Improved monitoring of random access

Abstract

Various aspects relate to a configurable monitoring window duration for random access. In some examples, a user equipment (UE) can utilize a reduced monitoring window duration to monitor a random access message sent by a base station. The reduced monitoring window duration can be configured as an offset from the transmission time of a first random access message by the UE or as a reduced duration as measured from the transmission time of the first random access message. The configurable monitoring window duration can be associated with a random access response monitoring window, a random access contention resolution monitoring window, or a random access msgB response window.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application is the US national phase of PCT patent application No. PCT / CN2020 / 116250 filed on August 18, 2020. Technical Field

[0003]

[0011] The techniques discussed below generally relate to wireless communication networks, and more specifically, relate to techniques for monitoring random access messages. Background Art

[0004] In a 5G new radio wireless communication network, in order for a user equipment (UE) to obtain access to a cell initially or after a link failure, the UE may perform a random access procedure on a physical random access channel (PRACH). In an example of a random access procedure, the UE may send a first random access message including a request for initial access to a base station. For example, the UE may randomly select a PRACH preamble from a set of available preambles within a cell served by the base station and send the selected PRACH preamble in a RACH opportunity (e.g., a time-frequency resource allocated for the first random access message). Upon successful receipt of the PRACH preamble, the base station may send a second random access message (e.g., a random access response) including an identifier of the preamble sent by the UE, a timing advance (TA), a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI) or a random access (RA) RNTI of the UE, and a grant of assigned uplink (UL) resources.

[0005] The random access procedure implemented in a cell can be referred to as a two-step RACH procedure or a four-step RACH procedure. In the four-step RACH procedure, since the preamble is randomly selected by the UE, if another UE selects the same preamble in the same RACH opportunity, a conflict may arise between the two scheduled entities. A contention resolution procedure can then be used to resolve any conflict, wherein the UE uses the TA in the second random access message and the assigned uplink resources to send a third random access message (e.g., an uplink message) including the UE's identifier. Upon successful decoding of the third random access message, the base station sends a fourth random access message (e.g., a contention resolution message) including the UE's identifier. The four-step RACH procedure can be compressed into a two-step RACH procedure by the UE sending a first random access message including a combination of a RACH preamble and an uplink message for contention resolution. The base station can then respond with a second random access message including a combination of a random access response and a contention resolution message. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In order to provide a basic understanding of one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an overview of such aspects is provided below. This overview is not an exhaustive overview of all anticipated features of the present disclosure and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects of the present disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in a form that serves as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be provided later.

[0007] In one example, a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) is disclosed. The method includes: sending a first random access message to a base station during a random access procedure; and selecting a selected monitoring window from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window. The first monitoring window includes a first duration that is different from a second duration of the second monitoring window. The method also includes monitoring a second random access message from the base station within the selected monitoring window.

[0008] Another example provides a method for wireless communication at a base station. The method includes: receiving a first random access message from a user equipment (UE) during a random access procedure; and selecting a selected monitoring window from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window. The first monitoring window includes a first duration that is different from a second duration of the second monitoring window. The method also includes: sending a second random access message to the UE within the selected monitoring window.

[0009] After reading the specific embodiments below, these and other aspects of the present invention will become more fully understood. After reading the following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Although the features of the present invention may be discussed below with respect to certain embodiments and the accompanying drawings, all embodiments of the present invention may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used according to the various embodiments of the present invention discussed herein. In a similar manner, although the exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system or method embodiments, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some aspects.

[0011] Figure 2 is a conceptual illustration of an example of a wireless access network in accordance with some aspects.

[0012] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the organization of radio resources in an air interface utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in accordance with some aspects.

[0013] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a contention-based random access procedure utilizing a random access channel (RACH) in accordance with some aspects.

[0014] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example two-step RACH procedure in accordance with some aspects.

[0015] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a monitoring window for random access according to some aspects.

[0016] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a user equipment (UE) employing a processing system according to some aspects.

[0017] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a base station employing a processing system according to some aspects.

[0018] Figure 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example process for selecting a random access monitoring window at a UE according to some aspects.

[0019] Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example process for selecting a random access monitoring window at a base station according to some aspects. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] 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 configuration in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. In order to provide a comprehensive understanding of each concept, the detailed description includes specific details. 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 to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0021] Although various aspects and embodiments are described in this application by illustrating some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional implementations and use cases can be generated in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and / or uses can be generated via integrated chip embodiments and other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchase equipment, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). Although some examples may or may not be specifically for use cases or applications, there can be a variety of applicable scopes for the described innovations. Implementations can have a range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some actual settings, the devices incorporating the described aspects and features must also include additional components and features for the implementations and practices of the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily include multiple components for both analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / accumulators, etc.) It is expected that the innovations described herein can be practiced in a variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc., having different sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0022] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure can be implemented across a wide variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Figure 1 By way of example and not limitation, various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated with reference to a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interacting domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. By means of the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 may be able to perform data communications with an external data network 110, such as, but not limited to, the Internet.

[0023] The RAN 104 may implement any one or more suitable radio access technologies (RATs) to provide wireless access to the UE 106. For example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specifications (often referred to as 5G). For another example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with a hybrid of 5G NR and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standards (often referred to as LTE). 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as the Next Generation RAN or NG-RAN. In another example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with both LTE and 5G NR standards. Of course, many other examples may be utilized within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0024] As shown, the RAN 104 includes multiple base stations 108. Broadly speaking, a base station is a network element in a radio access network that is responsible for radio transmission and reception to or from a UE in one or more cells. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, those skilled in the art may refer to a base station as a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), a node B (NB), an evolved node B (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a transmit receive point (TRP), or some other appropriate terminology. In some examples, a base station may include two or more TRPs that may be co-located or non-co-located. Each TRP may communicate on the same or different carrier frequencies within the same or different frequency bands. In an example where the RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, one of the base stations 108 may be an LTE base station, while the other may be a 5G NR base station.

[0025] The radio access network 104 is also shown as supporting wireless communications for multiple mobile devices. In the 3GPP standard, a mobile device may be referred to as a user equipment (UE) 106, but those skilled in the art may also refer to it as a mobile station (MS), a user station, a mobile unit, a user unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile user station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other appropriate terminology. UE 106 may be a device that provides access to network services to a user. In an example where the RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, the UE 106 may be an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network - New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) UE that is capable of simultaneously connecting to an LTE base station and an NR base station to receive data packets from both the LTE base station and the NR base station.

[0026] In this document, a "mobile" device does not necessarily need to have the ability to move, and it can be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile device broadly refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. A UE may include multiple hardware structural components whose size, shape, and arrangement are modified to facilitate communication; such components may include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc. that are electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile stations, cellular (cell) phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablet devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and various embedded systems, such as those corresponding to the "Internet of Things." In addition, a mobile device may be a car or other means of transportation, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotic device, a satellite radio unit, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-rotor helicopter, a quadcopter, a remote control device, a consumer device such as glasses, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smartwatch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, and / or a wearable device. In addition, the mobile device may be a digital home or smart home device, such as home audio, video and / or multimedia equipment, appliances, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems, smart meters, and the like. In addition, the mobile device may be a smart energy device, security equipment, solar panels or solar arrays, municipal infrastructure equipment that controls power (e.g., smart grid), lighting, water, etc., industrial automation and enterprise equipment, logistics controllers, agricultural equipment, and the like. In addition, the mobile device may provide connected medicine or telemedicine support (i.e., telehealth care). Telemedicine devices may include telemedicine monitoring devices and telemedicine management devices, whose communications may be given priority treatment or priority access relative to other types of information, for example, in terms of priority access for the transmission of critical service data and / or associated QoS for the transmission of critical service data.

[0027] The wireless communication between RAN 104 and UE 106 can be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) over the air interface can be referred to as downlink (DL) transmissions. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the term downlink can refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions originating from a scheduling entity (described further below; e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this approach can be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) can be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. According to further aspects of the present disclosure, the term uplink can refer to point-to-point transmissions originating from a scheduled entity (described further below; e.g., UE 106).

[0028] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled, wherein a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and apparatuses within its service area or cell. In the present disclosure, as discussed further below, a scheduling entity can be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduled communications, UE 106 (which can be a scheduled entity) can use resources allocated by scheduling entity 108.

[0029] Base station 108 is not the only entity that can act as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can act as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs).

[0030] like Figure 1 As shown, the scheduling entity 108 can broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities 106. Broadly speaking, the scheduling entity 108 is a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic in the wireless communication network, including downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 from one or more scheduled entities 106 to the scheduling entity 108. On the other hand, the scheduled entity 106 is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114 (including, but not limited to, scheduling information (e.g., grants), synchronization or timing information, or other control information) from another entity in the wireless communication network (e.g., the scheduling entity 108).

[0031] In addition, uplink and / or downlink control information and / or traffic information can be divided into frames, subframes, time slots and / or symbols by time. As used herein, a symbol can refer to a time unit in which each subcarrier carries one resource element (RE) in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform. A time slot can carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe can refer to a duration of 1ms. Multiple subframes or time slots can be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Of course, these definitions are not required, and any suitable scheme for organizing a waveform can be utilized, and the various time divisions of a waveform can have any suitable duration.

[0032] Typically, base stations 108 may include a backhaul interface for communicating with a backhaul portion 120 of a wireless communication system. Backhaul 120 may provide a link between base stations 108 and core network 102. Furthermore, in some examples, a backhaul network may provide interconnection between respective base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or a backhaul interface using any suitable transport network.

[0033] The core network 102 may be part of the wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the RAN 104. In some examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or any other appropriate standard or configuration.

[0034] Now refer to Figure 2 , by way of example and not limitation, a diagram of a RAN 200 is provided. In some examples, the RAN 200 may be similar to the ones described above and in Figure 1 The geographic area covered by the RAN 200 may be divided into cellular regions (cells) that a user equipment (UE) can uniquely identify based on an identity broadcast from an access point or base station. Figure 2 Macro cells 202, 204, and 206, as well as small cell 208, are shown, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of ​​a cell. All sectors in a cell are served by the same base station. A radio link within a sector can be identified by a single logical identifier belonging to that sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within the cell may be formed by multiple groups of antennas, each of which is responsible for communicating with UEs in a portion of the cell.

[0035] exist Figure 2, two base stations 210 and 212 are shown in cells 202 and 204; and a third base station 214 is shown as being used to control a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in cell 206. That is, the base stations may have integrated antennas or may be connected to antennas or RRHs via feeder cables. In the example shown, cells 202, 204, and 126 may be referred to as macro cells because base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells with larger sizes. In addition, base station 218 is shown in a small cell 208 (e.g., a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, a home base station, a home node B, a home evolved node B, etc.), where the small cell 208 may overlap with one or more macro cells. In this example, cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell because base station 218 supports cells with relatively smaller sizes. Cell size changes may be made based on system design and component constraints.

[0036] It is to be understood that the wireless access network 200 may include any number of wireless base stations and cells. In addition, relay nodes may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cell. Base stations 210, 212, 214, 218 provide wireless access points to the core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 may be similar to those described above and in Figure 1 The base station / scheduling entity 108 shown in FIG.

[0037] In the RAN 200, a cell may include UEs that may communicate with one or more sectors of each cell. In addition, each base station 210, 212, 214, and 218 may be configured to provide connections to the core network 102 (see FIG. 1 ) for all UEs in the corresponding cell. Figure 1 ) access point. For example, UEs 222 and 224 can communicate with base station 210; UEs 226 and 228 can communicate with base station 212; UEs 230 and 232 can communicate with base station 214 by way of RRH 216; and UE 234 can communicate with base station 218. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 238, 240, and / or 242 can communicate with the base stations described above and in Figure 1 The UE / scheduled entity 106 shown in FIG. 1 is the same as that shown in FIG.

[0038] In some examples, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 220 (which may be a drone or a quadcopter) may be a mobile network node and may be configured to act as a UE. For example, UAV 220 may operate in cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0039] In the wireless access network 200, the ability of a UE to communicate while moving (independent of its location) is called mobility. This is usually done in an access and mobility management function (AMF, not shown). Figure 1 The AMF establishes, maintains, and releases various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network under the control of the core network 102 in the core network, wherein the AMF may include a security context management function unit (SCMF) that manages the security context for both the control plane and the user plane functions, and a security anchor function unit (SEAF) that performs authentication.

[0040] The radio access network 200 can use either DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to implement mobility and handover (i.e., the transition of a UE's connection from one radio channel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, a UE can monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell and various parameters of neighboring cells. Based on the quality of these parameters, the UE can maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE can perform a handoff or handover from the serving cell to the neighboring (target) cell. For example, a UE 224 (illustrated as a vehicle, but any suitable form of UE can be used) can move from the geographic area corresponding to its serving cell 202 to the geographic area corresponding to a neighboring cell 206. When the signal strength or quality from a neighboring cell 206 exceeds the signal strength or quality of its serving cell 202 for a given amount of time, the UE 224 can send a report message to its serving base station 210 indicating this condition. In response, UE 224 may receive a handover command, and the UE may perform a handover to cell 206 .

[0041] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, the network can utilize the UL reference signal from each UE to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 can broadcast a unified synchronization signal (e.g., a unified primary synchronization signal (PSS), a unified secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a unified physical broadcast channel (PBCH)). UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 can receive the unified synchronization signal, derive the carrier frequency and time slot timing based on the synchronization signal, and send an uplink pilot or reference signal in response to the derived timing. The uplink pilot signal transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 224) can be received concurrently by two or more cells (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216) within the radio access network 200. Each of the cells may measure the strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or a central node within the core network) may determine a serving cell for UE 224. As UE 224 moves through radio access network 200, the network may continue to monitor the uplink pilot signals transmitted by UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, network 200 may handover UE 224 from the serving cell to the neighboring cell with or without notifying UE 224.

[0042] Although the synchronization signals transmitted by base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may be uniform, the synchronization signals may not identify a specific cell, but may identify a region of multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or using the same timing. The use of regions in 5G networks or other next-generation communication networks implements an uplink-based mobility framework and improves the efficiency of both the UE and the network because the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network can be reduced.

[0043] In various implementations, the air interface in the wireless access network 200 can utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum generally provides exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum with the help of a mobile network operator purchasing a license from a government regulatory body. Unlicensed spectrum provides shared use of a portion of the spectrum without the need for a government-granted license. While some technical regulations generally still need to be adhered to to access unlicensed spectrum, generally speaking, any operator or device can gain access. Shared spectrum can fall between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, where some technical regulations or restrictions may be required to access the spectrum, but the spectrum can still be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple RATs. For example, a licensee of a portion of licensed spectrum can offer Licensed Shared Access (LSA) to share the spectrum with other parties (e.g., with appropriate licensee-determined conditions to gain access).

[0044] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled, where a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and apparatuses within its service area or cell. In the present disclosure, as discussed further below, a scheduling entity can be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduled communications, a UE or scheduled entity utilizes resources allocated by the scheduling entity.

[0045] The base station is not the only entity that can be used as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can be used as a scheduling entity that schedules resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UE 238, 240, and 242) can communicate with each other using peer-to-peer (P2P) or sidelink signals 237 without relaying the communication through the base station. In some examples, UE 238, 240, and 242 can each serve as a scheduling entity or a sending sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or a receiving sidelink device to schedule resources and transmit sidelink signals 237 between them without relying on scheduling or control information from the base station. In other examples, two or more UEs (e.g., UE 226 and 228) within the coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., base station 212) can also transmit sidelink signals 227 on a direct link (sidelink) without transmitting the communication through base station 246. In this example, base station 212 can allocate resources for sidelink communication to UE 226 and 228. In either case, such sidelink signaling 227 and 237 may be implemented in a P2P network, a device-to-device (D2D) network, a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) network, a mesh network, or other suitable direct link network.

[0046] In some examples, a D2D relay framework can be included within the cellular network to facilitate relaying communications to / from base station 212 via D2D links (e.g., sidelinks 227 or 237). For example, one or more UEs (e.g., UE 228) within the coverage area of ​​base station 212 can operate as relay UEs to extend the coverage of base station 212, improve transmission reliability to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 226), and / or allow the base station to recover from a failed UE link, for example, due to blocking or fading.

[0047] The air interface in the wireless access network 200 may utilize one or more duplexing algorithms. Duplexing refers to a point-to-point communication link in which two endpoints can communicate with each other in both directions. Full-duplexing means that two endpoints can communicate with each other simultaneously. Half-duplexing means that at a given time, only one endpoint can send information to the other endpoint. Half-duplex emulation is frequently implemented for wireless links using time division duplexing (TDD). In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using time division multiplexing. That is, at certain times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in one direction, while at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in the other direction, where the direction can change very quickly (e.g., several times per time slot). In wireless links, full-duplex channels typically rely on physical isolation between the transmitter and receiver and appropriate interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex emulation is frequently implemented for wireless links using frequency division duplexing (FDD) or space division duplexing (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions can operate at different carrier frequencies (e.g., within a paired spectrum). In SDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using spatial division multiplexing (SDM). In other examples, full-duplex communication can be implemented within an unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur within different sub-bands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication may be referred to herein as sub-band full-duplex (SBFD), also known as flexible duplexing.

[0048] The air interface in the radio access network 200 may also utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of various devices. For example, the 5G NR specification provides multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to the base station 210, and multiplexing of DL transmissions from the base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224 using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP). In addition, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR specification provides support for discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP (also known as single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of the present disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes and may be provided using time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource spread multiple access (RSMA), or other appropriate multiple access schemes. Furthermore, multiplexing of DL transmissions from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 may be provided using time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes.

[0049] Reference will be made to OFDM waveforms (examples of which are given in Figure 3 Various aspects of the present disclosure are described herein (schematically shown in FIG). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various aspects of the present disclosure can be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described herein below. That is, while some examples of the present disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles can also be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms.

[0050] Now refer to Figure 3 , shows an expanded view of an exemplary DL subframe 302 illustrating an OFDM resource grid. However, as one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the PHY transmission structure for any particular application may differ from the example described herein depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction, in units of OFDM symbols; and frequency is in the vertical direction, in units of subcarriers.

[0051] Resource grid 304 can be used to schematically represent the time-frequency resources used for a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) implementation with multiple available antenna ports, corresponding multiple resource grids 304 can be available for communication. Resource grid 304 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 306. An RE (which is 1 carrier x 1 symbol) is the smallest discrete portion of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex quantity representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation used in a particular implementation, each RF element can represent one or more bits of information. In some examples, a block of REs can be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB), or more simply, a resource block (RB) 308, which contains any suitable number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB can include 12 subcarriers, regardless of the digital scheme used. In some examples, depending on the digital scheme, an RB can include any suitable number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within this disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB (such as RB 308) corresponds entirely to a single direction of communication (either transmit or receive for a given device).

[0052] Scheduling a UE or sidelink device (hereinafter collectively referred to as a UE) for downlink, uplink, or sidelink transmissions typically involves scheduling one or more resource elements 306 within one or more subbands or bandwidth parts (BWPs). Thus, a UE typically utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 304. In some examples, a RB may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. Thus, the more RBs scheduled for a UE and the higher the modulation scheme selected for the air interface, the higher the data rate for the UE. RBs may be scheduled by a base station (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.) or may be self-scheduled by the UE / sidelink device implementing D2D sidelink communication.

[0053] In this diagram, RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of subframe 302, with some subcarriers shown above and below RB 308. In a given implementation, subframe 302 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 308. Furthermore, in this diagram, while RB 308 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of subframe 302, this is merely one possible example.

[0054] Each 1ms subframe 302 may be composed of one or more adjacent time slots. Figure 4In the example shown in , a subframe 302 includes four time slots 310 as an illustrative example. In some examples, a time slot can be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a time slot can include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Another example may include mini-slots (sometimes referred to as shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs)) with shorter durations (e.g., one to three OFDM symbols). In some cases, these mini-slots or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) can be sent occupying resources scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same or different UEs. Any number of resource blocks can be utilized within a subframe or time slot.

[0055] An expanded view of one of the time slots 310 shows that the time slot 310 includes a control region 312 and a data region 314. Typically, the control region 312 may carry a control channel (e.g., PDCCH), and the data region 314 may carry a data channel (e.g., PDSCH or PUSCH). Of course, a time slot may contain all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. Figure 3 The simple structure shown in FIG is merely exemplary in nature, and different slot structures may be utilized and may include one or more regions in each of the control region and the data region.

[0056] Despite Figure 3 Although not shown, each RE 306 within an RB 308 may be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including a control channel, a shared channel, a data channel, etc. Other REs 306 within an RB 308 may also carry pilot or reference signals. These pilot or reference signals may enable a receiving device to perform channel estimation for the corresponding channel, which may enable coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels within the RB 308.

[0057] In some examples, time slot 310 may be utilized for broadcast, multicast, groupcast, or unicast communications. For example, broadcast, multicast, or groupcast communications may refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions from one device (e.g., a base station, UE, or other similar device) to other devices. Here, broadcast communications are delivered to all devices, while multicast communications are delivered to multiple intended recipient devices, and groupcast communications are delivered to a group of intended recipient devices. Unicast communications may refer to point-to-point transmissions from one device to a single other device.

[0058] In the example of cellular communication on a cellular carrier via a Uu interface, for DL ​​transmission, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) may allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., within a control region 312) to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs) to carry DL control information including one or more DL control channels (e.g., a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI), including but not limited to power control commands (e.g., one or more open-loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed-loop power control parameters), scheduling information, grants, and / or assignments of REs for DL ​​and UL transmissions. The PDCCH may also carry HARQ feedback transmissions, such as acknowledgements (ACKs) or negative acknowledgements (NACKs). HARQ is a technique well known to those skilled in the art, wherein the integrity of packet transmissions may be checked for accuracy at the receiving end, for example, using any suitable integrity check mechanism, such as a checksum or cyclic redundancy check (CRC). If the integrity of the transmission is confirmed, an ACK may be sent, while if the integrity of the transmission is not confirmed, a NACK may be sent. In response to the NACK, the transmitting device may send a HARQ retransmission, which may implement append combining, incremental redundancy, and the like.

[0059] The base station may also allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., in the control region 312 or the data region 314) to carry other DL signals, such as a demodulation reference signal (DMRS); a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS); a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS); and a synchronization signal block (SSB). The SSBs may be broadcast at regular intervals based on a period (e.g., 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 ms). The SSBs include a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast control channel (PBCH). The UE may utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell.

[0060] The PBCH in the SSB may also include a master information block (MIB) containing various system information and parameters for decoding a system information block (SIB). For example, the SIB may be, for example, a system information type (SystemInformationType) 1 (SIB1), which may include various additional system information. Examples of system information sent in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, subcarrier spacing, system frame number, configuration of a PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), and a search space for SIB1. Examples of additional system information sent in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. The MIB and SIB1 together provide minimum system information (SI) for initial access.

[0061] In an UL transmission, a scheduled entity (e.g., a UE) may utilize one or more REs 306 to carry UL control information (UCI) to a scheduling entity, including one or more UL control channels, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). UCI may include a variety of packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmissions. In some examples, UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., a request for a scheduling entity to schedule an uplink transmission. Here, in response to the SR sent on the UCI, the scheduling entity may send downlink control information (DCI), which may schedule resources for uplink packet transmission. UCI may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF) (such as a CSI report), or any other appropriate UCI.

[0062] In addition to control information, one or more REs 306 (e.g., within the data region 314) may also be allocated for user data traffic. Such data traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels (e.g., the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for DL ​​transmissions or the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for UL transmissions). In some examples, one or more REs 306 within the data region 314 may be configured to carry other signals (such as one or more SIBs and DMRS).

[0063] In the example of sidelink communication on a sidelink carrier via a PC5 interface, the control region 312 of a time slot 310 may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), which includes sidelink control information (SCI) sent by an initiating (transmitting) sidelink device (e.g., a V2X or other sidelink device) toward a set of one or more other receiving sidelink devices. The data region 314 of the time slot 310 may include a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), which includes sidelink data traffic sent by the initiating (transmitting) sidelink device within resources reserved by the transmitting sidelink device on the sidelink carrier via the SCI. Other information may also be sent on various REs 306 within the time slot 310. For example, HARQ feedback information may be sent from a receiving sidelink device to a transmitting sidelink device in a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) within the time slot 310. In addition, one or more reference signals (such as a sidelink SSB and / or a sidelink CSI-RS) may be sent within the time slot 310.

[0064] These physical channels described above are typically multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for processing at the medium access control (MAC) layer. Transport channels carry blocks of information called transport blocks (TBs). The transport block size (TBS), which may correspond to the number of bits of information, may be a controlled parameter based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of RBs in a given transmission.

[0065] exist Figure 3 The channels or carriers shown in the figure are not necessarily all of the channels or carriers that can be utilized between devices, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized in addition to the channels or carriers shown, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels.

[0066] In order to obtain access to a cell, the UE may perform a random access procedure on a physical random access channel (PRACH). The UE may identify a random access search space including PRACH resources for initiating a RACH procedure from SIB1. For example, the random access procedure may begin after the UE acquires a cell and determines the occurrence of a RACH opportunity (e.g., PRACH resources) after reading the SSB and SIB1. The SSB provides initial system information (SI), and SIB1 (and other SIB blocks) provides the remaining minimum SI (RMSI). For example, the PBCH MIB of the SSB may carry the first part of the SI required by the user equipment (UE) to access the network. The SIBs (e.g., SIB1 and SIB2) may carry the RMSI required for the UE to obtain access to the network.

[0067] The RACH procedure can be performed in various scenarios, such as uplink synchronization loss, lack of available PUCCH resources, scheduling request failure, and other use cases. In addition, the RACH procedure can be contention-based or contention-free, and can include a 2-step RACH procedure (contention-based or contention-free), a 3-step RACH procedure (contention-free), or a 4-step RACH procedure (contention-based).

[0068] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a 4-step contention-based random access (CBRA) procedure 400 between a base station 402 and a UE 404. For example, the base station 402 may correspond to Figure 1 and / or any of the scheduling entities shown in 2. In addition, UE 404 may correspond to, for example Figure 1 and / or any of the scheduled entities shown in 2.

[0069] Initiate by doing the following Figure 4 4 , a random access procedure 400 is shown in FIG. 1 : UE 404 randomly selects a preamble from a set of available preambles within a cell served by base station 402 and transmits the selected preamble in a RACH preamble message 406 (msg1) to base station 402. In an example, UE 404 may select from 64 possible preamble sequences to include in RACH preamble message 406. UE 404 may transmit msg1 406 on selected PRACH resources with power ramping. The selected PRACH resources may include supplemental uplink resources or normal uplink resources. Here, the supplemental uplink resources include lower frequency resources than the normal uplink resources. Thus, the supplemental uplink resources and the uplink resources each correspond to a different respective uplink frequency band. msg1 406 may also be transmitted on a beam selected by UE 404 based on beam measurements (e.g., RSRP / RSRQ / SINR) performed by UE 404. The beam may correspond to, for example, an SSB beam.

[0070] If the base station 402 successfully detects the preamble, the base station 402 sends a random access response (RAR) message 408 (msg2) including the PDCCH and PDSCH to the UE 404. If msg2 (RAR) 408 is not received within the RAR window, the UE 404 may retransmit msg1 406 with a power boost. msg2 408 (PDCCH+PDSCH) includes an identifier of the preamble sent by the UE 404, a timing advance (TA), a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI) or random access (RA) RNTI of the UE 404, and a grant of assigned uplink (UL) resources. The PDCCH in msg2 408 may be scrambled with the RA-RNTI, which is a function of the RACH opportunity (RO) used by the UE 404 to send msg1 406 (e.g., the time-frequency resources allocated for RACH msg1). A medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) within the PDSCH provides confirmation of receipt of msg1 and the UL grant. To receive msg2 408, the UE 404 can monitor the PDCCH for DCI 1_0 scrambled with the RA-RNTI corresponding to the RO used by the UE 404 to send msg1 406, and if detected, proceed with PDSCH decoding. Upon receiving the RAR message 408, the UE 404 compares the preamble ID with the preamble sent by the scheduled entity in the RACH preamble message 406. If the preamble ID matches the preamble sent in the RACH preamble message 406, the UE 404 applies a timing advance and begins the contention resolution process.

[0071] Since the preamble is randomly selected by the scheduled entity, if another scheduled entity selects the same preamble in the same RO, a conflict may occur between the two scheduled entities. Then, a contention resolution process can be used to resolve any conflict. During contention resolution, UE 404 uses the assigned uplink resources in the PDSCH of TA and msg2 408 to send an uplink message (msg3) 410 on the common control channel (CCCH). In the example, the uplink message 410 is a layer 2 / layer 3 (L2 / L3) message, such as a radio resource control (RRC) connection request message. The uplink message 410 includes an identifier (UE-ID) of UE 404 for use by the scheduling entity in resolving any conflict. Although other scheduled entities can use the TA and assigned uplink resources to send conflicting uplink messages, these conflicting uplink messages will most likely not be successfully decoded at the scheduling entity because the conflicting uplink messages are sent using TAs that are not intended for those scheduled entities.

[0072] Upon successfully decoding the uplink message, base station 402 sends a contention resolution message 412 (msg4) to UE 404. Contention resolution message 412 may be, for example, an RRC connection setup message. Furthermore, contention resolution message 412 includes the identifier of UE 404 received in uplink message 410. Upon receiving its own identity in contention resolution message 412, UE 404 concludes that the random access procedure was successful and completes the RRC connection setup procedure. Any other scheduled entity that receives an RRC connection setup message with the identity of UE 404 will conclude that the random access procedure failed and will reinitialize the random access procedure.

[0073] The four-step CBRA process 400 can be condensed into Figure 5 The two-step random access procedure 500 is shown in FIG. The two-step random access procedure 500 reduces the overhead and latency associated with control signaling by removing transmissions in each direction between the UE 504 and the base station or scheduling entity (such as the gNB 502 shown). Figure 4 In contrast, the two-step random access procedure 500 begins with the UE 504 sending a single message (msgA 506) that includes the RACH preamble message 406 and the uplink message 410 transmitted in the contention-based random access procedure 400. Here, the uplink message 410 may be a scheduled PUSCH transmission sent on PUSCH resources, and the RACH preamble message 406 may be sent on selected PRACH resources. The gNB 502 responds with a single message (msgB 508) that includes the random access response 408 and the contention resolution message 412.

[0074] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary monitoring window for random access according to some aspects. Figure 6, the monitoring windows for both the four-step random access procedure 602 and the two-step random access procedure 604 are shown. In the four-step random access procedure 602, the UE may transmit msg1, which includes, for example, a PRACH preamble message, at a first time (t1), and initialize a random access response window 606 for monitoring for a random access response (msg2) when transmitting msg1. The UE may also initialize a random access contention resolution window 608 for monitoring for a contention resolution message (msg4) when transmitting msg1. As noted above, during the random access response window 606, the UE monitors DCI 1_0 for a PDCCH scrambled with the RA-RNTI corresponding to the RO used by the UE to transmit msg1. If the UE receives msg2 within the random access response window 606 (e.g., at a second time (t2)), the UE may continue transmission of an uplink message (msg3) at a third time (t3) and then monitor for a contention resolution message (msg4), which may be received, for example, at a fourth time (t4) within the random access contention resolution window 608. If the UE does not receive msg2 within the random access response window 606 or does not receive msg4 within the random access contention resolution window 608, the UE may declare a RACH failure and select a new PRACH preamble to restart the random access procedure 602.

[0075] In the two-step random access procedure 604, the UE may transmit msgA, which includes, for example, a PRACH preamble message and an uplink message, at a first time (tA). The UE may also initialize a random access msgB response window 610 for monitoring msgB when transmitting msgA. To complete the random access procedure, the msgB may be received, for example, at a second time (tB) within the random access msgB response window 610. If the UE does not receive msgB within the random access msgB response window 610, the UE may declare a RACH failure and select a new PRACH preamble to restart the random access procedure 604.

[0076] Fifth generation (5G) wireless communication networks, such as new radio (NR) wireless communication networks, support communications between base stations and high-end UEs for a variety of different use cases, including, for example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). NR networks can also support communications between base stations and low-end UEs in massive machine type communications (mMTC) use cases. In some examples, LTE-M or narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technologies can be utilized to meet the requirements of mMTC.

[0077] When performing RACH, a large amount of power is utilized at the UE to monitor for response messages, such as msg2 or msg4 of the four-step random access procedure 400 or msgB of the two-step random access procedure 500. For example, the UE monitors the PDCCH in each slot within the random access monitoring window (e.g., windows 606, 608, and 610) to determine whether there is a response (e.g., msg2 in the four-step random access procedure 400 or msgA in the two-step random access procedure 500) to the random access transmission from the base station (gNB) to the UE.

[0078] For conventional high-end UEs and conventional services, the power consumption used for random access monitoring may not be significant compared to the overall power consumption used by such high-end UEs. However, for IoT devices and other low-end UEs, the power consumption may account for a significant percentage of the total power consumption. This is especially true for small data transmissions (e.g., short data transmissions), where low-end UEs opportunistically send small amounts of data and then return to a sleep state, for example, when operating in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode.

[0079] In both LTE and NR networks, the monitoring window duration for random access is fixed, and therefore, there is no mechanism to reduce the monitoring duration based on UE type (e.g., low-end or high-end) and / or data transmission type (e.g., small data transmission or normal data transmission). For example, in two-step RACH, the random access msgB response window can be up to 40ms. The UE will need to monitor the downlink for a full 40ms before declaring RACH failure, regardless of UE type or data transmission type.

[0080] Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure provide a configurable monitoring window for random access. The configurable monitoring window can have a duration that can be selected based on one or more factors, such as the UE type or the data transmission type. In some examples, the configurable monitoring window can have a reduced duration to limit the time required for the UE to monitor for random access messages from the base station. The reduced monitoring window duration can be configured as an offset from the transmission time of the first random access message (e.g., msg1 or msgA) performed by the UE or as a reduced duration as measured from the transmission time of the first random access message.

[0081] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a user equipment (UE) 700 employing a processing system 714. For example, the UE 700 may correspond to the one described above with reference to Figure 1 、 2 , 4 and / or 5 show and describe any UE or other scheduled entity.

[0082] The UE 700 may be implemented using a processing system 714 including one or more processors 704. Examples of the processor 704 include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, the UE 700 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, the processor 704 as utilized in the UE 700 may be used to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described below.

[0083] In this example, processing system 714 can be implemented using a bus architecture, which is generally represented by bus 702. Bus 702 can include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of processing system 714. Bus 702 links together various circuits including one or more processors (which are generally represented by processor 704), memory 705, and computer-readable media (which are generally represented by computer-readable media 706). Bus 702 can also connect various other circuits such as timing sources, peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further.

[0084] The bus interface 708 provides an interface between the bus 702 and the transceiver 710 and one or more antenna arrays 730 (e.g., one or more antenna panels). The transceiver 710 provides a means or unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium (e.g., an air interface). Depending on the nature of the device, a user interface 712 (e.g., a keypad, display, touch screen, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.) may also be provided. Of course, such a user interface 712 is optional and may be omitted in some examples.

[0085] The processor 704 is responsible for managing the bus 702 and general processing, including executing software stored on a computer-readable medium 706. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terms, software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc. The software, when executed by the processor 704, causes the processing system 714 to perform the various functions described below for any particular device. The computer-readable medium 706 and memory 705 may also be used to store data that the processor 704 manipulates when executing the software.

[0086] Computer-readable medium 706 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. For example, non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, or key drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. Computer-readable medium 706 may be located in processing system 714, external to processing system 714, or distributed across multiple entities including processing system 714. Computer-readable medium 706 may be embodied in a computer program product. For example, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging material. In some examples, computer-readable medium 706 may be part of memory 705. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0087] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 704 may include circuits configured for various functions. For example, the processor 704 may include communication and processing circuitry 742 configured to communicate with a base station, such as a gNB. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 742 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing processes associated with wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) and signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission).

[0088] In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 742 can be configured to send a random access message, such as msg1 or msg3 in a four-step random access procedure or msgA in a two-step random access procedure. The communication and processing circuit 742 can also be configured to receive a random access message, such as msg2 or msg4 in a four-step random access procedure or msgB in a two-step random access procedure. The communication and processing circuit 742 can also be configured to execute communication and processing instructions (software) 752 stored in the computer-readable medium 706 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0089] The processor 704 may also include a random access circuit 744, which is configured to perform a random access procedure, such as a two-step random access procedure or a four-step random access procedure. In some examples, the random access circuit 744 may be configured to select a PRACH preamble to be included in msg1 or msgA, and generate and send msg1 or msgA. The PRACH preamble code can be randomly selected from the available PRACH preamble code set configured in the cell. In some examples, the PRACH preamble code set may include two or more PRACH preamble code subsets, each PRACH preamble code subset is associated with a different monitoring window duration. In some examples, different monitoring window durations can be configured for different UE types or different data transmission types. For example, a first PRACH preamble code subset can be associated with a first monitoring window duration, and a second PRACH preamble code subset can be associated with a second monitoring window duration, wherein the first monitoring window duration can be less than the second monitoring window duration. In this example, the random access circuit 744 can select a PRACH preamble code from one of the PRACH preamble code subsets based on the type of UE 700 (e.g., low-end or high-end) or the type of data transmission sent by UE 700 after completing the random access procedure (e.g., normal or small data transmission).

[0090] The random access circuitry 744 may also be configured to operate in conjunction with the communication and processing circuitry 742 to transmit msg1 or msgA to the base station. In some examples, the random access circuitry 744 may select an uplink grant to be utilized for the transmission of the PUSCH in msgA based on a desired monitoring window duration. For example, SIB1 may indicate different uplink grants for the PUSCH of msgA for different monitoring window durations. In some examples, different monitoring window durations may be configured for different UE types or different data transmission types. In this example, the random access circuitry 744 may select an uplink grant for the PUSCH of msgA based on the type of UE 700 (e.g., low-end or high-end) or the type of data transmission sent by the UE 700 after completing the random access procedure (e.g., regular or small data transmission). In some examples, the random access circuitry 744 may generate a payload for the PUSCH of msgA having a payload size based on the selected duration of the monitoring window for the random access msgB response. For example, for a shorter monitoring window duration, the payload size of the PUSCH of msgA may be smaller, and for a longer monitoring window duration, the payload size of the PUSCH of msgA may be larger.

[0091] The random access circuitry 744 may also be configured to receive and process msg2. In some examples, msg2 may include an indication of a selected monitoring window duration for the random access contention resolution window. For example, msg2 may include a selected duration for the random access contention resolution window or an index indicating the selected duration. The random access circuitry 744 may also be configured to monitor msg2 within the random access response monitoring window.

[0092] The random access circuit 744 may also be configured to generate and transmit msg3 in response to receiving an uplink grant for msg3 in msg2. In some examples, the uplink grant provided by the base station may indicate a monitoring window duration to be used for the random access contention resolution monitoring window. In other examples, the uplink grant may include multiple uplink grants, and the random access circuit 744 may select from the multiple uplink grants based on the duration selected by the UE 700 for the random access contention resolution monitoring window. In some examples, the random access circuit 744 may generate a payload for msg3 having a payload size based on the selected duration for the random access contention monitoring window. For example, the payload size of msg3 may be smaller for a shorter monitoring window duration, and the payload size of msg3 may be larger for a longer monitoring window duration.

[0093] The random access circuit 744 may also be configured to receive and process msg4 of the four-step random access procedure or msgB of the two-step random access procedure. The random access circuit 744 may also be configured to monitor msg4 during the random access contention resolution window and monitor msgB during the random access msgB response window.

[0094] The random access circuit 744 may also be configured to perform a random access procedure during a channel occupancy time (COT) of an unlicensed channel. In this example, the COT may be initiated by the base station, and the monitoring window duration (e.g., the random access response monitoring window and the random access contention resolution window or the random access msgB response window) occurs within the COT. The random access circuit 744 may also be configured to execute random access instructions (software) 754 stored in the computer-readable medium 706 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0095] The processor 704 may also include a random access monitoring window circuit 746 configured to select one or more random access monitoring windows 720 to be utilized by the random access circuit 744 when monitoring for a random access message from a base station. The random access monitoring window 720 may include one or more of: a random access response window for monitoring msg2, a random access msgB response window for monitoring msB, or a random access contention resolution window for monitoring msg4. For example, the random access monitoring window circuit 746 may be configured to select a selected monitoring window 720 for monitoring a particular random access message (e.g., msg2, msg4, or msgB). The selected monitoring window may be selected from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window, wherein the first monitoring window has a first duration that is different from a second duration of the second monitoring window.

[0096] In some examples, the random access monitoring window circuit 746 can be configured to select the selected monitoring window 720 based on a RACH type from a plurality of RACH types. For example, each RACH type can be associated with a different corresponding UE type or data transmission type. In some examples, the first duration of the first monitoring window is less than the second duration of the second monitoring window. In this example, the random access monitoring window circuit 746 can be configured to select the first monitoring window having the shorter duration when the current data transmission type to be utilized by the UE is a small data transmission type.

[0097] The random access monitoring window circuit 746 may also be configured to initialize a timer 722 using the duration of the selected monitoring window 720. A different random access monitoring window 720 may be selected for each of the random access monitoring window types (e.g., a random access response window, a random access msgB response window, and a random access contention resolution window). Accordingly, the random access monitoring window circuit 746 may initialize a corresponding timer 722 for the selected monitoring window 720 of each monitoring window type.

[0098] In some examples, the random access monitoring window circuit 746 can initialize the timer 722 using the selected monitoring window duration when the random access circuit 744 transmits msg1 or msgA. In other examples, the random access monitoring window circuit 746 can initialize the timer 722 using the selected monitoring window duration at a start time that is offset from the transmission time of msg1 or msgA by the offset time amount. For example, the start time for initializing the timer 722 can be determined by adding the offset time amount to the transmission time of msg1 or msgA. In some examples, a different offset time amount can be configured for each of the random access response window, the random access msgB response window, and the random access contention resolution window.

[0099] In some examples, the selected monitoring window 720 may be a random access contention resolution window. In this example, the random access monitoring window circuit 746 may be configured to update the selected monitoring window 720 (e.g., update the timer 722) upon receiving an indication of the selected monitoring window duration for the random access contention resolution window in msg2. The random access monitoring window circuit 746 may also be configured to update the selected monitoring window 720 (e.g., update the timer 722) based on the uplink resources allocated for msg3 in msg2. The random access monitoring window circuit 746 may also be configured to execute the random access monitoring window instructions (software) 756 stored in the computer-readable medium 706 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0100] Figure 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an exemplary base station 800 employing a processing system 814. For example, the base station 800 may correspond to Figure 1 、 2 , 4 or 5, or any base station or scheduling entity shown in any one or more of the figures (e.g., gNB) or other scheduling entities.

[0101] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, an element, any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented using a processing system 814 including one or more processors 804. The processing system 814 may be coupled to Figure 7 The processing system 714 shown in FIG is substantially the same as that shown in FIG, including a bus interface 808, a bus 802, a memory 805, a processor 804, and a computer readable medium 806. In addition, the base station 800 may include the same processing system 714 as that described above in FIG. Figure 78. The optional user interface 812 and transceiver 810 are substantially similar to those described in

[0064] . In some examples, the transceiver 810 may include a phase shifter 816 for digital and / or analog beamforming via one or more antenna arrays 830. The processor 804, as utilized in the base station 800, may be used to implement any one or more of the processes described below.

[0102] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 804 may include circuits configured for various functions. For example, the processor 804 may include a resource assignment and scheduling circuit 842 configured to generate, schedule, and modify resource assignments or grants of time-frequency resources (e.g., a set of one or more resource elements). For example, the resource assignment and scheduling circuit 842 may schedule time-frequency resources within multiple time division duplex (TDD) and / or frequency division duplex (FDD) subframes, time slots, and / or mini-slots to carry user data traffic and / or control information to and / or from multiple UEs.

[0103] In some examples, the resource assignment and scheduling circuitry 842 can be configured to schedule resources for transmission of random access messages (such as msg1, msg2, msg3, and msg4 or msgA and msgB). The resource assignment and scheduling circuitry 842 can also be configured to reserve an unlicensed channel for a channel occupancy time (COT) and schedule resources for transmission of random access messages within the COT. The resource assignment and scheduling circuitry 842 can also be configured to execute resource assignment and scheduling instructions (software) 852 stored in the computer-readable medium 806 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0104] The processor 804 may also include a communication and processing circuit 844 configured to communicate with the UE. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 844 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) and signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission).

[0105] In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 844 can be configured to send a random access message, such as msg2 or msg4 in a four-step random access procedure or msgB in a two-step random access procedure. The communication and processing circuit 844 can also be configured to receive a random access message, such as msg1 or msg3 in a four-step random access procedure or msgA in a two-step random access procedure. The communication and processing circuit 844 can also be configured to execute communication and processing instructions (software) 854 stored in the computer-readable medium 806 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0106] The processor 804 may also include a random access circuit 846 configured to perform a random access procedure with the UE, such as a two-step random access procedure or a four-step random access procedure. In some examples, the random access circuit 846 may be configured to receive a first random access message (e.g., msg1 or msgA) from the UE, and generate a random access response message (e.g., msg2 or msgB) in response to msg1 or msgA and send it to the UE. In the four-step random access procedure, the random access circuit 846 may also be configured to receive an uplink message (e.g., msg3) from the UE in response to msg2, and send a contention resolution message (e.g., msg4) to the UE in response to msg3.

[0107] In some examples, the random access circuitry 846 may also be configured to select one or more random access monitoring windows 820 to be utilized by the UE when monitoring for random access messages from the base station 800. The random access monitoring windows 820 may include one or more of: a random access response window for monitoring msg2, a random access msgB response window for monitoring msgB, or a random access contention resolution window for monitoring msg4. For example, the random access circuitry 846 may be configured to select a selected random access monitoring window 820 for monitoring a particular random access message (e.g., msg2, msg4, or msgB). The selected random access monitoring window may be selected from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window, wherein the first monitoring window has a first duration that is different from a second duration of the second monitoring window. In some examples, each of the monitoring window durations may be associated with a corresponding RACH type from a plurality of RACH types. For example, each RACH type may be associated with a different corresponding UE type or data transmission type. In some examples, the first duration of the first monitoring window is less than the second duration of the second monitoring window. In this example, the random access circuit 846 may be configured to select a first monitoring window having a shorter duration when the current data transmission type to be utilized by the UE is a small data transmission type.

[0108] In some examples, msg1 or msgA may include a PRACH preamble that indicates a RACH type associated with the UE (e.g., a current RACH type associated with a current data transmission type utilized by the UE). The RACH type may also indicate a corresponding monitoring window duration for one or more random access monitoring windows on the UE. In this example, the random access circuit 846 may select a corresponding selected monitoring window 820 for one or more monitoring window types (e.g., a random access response window, a random access msgB response window, and a random access contention resolution window) based on the PRACH preamble.

[0109] In some examples, msgA may utilize resources for a PUSCH that indicates a RACH type. In some examples, the payload of msgA's PUSCH may have a payload size that indicates the RACH type (and, therefore, the monitoring window duration). For example, for a shorter monitoring window duration, the payload size of msgA's PUSCH may be smaller, and for a longer monitoring window duration, the payload size of msgA's PUSCH may be larger. In these examples, the random access circuitry 846 may select a corresponding selected monitoring window 820 for one or more monitoring window types (e.g., a random access response window, a random access msgB response window, and a random access contention resolution window) based on the resources utilized for msgA's PUSCH or the payload size of msgA's PUSCH.

[0110] The random access circuitry 846 may also be configured to include in msg2 an indication of a selected monitoring window duration for the random access contention resolution window. For example, msg2 may include a selected duration for the random access contention resolution window or an index indicating the selected duration. As another example, an uplink grant for msg3 included in msg2 may indicate a selected duration. In other examples, the uplink grant may include multiple uplink grants, each associated with a different duration of the random access contention window. In this example, the random access circuitry 846 may be configured to select a selected monitoring window duration for the random access contention resolution monitoring window based on the uplink resources used by the UE to transmit msg3. In other examples, the random access circuitry 846 may select a selected monitoring window duration for the random access contention resolution message based on the payload size of msg3. For example, for a shorter monitoring window duration, the payload size of msg3 may be smaller, and for a longer monitoring window duration, the payload size of msg3 may be larger.

[0111] The random access circuitry 846 may also be configured to initialize a timer 822 using a corresponding selected duration of the corresponding selected monitoring window 820. The random access circuitry 846 may utilize the timer 822 to operate in conjunction with the resource assignment and scheduling circuitry 842 to schedule resources for transmission of msg2, msgB, and / or msg4 within the selected monitoring window 820. The random access circuitry 846 may also be configured to execute random access instructions (software) 856 stored in the computer-readable medium 806 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0112] Figure 9is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process 900 for selecting a random access monitoring window at a UE according to some aspects. As described below, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the present disclosure, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for implementations of all embodiments. In some examples, process 900 may be performed by Figure 7 In some examples, process 900 can be performed by any suitable device or unit for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0113] At block 902, the UE may send a first random access message to a base station during a random access procedure. In some examples, the UE may select a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble for the first random access message based on a current RACH type among multiple RACH types associated with a current data transmission type among multiple data transmission types utilized by the UE. In some examples, the random access procedure is a two-step random access procedure, and the first random access message includes msgA in the two-step random access procedure. In this example, the UE may select at least one of a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble or a resource of a physical uplink shared channel for the first random access message based on the current RACH type associated with the current data transmission type. For example, the above in combination Figure 7 The random access circuitry 744 shown and described, along with the communication and processing circuitry 742 and the transceiver 710, may provide means for sending a first random access message to a base station.

[0114] At 904, the UE may select a selected monitoring window from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window. The first monitoring window has a first duration different from a second duration of the second monitoring window. In some examples, the selected monitoring window is within a channel occupancy time of the unlicensed channel.

[0115] In some examples, the UE may initialize a timer using the first duration or the second duration based on the selected monitoring window. In some examples, the UE may initialize the timer when sending the first random access message. In this example, each of the first duration and the second duration may be associated with a different corresponding RACH type, and each RACH type may be associated with a different corresponding data transmission type. In some examples, the first duration is less than the second duration, and when the current data transmission type is a small data transmission type, the UE may select the first monitoring window as the selected monitoring window.

[0116] In some examples, the first duration is less than the second duration, and the selected monitoring window is the first monitoring window. In this example, the UE may initialize the timer at a start time that is offset by the offset time from the transmission time of the first random access message. In some examples, the second random access message is a random access response, and the selected monitoring window is a random access response window. For example, the random access procedure may include a two-step random access procedure, and the second random access message may include msgB in the two-step random access procedure. In this example, msgB includes a random access response and a contention resolution message in the two-step random access procedure, and the random access response window is a random access msgB response window.

[0117] In an example where the random access procedure is a two-step random access procedure and the first random access message is msgA of the two-step random access procedure, the UE may also select a monitoring window based on a payload size of msgA or resources used for msgA.

[0118] In some examples, the first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message. In this example, the UE may also receive a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message, and send a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response. In this example, the UE may select a selected monitoring window based on the payload size of the uplink message or the resources used for the uplink message. As another example, the UE may receive an indication of the selected monitoring window in the random access response. For example, the above in combination Figure 7 The random access monitoring window circuit 746 and the random access circuit 744 shown and described may provide means for selecting a selected monitoring window.

[0119] At 906, the UE may monitor a second random access message from the base station within a selected monitoring window. In some examples, the first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message. In this example, the UE may also receive a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message, and send a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response. In this example, the UE may monitor the second random access message in response to the uplink message, wherein the selected monitoring window is a random access contention resolution window. For example, the above in combination Figure 7 The random access circuit 744 is shown and described as being operable to monitor for a second random access message from the base station within a selected monitoring window.

[0120] In one configuration, the UE 700 includes various units as described in the present disclosure. In one aspect, the aforementioned units may be Figure 7 The processor 704 shown in FIG is configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. In another aspect, the aforementioned means may be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

[0121] Of course, in the above example, the circuits included in the processor 704 are provided only as examples, and in various aspects of the present disclosure, other units for performing the described functions may be included, including but not limited to instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium 706, or in Figure 1 、 2 and / or any of Figures 4-6 and utilizing, for example, Figure 9 Any other suitable means or elements of the described processes and / or algorithms.

[0122] Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process 1000 for selecting a random access monitoring window at a base station according to some aspects. As described below, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementations of all embodiments. In some examples, process 1000 may be performed by Figure 8 In some examples, process 1000 can be performed by any suitable device or unit for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0123] At block 1002, a base station may receive a first random access message from a user equipment (UE) during a random access procedure. Figure 8 The random access circuitry 846 shown and described, along with the communication and processing circuitry 844 and the transceiver 810, may provide means for receiving a first random access message.

[0124] At block 1004, the base station may select a selected monitoring window from at least the first monitoring window and the second monitoring window in which to send the second random access message. The first monitoring window has a first duration that is different from a second duration of the second monitoring window. In some examples, the selected monitoring window is within a channel occupancy time of an unlicensed channel. In some examples, the base station may initialize a timer using the first duration or the second duration based on the selected monitoring window.

[0125] In some examples, the first duration is less than the second duration, and the selected monitoring window is the first monitoring window. In this example, the second random access message may be a random access response, and the selected monitoring window may be a random access response window. As an example, the random access procedure may include a two-step random access procedure, and the second random access message may include msgB in the two-step random access procedure. In this example, msgB includes a random access response and a contention resolution message in the two-step random access procedure, and the random access response window is a random access msgB response window.

[0126] In some examples, each of the first duration and the second duration is associated with a different respective one of a plurality of random access channel (RACH) types. In some examples, the plurality of RACH types are each associated with a different respective one of a plurality of data transmission types. In some examples, the base station may select the selected monitoring window based on a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble of the first random access message. The PRACH preamble may indicate a current one of a plurality of RACH types associated with the current one of a plurality of data transmission types utilized by the UE.

[0127] In some examples, the random access procedure is a two-step random access procedure, and the first random access message includes msgA in the two-step random access procedure. In this example, the base station may select the selected monitoring window based on at least one of a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble or a resource of a physical uplink shared channel used for the first random access message, the PRACH preamble or the resource each indicating a current RACH type among a plurality of RACH types associated with the current data transmission type among a plurality of data transmission types utilized by the UE.

[0128] In some examples, the first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message. In this example, the base station may also send a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message, and receive a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response. In this example, the base station may select the selected monitoring window based on the payload size of the uplink message or the resources used for the uplink message. In an example where the random access procedure is a two-step random access procedure, the base station may select the selected monitoring window based on the payload size of msgA or the resources used for msgA.

[0129] In the example where the random access procedure is a four-step random access procedure, the base station may include an indication of the selected monitoring window in the random access response. Figure 8 The random access circuit 846 shown and described may provide means for selecting a selected monitoring window.

[0130] At 906, the base station may send a second random access message to the UE within the selected monitoring window. In some examples, the first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message. In this example, the base station may also send a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message, and receive a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response. The base station may then send a second random access response in response to the uplink message. In this example, the selected monitoring window may include a random access contention resolution window. For example, the above in conjunction with Figure 8 The random access circuitry 846 shown and described, along with the communication and processing circuitry 844, may provide means for sending a second random access message to the UE.

[0131] In one configuration, the base station 800 includes various units as described in the present disclosure. In one aspect, the aforementioned units may be Figure 8 The processor 804 shown in FIG is configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. In another aspect, the aforementioned means may be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

[0132] Of course, in the above example, the circuits included in the processor 804 are provided only as examples, and in various aspects of the present disclosure, other units for performing the described functions may be included, including but not limited to instructions stored in the computer-readable medium 806, or in Figure 1 、 2 and / or any of Figures 4-6 and using, for example, Figure 10 Any other suitable means or elements of the described processes and / or algorithms.

[0133] Additional information regarding various aspects of the disclosure and some exemplary embodiments of the invention is provided in the accompanying appendices filed herewith.

[0134] Several aspects of wireless communication networks are presented with reference to exemplary implementations. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0135] For example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples may be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and / or communication standard employed depends on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0136] In this disclosure, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects of this disclosure. Similarly, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed. The term "coupled" is used herein to refer to a direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts object C, objects A and C can still be considered to be coupled to each other, even if they are not in direct physical contact with each other. For example, a first object can be coupled to a second object, even if the first object has never been in direct physical contact with the second object. The terms "circuit" and "electronic circuit" are used broadly, and are intended to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors (wherein these electronic devices and conductors, when connected and configured, implement the functions described in this disclosure, without limitation as to the type of electronic circuit) and software implementations of information and instructions (wherein these information and instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the functions described in this disclosure).

[0137] Can Figure 1-10 One or more of the components, steps, features, and / or functions shown in the drawings may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function, or embodied in several components, steps, or functions. In addition, additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1 、 2 The apparatuses, devices and / or components shown in , 7 and 8 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0138] It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein is an illustration of exemplary processes. It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in these methods may be rearranged based on design preferences. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in an example order, but are not intended to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly recited herein.

[0139] The preceding description is provided to enable anyone skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but rather to the full scope consistent with the text of the claims, wherein, unless expressly stated otherwise, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one," but rather "one or more." Unless expressly stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. A phrase referring to "at least one" of a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including individual members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described in this disclosure that are known or will become known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. In addition, no disclosure herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under 35 USC §112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for..." or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase "step for..."

[0140] appendix

[0141] 1. Description

[0142] 1.1 Background

[0143] When performing RACH, a significant amount of power is spent monitoring for response messages. The UE has to check the PDCCH for every timeslot whether there is a response to its transmission (msg2 / msg4 in 4-step RACH) and msgB in 2-step RACH. For conventional UEs and services, such power consumption is not a significant issue considering the overall activity. However, for IoT type devices, the above power consumption may dominate their overall consumption. This is especially the case when using "small data" transmissions, where the UE opportunistically sends small amounts of data and goes back to sleep (e.g., sensors, meters).

[0144] In both LTE and NR, there are no specific mechanisms to reduce downlink monitoring during RACH by IoT type devices. In this IDF, we cover these improvements.

[0145] 2. Solution

[0146] The main idea is to limit the duration of the monitoring window. For example, in a 2-step RACH, the UE starts the "msgB-ResponseWindow" after sending msgA. The window duration can be up to 40ms. Before declaring RACH failure, the UE will need to monitor the downlink for up to 40ms for a response.

[0147] To reduce this duration, a minimum time for the start-up window can be defined. In addition, for small data transmissions, a new maximum time can be defined instead of the time configured for the general RACH.

[0148] Key Points

[0149] For 4-step RACH:

[0150] o Define the offset value where the ra-ResponseWindow timer starts after msg1 transmission plus the offset value.

[0151] ○ Define a new ra-ResponseWindow, which only applies to RACH configured for small data transmission:

[0152] ■ This can be summarized as different timers for different RACH types

[0153] ○ The gNB determines different monitoring times for this RACH based on the received preamble.

[0154] ○ Define an offset value, where the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer after msg1 transmission is added with the offset value

[0155] ○ Define a new ra-ContentionResolutionTimer, which only applies to RACH configured for small data transmission:

[0156] ■ gNB determines the new timer based on the given grant for msg3

[0157] ●For 2-step RACH

[0158] o Define an offset value where the ra-msgB-ResponseWindow timer starts after the transmission of msgA plus the offset value.

[0159] o Define a new ra-msgB-ResponseWindow, which only applies to RACH configured for small data transmission.

[0160] ■ This can be summarized as different timers for different RACH types

[0161] The gNB determines the different monitoring times for this RACH based on the received preamble and / or PUSCH grant of msgA

[0162] Wherein, the new window timer for msg3 or msgA can be a function of the msg3 or msgA payload size (assuming the gNB may need more time for larger payloads) or the resources used for msg3 or msgA:

[0163] ● Wherein, the index of the timer or reference timer value to be used for msg3 can be the index indicated in msg2 for 4-step RACH

[0164] For non-permitted operations:

[0165] ○ Use different timer values ​​when RACH occurs in gNB-initiated COT

[0166] ■ Msg1 / msg3 or msgA is sent in this COT, and the response can be returned in the same COT.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending a first random access message to a base station during a random access procedure based on a current random access channel (RACH) type among a plurality of RACH types associated with a current RACH type among a plurality of data transmission types utilized by the UE; selecting, based at least on the current RACH type associated with the current data transmission type, a selected monitoring window from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window, the first monitoring window comprising a first duration different from a second duration of the second monitoring window; as well as monitoring a second random access message from the base station within the selected monitoring window.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A timer is initialized with the first duration or the second duration based on the selected monitoring window.

3. A user equipment (UE), comprising: transceiver; Memory; as well as a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the processor configured to: sending a first random access message to a base station during a random access procedure based on a current random access channel (RACH) type among a plurality of RACH types associated with a current RACH type among a plurality of data transmission types utilized by the UE; selecting, based at least on the current RACH type associated with the current data transmission type, a selected monitoring window from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window, the first monitoring window comprising a first duration different from a second duration of the second monitoring window; as well as monitoring a second random access message from the base station within the selected monitoring window.

4. The UE according to claim 3, wherein: The processor is further configured to: A timer is initialized with the first duration or the second duration based on the selected monitoring window.

5. The UE according to claim 4, wherein: The first duration is less than the second duration, and the selected monitoring window includes the first monitoring window. The UE according to claim 5 , wherein: The processor is further configured to: The timer is initialized at a start time that is offset from a transmission time of the first random access message by an offset time amount.

7. The UE according to claim 6, wherein: The second random access message includes a random access response, and the selected monitoring window includes a random access response window.

8. The UE according to claim 7, wherein: The random access procedure includes a two-step random access procedure, and the second random access message includes msgB in the two-step random access procedure, wherein the msgB includes the random access response and contention resolution message in the two-step random access procedure, and the random access response window includes a random access msgB response window.

9. The UE according to claim 6, wherein: The first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message, and wherein the processor is further configured to: receiving a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message; and sending a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response, and wherein monitoring the second random access message further comprises: The second random access message is monitored in response to the uplink message, wherein the selected monitoring window comprises a random access contention resolution window.

10. The UE according to claim 4, wherein: The processor is further configured to: The timer is initialized when the first random access message is sent, wherein each of the first duration and the second duration is associated with a different respective RACH type of the plurality of RACH types.

11. The UE according to claim 10, wherein: The plurality of RACH types are each associated with a different respective data transmission type among the plurality of data transmission types.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: The first duration is less than the second duration, and wherein the processor is further configured to: When the current data transmission type among the plurality of data transmission types utilized by the UE includes a small data transmission type, the first monitoring window is selected as the selected monitoring window.

13. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: The processor is further configured to: A physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble is selected for the first random access message based on the current RACH type.

14. The UE according to claim 11, wherein: The random access procedure includes a two-step random access procedure, and the first random access message includes msgA in the two-step random access procedure, and wherein the processor is further configured to: At least one of a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble or resources of a physical uplink shared channel for the first random access message is selected based on the current RACH type.

15. The UE according to claim 3, wherein: The first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message, and wherein the processor is further configured to: receiving, in response to the first random access message, a third random access message including a random access response; transmitting a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response; and A payload size of the uplink message or resources used for the uplink message is selected based on the current RACH type.

16. The UE according to claim 3, wherein: The random access procedure includes a two-step random access procedure, and the first random access message includes msgA of the two-step random access procedure, and wherein the processor is further configured to: Based on the current RACH type, a payload size of the msgA or resources used for the msgA is selected.

17. The UE according to claim 3, wherein: The first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message, and wherein the processor is further configured to: receiving, in response to the first random access message, a third random access message including a random access response; sending a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response; and updating the selected monitoring window when an indication of the selected monitoring window is received in the random access response in the third random access message.

18. The UE according to claim 3, wherein: The selected monitoring window is within the channel occupancy time of the unlicensed channel.

19. A network element comprising: Memory; as well as a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to: receiving a first random access message from a user equipment (UE) during a random access procedure; selecting a selected monitoring window from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window based on at least a current one of a plurality of random access channel (RACH) types associated with a current one of a plurality of data transmission types utilized by the UE as indicated by the first random access message, the first monitoring window comprising a first duration different from a second duration of the second monitoring window; as well as sending a second random access message to the UE within the selected monitoring window.

20. The network element of claim 19, wherein: The processor is further configured to: A timer is initialized with the first duration or the second duration based on the selected monitoring window.

21. The network element of claim 20, wherein: The first duration is less than the second duration, and the selected monitoring window includes the first monitoring window.

22. The network element of claim 21, wherein: The second random access message includes a random access response, and the selected monitoring window includes a random access response window.

23. The network element of claim 20, wherein: The first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message, and wherein the processor is further configured to: sending a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message; receiving a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response; and The second random access message is sent in response to the uplink message, wherein the selected monitoring window includes a random access contention resolution window.

24. The network element of claim 19, wherein: Each of the first duration and the second duration is associated with a different respective RACH type of the plurality of RACH types, and the plurality of RACH types are each associated with a different respective data transmission type of the plurality of data transmission types.

25. The network element of claim 23, wherein: The current RACH type is indicated by the PRACH preamble.

26. The network element of claim 24, wherein: The random access procedure includes a two-step random access procedure, and the first random access message includes msgA in the two-step random access procedure, and wherein the processor is further configured to: The current RACH type is indicated by at least one of a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble or resources of a physical uplink shared channel used for the first random access message.

27. The network element of claim 19, wherein: The first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message, and wherein the processor is further configured to: sending a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message; receiving a fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution in response to the random access response; and The selected monitoring window is also selected based on a payload size of the uplink message or resources used for the uplink message.

28. The network element of claim 19, wherein: The random access procedure includes a two-step random access procedure, and the first random access message includes msgA of the two-step random access procedure, and wherein the processor is further configured to: The selected monitoring window is also selected based on a payload size of the msgA or resources used for the msgA.

29. The network element of claim 19, wherein: The first random access message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble, and the second random access message includes a contention resolution message, and wherein the processor is further configured to: sending a third random access message including a random access response in response to the first random access message, the random access response including an indication of the selected monitoring window; and A fourth random access message including an uplink message for contention resolution is received in response to the random access response.

30. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for sending a first random access message associated with a random access procedure to a network element based on a current random access channel (RACH) type among a plurality of RACH types associated with a current data transmission type among a plurality of data transmission types utilized by the UE; means for selecting a selected monitoring window from at least a first monitoring window and a second monitoring window based at least on the current RACH type associated with the current data transmission type, the first monitoring window comprising a first duration different from a second duration of the second monitoring window; as well as Means for monitoring for a second random access message from a network element within the selected monitoring window.

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