Applying zero-element beams in search and measurement procedures to achieve power savings in MMW

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems, devices, apparatuses and methods for applying zero-element beams to save power in search and measurement operations of a UE, including computer programs encoded on a storage medium. The UE may determine to measure a set of SSBs, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is transmitted on four symbols, and further determine a subset of SSBs, for which less than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSBs. The UE may measure each SSB in the subset of SSBs by less than four symbols associated with the SSB.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application SN 63 / 017,554, filed on April 29, 2020, entitled “APPLYING ZERO ELEMENT BEAM IN SEARCH AND MEASUREMENT FOR POWER SAVING IN 5G NR MMW,” and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 238,098, filed on April 22, 2021, entitled “APPLYING ZERO ELEMENT BEAM IN SEARCH AND MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE FOR POWER SAVINGS IN MMW,” which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. background Technical Field

[0004] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to applying zero element beams (ZEBs) in search and measurement procedures to achieve power savings in 5G New Radio (NR) millimeter wave (mmW).

[0005] introduction

[0006] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. 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, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0007] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide common protocols that enable different wireless devices to communicate at city, country, region, and even global levels. An example telecommunication standard is 5G NR. 5G NR is part of the continuous mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., with the Internet of Things (IoT)) and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communication (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR may be based on 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards. There is a need for further improvements to 5G NR technology. These improvements may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

[0008] Overview

[0009] A brief summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceived aspects, and is neither intended to identify the key or critical elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be presented later.

[0010] When a user equipment (UE) performs a cell search, the UE may monitor corresponding synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) corresponding to multiple beams transmitted from a base station in multiple directions to measure the detected signal strength of the corresponding SSB in each of the multiple directions. For example, the UE may report reception information to the base station based on whether each SSB is received with a threshold signal strength, received with less than a threshold signal strength, or not received / not detected by the UE. By utilizing the same search / measurement technique for post-search operations, the UE may unnecessarily consume power by again listening to SSBs that were previously determined to be undetected by the UE during the cell search. In addition, even for SSBs detected during the cell search, some operations of the UE (e.g., serving cell measurements, neighbor cell measurements, etc.) may allow measurement of less than all symbols of the SSB so that power is also unnecessarily consumed by performing measurements on all symbols of the SSB.

[0011] Accordingly, after the UE performs a cell search to find a set of SSBs, the UE may determine a subset of the set of SSBs detected from the cell search. For subsequent measurement operations, the UE may save power by only listening / measuring SSBs corresponding to the subset of SSBs detected from the cell search and applying ZEB to SSBs corresponding to SSBs not detected from the cell search (e.g., SSBs outside the subset). Each SSB measured by the UE may be at least four symbols in duration. The UE may also determine that less than four symbols of an SSB may need to be measured based on the type of measurement operation to be performed. The UE may additionally save power by measuring less than four symbols of an SSB in a subset of SSBs based on the type of measurement operation and applying ZEB to the remaining symbol(s) of each SSB in the subset of SSBs.

[0012] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be configured to determine a set of SSBs to be measured, each SSB in the set of SSBs being transmitted on four symbols; determine a subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs, for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB; and measure each SSB in the subset of SSBs by fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB.

[0013] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. However, these features are merely indicative of several of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to cover all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0016] Figure 2A , 2B , 2C, and 2D are diagrams illustrating examples of a first 5G / NR frame, a DL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, a second 5G / NR frame, and a UL channel within a 5G / NR subframe, respectively.

[0017] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user equipment (UE) and a base station in an access network.

[0018] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating multiple beams corresponding to corresponding SSBs transmitted from a base station.

[0019] Figure 5is a table illustrating radio frequency (RF) power consumption for power modes of a UE.

[0020] Figure 6 is a table illustrating application of zero element beam (ZEB) in association with SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC) and connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX).

[0021] Figure 7 A table is included indicating criteria for applying ZEB to SSB symbols of an exemplary time slot.

[0022] Figure 8 is a table illustrating RF power consumption corresponding to the number of measured SSB symbols.

[0023] Fig. 9 is a call flow diagram illustrating the communication between a UE and a base station.

[0024] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method at a UE.

[0025] Fig.11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an example device.

[0026] Detailed Description

[0027] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. This detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid diluting such concepts.

[0028] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0029] As an example, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented as a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include: microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gating logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system may execute software. Software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether it is described in software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other terms.

[0030] Accordingly, in one or more example embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, each function may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, a combination of the aforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store instructions or data structures in the form of computer executable code that can be accessed by a computer.

[0031] In some cases, radio frequency (RF) power consumption for millimeter wave (mmW) transmission may be around 75% of the overall power consumption of a user equipment (UE). For example, when a UE performs a cell search, the UE may monitor synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) transmitted from a base station and included in each of a plurality of beams / beam directions to measure the detection strength of the SSBs. Based on the cell search, the UE may determine that a first beam subset is received with a threshold signal strength, a second beam subset is received with less than a threshold signal strength, and / or a third beam subset is not received / detected by the UE. Thus, the UE may be configured to activate a power saving mode for the mmW module when operation of the mmW module is not to be performed, and to deactivate the power saving mode when operation of the mmW module is to be performed.

[0032] The SSB may be four symbols in duration. However, some search and measurement procedures may be based on monitoring less than four symbols per SSB. In order to reduce RF power consumption at the symbol level, the UE may apply a zero element beam (ZEB) to one or more of the four SSB symbols that do not need to be monitored by the UE (e.g., based on the search and / or measurement procedures being performed). The application of ZEB at the symbol level may provide reduced power consumption compared to the UE's active search / measurement procedures on all four symbols of the SSB. In instances where an SSB is not received / detected during a cell search, the UE may be configured to be in low power mode for all four symbol durations of the SSB. By applying ZEB to all four SSB symbols, the UE may not receive information on the SSB symbol. After applying ZEB to one or more symbols of the SSB, the UE may "wake up" within the cyclic prefix (CP) duration for the next active search / measurement operation.

[0033] Accordingly, the UE may determine from the cell search whether an SSB is detected in a particular beam direction, and if an SSB is detected, the UE may apply the beam to a subset of four SSB symbols of the detected SSB, and apply ZEB to SSB symbols that are outside the subset and do not need to be monitored by the UE. If no SSB is detected during the cell search, the UE may apply ZEB to all four symbols of the SSB. Symbol-level ZEB application may provide power savings compared to techniques that monitor and measure all four symbols of the SSB.

[0034] Figure 1 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., a 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). A macro cell includes a base station. A small cell includes a femto cell, a pico cell, and a micro cell.

[0035] The base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can interface with the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). The base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interface with the core network 190 via a second backhaul link 184. Among other functions, the base station 102 can also perform one or more of the following functions: delivery of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (eg, through the EPC 160 or the core network 190) over a third backhaul link 134 (eg, an X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0036] Base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with UEs 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cells and macro cells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG). A communication link 120 between a base station 102 and a UE 104 may include an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. These communication links may be over one or more carriers. For each carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction, the base station 102 / UE 104 may use a spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400 MHz, etc.) bandwidth. These carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL compared to UL). The component carrier may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0037] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

[0038] The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 in communication with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) to determine whether the channel is available prior to communication.

[0039] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' employing NR in the unlicensed spectrum may boost the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0040] Whether a small cell 102' or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station), the base station 102 may include and / or be referred to as an eNB, a gB node (gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations (such as gNB 180) may operate in traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 104. When gNB 180 operates in mmW or near mmW frequencies, gNB 180 may be referred to as a mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to 3 GHz frequencies with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands (e.g., 3 GHz–300 GHz) have extremely high path loss and short range. The mmW base station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. The base station 180 and the UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays to facilitate beamforming.

[0041] Base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals to UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182'. UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182". UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to base station 180 in one or more transmit directions. Base station 180 may receive beamformed signals from UE 104 in one or more receive directions. Base station 180 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the best receive direction and transmit direction for each of base station 180 / UE 104. The transmit direction and receive direction of base station 180 may be the same or may be different. The transmit direction and receive direction of UE 104 may be the same or may be different.

[0042] The EPC 160 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway 172. The MME 162 may be in communication with a home subscriber server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. In general, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are delivered through the serving gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a specific service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and for collecting eMBMS related charging information.

[0043] The core network 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a session management function (SMF) 194, and a user plane function (UPF) 195. AMF 192 may be in communication with a unified data management (UDM) 196. AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and the core network 190. In general, AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are delivered through UPF 195. UPF 195 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. UPF 195 is connected to IP services 197. IP services 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0044] A base station may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, a Node B, an eNB, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmission reception point (TRP), or some other suitable term. The base station 102 provides an access point to the EPC 160 or the core network 190 for the UE 104. Examples of UE 104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet device, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a health care device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similar functional device. Some UEs 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, ovens, vehicles, heart monitors, etc.). UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0045] Refer again Figure 1In certain aspects, the UE 104 may include a ZEB component 198 configured to determine a set of SSBs to be measured. Each SSB within the set of SSBs may be at least four symbols in duration. The ZEB component may determine a subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSBs, and measure each SSB in the subset with fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB. Although the following description may focus on 5G NR, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar fields, such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, and other wireless technologies.

[0046] Figure 2A 200 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2B FIG230 is a diagram illustrating an example of DL channels within a 5G / NR subframe. Figure 2C 250 is a diagram illustrating an example of a second subframe within a 5G / NR frame structure. Figure 2D 280 is a diagram illustrating an example of an UL channel within a 5G / NR subframe. The 5G / NR frame structure may be FDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that subcarrier set are dedicated to either DL or UL, or TDD, where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that subcarrier set are dedicated to both DL and UL. Figure 2A , 2C In the example provided, the 5G / NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (mostly DL) and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (mostly UL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is for flexible use between DL / UL. Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe may be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are full DL and full UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with a slot format (dynamically configured by DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling) through the received slot format indicator (SFI). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G / NR frame structure for TDD.

[0047] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10ms) may be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include mini-slots, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. Each time slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the time slot configuration. For time slot configuration 0, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for time slot configuration 1, each time slot may include 7 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single stream transmission). The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and parameter design. For slot configuration 0, different parameter designs μ of 0 to 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different parameter designs 0 to 2 allow 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Accordingly, for slot configuration 0 and parameter design μ, there are 14 symbols per slot and 2 per subframe. μ time slots. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration vary depending on parameter design. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ *15kHz, where μ is parameter set 0 to 5. Thus, parameter design μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, while parameter design μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A-2D An example of slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and parameter design μ=2 and 4 slots per subframe is provided. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0048] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each slot includes a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)) extending over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into a number of resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0049] like Figure 2A As explained in the illustration, some REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for UEs. RSs may include demodulation RSs (DM-RSs) for channel estimation at the UE (indicated as R for a particular configuration). x , where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). RS may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0050] Figure 2B An example of various DL channels within a subframe of an explanation frame. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE includes 9 RE groups (REGs), and each REG includes 4 consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a particular subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by the UE 104 to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a particular subframe of a frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE may determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the aforementioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth, as well as the system frame number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0051] As in Figure 2C As explained in , some REs carry DM-RSs for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for one specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE may transmit DM-RSs for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RSs for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the first or first two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is transmitted and on the specific PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of the subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the comb teeth. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0052] Figure 2DAn example of various UL channels within a subframe of an illustration frame. The PUCCH may be located at a position as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0053] Figure 3 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in communication with a UE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to a controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a media access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration of UE measurement reports; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, cipher decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0054] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The decoded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from reference signals and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0055] At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal through its corresponding antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for the UE 350. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for the UE 350, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the RX processor 356. The RX processor 356 then transforms the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation point most likely transmitted by the base station 310. These soft decisions can be based on the channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator 358. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 310. These data and control signals are then provided to the controller / processor 359 which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality.

[0056] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, cipher interpretation, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0057] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0058] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 358 from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 310 may be used by a TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0059] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 310 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

[0060] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 350. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0061] At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, or the controller / processor 359 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 For example, the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 may execute instructions stored in the memory 360 to perform various aspects associated with the ZEB component 198. Any of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, the controller / processor 359, the memory 360, the channel estimator 358, the receiver 354RX, the transmitter 354TX, and the corresponding antenna 352 may be included. Fig. 9 UE 902 and / or Fig.11 In the device 1102. At least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, or the controller / processor 375 may be configured to perform the Fig. 9 Any of the TX processor 316, RX processor 370, controller / processor 375, memory 376, channel estimator 374, receiver 318RX, transmitter 318TX, and corresponding antenna 320 may be included. Fig. 9 In base station 904.

[0062] Wireless communication systems may be configured to share available system resources and provide various telecommunication services (e.g., telephone, video, data, messaging, broadcast, etc.) based on multiple access technologies (such as CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, OFDMA systems, SC-FDMA systems, TD-SCDMA systems, etc.) that support communication with multiple users. In many cases, common protocols that facilitate communication with wireless devices are adopted in various telecommunication standards. For example, communication methods associated with eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC may be incorporated into the 5G NR telecommunication standard, while other aspects may be incorporated into the 4G LTE standard. Since mobile broadband technology is part of the ongoing evolution, further improvements in mobile broadband remain useful for continuing to develop such technology.

[0063] Figure 44 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of beams 1-16 transmitted from a base station 404, wherein each beam includes an SSB. The RF power consumption of the UE 402 that occurs in the 5G mmW protocol may be increased compared to other protocols, such as the LTE protocol. For example, the RF power consumption for mmW transmission may correspond to 75% of the overall power consumption of the UE 402, compared to, for example, 30% for LTE transmission. Therefore, due to the amount of power consumption consumed by the operation of the mmW module, the UE 402 may determine to activate a power saving mode for the mmW module when the operation of the mmW module is not to be performed, and to deactivate the power saving mode when the operation of the mmW module is to be performed.

[0064] The base station 404 may transmit multiple beams 1-16 in multiple directions around the base station 404 based on beamforming techniques. Although diagram 400 illustrates 16 equally spaced beams, more or fewer beams (e.g., equally spaced or unequally spaced) may be transmitted around the base station 404. Each of the multiple beams 1-16 may include an SSB. The SSB may be four symbols in duration and may further include a PSS, a PBCH, an SSS, and a PBCH corresponding to the four symbols of the SSB, respectively.

[0065] When the UE 402 performs a cell search, the UE 402 may monitor the SSBs corresponding to the plurality of beams 1-16 and measure the detected strength of the SSBs in each of the plurality of directions. That is, the UE 402 may listen to the SSBs in 16 Rx directions (1)-(16) corresponding to the 16 plurality of beams 1-16, and report the reception information of each beam to the base station 404. For example, the UE 402 may determine that beams 2-3 are received with a threshold signal strength, beams 1 and 4 are received with less than a threshold signal strength (e.g., poor signal strength), and / or beams 5-6 are not received / detected by the UE 402 (e.g., substantially not transmitted toward the UE 402).

[0066] UE 402 may perform a cell search by listening to the SSB on any of the 16 directions to determine the cell corresponding to base station 404. Base station 404 may cycle through the 16 Tx directions concurrently with UE 402 cycling through the 16 Rx directions (1)-(16). For example, beam 1 may be transmitted 16 times in a row (e.g., one after the other) by base station 404 concurrently with UE 402 cycling through each of the 16 Rx directions (1)-(16) so that UE 402 identifies the Rx direction that matches / corresponds to beam 1. The same procedure may be repeated for each of the remaining beams 2-16 and directions (2)-(16).

[0067] If the UE 402 is configured to listen to only one Rx direction (e.g., Rx direction (3) corresponding to beam 3), the base station 404 may cycle through the multiple beams 1-16 via a single transmission of the beams 1-16 occurring one after another. In each aspect of each transmission in which the UE 402 listens to the multiple beams 1-16, the UE 402 may measure the corresponding signal strength of each beam and report the corresponding signal strength to the base station 404. In this way, some of the beams 1-16 listened to by the UE 402 may be determined to have no detected signal strength because such beams may not be detected by the UE 402.

[0068] Accordingly, UE 402 may search for transmitted beams based on a time-varying wireless channel and measure the detected signal strength of the beams transmitted in each direction in the Rx directions (1)-(16). Although SSBs may be used for both search and measurement procedures, UE 402 may not necessarily monitor all 4 symbols of each SSB in each search and measurement scenario. For symbols not used for the search and / or measurement procedures of UE 402, the UE 402 may be set to be in low power mode. In addition, for SSBs included in multiple beams 1-16 that are not detected by UE 402 (e.g., due to poor scattering in mmW channels), UE 402 may be configured to be in low power mode for the entire SSB symbol duration / beam transmission.

[0069] Figure 5 5 is a table 500 illustrating RF power consumption for a power mode for a UE. To save RF power at the symbol level, ZEB may be used for one or more symbols of an SSB, which may be 4 symbols in duration. ZEB may provide reduced power consumption compared to an active search / measurement of a UE that may be based on a 4-element beam. After applying ZEB to one or more symbols, the UE may be configured to "wake up" within the CP duration of the next active search / measurement operation.

[0070] Table 500 illustrates that applying ZEB based on the CP interval for SSB search and measurement operations can provide approximately 12.2% of the power consumption that would otherwise be observed based on an operating mode without applying ZEB (e.g., 23 mA of power consumption compared to 188.4 mA of power consumption). Thus, for different configurations associated with SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC) and / or connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX), ZEB can be applied to save power at the codeword level.

[0071] Figure 6600 is a table illustrating application of ZEB in association with SMTC and CDRX. In various aspects, determining a search window and SSB bitmap may be performed prior to performing search and measurement operations of the UE. The UE may determine parameters associated with the SSB of the serving cell, the SSB of the neighbor cell, the SMTC, etc. to determine the search window and SSB bitmap. In an example, the SMTC may be associated with a time domain window having a corresponding duration and location for the UE to detect and measure cells within the time domain window.

[0072] CDRX can be used to signal-free transitions between the "sleep" and "awake" states of a UE. Without CDRX, the UE would otherwise have to be in a continuously awake state in order to decode DL data that may be received at uncertain times. For example, without CDRX, the UE may consume too much power by monitoring the PDCCH in each subframe to determine whether the subframe includes any DL data. Therefore, the implementation of CDRX allows the PDCCH to be received discontinuously, which can reduce the power consumption of the UE.

[0073] When the UE is configured with SMTC and with CDRX on / without CDRX connectivity, ZEB may be applied to unused SSB symbols of the SSB bitmap. That is, in a configuration where there is no UL / DL data associated with any subcarrier of the same SSB symbol, the UE may apply ZEB to unused SSB symbols without affecting other data transmissions. However, if non-SMTC is used, other subcarriers may be frequency division multiplexed (FDM) so that UL / DL data may be included in the same symbol that may not be used for SSB. Therefore, ZEB cannot be applied to such symbols because other UL / DL data may be associated with the subcarrier of the symbol. When the UE is configured with CDRX off, UL / DL data cannot be communicated on the subcarrier, and therefore ZEB may be applied to unused SSB symbols.

[0074] Accordingly, table 600 indicates that if UL / DL data is being communicated on the subcarriers of an SSB symbol, the UE may continue to monitor the SSB on the corresponding symbol. However, if no UL / DL data is being communicated on the subcarriers of an SSB symbol, ZEB may be applied to the unused SSB symbol so that the UE may receive information on other SSB symbols. For example, the UE may receive information on a subset of SSB symbols.

[0075] Figure 7Table 700 is included indicating criteria for applying ZEB to SSB symbols of an exemplary time slot 750. The time slot 750 may include two SSBs based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 120 kHz. Each SSB may include 4 symbols. The first column of table 700 indicates multiple use cases for applying ZEB and the second column of table 700 indicates the type / number of symbols for each SSB that can be used for the corresponding use case. For example, a cell search may utilize all 4 symbols of an SSB (e.g., PSS, PBCH, SSS, and PBCH), thereby excluding the application of ZEB from such scenarios.

[0076] Other use cases may utilize a subset of SSB symbols, which may allow ZEB to be applied on unused symbols outside of the subset of SSB symbols. For example, serving cell-only measurements that may include radio link monitoring (RLM) / beam failure detection (BFD) tracking may be based on 1 of 4 SSB symbols (e.g., 1 symbol including SSS). The remaining 3 SSB symbols for serving cell-only measurements (e.g., PSS, PBCH, and PBCH) may have ZEB applied to them. In a further example, such as for neighbor cell measurements and / or time tracking loop (TTL) / frequency tracking loop (FTL) / automatic gain control (AGC) loops, 3 of the SSB symbols (e.g., PBCH, SSS, and PBCH) may be utilized and the remaining 1 SSB symbol (e.g., 1 symbol including PSS) may have ZEB applied to it. Because both time and frequency may have to be synchronized for operation of the UE, the TTL / FTL / AGC loop may be performed from time to time to ensure synchronization of time and frequency parameters.

[0077] In yet a further use case, an undetected SSB may utilize 0 SSB symbols, and thus may have ZEB applied to all 4 symbols of the SSB. By applying ZEB to all SSB symbols, the UE may no longer receive information on the SSB symbol. Applying ZEB to all 4 SSB symbols may provide significant power savings compared to other techniques in which the UE may continue to measure symbols of the SSB even when it does not detect a beam / SSB from a base station during a cell search. Accordingly, the UE may determine from the cell search whether an SSB is detected, and if an SSB is detected, the UE may apply a beam to a subset of the SSB symbols corresponding to the detected SSB (e.g., a subset of symbols as indicated via Table 700), and use ZEB for SSB symbols outside the subset of SSB symbols corresponding to the detected SSB.

[0078] Figure 88 is a table 800 illustrating RF power consumption corresponding to the number of measured SSB symbols. In an example where 16 SSBs are detected within 1 ms, 64 symbols may be determined as the baseline number of symbols for a duration of 1 ms (e.g., 4 symbols / SSB x 16 SSBs). In the case where the UE is configured to measure all 64 baseline number symbols of symbols, the RF power consumption may correspond to 107.66 mA. Measuring all baseline symbols may be associated with not applying ZEB because the UE may have to apply beams at all 64 symbols.

[0079] In aspects where only serving cell measurements are to be performed on 16 SSBs, the UE may apply beaming on 1 symbol (e.g., SSS symbol) in each of the 16 SSBs. Thus, the UE may measure 16 symbols (e.g., 16 SSS symbols) out of 64 baseline symbols. The other 48 symbols of the baseline (e.g., 3 unused symbols per SSB) may have ZEB applied to such symbols. By measuring symbols for only serving cell measurements without measuring unused SSB symbols, RF power consumption may be reduced to 36.77 mA (e.g., approximately 34% of the RF power consumed to measure the entire baseline). Power savings for the UE may be further provided in scenarios where the UE is configured with CDRX-ON.

[0080] Detecting all 16 SSS symbols included in the 16 SSBs of the baseline may correspond to non-line-of-sight (NoS) detection (e.g., in an environment associated with high scattering). However, assuming that some mmW environments may not be associated with high scattering, the UE may detect SSBs from the base station based on line-of-sight (LoS) detection. For example, during a cell search, the UE may detect 2 SSBs out of 16 SSBs transmitted from the base station. In such a scenario, if a serving cell-only measurement is to be performed, the UE may measure only 2 SSS symbols out of the 64 baseline symbols (e.g., 2 SSS symbols corresponding to the 2 SSBs detected from the cell search). Thus, RF power consumption may be reduced to 16.10 mA (e.g., approximately 15% of the RF power used to measure the full baseline number of symbols). Although in the above example the UE's measurements may be associated with detecting 2 SSBs, a second cell search performed by the UE that results in more or fewer SSBs being detected from the base station may result in a change in the UE's measurement technique. For example, the UE's measurement technique may be associated with a different number of SSBs based on more or fewer SSBs detected via the second cell search.

[0081] Fig. 9900 is a call flow diagram illustrating communication between a UE 902 and a base station 904. The UE 902 may perform a cell search to find a cell corresponding to the base station 904. At 906, the UE 902 may determine, based on the cell search, to measure a set of SSBs included in a plurality of beams transmitted in a plurality of directions from the base station 904. At 908, the base station 904 may transmit a set of SSBs in a plurality of directions. Each SSB in the set of SSBs may be at least 4 symbols in duration. The UE 902 may receive one or more SSBs in the set of SSBs. In various aspects, other SSBs in the set of SSBs may not be detected / received by the UE 902.

[0082] At 910, the UE 902 may determine a subset of SSBs received from a set of SSBs transmitted from the base station 904. The UE 902 may determine the subset of SSBs based on excluding undetected SSBs from the set of SSBs. At 912, the UE 902 may determine to perform a subsequent measurement operation based on measuring less than 4 symbols of each SSB. For example, the serving cell measurement may be performed based on measuring 1 symbol of each SSB, the neighbor cell measurement may be performed based on measuring 3 symbols of each SSB, the TTL / FTL / AGC loop measurement may also be performed based on measuring 3 symbols of each SSB, and so on. At 913, the UE 902 may reduce the Rx power on the symbols other than the less than 4 symbols. For example, the UE 902 may apply ZEB to the symbols other than the less than 4 symbols.

[0083] At 914, the base station 904 may transmit a corresponding SSB set associated with the SSB set transmitted at 908. Each SSB in the corresponding SSB set may also be at least 4 symbols in duration. At 914, the UE 902 may monitor the SSB subset in the corresponding SSB set based on the determination of the SSB subset at 910. At 914-916, the UE 902 may not monitor / measure SSBs outside the SSB subset. At 916, the UE 902 may measure each SSB received in the SSB subset by, for example, less than 4 symbols corresponding to the measurement operation determined at 912.

[0084] Fig.10 1000 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a UE (eg, UE 402), which may include a memory 360 and which may be the entire UE 402 or a component of the UE 402 (such as the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359).

[0085] At 1002, the UE may determine to measure a set of SSBs, each SSB in the set of SSBs being transmitted over four symbols. Figure 4 and Figure 7 , UE 402 may determine to measure a set of SSBs included in a plurality of beams 1-16 transmitted from base station 404. Exemplary time slot 750 includes SSB 1 and SSB 2 (e.g., received from base station 404 via beams 1-2), each of which is transmitted over four symbols. The set of SSBs may be determined to include SSBs associated with a cell search and exclude SSBs that are not detected based on the cell search. For example, referring to Figure 4 , UE 402 may perform a cell search for a cell including base station 404, wherein SSBs detected in one or more of the plurality of beams 1-16 may be included in the SSB set, and undetected SSBs may be excluded from the SSB set.

[0086] At 1004, the UE may determine an SSB subset of the set of SSBs for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB. Figure 7-8 , the UE may perform serving cell-only measurements, which, as indicated in table 700, require measuring only the SSS symbols (e.g., in each of SSB 1 and SSB 2 of exemplary time slot 750) and may not require measuring the other 3 symbols (e.g., in each of SSB 1 and SSB 2). In some configurations, the SSB set may include 16 SSBs (e.g., associated with the 16 SSS symbols identified in table 800 based on NoS SSB detection) and the SSB subset determined in the same or different configuration may include 2 SSBs (e.g., associated with the 2 SSS symbols identified in table 800 based on LoS SSB detection).

[0087] Determining the SSB subset may include determining that one or more SSBs in the set of SSBs are associated with at least one of: a serving cell measurement, a neighbor cell measurement, or at least one of a TTL, FTL, or AGC loop. Figure 7, Table 700 indicates that only serving cell measurements, neighbor cell measurements, and / or TTL / FTL / AGC loops may be associated with SSBs based on various symbols. The SSB subset may be determined to include one or more SSBs determined to be associated with at least one of the following: serving cell measurements, neighbor cell measurements, or at least one of TTL, FTL, or AGC loops. For example, the SSB subset may include SSB 1 and SSB 2 of the exemplary time slot 750 and may be associated with the use case of Table 700. For only serving cell measurements, the one or more SSBs may be measured based on one symbol associated with the SSS (e.g., as indicated via Table 700). For neighbor cell measurements and / or TTL / FTL / AGC loops, the one or more SSBs may be measured based on three symbols including two symbols for PBCH and one symbol for SSS (e.g., as indicated via Table 700).

[0088] At 1006, the UE may determine a number of symbols less than four for measuring each SSB in a subset of SSBs, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is measured based on the number of symbols determined for the SSB. Figure 7 , the UE may determine that some use cases included in table 700 may be associated with measuring a number of symbols per SSB that is less than four symbols per SSB (e.g., 0-3 symbols per SSB). For SSBs in the SSB subset associated with serving cell measurements, the number of symbols may be one, the one symbol being associated with the SSS (e.g., as indicated via table 700). For SSBs in the SSB subset associated with neighbor cell measurements or at least one of at least one of TTL, FTL, or AGC loops, the number of symbols may be three, the three symbols including two symbols for the PBCH and one symbol for the SSS (e.g., as indicated via table 700).

[0089] At 1008, the UE may reduce the receive power at at least one receiver at the UE for receiving symbols other than the four symbols. Fig. 9 , at 913, UE 902 may reduce Rx power on symbols other than the less than 4 symbols. The less than four symbols may include x symbols, where x<4. That is, each SSB in the SSB subset may include a first symbol subset and a second symbol subset, the first symbol subset including x symbols (e.g., less than 4 symbols), and the second symbol subset including the remaining symbols of each SSB (e.g., symbols other than the less than 4 symbols). The remaining symbols may include y symbols, where y=4-x.

[0090] At 1010, the UE may receive an SMTC—when symbols other than four symbols are within the SMTC window based on the received SMTC and when CDRX is turned on at the UE or the UE is in an RRC connected state, receive power is reduced at at least one receiver at the UE. For example, referring to Figure 6 , Table 600 indicates that if the UE is configured with CDRX-on or connected without CDRX and the UE is also configured with a received SMTC, then ZEB may be applied to unused SSB symbols corresponding to the SMTC within the SSB bitmap. The unused SSB symbols may not be scheduled for receiving anything other than the SSBs in the determined SSB subset. Additionally or alternatively, when CDRX is turned off at the UE, the receive power at at least one receiver at the UE may be reduced. For example, referring to Figure 6 , table 600 indicates that if the UE is configured with CDRX-OFF, ZEB may be applied to unused SSB symbols that are not scheduled for receiving anything other than SSBs in the determined SSB subset.

[0091] At 1012, the UE may measure each SSB in the SSB subset using less than four symbols associated with the SSB. Figure 7-8 , table 800 indicates that the UE may measure 2 SSBs (e.g., a subset of a set of 16 SSBs) based on the use cases corresponding to measuring a number of symbols per SSB less than four symbols per SSB (e.g., 0-3 symbols) included in table 700. The SSBs in the subset of SSBs may be associated with at least one of the following (e.g., as indicated via table 700): serving cell measurements, neighbor cell measurements, or at least one of a TTL, FTL, or AGC loop.

[0092] Fig.111100 is an example of a hardware implementation of an illustrative device 1102. The device 1102 is a UE and includes a cellular baseband processor 1104 (also referred to as a modem) coupled to a cellular RF transceiver 1122 and one or more subscriber identity modules (SIM) cards 1120, an application processor 1106 coupled to a secure digital (SD) card 1108 and a screen 1110, a Bluetooth module 1112, a wireless local area network (WLAN) module 1114, a global positioning system (GPS) module 1116, and a power supply 1118. The cellular baseband processor 1104 communicates with the UE 104 and / or the BS 102 / 180 through the cellular RF transceiver 1122. The cellular baseband processor 1104 may include a computer-readable medium / memory. The computer-readable medium / memory may be non-transitory. The cellular baseband processor 1104 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory. The software, when executed by the cellular baseband processor 1104, causes the cellular baseband processor 1104 to perform the various functions described above. The computer-readable medium / memory may also be used to store data manipulated by the cellular baseband processor 1104 when executing the software. The cellular baseband processor 1104 further includes a receiving component 1130, a communication manager 1132, and a transmission component 1134. The communication manager 1132 includes one or more of the illustrated components. The components within the communication manager 1132 may be stored in a computer-readable medium / memory and / or configured as hardware within the cellular baseband processor 1104. The cellular baseband processor 1104 may be a component of the UE 350 and may include a memory 360 and / or at least one of the following: a TX processor 368, an RX processor 356, and a controller / processor 359. In one configuration, the device 1102 may be a modem chip and include only the baseband processor 1104, and in another configuration, the device 1102 may be the entire UE (e.g., see Figure 3 350) and includes the aforementioned additional modules of device 1102.

[0093] For example, as described in conjunction with 1010, the receiving component 1130 is configured to receive the SMTC—when symbols other than four symbols are within the SMTC window based on the received SMTC and when CDRX is turned on at the UE or the UE is in an RRC connected state, the received power is reduced at at least one receiver at the UE. The communication manager 1132 includes a determining component 1140, for example, as described in conjunction with 1002, 1004, and 1006, the determining component 1140 is configured to: determine an SSB set to be measured—each SSB in the SSB set is transmitted on four symbols; determine an SSB subset of the SSB set, for which less than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB; and determine the number of less than four symbols for measuring each SSB in the SSB subset. For example, as described in conjunction with 1008, the communication manager 1132 further includes a reducing component 1142, which is configured to reduce the received power for receiving symbols other than four symbols at at least one receiver at the UE. For example, as described in conjunction with 1012, the communication manager 1132 further includes a measurement component 1144 configured to measure each SSB in the subset of SSBs by fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB.

[0094] The apparatus may include executing Fig.10 The additional components of each box of the algorithm in the preceding flowchart. Thus, Fig.10 Each block in the aforementioned flow chart of can be performed by a component and the device may include one or more of those components. These components can be one or more hardware components specially configured to perform the process / algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the process / algorithm, stored in a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

[0095] In one configuration, the device 1102 and in particular the cellular baseband processor 1104 includes: means for determining a set of SSBs to be measured, each SSB in the set of SSBs being transmitted over four symbols; means for determining a subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs, for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSBs; and means for measuring each SSB in the subset of SSBs over fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB. The device 1102 further includes means for reducing receive power at at least one receiver at the UE for receiving symbols within a second subset of symbols. The device 1102 further includes means for receiving an SMTC, wherein the receive power is reduced at at least one receiver at the UE when the second subset of symbols is within the SMTC window based on the received SMTC and when CDRX is turned on at the UE or the UE is in an RRC connected state. The device 1102 further includes means for determining a number of symbols less than four for measuring each SSB in a subset of SSBs, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is measured based on the number of symbols determined for the SSB.

[0096] In a first aspect, the apparatus for determining an SSB subset is further configured to determine one or more SSBs in a set of SSBs associated with a serving cell measurement, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the serving cell measurement, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on a symbol associated with an SSS. In a second aspect, the apparatus for determining an SSB subset is further configured to determine one or more SSBs in a set of SSBs associated with a neighbor cell measurement, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the neighbor cell measurement, and the one or more SSBs are measured based on three symbols including two symbols for a PBCH and one symbol for an SSS. In a third aspect, the apparatus for determining an SSB subset is further configured to determine one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with at least one of a TTL, FTL, or AGC loop, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with at least one of TTL, FTL, or AGC, and the one or more SSBs are measured based on three symbols including two symbols for PBCH and one symbol for SSS.

[0097] The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components in the device 1102 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. As described above, the device 1102 may include the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359. Thus, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

[0098] Accordingly, after the UE performs a cell search to find a set of SSBs, the UE may determine a subset of the set of SSBs detected from the cell search. For subsequent measurement operations, the UE may save power by only listening / measuring SSBs corresponding to the subset of SSBs detected from the cell search and applying ZEB to SSBs corresponding to SSBs not detected from the cell search (e.g., SSBs outside the subset). Each SSB measured by the UE may span four symbols. The UE may also determine that less than four symbols of an SSB may need to be measured based on the type of measurement operation to be performed. The UE may additionally save power by measuring less than four symbols of an SSB in a subset of SSBs based on the type of measurement operation and applying ZEB to the remaining symbol(s) of each SSB in the subset of SSBs.

[0099] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of each box in the disclosed process / flowchart is an illustration of an example approach. It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of each box in these process / flowcharts can be rearranged based on design preferences. In addition, some boxes can be combined or omitted. The attached method claims present the elements of various boxes in an exemplary order and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0100] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be easily understood by those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined in this article can be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown in this article, but should be granted the full scope consistent with the claims in language, wherein the singular reference of the elements is not intended to represent "there is and only one", but "one or more", unless otherwise stated. The wording "exemplary" is used in this article to represent "used as an example, instance, or explanation". Any aspect described as "exemplary" herein does not have to be interpreted as being superior to or superior to other aspects. Unless otherwise stated, the term "some / certain" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B or C", "one or more of A, B or C", "at least one of A, B and C", "one or more of A, B and C" and "A, B, C or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B and / or C, and may include multiple A, multiple B or multiple C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, wherein any such combination may include one or more members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are currently or hereafter known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recorded in the claims. The terms "module," "mechanism," "element," "device," and the like may not be a substitute for the term "means." Thus, no claim element should be interpreted as a means-plus-function unless the element is explicitly stated using the phrase "means for..."

[0101] The following examples are merely illustrative and may be combined with other aspects or teachings described herein without limitation.

[0102] Aspect 1 is a method for wireless communication of a UE, comprising: determining an SSB set to be measured, each SSB in the SSB set being transmitted on four codewords; determining an SSB subset of the SSB set, for which less than four codewords associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB; and measuring each SSB in the SSB subset by less than four codewords associated with the SSB.

[0103] Aspect 2 may be combined with aspect 1 and includes that the set of SSBs is determined to include SSBs associated with the cell search and exclude SSBs that are not detected based on the cell search.

[0104] Aspect 3 may be combined with any of aspects 1-2, and includes that the SSBs in the subset of SSBs are associated with at least one of: serving cell measurements; neighbor cell measurements; or at least one of a TTL, FTL, or AGC loop.

[0105] Aspect 4 can be combined with any of Aspects 1-3, and includes that the less than four codewords include x codewords, where x<4, each SSB in the SSB subset includes a first codeword subset and a second codeword subset, the first codeword subset includes x codewords, and the second codeword subset includes the remaining codewords in each SSB, and the remaining codewords include y codewords, where y=4–x.

[0106] Aspect 5 may be combined with any of aspects 1-4, and further comprises reducing reception power at at least one receiver at the UE for receiving symbols within the second subset of symbols.

[0107] Aspect 6 may be combined with any of aspects 1-5, and includes that when CDRX is turned off at a UE, receive power is reduced at at least one receiver at the UE.

[0108] Aspect 7 can be combined with any of Aspects 1-5 and further includes receiving SMTC, wherein when the second codeword subset is within the SMTC window based on the received SMTC and when CDRX is turned on at the UE or the UE is in an RRC connected state, the receiving power is reduced at at least one receiver at the UE.

[0109] Aspect 8 can be combined with any of Aspects 1-7, and further includes determining a number of less than four codewords for measuring each SSB in the SSB subset, wherein each SSB in the SSB set is measured based on the number of codewords determined for the SSB.

[0110] Aspect 9 may be combined with any one of Aspects 1-8, and includes: for an SSB in the SSB subset associated with serving cell measurements, the number of codewords is one, and the one codeword includes an SSS; for an SSB in the SSB subset associated with neighbor cell measurements, the number of codewords is three, and the three codewords include two codewords for PBCH and one codeword for SSS; or for an SSB in the SSB subset associated with at least one of a TTL, FTL, or AGC loop, the number of codewords is three, and the three codewords include two codewords for PBCH and one codeword for SSS.

[0111] Aspect 10 may be combined with any of Aspects 1-9 and include: determining an SSB subset includes determining one or more SSBs in the SSB set associated with a serving cell measurement, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the serving cell measurement, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on a codeword associated with the SSS.

[0112] Aspect 11 may be combined with any of Aspects 1-9 and include: determining an SSB subset includes determining one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with neighbor cell measurements, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the neighbor cell measurements, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on three codewords including two codewords for PBCH and one codeword for SSS.

[0113] Aspect 12 may be combined with any of Aspects 1-9 and include: determining an SSB subset includes determining one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with at least one of a TTL, FTL, or AGC loop, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with at least one of TTL, FTL, or AGC, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on three codewords including two codewords for PBCH and one codeword for SSS.

[0114] Aspect 13 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least one processor coupled to a memory and configured to implement the method of any one of aspects 1-12.

[0115] Aspect 14 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for implementing the method of any one of aspects 1-12.

[0116] Aspect 15 is a computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, wherein the code, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to implement the method of any one of aspects 1-12.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method of a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining a set of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be measured, each SSB in the set of SSBs being transmitted over four symbols, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is transmitted over a corresponding beam; determining a subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB; Applying a zero element beam ZEB to remaining symbols other than the fewer than four symbols of each SSB in the SSB subset; reducing receive power at at least one receiver at the UE for reception of the remaining symbols for each SSB in the subset of SSBs; as well as Each SSB in the subset of SSBs is measured by less than four symbols associated with the SSB.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of SSBs is determined to include SSBs associated with a cell search and exclude SSBs that are not detected based on the cell search.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SSBs in the subset of SSBs are associated with at least one of: Serving cell measurements; Neighbor cell measurements; or At least one of a time tracking loop (TTL), a frequency tracking loop (FTL), or an automatic gain control (AGC) loop.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the less than four codewords include x codewords, where x<4, each SSB in the SSB subset includes a first codeword subset and a second codeword subset, the first codeword subset includes x codewords, and the second codeword subset includes the remaining codewords in each SSB, the remaining codewords include y codewords, where y=4–x.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the receive power is reduced at the at least one receiver at the UE when connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) is turned off at the UE.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4 further includes receiving an SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC), wherein when the second codeword subset is within the SMTC window based on the received SMTC and when connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) is turned on at the UE or the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, the receiving power is reduced at the at least one receiver at the UE.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a number of symbols less than four for measuring each SSB in the subset of SSBs, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is measured based on the number of symbols determined for the SSB.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein: For an SSB in the subset of SSBs associated with serving cell measurement, the number of symbols is one, the one symbol comprising a secondary synchronization signal (SSS); For an SSB in the subset of SSBs associated with neighbor cell measurements, the number of symbols is three, the three symbols including two symbols for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one symbol for the SSS; or For an SSB in the SSB subset that is associated with at least one of a time tracking loop (TTL), a frequency tracking loop (FTL), or an automatic gain control (AGC) loop, the number of symbols is three, including two symbols for the PBCH and one symbol for the SSS.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the SSB subset comprises determining one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with a serving cell measurement, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the serving cell measurement, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on a symbol associated with a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the SSB subset comprises determining one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with neighbor cell measurements, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the neighbor cell measurements, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on three symbols including two symbols for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one symbol for a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the SSB subset comprises determining one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with at least one of a time tracking loop (TTL), a frequency tracking loop (FTL), or an automatic gain control (AGC) loop, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with at least one of the TTL, FTL, or AGC, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on three symbols including two symbols for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one symbol for a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

12. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; as well as at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: determining a set of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be measured, each SSB in the set of SSBs being transmitted over four symbols, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is transmitted over a corresponding beam; determining a subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB; Applying a zero element beam ZEB to remaining symbols other than the fewer than four symbols of each SSB in the SSB subset; reducing receive power at at least one receiver at the UE for reception of the remaining symbols for each SSB in the subset of SSBs; as well as Each SSB in the subset of SSBs is measured by less than four symbols associated with the SSB.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the set of SSBs is determined to include SSBs associated with a cell search and to exclude SSBs that are not detected based on the cell search.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the SSBs in the subset of SSBs are associated with at least one of: Serving cell measurements; Neighbor cell measurements; or At least one of a time tracking loop (TTL), a frequency tracking loop (FTL), or an automatic gain control (AGC) loop.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the less than four symbols include x symbols, where x<4, each SSB in the SSB subset includes a first symbol subset and a second symbol subset, the first symbol subset includes x symbols, the second symbol subset includes the remaining symbols in each SSB, the remaining symbols include y symbols, where y=4–x.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the receive power is reduced at the at least one receiver at the UE when connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) is turned off at the UE.

17. An apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive an SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC), wherein the receive power is reduced at the at least one receiver at the UE when the second codeword subset is within the SMTC window based on the received SMTC and when connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) is turned on at the UE or the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a number of less than four symbols for measuring each SSB in the subset of SSBs, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is measured based on the number of symbols determined for the SSB.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein: For an SSB in the subset of SSBs associated with serving cell measurement, the number of symbols is one, the one symbol comprising a secondary synchronization signal (SSS); For an SSB in the subset of SSBs associated with neighbor cell measurements, the number of symbols is three, the three symbols including two symbols for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one symbol for the SSS; or For an SSB in the SSB subset that is associated with at least one of a time tracking loop (TTL), a frequency tracking loop (FTL), or an automatic gain control (AGC) loop, the number of symbols is three, including two symbols for the PBCH and one symbol for the SSS.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein to determine the SSB subset, the at least one processor is further configured to determine one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with serving cell measurement, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the serving cell measurement, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on a symbol associated with a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein to determine the SSB subset, the at least one processor is further configured to determine one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with neighbor cell measurements, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with the neighbor cell measurements, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on three symbols including two symbols for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one symbol for a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein to determine the SSB subset, the at least one processor is further configured to determine one or more SSBs in the SSB set that are associated with at least one of a time tracking loop (TTL), a frequency tracking loop (FTL), or an automatic gain control (AGC) loop, wherein the SSB subset is determined to include the determined one or more SSBs associated with at least one of the TTL, FTL, or AGC, and wherein the one or more SSBs are measured based on three symbols including two symbols for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and one symbol for a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

23. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: means for determining a set of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be measured, each SSB in the set of SSBs being transmitted over four symbols, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is transmitted over a corresponding beam; means for determining a subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB; means for applying a zero element beam (ZEB) to the remaining symbols other than the fewer than four symbols of each SSB in the subset of SSBs; means for reducing receive power at at least one receiver at the UE for reception of the remaining symbols for each SSB in the subset of SSBs; as well as Means for measuring each SSB in the subset of SSBs by less than four symbols associated with the SSB.

24. A computer readable medium storing computer executable code which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to: determining a set of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be measured, each SSB in the set of SSBs being transmitted over four symbols, wherein each SSB in the set of SSBs is transmitted over a corresponding beam; determining a subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs for which fewer than four symbols associated with the SSB are to be used for measurement of the SSB; Applying a zero element beam ZEB to remaining symbols other than the fewer than four symbols of each SSB in the SSB subset; reducing receive power at at least one receiver at the UE for reception of the remaining symbols for each SSB in the subset of SSBs; as well as Each SSB in the subset of SSBs is measured by less than four symbols associated with the SSB.

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