Ul gap trigger

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to uplink (UL) gap triggering. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a processor of a user equipment is configured to perform the following operations. The operations include transmitting, to a network, a user preference via first signaling, where the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in an uplink (UL) gap configuration; transmitting, to the network, a UL gap activation request via second signaling, where the UL gap activation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap activation for the UE; and transmitting, to the network device, a UL gap deactivation request via third signaling, where the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap deactivation for the UE.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and in particular, to uplink (UL) gap triggering. BACKGROUND

[0002] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) provides communication between a user equipment (UE) and a base station (e.g., next generation Node B (gNB)). In recent discussions on NR systems, an uplink (UL) gap for self-calibration and monitoring has been proposed. The performance gain of the UE gap during the UL gap and the impact on UE transmission will be studied, and the UL gap configuration, related UE capability, and interruption will be specified. SUMMARY

[0003] Generally, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for UL gap triggering.

[0004] In a first aspect, a processor of a user equipment is provided. The processor is configured to perform operations comprising: transmitting, to a network, a user preference via first signaling, wherein the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in a UL gap configuration; transmitting, to the network, a UL gap activation request via second signaling, wherein the UL gap activation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap activation for the UE; and transmitting, to the network, a UL gap deactivation request via third signaling, wherein the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap deactivation for the UE.

[0005] In a second aspect, a user equipment is provided. The user equipment includes a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to communicate with a network. The processor is communicatively coupled to the transceiver and is configured to perform operations comprising: transmitting, to the network, a user preference via first signaling, wherein the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in a UL gap configuration; transmitting, to the network, a UL gap activation request via second signaling, wherein the UL gap activation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap activation for the UE; and transmitting, to the network, a UL gap deactivation request via third signaling, wherein the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap deactivation for the UE.

[0006] In a third aspect, a processor of a base station is provided. The processor is configured to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE) via first signaling, a user preference, wherein the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in an uplink (UL) gap configuration; receiving, from the UE via second signaling, a UL gap activation request, wherein the UL gap activation request indicates to the base station a need for UL gap activation for the UE; and receiving, from the UE via third signaling, a UL gap deactivation request, wherein the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the base station network a need for UL gap deactivation for the UE.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a base station is provided. The base station includes a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to communicate with a user equipment. The processor is communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE) via first signaling, a user preference, wherein the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in an uplink (UL) gap configuration; receiving, from the UE via second signaling, a UL gap activation request, wherein the UL gap activation request indicates to the base station a need for UL gap activation for the UE; and receiving, from the UE via third signaling, a UL gap deactivation request, wherein the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the base station network a need for UL gap deactivation for the UE.

[0008] It is to be understood that the Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other aspects of the disclosure will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art by review of the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0009] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010] Figure 1 An exemplary communication network in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented is shown;

[0011] Figure 2 A flow diagram of a method of uplink gap triggering at a user equipment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0012] Figure 3 A flow diagram of a method of uplink gap triggering at a base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0013] Figure 4 A signaling flow of a method of uplink gap triggering according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown, in which UE assistance information (UAI) is used to transmit a user preference, a UL gap activation request, and a UL gap deactivation request;

[0014] Figure 5 Another signaling flow of the method of uplink gap triggering according to some embodiments of the disclosure is shown, where UAI is used to transmit user preference, UL gap activation request and UL gap deactivation request;

[0015] Figure 6 Another signaling flow of the method of uplink gap triggering according to some embodiments of the disclosure is shown, where UAI is used to transmit user preference, UL gap activation request and UL gap deactivation request;

[0016] Figure 7 A signaling flow of the method of UL gap event triggering according to some embodiments of the disclosure is shown; and

[0017] Figure 8 A simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing embodiments of the disclosure is shown.

[0018] Throughout the drawings, identical or similar reference numerals are used to represent identical or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and contribute to the understanding of and facilitate the implementation of the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0020] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0021] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit exemplary embodiments. For example, as used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "including," and "having," as used herein, are specifically intended to be open-ended and do not exclude the presence of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "including" and / or "having" are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0022] It also should be understood that, although the terms“first,”“second,” etc. can be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the example embodiments. As used herein, the term“and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0023] As mentioned above, UL gaps are proposed for self-calibration and monitoring of Frequency Range 2 (FR2) (e.g., 24.250 GHz and above, which can also be referred to as millimeter wave) NR radio frequency enhancements. UE-specific and NW-configured gaps can be used for general self-calibration and monitoring purposes, including UE Tx power management, coherent UL Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), or other self-calibration and monitoring.

[0024] Work items on UL gaps include two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2. In Phase 1, performance gains of UE gaps on the current baseline solution will be studied and clearly identified; in Phase 2, UL gap configurations, related UE capabilities, and interruptions will be specified.

[0025] In addition, some agreements have recently been reached:

[0026] - Agree on the following two UL gap configurations and activation mechanisms

[0027] - #1: UL gap should be explicitly configured and activated / deactivated by RRC signaling directly

[0028] - #2: UL gap should be explicitly configured by RRC and activated and deactivated by MAC CE

[0029] - UL gap should be explicitly activated by NW via signaling

[0030] - How can the UE indicate to the NW that UL gap activation is needed?

[0031] - Option 1: UE explicitly indicates to the NW by signaling

[0032] - Option 2: UE implicitly indicates to the NW by P-MPR reporting. The exact P-MPR value is FFS.

[0033] - The network can activate UL gap without the need for indication from the UE

[0034] - UL gap should be explicitly deactivated by NW via signaling

[0035] - How can the UE indicate to the NW that UL gap deactivation is needed?

[0036] - Option 1: UE explicitly indicates to NW through signaling

[0037] - Option 2: UE implicitly indicates to NW through [TBD] reporting.

[0038] - Network can deactivate UL gap without indication from UE.

[0039] - Regarding how UE can indicate to NW the need for UL gap activation / deactivation:

[0040] - UL gap should be explicitly activated by NW via signaling

[0041] - How UE can indicate to NW the need for UL gap activation?

[0042] ■ If needed, UE explicitly indicates to NW through signaling

[0043] - UL gap should be explicitly deactivated by NW via signaling

[0044] - How UE can indicate to NW the need for UL gap deactivation?

[0045] ■ If needed, UE explicitly indicates to NW through signaling

[0046] While the above agreements have been reached, there are still pending issues to be resolved, such as solutions regarding various aspects of UL gap triggering are still to be specified.

[0047] Embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for uplink gap triggering. In the solution, a processor of a user equipment is configured to perform operations. The operations include transmitting, to a network, a user preference via first signaling, where the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in an uplink (UL) gap configuration. The operations also include transmitting, to the network, a UL gap activation request via second signaling, where the UL gap activation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap activation for the UE. The operations also include transmitting, to the network, a UL gap deactivation request via third signaling, where the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap deactivation for the UE.

[0048] The principles and specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below. Figures 1 to 8 The principles and specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below. Figure 1A network environment 100 is shown in accordance with some embodiments. The network environment 100 can include a UE 110 and a base station 120. The base station 120 can provide one or more wireless access cells, such as 3GPP NR cells, through which the UE 110 can communicate with the base station 120. In some aspects, the base station 120 is a gNB providing a 3GPP New Radio (NR) cell. The air interface through which the UE 110 and the base station 120 communicate can be compliant with 3GPP TS, such as those defining the standards for 5G NR systems, and can occupy frequency bands within frequency range 1 (FR1) (e.g., sub-7.225 GHz), frequency range 2 (FR2) (e.g., 24.250 GHz and above, also referred to as millimeter wave), or higher frequency bands (e.g., between 52.6 GHz and 71 GHz or 114.25 GHz).

[0049] It can be desirable to enhance coverage, signal quality, or UE performance in frequency ranges above FR1. For example, it can be desirable to improve power efficiency or overall system throughput. Some FR2 enhancements can involve operations that should be performed during runtime but can not be compatible with transmission or reception of data or control signals. Due to unavoidable hardware sharing, various identified FR2 enhancements can rely on and benefit from periodic uplink (UL) gaps during which time the UE can perform these operations (e.g., over the air interface or through an internal loop) without interrupting transmission / reception. Examples of these operations include: power amplifier (PA) efficiency and power consumption operations; transceiver calibration operations; and UL Tx power management operations. Other self-calibration or monitoring operations are not precluded.

[0050] PA efficiency and power consumption operations can be performed to calibrate the PA. These operations can include performing periodic measurements of one or more characteristics of the PA, including, for example, gain and linearity.

[0051] Transceiver calibration operations can be performed to compensate for operational performance variations due to, for example, temperature fluctuations. It can be desirable to perform transceiver calibration periodically at runtime in order to compensate for transceiver malfunctions. Calibration networks can also assist in maximizing beamforming gain of an antenna array, thereby improving FR2 system performance. Typical use cases for transceiver calibration can include any one or more of: PA calibration (Tx), I / Q imbalance (Tx / Rx), local oscillator (LO) leakage (Tx), and DC offset (Rx).

[0052] UL Tx power management operations can allow the UE to adaptively and efficiently adjust its output power to improve UL coverage or throughput while remaining compliant with regulatory requirements. Transmission power management can benefit from periodic monitoring of information from the surrounding environment (e.g., body proximity).

[0053] At least some of the foregoing self-calibration and monitoring mechanisms can be summarized as a basic scheme in which the UE 110 transmits and receives calibration signals over the air interface or through another internal loop between the transmission (Tx) and reception (Rx) hardware. Since the hardware used for UL transmission is partially shared through self-calibration and monitoring, UL transmission can be temporarily interrupted through such operations. It can be desirable to minimize such interruptions by providing a preconfigured UL gap during which time the UE can perform operations for FR2 RF enhancements, such as calibration and / or measurements (e.g., transceiver calibration and Tx power management). While some embodiments are described as improvements to FR2 operations, they can also be applied to other frequency ranges including ranges higher than FR2.

[0054] The UE 110 can have a UL gap configuration that specifies values such as a gap length, a gap periodicity, and / or a gap position (e.g., offset). The offset can define the exact position within each periodicity. The UL gap configuration can be UE-specific and can be provided by the base station 120 using radio resource control (RRC) signaling or medium access control - control element (MAC-CE).

[0055] Figure 2 A flow diagram of a method 200 of uplink gap triggering at a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The method 200 can be implemented at a device, such as the UE 110, shown. It should be understood that the method 200 can include additional blocks not shown and / or can omit some of the shown blocks, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. Figure 1 The method 200 is shown as implemented at the UE 110. It should be understood that the method 200 can include additional blocks not shown and / or can omit some of the shown blocks, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0056] At block 210, the UE 110 transmits, to a network device (such as the BS 120) via first signaling, a user preference, where the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in an uplink (UL) gap configuration. The user preference can include a preferred gap pattern of the UE 110, such as a preference for one or more of a gap length, a gap periodicity, or a gap position (e.g., offset). The BS 120 can use the user preference to make decisions regarding the UL gap configuration of the UE, such as a gap periodicity, a gap offset, a gap length, and the like.

[0057] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can transmit the user preference to the network device (such as the BS 120) using UE assistance information (UAI). With UAI, a more reliable transmission of the user preference can be provided.

[0058] At block 220, the UE 110 transmits, to a network device (such as the BS 120) via second signaling, a UL gap activation request, where the UL gap activation request indicates to the network a need for UL gap activation for the UE.

[0059] In some embodiments, UE 110 can transmit a UL gap activation request to a network device, such as BS 120, using UAI. Similarly, UAI can provide a more reliable UL gap activation request transmission.

[0060] In some embodiments, UE 110 can transmit a UL gap activation request to a network device, such as BS 120, via a MAC CE. With the aid of a MAC CE, a faster and more reliable UL gap activation request transmission can be provided.

[0061] At block 230, UE 110 transmits a UL gap deactivation request to a network, such as BS 120, via third signaling, where the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the network that a UL gap deactivation is needed for the UE.

[0062] In some embodiments, UE 110 can transmit a UL gap deactivation request to BS 120 using UAI. Similarly, UAI can provide a more reliable UL gap deactivation request transmission.

[0063] In some embodiments, UE 110 can transmit a UL gap deactivation request to BS 120 device via a MAC CE. With the aid of a MAC CE, a faster and more reliable UL gap deactivation request transmission can be provided.

[0064] Method 200 can apply to different solutions for UL gap activation / deactivation. In some embodiments, UE 110 can receive a UL gap activation command from BS 120 via RRC signaling, and a UL gap deactivation command from a network device via another RRC signaling. Alternatively, in some embodiments, UE 110 can receive a UL gap activation command from a network device, such as BS 120, via a MAC CE, and a UL gap deactivation command from the network device, such as BS 120, via another MAC CE.

[0065] In some embodiments, UE 110 can receive a UL gap configuration from a network device via RRC signaling, where the UL gap configuration indicates that a single UL gap is configured. In this case, the UE can activate the configured UL gap in response to receiving the UL gap configuration, without a separate UL gap activation command.

[0066] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can receive, from a network device (such as the BS 120) via RRC signaling, a UL gap configuration, where the UL gap configuration indicates that one or more UL gaps are configured. In this case, in response to receiving a UL gap activation command from the network device via a MAC CE, the UE can activate the UL gap indicated in the UL gap activation command.

[0067] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can also transmit, to a network device (such as the BS 120) via RRC signaling, UL gap capability information. In some examples, the UL gap capability information can include one or more of: at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; a configuration of the at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; or a supportability of a mandatory gap for interoperability testing (IOT) purposes.

[0068] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can also receive, from a network device (such as the BS 120) via RRC signaling, a UL gap configuration. The UL gap configuration can be implemented by, for example, different options. In one option, the UL gap configuration indicates a single UL gap pattern, and thus the UL gap activation request can contain, for example, only an ON indication, and the UL gap deactivation request can contain, for example, only an OFF indication. In another option, the UL gap configuration indicates one or more UL gap patterns, and in turn the UL gap activation request can contain an indication about the UL gap pattern to activate, and the UL gap deactivation request can contain an OFF indication.

[0069] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can perform event evaluation for UL gap activation based on an activation event configuration. The event configuration can include at least one trigger condition. The at least one trigger condition can be based on a value of a power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR) indicating whether to apply the P-MPR. Thus, the UE 110 can also transmit, to a network device (such as the BS 120), an event-triggered UL gap activation request in response to satisfying any of the at least one trigger condition. As an example, the trigger condition includes a value of a P-MPR field equal to 1. As another example, the trigger condition includes a value of the P-MPR field greater than 0.

[0070] Table 1 is given for exemplary purposes only to illustrate four different P-MPR field values and corresponding measurement magnitude levels.

[0071] Table 1 FR2 Mapping of P-MPR

[0072] Reporting value Measured quantity value Unit P-MPR_00 3 < P-MPR < 6 dB P-MPR_01 6 < P-MPR < 9 dB P-MPR_02 9 < P-MPR < 12 dB P-MPR_03 P-MPR > 12 dB

[0073] In Table 1, there are four reporting values, i.e., P-MPR_00 (“00”), P-MPR_01 (“01”), P-MPR_02 (“10”), P-MPR_03 (“11”), which correspond to four different measurement magnitude levels as shown.

[0074] For Table 1, if the value of the P-MPR field is equal to 1, i.e., the reporting value of P-MPR (or the index of P-MPR) is “01”, this means that the measured true P-MPR value is equal to or higher than 6 dB. If the value of the P-MPR field is greater than 0, this means that the measured true P-MPR value is equal to or higher than 3 dB. Thus, the triggering condition can alternatively include that the measured P-MPR value is equal to or higher than 6 dB; or the triggering condition can further include that the measured P-MPR value is equal to or higher than 3 dB.

[0075] In some embodiments, the P-MPR contains four different values corresponding to four different measurement magnitude levels, respectively, and the four different values can be associated with at least two triggering conditions of different UL gap configurations.

[0076] In some embodiments, the value of the P-MPR field corresponding to a lower measurement magnitude level is used to trigger an activation request for a UL gap configuration with a lower overhead, and the value of the P-MPR field corresponding to a higher measurement magnitude level is used to trigger an activation request for a UL gap configuration with a higher overhead.

[0077] For the P-MPR field values in Table 1, the reporting of P-MPR_00 can be an activation condition for a UL gap pattern with an overhead of, e.g., 2.5%, where the overhead is defined as the ratio of UGL (UL gap length) to UGRP (UL gap repetition periodicity). The reporting of P-MPR_01, 02, and 03 (i.e., the field values will be, e.g., “01”, “10”, and “11”) can be an activation condition for a UL gap pattern with an overhead of, e.g., 5%. It should be noted that the link between the P-MPR index and the UL gap pattern is merely an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the triggering condition can further include triggering two different UL gap patterns based on whether the measured P-MPR value is equal to or higher than 6 dB.

[0078] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can perform event evaluation of UL gap deactivation based on a deactivation event configuration, where the deactivation event configuration includes at least one triggering condition of UL gap deactivation. The UE 110 can transmit an event-triggered UL gap deactivation request to a network device, such as the BS 120, in response to satisfying any of the at least one triggering condition.

[0079] In some embodiments, the at least one triggering condition comprises one or more of: a buffer status value in a buffer status report being less than a preconfigured value; a power headroom value in a power headroom report being greater than a preconfigured threshold and P-MPR > 0; the power headroom value in the power headroom report being greater than a preconfigured threshold, the P-MPR field being set to 1; a reference signal received power (RSRP) value reported at layer 1 being greater than a preconfigured threshold; or a RSRP value reported at layer 3 being greater than a preconfigured threshold.

[0080] Figure 3 A flow diagram illustrating a method of uplink gap triggering at a base station (BS) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The method 300 can be implemented at a network device, such as a BS 120, as shown. It should be understood that the method 300 can include additional blocks not shown and / or can omit some of the shown blocks, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. Figure 1 The method 300 is shown as including a number of operations, which can be performed by the BS 120. It should be understood that the method 300 can include more or fewer operations than those shown and / or described herein, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0081] At block 310, the BS 120 receives a user preference from the UE 110 via first signaling, where the user preference indicates a preference of the UE in the UL gap configuration. The user preference can include a preferred gap pattern of the UE 110, such as a preference for one or more of a gap length, a gap periodicity, or a gap location (e.g., offset). The BS 120 can use the user preference to make decisions regarding the UL gap configuration of the UE, such as a gap periodicity, a gap offset, a gap length, etc.

[0082] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can receive the user preference in UE assistance information (UAI). With UAI, a more reliable information transmission can be provided.

[0083] At block 320, the BS 120 receives a UL gap activation request from the UE 110 via second signaling, where the UL gap activation request indicates to the base station that a UL gap activation is needed for the UE.

[0084] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can receive the UL gap activation request in UAI from the UE 110. Similarly, UAI can provide a more reliable UL gap activation request transmission.

[0085] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can receive the UL gap activation request from the UE via a MAC CE. With a MAC CE, a faster and more reliable UL gap activation request transmission can be provided.

[0086] At block 330, the BS 120 receives a UL gap activation request from the UE 110 via third signaling, where the UL gap deactivation request indicates to the base station that a UL gap deactivation is needed for the UE.

[0087] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can receive a UL gap deactivation request in another UAI from the UE 110. Similarly, the UAI can provide a more reliable UL gap deactivation request transmission.

[0088] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can receive a UL gap deactivation request from the UE 110 via another MAC CE. With the MAC CE, a faster and more reliable UL gap deactivation request transmission can be provided.

[0089] The method 300 can be applied to different solutions for UL gap activation / deactivation. In some embodiments, the BS 120 can transmit a UL gap activation command to the UE 110 via radio resource control (RRC) signaling and transmit a UL gap deactivation command to the UE 110 via another RRC signaling. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the BS 120 can transmit a UL gap activation command to the UE 110 via a MAC CE and transmit a UL gap deactivation command to the UE 110 via another MAC CE.

[0090] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can transmit a UL gap configuration to the UE 110 via RRC signaling, where the UL gap configuration indicates that a single UL gap is configured. In this case, the BS 120 can transmit the UL gap configuration for activating the configured UL gap without a separate UL gap activation command.

[0091] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can transmit a UL gap configuration to the UE 110 via RRC signaling, where the UL gap configuration indicates that one or more UL gaps are configured. In this case, the BS 120 can further determine a UL gap to activate from the one or more UL gaps and send a UL gap activation command containing the UL gap to activate to the UE 110 to instruct the UE to activate the UL gap.

[0092] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can further receive UL gap capability information from the UE 110 via RRC signaling. The UL gap capability includes one or more of: at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; a configuration of the at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; or a supportability of a mandatory gap for IOT purposes.

[0093] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can also transmit the UL gap configuration to the UE 110 via RRC signaling, and the UL gap configuration indicates, for example, only one UL gap pattern. In this case, the UL gap activation request can contain, for example, only an ON indication, and the UL gap deactivation request can contain, for example, only an OFF indication.

[0094] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can also transmit the UL gap configuration to the UE via, for example, RRC signaling, and the UL gap configuration indicates one or more UL gap patterns. In this case, the UL gap activation request can contain, for example, only an indication about the UL gap pattern to be activated, and the UL gap deactivation request can contain, for example, only an OFF indication.

[0095] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can also receive an event-triggered UL gap activation request from the UE in response to satisfying any one of at least one event. The event-triggered UL gap activation request can be triggered based on an activation event configuration, and the event configuration can include a trigger condition based on a value of a P-MPR indicating an application of a power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR). For example, the trigger condition includes a value of the P-MPR field equal to 1. As another example, the trigger condition includes a value of the P-MPR field greater than 0. For the P-MPR mapping shown in Table 1, alternatively, the trigger condition can also include a measured P-MPR value equal to or higher than 6 dB; or the trigger condition can also include a measured P-MPR value equal to or higher than 3 dB.

[0096] In some embodiments, the P-MPR contains four different values corresponding to four different measurement magnitude levels, respectively, and the four different values can be associated with at least two trigger conditions of different UL gap configurations. In this case, a value of the P-MPR field corresponding to a lower measurement magnitude level is used to trigger an activation request for a UL gap configuration with a lower overhead, and a value of the P-MPR field corresponding to a higher measurement magnitude level is used to trigger an activation request for a UL gap configuration with a higher overhead.

[0097] An exemplary table is given in Table 1, and in this case, a report of P-MPR_00 can be an activation condition for a UL gap pattern with an overhead of, for example, 2.5%, and reports of P-MPR_01, 02, and 03 can be activation conditions for a UL gap pattern with an overhead of 5%. For the P-MPR mapping shown in Table 1, alternatively, the trigger condition can also include triggering two different UL gap patterns based on whether the measured P-MPR value is equal to or higher than 6 dB.

[0098] In some embodiments, the BS 120 can also receive an event-triggered UL gap deactivation request from the UE. The event-triggered UL gap deactivation request can be triggered by the UE 110 based on at least one triggering condition configured by the BS 120 for UL gap deactivation. The at least one triggering condition includes, for example, one or more of: a buffer status value in a buffer status report is less than a preconfigured value; a power headroom value in a power headroom report is greater than a preconfigured threshold and a P-MPR field > 0; a power headroom value in a power headroom report is greater than a preconfigured threshold, a P-MPR field is set to 1; a reference signal received power (RSRP) value reported at layer 1 is greater than a preconfigured threshold; or a RSRP value reported at layer 3 is greater than a preconfigured threshold.

[0099] For exemplary purposes, Figures 4 to 7 Signaling flows for UL gap triggering are shown in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In the following, these embodiments will be described with reference to these figures.

[0100] Figure 4 Signaling flows for methods of uplink gap triggering are shown in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In these embodiments, UAI is used for transmission of user preference, UL gap activation request, and UL gap deactivation request.

[0101] At 401, the UE 110 can first transmit a UL gap capability report to the BS 120. The report can be included in one message or multiple messages.

[0102] The UL gap capability report can provide an indication on the capability of the UE 110 to perform transceiver calibration and monitoring within the UL gap. For example, the UL gap capability report can indicate whether the UE 110 supports UL gap for Tx power. The UL gap capability report can also indicate the supported UL gap configuration. This information can not be needed if all gap patterns are mandatory for UL gap capable UEs. The UE 110 can also indicate whether the mandatory gap pattern is supported for interoperability testing purposes.

[0103] At 402, the base station 120 can provide the UE 110 with an RRC reconfiguration message including other configurations (e.g., otherConfig as specified in 5.3.5.9 in 38.331).

[0104] At 403, the UE 110 can provide the base station 120 with UE assistance information. The UE assistance information can include user preference, e.g., preferred gap pattern, and can also include an activation request. The UAI can indicate one or more UL gap preferred configurations.

[0105] At 404, the base station 120 can make a network decision to determine the gap periodicity, gap offset, gap length, and activation information based on the UL gap capability, user preference, etc.

[0106] At 405, the BS 120 can transmit configuration information and activation information for one UL gap configuration to the UE 110. The configuration information can be provided through RRC signaling and includes an RRC information element that defines the periodicity, offset, and length associated with the UL gap configuration.

[0107] In the example procedure, the RRC configuration contains only one UL gap, and the activation information can be transmitted with the UL gap RRC configuration. Thus, the UE 110 can activate the UL gap at the same time, as shown at 406. After the UL gap is activated, the UE 110 can engage in ongoing UL traffic in case the Type 1 UL gap configuration is activated.

[0108] At 407, the UE 110 can determine that the UL gap can be deactivated. At 408, the UE 110 can send a UAI to the base station 120 to indicate that the gap is not needed. In response to receiving the UAI, the base station 120 can make a network decision at 409 and can also transmit RRC reconfiguration information to the UE 110 at 410 to deactivate the UL gap and release the UL gap configuration. When the UE 110 receives such RRC reconfiguration information, it will deactivate the Type 1 UL gap and release the UL gap configuration, as shown at 411.

[0109] Figure 5 Another signaling flow illustrating a method of uplink gap triggering according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In these embodiments, the UAI is used to transmit user preference, UL gap activation request, and UL gap deactivation request. Figure 5 The signaling flow shown in Figure 4 is similar to the signaling flow in but the UL gap activation / deactivation command uses a MAC CE.

[0110] Figure 5 As shown in

[0111] At 502, the base station 120 can provide RRC reconfiguration information for one or more UL gap configurations to the UE 110, similar to 402 in Figure 4

[0112] At 503, the UE 110 can send UE assistance information (UAI) to the base station 120. The UE assistance information can include a preferred gap pattern and can indicate one or more UL gap preferred configurations.

[0113] At 504, the base station 120 can transmit UL gap RRC configuration information and activation information to the UE 110. The configuration information can be provided through RRC signaling and includes RRC information elements defining periodicity, offset, and length associated with the UL gap configuration. The RRC configuration can indicate one or more UL gaps and, in this case, the base station 120 further transmits additional MAC CE activation / deactivation commands to indicate activation or deactivation of the UL gaps.

[0114] At 505, the UE 110 can send UAI carrying UL gap activation request to the base station 120. The UAI carrying UL gap activation request is used to inform the BS 120 that the UE 110 needs UL gap. In some embodiments, for example, when only one UL gap pattern is configured, the UAI can only carry, for example, an ON indication. In other embodiments, when multiple UL gap patterns are configured, the UAI indicates which UL gap pattern the UE requests to activate. Similarly, the UE 110 can use another UAI containing an OFF indication to inform the BS 110 that no UL gap is needed in order to deactivate the UL gap.

[0115] At 506, the base station 120 can make a network decision and decide to activate the UL gap and provide the UL gap activation command to the UE 110 using a DL MAC CE.

[0116] At 508, the UE 110 activates the UL gap and can engage in ongoing UL traffic in case the Type 1 UL gap configuration is activated.

[0117] At 509, the UE 110 can determine that the UL gap can be deactivated and then transmit another UAI to the base station 120 at 510 to indicate a UL gap deactivation request. Upon receiving the UAI, the base station 120 can make a network decision to deactivate the UL gap at 511 and transmit a UL gap deactivation command to the UE 110 using a DL MAC CE at 512. At 513, the UE 110 will deactivate the Type 1 UL gap and release the UL gap configuration.

[0118] Figure 6 ​Another signaling flow showing a method of uplink gap triggering is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Similar to Figure 4 , the UAI is used to transmit user preference, but the MAC CE is used to transmit the UL gap activation request and the UL gap deactivation request.

[0119] As shown, at 601, the UE 110 can transmit a UL gap capability report. The report can be included in one message or multiple messages. The UL gap capability report can be similar to those described in Figure 4 and Figure 5 , and thus the detailed description is omitted here for simplicity purposes.

[0120] At 602, the base station 120 can transmit RRC reconfiguration information to the UE 110. The RRC reconfiguration information can include one or more UL gap configurations and some other configuration information. The RRC reconfiguration information can be similar to those described in Figure 4 and Figure 5 , and thus the detailed description is omitted here for simplicity purposes.

[0121] At 603, the UE 110 can transmit user preference to the base station 120 using the UAI. The UAI can include one or more preferred gap patterns of the UE 110.

[0122] At 604, the base station 120 can transmit UL gap RRC configuration information and activation information to the UE 110. The configuration information can be transmitted through RRC signaling and includes RRC information elements that define periodicity, offset, and length associated with the UL gap configuration. The RRC configuration can include one or more UL gap configurations, and the UE 110 can use the UL MAC CE to request one of the UL gap configurations.

[0123] At 605, the UE 110 can perform conditional or event evaluation of the activation based on the UL gap triggering condition or event to determine whether the UL gap should be triggered.

[0124] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can trigger the UL gap activation request when P-MPR reduction is needed to meet the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) requirements, which include, for example, peak effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP), UL duty cycle, UL buffer status, link condition, and power control algorithm, etc.

[0125] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can trigger the UL gap activation request for Tx power management with a different UL gap pattern (in case multiple UL gap patterns are configured by RRC) due to large temperature drift caused by UE activity and / or environment.

[0126] In some embodiments, if the UE observes that P-MPR is needed to meet MPE during an ongoing transmission, the UE 110 can trigger a UL gap activation request.

[0127] In some embodiments, additional or alternative activation event configurations can be defined. When the UL gap is configured and not activated, the UE 110 can transmit a UL MAC CE to request gap activation if any of the additional conditions are met.

[0128] In some embodiments, the UE 110 can determine whether to trigger a UL gap activation request based on the P-MPR value of P-MPR. For example, when the P-MPR field is 1, the UE 110 can trigger a UL gap activation request. In Rel15, the “P” field, i.e., two bits reported by the UE 110, indicates that P-MPR is applied. If mpe-Reporting-FR2 is configured and the serving cell operates in FR2, the MAC entity shall set this field to 0 in case P-MPR values are applied in order to meet the MPE requirement as specified in 3GPP TS 38.101-2, otherwise set to 1. In 3GPP TS 38.133, if P-MPR values are applied in order to meet the MPE requirement, the field is less than P-MPR_00, otherwise set to 1.

[0129] In some embodiments, if mpe-Reporting-FR2 is configured, P-MPR reporting is greater than 0, the UE 110 can trigger a UL gap activation request. Further, the UE 110 can trigger a UL gap activation request based on the potential link between P-MPR index and UL gap pattern. For example, for Table 1 above, different conditions can be linked to each UL gap configuration trigger. For example, the reporting of P-MPR_00 can be an activation condition for UL gap pattern with an overhead of 2.5%, which is defined as the ratio of UGL (UL gap length) and UGRP (UL gap repetition periodicity), and the reporting of other P-MPRs, e.g., P-MPR_01, 02, and 03, can be an activation condition for UL gap pattern with an overhead of 5%. It should be noted that the link between P-MPR index and UL gap pattern is merely an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0130] At 606, when the UE 110 determines that any of the above trigger conditions are met, it can generate a UL MAC CE to base station 120 to indicate a UL gap activation request. At 607, the base station 120 can make a network decision to activate the UL gap, and transmit a UL gap activation command to the UE 110 using a DL MAC CE at 608. At 609, the UE 110 activates the UP gap and starts UL traffic if the Type 1 UL gap configuration is activated.

[0131] At 610, the UE 110 performs conditional or event evaluation for deactivation. In some embodiments, the UE 110 can determine to deactivate the UL gap when the UL gap trigger condition is not met.

[0132] In some embodiments, additional or alternative deactivation event configurations can be further defined. The deactivation condition or event can be based on, for example, BSR, PHR, Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power (L1-RSRP), or Layer 3 Reference Signal Received Power (L3-RPRP).

[0133] For example, if the value reported in the BSR is less than a preconfigured threshold, the UE 110 can determine to deactivate the UL gap. Additionally or alternatively, if the Power Headroom Space (PHR) is greater than a preconfigured threshold and the P-MPR field > 0 or the P-MPR field is set to 1, the UE 110 can determine to deactivate the UL gap as it means that there is additional PHR available even after MPR and P-MPR, i.e., cell center. For example, the PHR can be determined based on the following equation:

[0134] PHR = (P_c,max - max(MPR, P-MPR)) - Pt,

[0135] where P_c,max indicates the maximum power of the cell;

[0136] MPR indicates the allowed maximum power reduction;

[0137] P-MPR indicates the power management maximum power reduction; and

[0138] Pt indicates the current Tx power based on power control.

[0139] Additionally or alternatively, if the RSRP value reported at Layer 1 is greater than a preconfigured threshold, the UE 110 can determine to deactivate the UL gap. Additionally or alternatively, the RSRP value reported at Layer 3 is greater than a preconfigured threshold (cell center).

[0140] At 611, if the UE 110 determines to deactivate the UL gap based on the outcome of the conditional / event condition in 610, it can generate a UL MAC CE to the base station 120 to indicate the UL gap activation request. At 612, the BS 120 can make a network decision to activate the UL gap and transmit a UL gap deactivation command to the UE 110 using a DL MAC CE at 613. The UE 110 can receive the UL gap deactivation command and deactivate the Type 1 UL gap as indicated at 614.

[0141] It should be noted that the UL gap trigger condition / event and the UL gap deactivation condition / event as described above can also be applied to the signaling diagram as described in Figure 5 For example, the condition / event evaluation for the UL gap trigger can be made between 504 and 505 and the condition / event evaluation for the UL gap trigger can be made at 509.

[0142] Figure 7 Another signaling flow illustrating a method of UL gap event triggering according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In Figure 7 In the above, no user preference is mentioned, however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and user preference similar to those described above can also be transmitted from the UE 110 to the base station 120.

[0143] As Figure 7 shown, at 701, the UE 110 can transmit a UL gap capability report. The report can be included in one message or multiple messages. At 702, the base station 120 can provide the UE 110 with transmission RRC reconfiguration information regarding one or more UL gap configurations. The RRC reconfiguration information can include other configuration information.

[0144] At 703, the UE 110 can perform event evaluation based on the UL gap trigger condition or event to determine whether the UL gap should be triggered.

[0145] Similar to those described with reference to Figure 6 , the UE 110 can trigger the UL gap activation request based on the P-MPR during ongoing transmission, temperature drift, P-MPR. In addition to the trigger conditions or events described above, additional or alternative activation event configurations can be defined, for example, the additional or alternative trigger conditions or events can be based on the P-MPR value of the P-MPR, the potential link between the P-MPR index and the UL gap mode. These trigger or activation conditions or events are similar to those described with reference to Figure 6 and thus the detailed description is omitted herein.

[0146] At 704, the UE 110 can provide the UL gap activation trigger message to the base station 120. The UE 110 can send the event-triggered UL gap activation request through a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or using an existing physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) configuration (e.g., a configured grant or a dynamic grant).

[0147] At 705, the base station 120 can decide that the UL gap should be activated, and at 824, at 706, transmit the UL gap activation command to the UE 110 via a MAC CE or downlink control information (DCI) in a PDCCH. After the UE 110 receives the UL gap activation command, it activates the UL gap at 707 and sends an acknowledgement to the base station 108, and starts UL traffic at 708 if the Type 1 UL gap configuration is activated.

[0148] At 709, the UE 110 can perform event evaluation for UL gap deactivation. In some embodiments, the UE 110 can determine to deactivate the UL gap when the UL gap trigger condition is not satisfied. In addition, similar to 610 in FIG. 6, additional or alternative deactivation event configurations can be further defined. The deactivation conditions or events can be based on, for example, a BSR, a PHR, a layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP), or a layer 3 reference signal received power (L3-RPRP). These deactivation conditions or events are similar to those described with reference to FIG. 6, and thus detailed descriptions are omitted herein. Figure 6 Figure 6 described with reference to FIG. 6, and thus detailed descriptions are omitted herein.

[0149] At 710, when the UE 110 determines that the UL gap is not needed, the UE 110 can transmit a UL gap deactivation trigger request to the base station 120. At 710, the base station 120 can transmit a deactivation command to the UE 110 by signaling to deactivate the UL gap. The deactivation command can be carried by a MAC CE or a DCI. The UE 110 sends an acknowledgement to the base station 108 at 712, and deactivates the UL gap at 713.

[0150] Figure 8 FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the BS 120 and the UE 110 can be implemented by the device 800. As shown, the device 800 includes a processor 810, a memory 820 coupled to the processor 810, and a transceiver 840 coupled to the processor 810.

[0151] ​The transceiver 840 is configured for bidirectional communication. The transceiver 840 is coupled to at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The transceiver 840 can include transmitter circuitry (e.g., associated with one or more transmit chains) and / or receiver circuitry (e.g., associated with one or more receive chains). The transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry can employ common circuitry elements, distinct circuitry elements, or a combination thereof.

[0152] The processor 810 can be of any type such as a central processing unit, microcontroller, a microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 800 can have multiple processors, such as a special purpose integrated circuit chip, that are time-slaved to a clock that is synchronized with the main processor.

[0153] The memory 820 can include one or more non-transitory memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-transitory memories include, but are not limited to, read only memories (ROMs) 824, erasable programmable read only memories (EPROMs), flash memories, hard drives, compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), and other magnetic or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memories (RAMs) 822, and other volatile memories that do not maintain data bits over a duration of power loss.

[0154] The computer program 830 includes computer executable instructions executed by the associated processor 810. The program 830 can be stored in the ROM 824. The processor 810 can perform any suitable action and processing by loading the program 830 into the RAM 822.

[0155] Embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented with the aid of the program 830, such that the device 800 can perform any process of the present disclosure as discussed with reference to Figures 2 to 7 Embodiments of the present disclosure can also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0156] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, executed by devices on target real or virtual processors to perform one or more of the method 200 as discussed above with reference to Figure 2 the method 300 as discussed above with reference to Figure 3 Additionally or alternatively, the computer executable instructions executed by devices on target real or virtual processors can also perform one or more of the signaling flows as discussed above with reference to Figures 4 to 7 the method 300 as discussed above with reference to

[0157] Furthermore, although the operations are shown in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in a sequential order or the specific order shown, or requiring all the operations shown to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. While the foregoing discussion contains several specific implementation details, these details should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features described in the context of different embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0158] Although this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological behavior, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or behaviors described above. Rather, the specific features and behaviors described above are disclosed as exemplary forms for implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A processor of a user equipment (UE), the processor configured to perform operations comprising: generating UE assistance information (UAI) for transmission to a network, the UAI configured to indicate an uplink (UL) gap activation request, wherein the UAI includes a preference of the UE for a frequency range 2 (FR2) UL gap pattern; receiving, from the network, radio resource control (RRC) configuration information including an FR2 UL gap configuration in response to the UAI; and activating the FR2 UL gap configuration.

2. The processor of claim 1, further comprising: generating another UAI for transmission to the network, the other UAI including a UL gap deactivation request.

3. The processor of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise one or more of: receiving, from the network device, a UL gap activation command via RRC signaling; or receiving, from the network device, a UL gap deactivation command via another RRC signaling.

4. The processor of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise one or more of: receiving, from the network device, a UL gap activation command via a MAC CE; or receiving, from the network device, a UL gap deactivation command via another MAC CE.

5. The processor of claim 3, wherein the FR2 UL gap configuration indicates that a single UL gap is configured.

6. The processor of claim 4, wherein the FR2 UL gap configuration indicates that one or more UL gaps are configured.

7. The processor of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting, to a network device, UL gap capability information via RRC signaling, wherein the UL gap capability information includes one or more of: at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; a configuration of the at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; or a supportability of a mandatory gap for interoperability testing (IOT) purposes.

8. The processor of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, from the network device, a UL gap configuration via RRC signaling, wherein the UL gap configuration indicates a single UL gap pattern.

9. The processor of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, from the network device, a UL gap configuration via RRC signaling, wherein the UL gap configuration indicates one or more UL gap patterns.

10. The processor of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: performing event evaluation for a UL gap activation based on an activation event configuration, wherein the event configuration includes at least one trigger condition based on a value of a power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR) field indicating whether to apply a P-MPR; transmitting, to the network device, an event triggered UL gap activation request in response to any of the at least one trigger condition being satisfied.

11. The processor of claim 10, wherein the trigger condition includes the value of the P-MPR field being equal to 1. ​ 12. The processor of claim 10, wherein the trigger condition comprises a value of the P-MPR field being greater than 0.

13. The processor of claim 12, wherein the P-MPR field contains four different values corresponding to four different measurement magnitude levels, respectively, and the four different values are associable with at least two trigger conditions of different UL gap configurations.

14. The processor of claim 12, wherein a value of the P-MPR field corresponding to a lower measurement magnitude level is used to trigger an activation request for a UL gap configuration with a lower overhead, and a value of the P-MPR field corresponding to a higher measurement magnitude level is used to trigger an activation request for a UL gap configuration with a higher overhead.

15. The processor of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise: performing an event evaluation of UL gap deactivation based on a deactivation event configuration, wherein the deactivation event configuration comprises at least one trigger condition of UL gap deactivation; and in response to any of the at least one trigger condition being satisfied, transmitting an event-triggered UL gap deactivation request to the network device, wherein the at least one trigger condition comprises one or more of: a buffer status value in a buffer status report being less than a preconfigured value; a power headroom value in a power headroom report being greater than a preconfigured threshold value and a P-MPR field > 0; a power headroom value in a power headroom report being greater than a preconfigured threshold value, the P-MPR field being set to 1; a reference signal received power (RSRP) value reported at layer 1 being greater than a preconfigured threshold value; or a RSRP value reported at layer 3 being greater than a preconfigured threshold value.

16. A user equipment (UE) comprising: the processor of any of claims 1-15, and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to communicate with a network.

17. A processor of a base station (BS) configured to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), UE assistance information (UAI) configured to indicate an uplink (UL) gap activation request, wherein the UAI comprises a preference of the UE for a frequency range 2 (FR2) UL gap pattern; and in response to the UAI, generating radio resource control (RRC) configuration information comprising a FR2 UL gap configuration for transmission to the UE.

18. A base station comprising: the processor of claim 17, and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE).

Images