinate entities use resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Base stations are not the only entities that can function as a scheduling entity. In some examples, a UE can function as a scheduling entity and can schedule resources for one or more subordinate entities, such as one or more other UEs, and the other UEs can communicate using the resources scheduled by the UE. In some examples, a UE can function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) or mesh network, for example. In a mesh networking example, UEs can communicate directly with each other in addition to communicating with the scheduling entity.

[0133] As used herein, the term “determining” can include one or more of the following: calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining, and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

[0134] As used herein, the use of “or” is intended to encompass the inclusion of the empty set in the listing, unless explicitly indicated to the contrary. For example, “a or b” can include a, b, or both a and b. As used herein, the phrase “at least one of’ or “one or more of’ a list of items refers to any combination of the items in the list, including single members. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, and a and b and c.

[0135] Various operations can be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means can include various hardware and / or software component(s) and / or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations can have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components. For example, Figure 8 and Figure 9 The various operations of methods described above can be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. Figure 2 The various processors enable the performance of the operations for methods described above.

[0136] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with this disclosure can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or it can be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0137] If implemented in hardware, an exemplary hardware configuration may include a processing system in a wireless node. This processing system can be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system. The bus can link various circuits together, including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface can be used to connect network adapters and others to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter can be used to implement signal processing functions at the PHY layer. In UE 120 (see...) Figure 1 In this case, the user interface (e.g., buttons, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) can also be connected to the bus. The bus can also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and will not be described further. The processor can be implemented using one or more general-purpose processors and / or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits capable of executing software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how the described functions for the processing system can be optimally implemented, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0138] If implemented in software, the functions can be stored or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The processor can be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including the execution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storage media. A computer-readable storage medium can be coupled with the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium can be integral with the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable media can include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and / or a computer readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon separate from the wireless node, all of which can be accessed via the bus. Alternatively, or in addition, the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, can be integral with the processor, e.g., as can be the case with cache and / or general register files. Examples of machine-readable storage media can include, by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable media can be embodied in a computer-program product.

[0139] A software module can comprise a single instruction, or many instructions, and can be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several storage media. The computer-readable media can comprise a number of software modules. The software module includes instructions that, when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. The software module can include a transmission module and a receiving module. Each software module can reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, a software module can be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when an activation event takes place. During execution of the software module, the processor can load some of the instructions into cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines can then be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functionality of a software module below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

[0140] Moreover, any connections are properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray® disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media can comprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media). In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media can comprise transitory computer- readable media (e.g., signals). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0141] Thus, certain aspects can comprise a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product can comprise a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, FIG. 10 shows a computer program product 1000 that can include a computer- readable medium 1002 (e.g., one or more storage devices) having instructions 1004 stored thereon. The instructions 1004 can be executed by one or more processors (e.g., 910 of FIG. 9) to cause the one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. Figure 8 For example, FIG. 11 shows a computer program product 1100 that can include a computer-readable medium 1102 having instructions 1104 stored thereon, the instructions 1104 being executable by one or more processors (e.g., 910 of FIG. 9) to cause the one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. Figure 9

[0142] Modifications that are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art are intended to be within the scope of the implementations described in the disclosure. The subject matter of the disclosure includes all novel and nonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the various

[0143] Additionally, the various features described herein can be implemented in a combination of software and hardware. As such, techniques presented herein can be implemented in software and / or hardware and / or digital electronic circuitry, including both

[0144] ​​Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such an order nor limiting it to only that order. One will appreciate that many other operations could be performed, or the described operations could be performed in a different order. Furthermore, some operations can be performed simultaneously. Accordingly, the drawings and accompanying description are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates a set of cells supporting physical (PHY) layer or media access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling; At least one MAC control unit (CE) receives mobility information of the cell set indicating support for mobility signaling at the PHY or MAC layer; and The MAC CE is used to update one or more features of the set of cells that support the PHY or MAC layer mobility signaling.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The cell set is supported by one or more distributed units (DUs) under a common central unit (CU).

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The one or more DUs include a common DU that supports each cell in the cell set.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The MAC CE indicates at least one of the following: The identifier (ID) of the cell in the cell set to be activated to serve the UE, wherein the cell is not currently in a subset of the cell set that is activated to serve the UE; or The ID of one of the cells in the subset of cells to be removed from the subset and deactivated to serve the UE.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The MAC CE includes: A field pointing to the ID of the cell to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling; or A bitmap having bit positions corresponding to the IDs of the cells to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The MAC CE indicates an update of the system information (SI) for one or more cells in the set.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The RRC signaling configuration includes one or more SI value sets; and The MAC CE indicates that the SI is updated by at least one of the following: deactivating or activating one or more sets of SI values ​​in the set of SI values.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein, One or more SI information elements (IEs) eligible for updating via the MAC CE appear in a predefined order and are addressed based on at least one of the numbers or bitmaps in the MAC CE.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The RRC signaling indicates one or more sets of options for cells in the set; and The MAC CE activates one or more sets of options for the cell when activated.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, At least some of the options involve: timing advance group (TAG) timing advance (TA) information, measurement configuration, or updates or changes to the primary cell (PCell).

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The format of the MAC CE depends at least in part on one or more types of information being conveyed.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The MAC CE is received without any data.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The at least one MAC CE is acknowledged by a signal.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, The acknowledgment is transmitted via signaling at least one of the following: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) acknowledgment, MAC CE, or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) having a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) indicating the acknowledgment.

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive at least one downlink control information (DCI) from a network entity that indicates mobility information for the cell set.

16. A method for wireless communication performed by a network entity, comprising: Send radio resource control (RRC) signaling to user equipment (UE) indicating a set of cells that support physical (PHY) layer or media access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling; At least one MAC control unit (CE) sends to the UE a set of cells containing mobility information for supporting mobility signaling at the PHY or MAC layer; as well as The UE communicates with a subset of cells that are active and have one or more characteristics of the set of cells that support the PHY or MAC layer mobility signaling based on the MAC CE.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The cell set is supported by one or more distributed units (DUs) under a common central unit (CU).

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein, The one or more DUs include a common DU that supports each cell in the cell set.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein, The MAC CE indicates at least one of the following: The identifier (ID) of the cell in the cell set to be activated to serve the UE, wherein the cell is not currently in a subset of the cell set that is activated to serve the UE; or The ID of one of the cells in the subset of cells to be removed from the subset and deactivated to serve the UE.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein, The MAC CE includes: A field pointing to the ID of the cell to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling; or A bitmap having bit positions corresponding to the IDs of the cells to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The MAC CE indicates an update of the system information (SI) for one or more cells in the set.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The RRC signaling configuration includes one or more SI value sets; and The MAC CE indicates that the SI is updated by at least one of the following: deactivating or activating one or more sets of SI values ​​in the set of SI values.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein, One or more SI information elements (IEs) eligible for updating via the MAC CE appear in a predefined order and are addressed based on at least one of the numbers or bitmaps in the MAC CE.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein: The RRC signaling indicates one or more sets of options for cells in the set; and The MAC CE activates one or more sets of options for the cell when activated.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein, At least some of the options involve: timing advance group (TAG) timing advance (TA) information, measurement configuration, or updates or changes to the primary cell (PCell).

26. The method of claim 16, wherein: The format of the MAC CE depends at least in part on one or more types of information being conveyed.

27. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The MAC CE is received without any data.

28. The method of claim 16, further comprising: Receive acknowledgments from the UE for the at least one MAC CE; as well as The one or more features of the cell set are updated only after the confirmation is received.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: A receiver configured to receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a set of cells supporting physical (PHY) layer or medium access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling, and at least one MAC control unit (CE) indicating mobility information of the set of cells for supporting the PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling. as well as At least one processor is configured to update one or more features of the set of cells supporting the PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling based on the MAC CE.

30. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein, The cell set is supported by one or more distributed units (DUs) under a common central unit (CU).

31. The apparatus according to claim 30, wherein: The one or more DUs include a common DU that supports each cell in the cell set.

32. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein, The MAC CE indicates at least one of the following: The identifier (ID) of the cell in the cell set to be activated to serve the UE, wherein the cell is not currently in a subset of the cell set that is activated to serve the UE; or The ID of one of the cells in the subset of cells to be removed from the subset and deactivated to serve the UE.

33. The apparatus according to claim 32, wherein, The MAC CE includes: A field pointing to the ID of the cell to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling; or A bitmap having bit positions corresponding to the IDs of the cells to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling.

34. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein, The MAC CE indicates an update of the system information (SI) for one or more cells in the set.

35. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein: The RRC signaling configuration includes one or more SI value sets; and The MAC CE indicates that the SI is updated by at least one of the following: deactivating or activating one or more sets of SI values ​​in the set of SI values.

36. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein, One or more SI information elements (IEs) eligible for updating via the MAC CE appear in a predefined order and are addressed based on at least one of the numbers or bitmaps in the MAC CE.

37. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein: The RRC signaling indicates one or more sets of options for cells in the set; and The MAC CE activates one or more sets of options for the cell when activated.

38. The apparatus according to claim 37, wherein, At least some of the options involve: timing advance group (TAG) timing advance (TA) information, measurement configuration, or updates or changes to the primary cell (PCell).

39. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein: The format of the MAC CE depends at least in part on one or more types of information being conveyed.

40. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein, The MAC CE is received without any data.

41. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising: The at least one MAC CE is acknowledged by a signal.

42. The apparatus according to claim 41, wherein, The acknowledgment is transmitted via signaling at least one of the following: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) acknowledgment, MAC CE, or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) having a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) indicating the acknowledgment.

43. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising: Receive at least one downlink control information (DCI) from a network entity that indicates mobility information for the cell set.

44. An apparatus for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: A transmitter configured to: transmit to a user equipment (UE) radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating a set of cells supporting physical (PHY) layer or media access control (MAC) layer mobility signaling, and to transmit to the UE at least one MAC control unit (CE) indicating mobility information of the set of cells for supporting the PHY layer or MAC layer mobility signaling. as well as At least one processor is configured to communicate with the UE via a subset of cells that are active and have one or more characteristics of the set of cells supporting the PHY or MAC layer mobility signaling based on the MAC CE.

45. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein, The cell set is supported by one or more distributed units (DUs) under a common central unit (CU).

46. ​​The apparatus according to claim 45, wherein, The one or more DUs include a common DU that supports each cell in the cell set.

47. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein, The MAC CE indicates at least one of the following: The identifier (ID) of the cell in the cell set to be activated to serve the UE, wherein the cell is not currently in a subset of the cell set that is activated to serve the UE; or The ID of one of the cells in the subset of cells to be removed from the subset and deactivated to serve the UE.

48. The apparatus according to claim 47, wherein, The MAC CE includes: A field pointing to the ID of the cell to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling; or A bitmap having bit positions corresponding to the IDs of the cells to be activated or deactivated in a table or list configured by the RRC signaling.

49. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein, The MAC CE indicates an update of the system information (SI) for one or more cells in the set.

50. The apparatus according to claim 49, wherein: The RRC signaling configuration includes one or more SI value sets; and The MAC CE indicates that the SI is updated by at least one of the following: deactivating or activating one or more sets of SI values ​​in the set of SI values.

51. The apparatus according to claim 49, wherein, One or more SI information elements (IEs) eligible for updating via the MAC CE appear in a predefined order and are addressed based on at least one of the numbers or bitmaps in the MAC CE.

52. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein: The RRC signaling indicates one or more sets of options for cells in the set; and The MAC CE activates one or more sets of options for the cell when activated.

53. The apparatus according to claim 52, wherein, At least some of the options involve: timing advance group (TAG) timing advance (TA) information, measurement configuration, or updates or changes to the primary cell (PCell).

54. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein: The format of the MAC CE depends at least in part on one or more types of information being conveyed.

55. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein, The MAC CE is received without any data.

56. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising: Receive acknowledgments from the UE for the at least one MAC CE; as well as The one or more features of the cell set are updated only after the confirmation is received.

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