Cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for wireless communication for cell access technologies in carrier aggregation configurations in which one or more carriers do not provide discovery signals, such as Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) transmissions. The UE may be configured with an anchor carrier on which the SSB is transmitted, and one or more non-anchor carriers on which the SSB is not transmitted. A single cell barring indication may be provided for the anchor carrier, in which case the UE may follow a cell barring indication for an associated non-anchor carrier. In other cases, separate cell barring indications may be provided for one or more anchor carriers and one or more non-anchor carriers.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 17 / 740,560, entitled “CELL BARRING TECHNIQUESFOR CARRIER AGGREGATION IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS,” filed by Abotabl et al. on May 10, 2022, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The following relates to wireless communications, including cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems). These systems may employ techniques such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include one or more base stations, each of which supports wireless communications for communication devices, which may be referred to as user equipment (UE).

[0005] In some wireless communication systems, carrier aggregation techniques can be used to help enhance data rates and system efficiency. Such carrier aggregation techniques may include enabling concurrent communications via two or more component carriers associated with two or more cells (e.g., a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (SCells)). Efficient techniques for managing communications using carrier aggregation techniques can help enhance the overall efficiency and capacity of wireless communication systems using carrier aggregation. Summary of the invention

[0006] The described technology relates to improved methods, systems, devices and apparatuses for supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation (CA) in wireless communications. In some cases, one or more cells in a CA configuration may send a discovery signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB) transmission) that provides information that can be used for a cell access process (e.g., a random access channel (RACH) process for cell access), and one or more other cells in the CA configuration may not send a discovery signal or send a reduced number of such signals. In addition, in some cases, one or more cells may be unavailable for a new cell access process from a user equipment (UE), such as a case where the cell is unable to support additional connections (e.g., due to capacity constraints). In such cases, the cell may provide a cell barring indication in an associated discovery signal (e.g., in a master information block (MIB) provided with the SSB). According to various aspects discussed herein, the cell barring behavior for a cell that does not send a discovery signal may be determined at least in part based on a discovery signal of another cell.

[0007] In some cases, the UE may be configured with an anchor carrier on which SSBs are sent, and one or more non-anchor carriers on which SSBs are not sent or are sent relatively infrequently. In such cases, the UE may follow the cell barring indication for the anchor carrier for the associated non-anchor carrier (which may also be referred to as a non-SSB carrier). In some cases, a separate cell barring field for one or more non-SSB carriers may be provided on the anchor carrier. The separate cell barring field may include a field for the anchor carrier and a common field for all configured non-anchor carriers or a separate field for each configured non-anchor carrier. The cell barring indication may be provided via the MIB in the SSB, or via a unified access control (UAC) in the SIB (e.g., decoded from a control resource set (CORESET) identified based on information from the SSB). Additionally or alternatively, in some cases, the initial access availability for a virtual cell (e.g., a cell including an anchor carrier and one or more non-anchor carriers) may be based on a RACH configuration and a cell barring indication, wherein the cell barring indication RACH for any CA carrier cannot be used for the virtual cell.

[0008] A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) is described. The method may include: receiving a synchronization signal block via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no synchronization signal block is transmitted in the second carrier; and initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein availability for cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0009] A device for wireless communication at a UE is described. The device may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the device to: receive a synchronization signal block via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier; and initiate an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0010] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include: a component for receiving a synchronization signal block via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier; and a component for initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of the second cell for cell access is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0011] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described. The code may include instructions that can be executed by a processor to perform the following operations: receiving a synchronization signal block via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier; and initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of the second cell for cell access is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0012] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for delaying the sending of an initial access request via a second carrier based on a cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access and sending the initial access request via the second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first carrier may be an anchor carrier for a virtual cell, and the second carrier may be a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a synchronization signal block includes a cell barring indication in a master information block (MIB) sent in the synchronization signal block, wherein the cell barring indication is for an anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

[0013] In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the cell barring indication in the first carrier includes a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access process is initiated for the second cell based on the second cell barring indication. In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block for transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry a synchronization signal block for transmission. In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block for transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication includes a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

[0014] In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the cell barring indication may be provided by one or more access control parameters in a system information block (SIB) transmitted via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the SIB may be received based on information from a synchronization signal block, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0015] In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to a carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein initiating an initial access procedure may be further based on a random access channel (RACH) configuration of the virtual cell. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, if a cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability for cell access, the virtual cell may be barred from performing an initial access procedure.

[0016] A method for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The method may include: sending a synchronization signal block to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier; and monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0017] A device for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The device may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the device to: send a synchronization signal block to the UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier; and monitor the initial access process transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access for the initial access process transmission at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0018] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The apparatus may include: a component for sending a synchronization signal block to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no synchronization signal block is sent in the second carrier; and a component for monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0019] A non-transitory computer-readable medium is described, which stores code for wireless communication at a network entity. The code may include instructions that can be executed by a processor to perform the following operations: send a synchronization signal block to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier; and monitor an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0020] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for delaying monitoring of an initial access procedure sent via a second carrier based on a cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access, and monitoring an initial access procedure sent via a second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first carrier may be an anchor carrier for a virtual cell, and the second carrier may be a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a synchronization signal block includes a cell barring indication in a master information block (MIB) sent in the synchronization signal block, wherein the cell barring indication is for an anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

[0021] In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the cell barring indication in the first carrier includes a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access process is initiated for the second cell based on the second cell barring indication. In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block for transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry a synchronization signal block for transmission. In some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block for transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication includes a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

[0022] In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the cell barring indication may be provided by one or more access control parameters in a SIB that may be transmitted via a first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the SIB may be transmitted using resources indicated in a synchronization signal block, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0023] In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to a carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein the cell access associated with the initial access procedure may be further based on the RACH configuration of the virtual cell. In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, if a cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability for cell access, the virtual cell may be barred from the initial access procedure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0025] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0026] Figure 3A and Figure 3B An example of an initial access procedure message using a non-SSB carrier supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0027] Figure 4 An example of a process flow for supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0028] Figure 5 and Figure 6 A block diagram of a device supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0029] Figure 7 A block diagram of a communications manager supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 8 A diagram of a system including a device supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] Fig. 9 and Fig.10 A block diagram of a device supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0032] Fig.11A block diagram of a communications manager supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0033] Fig.12 A diagram of a system including a device supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figures 13 to 16 A flow chart illustrating a method of supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] In some wireless communication systems, network equipment may consume a relatively large amount of power. For example, in some fifth generation (5G) systems, the radio transmission and reception functions at the active antenna unit (AAU) using large-scale multiple input multiple output (MIMO) functions may result in power consumption between two and three times that of some fourth generation (4G) systems. One factor that contributes to the additional power consumption of such 5G systems is the periodic transmission of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in multiple different beam directions. One technique to reduce power consumption may be to provide some carriers that do not transmit SSBs, such as non-anchor carriers or secondary component carriers (SCCs) in a carrier aggregation configuration. Such carriers in which SSBs do not exist (or are relatively infrequently transmitted) may be referred to as SSB-free carriers or non-anchor carriers, and carriers in which SSBs exist may be referred to as anchor carriers. By reducing SSB transmissions, a large number of transmissions for non-anchor carriers may be avoided, which may reduce power consumption, reduce system overhead, and may therefore increase overall system efficiency. In some cases, system information for such SSB-free carriers may be provided via an associated anchor carrier (e.g., from a master information block (MIB) provided with the SSB). In some cases, a virtual cell may include an anchor carrier with an SSB and one or more non-anchor carriers that are SSB-free carriers. However, such techniques may cause problems for cell access (e.g., the random access channel (RACH) process for cell access). For example, cell prohibition may be indicated by a MIB in an SSB sent via a carrier, and if present, the UE may not be allowed to send a RACH request to the cell via the associated carrier. However, for a non-SSB carrier, it is unclear whether the UE can send a random access request via the carrier. Therefore, a technique for determining the availability of a non-SSB carrier for cell access communications is needed.

[0036] According to various aspects discussed herein, one or more cells in a CA configuration may transmit a discovery signal (e.g., an SSB transmission) that provides information that can be used for an initial access process (e.g., a RACH process), and one or more other cells in the CA configuration may not transmit a discovery signal or may transmit a reduced number of such signals. In addition, in some cases, one or more cells may be unavailable for a new initial access process from a user equipment (UE), such as a case where the cell is unable to support additional connections (e.g., due to capacity constraints). In such cases, the cell may provide a cell barring indication in an associated discovery signal (e.g., in a MIB provided with the SSB). According to various aspects discussed herein, the cell barring behavior for a cell that does not transmit a discovery signal may be determined at least in part based on a discovery signal of another cell.

[0037] In some cases, the UE may be configured with an anchor carrier on which the SSB is sent, and one or more non-anchor carriers on which the SSB is not sent or is sent relatively infrequently. In such cases, the UE may follow the cell barring indication for the anchor carrier for the associated non-anchor carrier (which may also be referred to as a non-SSB carrier). In some cases, a separate cell barring field for one or more non-SSB carriers may be provided on the anchor carrier. The separate cell barring field may include a field for the anchor carrier and a common field for all configured non-anchor carriers or a separate field for each configured non-anchor carrier. The cell barring indication may be provided via the MIB in the SSB, or via a unified access control (UAC) in the SIB (e.g., decoded from a control resource set (CORESET) identified based on information from the SSB). In addition, the initial access availability for the virtual cell may be based on the RACH configuration and the cell barring indication, wherein the cell barring indication RACH for any CA carrier cannot be used for the virtual cell.

[0038] Various aspects of the present disclosure are first described in the context of wireless communication systems. Various aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated and described by and with reference to virtual cell carriers, process flows, device diagrams, system diagrams, and flow diagrams involving cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications.

[0039] Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communication according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a long term evolution (LTE) network, an advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a new radio (NR) network, or a network operating according to other systems and radio technologies (including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein).

[0040] The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communication system 100 and may include devices in different forms or with different capabilities. In different examples, the network entities 105 may be referred to as network elements, mobility elements, radio access network (RAN) nodes, or network equipment, etc. In some examples, the network entities 105 and the UE 115 may communicate wirelessly via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., radio frequency (RF) access links). For example, the network entity 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) over which the UE 115 and the network entity 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which the network entity 105 and the UE 115 may support signal communications according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs).

[0041] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the coverage area 110 of the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile or both stationary and mobile at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or with different capabilities. Figure 1 Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices (such as Figure 1 Communicate with other UE 115 or network entity 105) as shown.

[0042] As described herein, a node of the wireless communication system 100 (which may be referred to as a network node or a wireless node) may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein), a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein), a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, the node may be a UE 115. As another example, the node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In yet other aspects of this example, the first node, the second node, and the third node may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, references to UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, etc. may include disclosure of UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, etc. as nodes. For example, disclosure that UE 115 is configured to receive information from network entity 105 also discloses that the first node is configured to receive information from the second node.

[0043] In some examples, the network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or communicate with each other, or both. For example, the network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130 via one or more backhaul links 120 (e.g., according to S1, N2, N3 or other interface protocols). In some examples, the network entities 105 may communicate with each other on the backhaul link 120 (e.g., according to X2, Xn or other interface protocols) directly (e.g., directly between the network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130). In some examples, the network entities 105 may communicate with each other via the midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., according to the midhaul interface protocol) or the fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., according to the fronthaul interface protocol) or any combination thereof. The backhaul communication link 120, the midhaul communication link 162, or the fronthaul communication link 168 may be or include one or more wired links (e.g., electrical links, optical fiber links), one or more wireless links (e.g., radio links, wireless optical links), etc. or various combinations thereof. UE 115 may communicate with core network 130 via communication link 155 .

[0044] One or more of the network entities 105 described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a transceiver base station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation Node B, or a Gigabit Node B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), a Home Node B, a Home Evolved Node B, or other suitable terms). In some examples, the network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in an aggregated (e.g., monolithic, stand-alone) base station architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single network entity 105 (e.g., a single RAN node, such as a base station 140).

[0045] In some examples, the network entity 105 may be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) that may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more network entities 105, such as an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN)). For example, the network entity 105 may include one or more of the following: a central unit (CU) 160, a distributed unit (DU) 165, a radio unit (RU) 170, a RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 175 (e.g., a near real-time RIC (near RT RIC), a non-real-time RIC (non-RT RIC)), a service management and orchestration (SMO) 180 system, or any combination thereof. The RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH), a remote radio unit (RRU), or a transmit receive point (TRP). One or more components of the network entity 105 in the decomposed RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entity 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations). In some examples, one or more network entities 105 of the decomposed RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., virtual CU (VCU), virtual DU (VDU), virtual RU (VRU)).

[0046] The functional split between CU 160, DU 165, and RU 170 is flexible and may support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, and any combination thereof) are performed at CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between CU 160 and DU 165 such that CU 160 may support one or more layers of a protocol stack and DU 165 may support one or more different layers of a protocol stack. In some examples, CU 160 may host higher protocol layer (e.g., layer 3 (L3), layer 2 (L2)) functionality and signaling (e.g., radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)). The CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170, and the one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170 may host lower protocol layers, such as layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between the DU 165 and the RU 170, such that the DU 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack, and the RU 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU 165 may support one or more different cells (e.g., via one or more RUs 170). In some cases, the functional split between CU 160 and DU 165 or between DU 165 and RU 170 may be within the protocol layer (e.g., some functions of the protocol layer may be performed by one of CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170). CU 160 may be further functionally split into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 via midhaul communication links 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u), and DU 165 may be connected to one or more RUs 170 via fronthaul communication links 168 (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface). In some examples, midhaul communication link 162 or fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented based on interfaces (eg, channels) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities 105 communicating over those communication links.

[0047] In some wireless communication systems (e.g., wireless communication system 100), infrastructure and spectrum resources for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, thereby providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to core network 130). In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) may be partially controlled by each other. One or more IAB nodes 104 may be referred to as donor entities or IAB donors. One or more DUs 165 or one or more RUs 170 may be controlled in part by one or more CUs 160 associated with a donor network entity 105 (e.g., donor base station 140). One or more donor network entities 105 (e.g., IAB donors) may communicate with one or more additional network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication links 120). The IAB node 104 may include an IAB mobile termination (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by a DU 165 of a coupled IAB donor. The IAB-MT may include an independent set of antennas for relaying communications with the UE 115, or may share the same antennas of the IAB node 104 (e.g., of the RU 170) for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node 104 (e.g., referred to as a virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT)). In some examples, the IAB node 104 may include a DU 165 that supports communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB node 104, UE 115) within a relay chain or configuration (e.g., downstream) of the access network. In such cases, one or more components of the decomposed RAN architecture (e.g., one or more IAB nodes 104 or components of the IAB node 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.

[0048] For example, an access network (AN) or RAN may include an access node (e.g., an IAB donor), communications between an IAB node 104, and one or more UEs 115. The IAB donor may facilitate connectivity between the core network 130 and the AN (e.g., via a wired or wireless connection to the core network 130). That is, the IAB donor may refer to a RAN node having a wired or wireless connection to the core network 130. The IAB donor may include a CU 160 and at least one DU 165 (e.g., and RU 170), wherein the CU 160 may communicate with the core network 130 via an interface (e.g., a backhaul link). The IAB donor and the IAB node 104 may communicate via an F1 interface according to a protocol defining a signaling message (e.g., an F1 AP protocol). Additionally or alternatively, CU 160 may communicate with the core network via an interface (which may be an example of a portion of a backhaul link) and may communicate with other CUs 160 (e.g., CU 160 associated with an alternative IAB donor) via an Xn-C interface (which may be an example of a portion of a backhaul link).

[0049] An IAB node 104 may refer to a RAN node that provides IAB functionality (e.g., access for UE 115, wireless self-backhaul capabilities, etc.). The DU 165 may act as a distributed scheduling node toward child nodes associated with the IAB node 104, and the IAB-MT may act as a scheduled node toward a parent node associated with the IAB node 104. That is, an IAB donor may be referred to as a parent node that communicates with one or more child nodes (e.g., the IAB donor may relay for UE transmissions through one or more other IAB nodes 104). Additionally or alternatively, depending on the relay chain or configuration of the AN, the IAB node 104 may also be referred to as a parent node or child node of other IAB nodes 104. Therefore, the IAB-MT entity of the IAB node 104 may provide a Uu interface for the child IAB node 104 to receive signaling from the parent IAB node 104 , and a DU interface (eg, DU 165 ) may provide a Uu interface for the parent IAB node 104 to signal the child IAB node 104 or the UE 115 .

[0050] For example, the IAB node 104 may be referred to as a parent node supporting child IAB node communications and as a child node associated with the IAB donor. The IAB donor may include a CU 160 having a wired or wireless connection (e.g., backhaul communication link 120) to the core network 130, and may act as a parent node of the IAB node 104. For example, the DU 165 of the IAB donor may relay transmission to the UE 115 through the IAB node 104, and may directly signal the UE 115 to transmit. The CU 160 of the IAB donor may signal the IAB node 104 that a communication link is established via the F1 interface, and the IAB node 104 may schedule transmission (e.g., transmission relayed from the IAB donor to the UE 115) via the DU 165. That is, data may be relayed to and from the IAB node 104 via signaling on the NR Uu interface of the MT to the IAB node 104. Communications with the IAB node 104 may be scheduled by the DU 165 of the IAB donor, and communications with the IAB node 104 may be scheduled by the DU 165 of the IAB node 104 .

[0051] In the case where the techniques described herein are applied to the context of a decomposed RAN architecture, one or more components of the decomposed RAN architecture may be configured to support the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally or alternatively be performed by one or more components of the decomposed RAN architecture (e.g., an IAB node 104, a DU 165, a CU 160, a RU 170, a RIC 175, a SMO 180).

[0052] UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable term, where a "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, etc. UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communication (MTC) device, etc., which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances or vehicles, meters, etc.

[0053] The UE 115 described herein may be capable of communicating with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, which may sometimes act as relays, as well as network entities 105 and network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, relay base stations, etc. Figure 1as shown in .

[0054] The UE 115 and the network entity 105 may wirelessly communicate with each other via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., access links) on one or more carriers. The term "carrier" may refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure to support the communication link 125. For example, a carrier for the communication link 125 may include a portion of an RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth portion (BWP)) that operates according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling for coordinating carrier operations, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communication system 100 may support communications with the UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. Depending on the carrier aggregation configuration, the UE 115 may be configured to have multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation may be used for both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers. Communication between the network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between these devices and any part (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of the network entity 105. For example, the terms "sending", "receiving" or "communicating" when referring to the network entity 105 may refer to any part of the network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, CU 160, DU 165, RU 170) of the RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities 105).

[0055] In some examples, such as in a carrier aggregation configuration, a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates the operation of other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute RF Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be located based on a channel raster for discovery by UE 115. A carrier may operate in a standalone mode, in which case initial acquisition and connection may be performed by UE 115 via the carrier, or a carrier may operate in a non-standalone mode, in which case the connection is anchored using a different carrier (e.g., a different carrier of the same or different radio access technology).

[0056] The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include downlink transmissions (e.g., forward link transmissions) from the network entity 105 to the UE 115, uplink transmissions (e.g., return link transmissions) from the UE 115 to the network entity 105, or both, as well as other transmission configurations. A carrier may carry downlink communications or uplink communications (e.g., in FDD mode), or may be configured to carry both downlink communications and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode).

[0057] A carrier may be associated with a specific bandwidth of the RF spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as a "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be the bandwidth of one carrier in a set of bandwidths of carriers of a specific radio access technology (e.g., 1.4 megahertz (MHz), 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz). A device of the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115, or both) may have a hardware configuration that supports communication on a specific carrier bandwidth or may be configurable to support communication on one carrier bandwidth in a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a network entity 105 or a UE 115 that supports concurrent communication via carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured to operate on a portion (e.g., a subband, a BWP) or all of a carrier bandwidth.

[0058] The signal waveform sent on the carrier may include multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system using MCM technology, a resource element may refer to a resource of one symbol period (e.g., the duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and the subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both), so that the more resource elements a device receives and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate of the device may be. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of RF spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers, beams), and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity used for communication with UE 115.

[0059] One or more parameter sets for a carrier may be supported, where the parameter set may include subcarrier spacing (Δf) and cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs with the same or different parameter sets. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time, and communications of a UE 115 may be constrained to one or more active BWPs.

[0060] The time interval for the network entity 105 or the UE 115 may be expressed as a multiple of a basic time unit, which may be, for example, a sampling period T s =1 / (Δf max ·N f ) seconds, where Δf max It can represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and N f The maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size may be indicated. Time intervals of the communication resources may be organized according to radio frames, each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0061] Each frame may include a plurality of consecutively numbered subframes or time slots, and each subframe or time slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided into subframes (e.g., in the time domain), and each subframe may be further divided into a certain number of time slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of time slots, and the number of time slots may depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include a certain number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix added before each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, a time slot may be further divided into a plurality of mini time slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may include one or more (e.g., N f The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or the operating frequency band.

[0062] A subframe, a time slot, a mini-time slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in a burst of a shortened TTI (sTTI)).

[0063] Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. For example, physical control channels and physical data channels may be multiplexed on a downlink carrier using one or more of a time division multiplexing (TDM) technique, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique, or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) of a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across a system bandwidth or a subset of a system bandwidth of a carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of UEs 115. For example, one or more UEs in UE 115 may monitor or search a control region to obtain control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or more control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. The aggregation level of a control channel candidate may refer to the number of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with coding information for a control information format having a given payload size. The search space sets may include a common search space set configured for transmitting control information to a plurality of UEs 115 , and a UE-specific search space set for transmitting control information to a specific UE 115 .

[0064] The network entity 105 may provide communication coverage via one or more cells (e.g., macro cells, small cells, hot spots, or other types of cells, or any combination thereof). The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with the network entity 105 (e.g., on a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or other) used to distinguish adjacent cells. In some examples, a cell may also refer to a coverage area 110 or a portion of a coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) on which the logical communication entity operates. Depending on various factors such as the capabilities of the network entity 105, such cells may range from smaller areas (e.g., structures, subsets of structures) to larger areas. For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subset of a building, or an external space between or overlapping coverage areas 110, and the like.

[0065] A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access to UEs 115 that have service subscriptions with a network provider that supports the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower power network entity 105 (e.g., a lower power base station 140) (compared to a macro cell), and the small cell may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency band as the macro cell. A small cell may provide unrestricted access to UEs 115 that have service subscriptions with a network provider, or may provide restricted access to UEs 115 associated with a small cell (e.g., UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs 115 associated with users in a home or office). A network entity 105 may support one or more cells, and may also use one or more component carriers to support communications on one or more cells.

[0066] In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)) that may provide access to different types of devices.

[0067] In some examples, the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140, RUs 170) may be mobile and thus provide communication coverage for mobile coverage areas 110. In some examples, different coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same network entity 105. In some other examples, overlapping coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by different network entities 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of network entities 105 provide coverage for various coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable communication or low-latency communication or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). UE 115 may be designed to support ultra-reliable or low-latency or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communication may include private or group communication and may be supported by one or more services such as push-to-talk, video, or data. Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

[0069] In some examples, a UE 115 may be able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (e.g., according to a peer-to-peer (P2P), D2D, or sidelink protocol). In some examples, one or more UEs 115 in a group that are performing D2D communication may be within a coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a RU 170), which may support aspects of such D2D communication configured or scheduled by the network entity 105. In some examples, one or more UEs 115 in such a group may be outside of the coverage area 110 of the network entity 105, or may otherwise be unable or not configured to receive transmissions from the network entity 105. In some examples, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may support a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each of the other UEs 115 in the group. In some examples, the network entity 105 may facilitate scheduling resources for D2D communication. In some other examples, D2D communications may be performed between UEs 115 without involving network entity 105 .

[0070] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC), which may include at least one control plane entity for managing access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) and at least one user plane entity for routing packets or interconnecting to an external network (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW)), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)). The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management of UE 115 served by a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to an IP service 150 for one or more network operators. IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or packet-switched streaming services.

[0071] The wireless communication system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands that may be in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Generally speaking, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelength range is approximately one decimeter to one meter. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features (which may be referred to as clusters), but these waves may be sufficient to penetrate structures so that macro cells provide services to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to transmission using smaller frequencies and longer wavelengths of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0072] The wireless communication system 100 can utilize both licensed RF spectrum bands and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can use licensed assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in unlicensed bands such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. When operating in an unlicensed RF spectrum band, devices such as network entities 105 and UE 115 can use carrier sensing for conflict detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations in unlicensed bands can be based on carrier aggregation configuration (e.g., LAA) in combination with component carriers operating in licensed bands. Operations in unlicensed spectrum can include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, and the like.

[0073] The network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170) or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which can be used to employ technologies such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication, or beamforming. The antennas of the network entity 105 or UE 115 may be located in one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which can support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with the network entity 105 may be located at different geographical locations. The network entity 105 may have an antenna array having antenna ports of a set of rows and columns that the network entity 105 can use to support beamforming for communication with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that can support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna panel may support RF beamforming for signals sent via the antenna ports.

[0074] The network entity 105 or UE 115 may use MIMO communication to utilize multipath signal propagation and improve spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such technology may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. For example, multiple signals may be sent by a transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, the multiple signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry information associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technology includes single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to multiple devices.

[0075] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or direct an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining signals conveyed via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating in a particular direction relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals conveyed via antenna elements may include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to signals carried via antenna elements associated with the device. Adjustments associated with each of these antenna elements may be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular direction (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device or relative to some other direction).

[0076] The network entity 105 or UE 115 may use beam scanning techniques as part of a beamforming operation. For example, the network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170) may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be sent multiple times by the network entity 105 along different directions. For example, the network entity 105 may send signals according to different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmission directions. Transmissions along different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by a transmitting device (such as network entity 105), or by a receiving device (such as UE 115)) beam directions for later transmission or reception by the network entity 105.

[0077] Some signals (such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device) may be sent by a transmitting device (e.g., transmitting network entity 105, transmitting UE 115) along a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device such as receiving network entity 105 or receiving UE 115). In some examples, a beam direction associated with transmission along a single beam direction may be determined based on signals sent along one or more beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals sent by network entity 105 along different directions, and may report to network entity 105 an indication of the signal received by UE 115 with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality.

[0078] In some examples, transmission by a device (e.g., by network entity 105 or UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from network entity 105 to UE 115). UE 115 may report feedback indicating precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a set of configured beams across a system bandwidth or one or more subbands. Network entity 105 may send a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which may or may not be precoded. UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel codebook, a linear combination codebook, a port selection codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals sent along one or more directions by a network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170), UE 115 may use similar techniques to send signals multiple times along different directions (e.g., to identify a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115), or to send signals along a single direction (e.g., to send data to a receiving device).

[0079] A receiving device (e.g., UE 115) may perform receiving operations according to multiple receiving configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from a receiving device (e.g., network entity 105). For example, the receiving device may perform reception according to multiple receiving directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different receiving beamforming weight sets (e.g., different directional listening weight sets) applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or processing received signals according to different receiving beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" according to different receiving configurations or receiving directions. In some examples, the receiving device may use a single receiving configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). A single receive configuration may be aligned along a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receive configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or other acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0080] The wireless communication system 100 can be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, the communication of the bearer or PDCP layer can be IP-based. The RLC layer can perform packet segmentation and reorganization to communicate on the logical channel. The MAC layer can perform priority processing and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer can also use error detection technology, error correction technology, or both to support retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the RRC protocol layer can provide the establishment, configuration and maintenance of the RRC connection of the radio bearer that supports user plane data between the UE 115 and the network entity 105 or the core network 130. At the PHY layer, the transport channel can be mapped to the physical channel.

[0081] In some cases, the UE 115 may be configured for CA with multiple component carriers. According to various aspects as discussed herein, such a UE 115 may be configured with an anchor carrier on which SSBs are sent, and one or more non-anchor carriers on which SSBs are not sent or are sent relatively infrequently. In such cases, the UE 115 may follow the cell barring indication for the anchor carrier for one or more associated non-anchor carriers or non-SSB carriers. In some cases, a separate cell barring field for one or more non-SSB carriers may be provided on the anchor carrier. The separate cell barring field may include a field for the anchor carrier and a common field for all configured non-anchor carriers or a separate field for each configured non-anchor carrier. The cell barring indication may be provided via the MIB in the SSB, or via a unified access control (UAC) in the SIB (e.g., decoded from a CORESET identified based on information from the SSB). Furthermore, in some cases, initial access availability for a virtual cell may be based on RACH configuration and a cell barring indication, where the cell barring for any CA carrier indicates that RACH cannot be used for the virtual cell.

[0082] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system 200 that supports cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communication according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In some examples, aspects of the wireless communication system 200 may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100 or may be implemented by these aspects. The wireless communication system 200 may include a first cell 205-a (e.g., may be implemented by Figure 1 105 ), a second cell 205 - b (e.g., which may be served by the same or different network entity as the first cell 205 - a), and a UE 115 - a, which may be as described in reference Figure 1 Examples of corresponding entities or devices described.

[0083] UE 115-a may communicate with one or more of cells 205 using two or more downlink carriers in a CA configuration, including a first carrier 210 providing downlink communication from a first cell 205-a to UE 115-a and a second carrier 215 providing downlink communication from a second cell 205-b to UE 115-a. UE 115-a may also be configured with multiple uplink carriers in a CA configuration, including a third carrier 220 providing uplink communication from UE 115-a to the first cell 205-a and a fourth carrier 225 providing uplink communication from UE 115-a to the second cell 205-b. Note that Figure 2The CA configuration illustrated in is an example of multiple different types of CA configurations. For example, multiple downlink CCs, uplink CCs, or combinations thereof may be served from the same network entity, or any different combination of downlink CCs and uplink CCs may be served by one or more network entities (e.g., Figure 1 In some cases, carriers 210 to 225 may be examples of access links (e.g., Uu links) for uplink and downlink communications.

[0084] Additionally or alternatively, the first cell 205-a and the second cell 205-b may be served by a first transmit-receive point (TRP) and a second transmit-receive point (TRP) associated with one or more network entities 105. For example, in some cases, the UE 115-a may communicate with a first TRP (e.g., TRP1 that may provide the first cell 205-a) via the first carrier 210 and the third carrier 220, and may communicate with a second TRP (e.g., TRP2 that may provide the second cell 202-b) via the second carrier 215 and the fourth carrier 225. In such cases, the first TRP and the second TRP (e.g., TRP1, TRP2) may be associated with the same or different network entities.

[0085] As previously described herein, some wireless communication systems implement operation in a CA mode serving one or more virtual cells, where the virtual cells may include an anchor carrier and one or more non-anchor carriers. Figure 2 In the example of , the first carrier 210 can be an anchor carrier carrying a periodic SSB 230, and the second carrier 215 can be a non-anchor carrier that is a SSB-free carrier. When performing cell access (such as a RACH process for initial cell access), the UE 115-a can send an access procedure message 235 via an uplink carrier. For example, the UE 115-a can send the access procedure message 235-a to the first cell 205-a (e.g., to the primary cell (PCell)) via the third carrier 220, or can send the access procedure message 235-b to the second cell 205-b (e.g., to the secondary cell (SCell)) via the fourth carrier 225. Reference Figure 3A and Figure 3B An example of a random access procedure for cell access in the presence of one or more SSB-free carriers in CA is discussed.

[0086] Figure 3A and Figure 3BAn example of an initial access procedure message using no SSB carriers 300 and 350 supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communication according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The initial access procedure message using no SSB carriers 300 and 350 may be implemented or may be implemented to achieve various aspects of the wireless communication system 100 or 200. For example, the initial access procedure message using no SSB carriers 300 and 350 may be implemented by the UE 115, the network entity 105, or both, as described in reference to Figure 1 to Figure 2 As illustrated and described, to communicate SSB and perform cell access procedures.

[0087] In use Figure 3A In a first example initial access procedure message of a non-SSB carrier 300, a virtual cell may be configured with an anchor carrier 305 (e.g., a first carrier) and a non-anchor carrier 310 (e.g., a second carrier). In this example, the anchor carrier 305 may carry an SSB that may be monitored at the UE. The SSB may include information for accessing the virtual cell, such as MIB information and information indicating the location of the CORESET. The non-anchor carrier 310 in this example may be a non-SSB carrier and may be in the same frequency band as the anchor carrier 305 or in a different frequency band from the anchor carrier 305. In this example, the cell access procedure may be performed by the UE sending a first message 315 (e.g., a random access request or MSG-1 transmission in a RACH initial access procedure) using the non-anchor carrier 310. In this example, a second message 320 (e.g., a random access response or MSG-2 transmission in a RACH initial access procedure) may be sent to the UE via the anchor carrier 305. In this example, the cell access procedure may be a contention-based RACH procedure, where a third message 325 (e.g., an uplink shared channel message or MSG-3 transmission in a RACH initial access procedure) may be sent using a non-anchor carrier 310, followed by a fourth message 330 (e.g., a downlink shared channel message or control channel message or MSG-4 transmission in a RACH initial access procedure) being sent using an anchor carrier 305. Figure 3A In the example of , some cell access messages may be sent via the non-anchor carrier 310, which may reduce overhead on the anchor carrier 305 and may also reduce the likelihood of collisions in the RACH procedure.

[0088] In other cases, all cell access messages of the cell access procedure may be sent via one or more non-anchor carriers. Examples of such techniques are described in Figure 3B, where a virtual cell may be configured with an anchor carrier 355, a first non-anchor carrier 360 (e.g., a non-SSB-free non-anchor carrier), and a second non-anchor carrier 365 (e.g., a different non-anchor carrier). In other examples, one or more non-anchor carriers may operate in TDD mode, where uplink communications and downlink communications are carried on the same carrier. In this example, the anchor carrier 355 may carry an SSB that may be monitored at the UE. The SSB may include information for accessing the virtual cell, such as MIB information and information indicating the location of the CORESET. The first non-anchor carrier 360 in this example may be a non-SSB carrier and may be in the same frequency band as the anchor carrier 355 or in a different frequency band from the anchor carrier 355. Similarly, the second non-anchor carrier 365 in this example may be a non-SSB carrier and may be in the same frequency band as the anchor carrier 355 or in a different frequency band from the anchor carrier 355. In this example, a cell access procedure may be performed with all associated messages carried by the first non-anchor carrier 360 and the second non-anchor carrier 365. For example, the UE may transmit a first message 370 (e.g., a MSG-1 transmission) and a third message 380 (e.g., a MSG-3 transmission) using the first non-anchor carrier 360, and may receive a second message 375 (e.g., a MSG-2 transmission) and a fourth message 385 (e.g., a MSG-4 transmission) via the second non-anchor carrier 365.

[0089] As previously discussed, in some cases, a cell barring indication may be provided in the MIB carried in the SSB transmission, which may inform the UE whether a cell is barred from access. In some cases, the barring indication may be provided per anchor carrier 305, 355 (e.g., per Pcell). Additionally, in some cases, certain cells may be prevented from being selected for cell access due to load control reasons, such as according to unified access control (UAC) techniques. According to various aspects discussed herein, such cell barring indications can be used to indicate whether the UE may use one or more non-SSB carriers to perform cell access. In some cases, if the cell barring flag in the acquired MIB in the anchor carrier 305, 355 is set to barred, the cell barring flag may be applied to all associated carriers. For example, in Figure 3A In the present invention, if the MIB carried in the SSB via the anchor carrier 305 indicates that the first cell is barred, the UE may not perform cell access via the anchor carrier 305 or the non-anchor carrier 310 (or any other non-anchor carrier that is part of the virtual cell configured in the system information).

[0090] In other aspects, the cell barring indication provided in the anchor carrier 305, 355 MIB may provide a cell barring flag associated with the anchor carrier 305, 355 and one or more additional cell barring flags for one or more associated non-anchor carriers (e.g., non-anchor carriers 310, 360, 365) that are part of the virtual cell. In some cases, one additional flag for cell barring may be a common flag for all non-anchor carriers of the virtual cell. For example, in Figure 3B In the example, a first indication in the MIB provided in the SSB on the anchor carrier 355 (e.g., a first cell barring flag) may indicate cell barring for the anchor carrier 355, and a second indication in the MIB (e.g., a second cell barring flag) may indicate cell barring for each configured non-anchor carrier, such as the first non-anchor carrier 360 and the second non-anchor carrier 365. In other examples, a separate cell barring indication may be provided for each carrier associated with the virtual cell, which may independently indicate whether the associated anchor carrier or the non-anchor carrier may be used for cell access.

[0091] Additionally or alternatively, in some cases, the availability of a cell for a cell access message may be provided using the UAC and information provided in a system information block (e.g., in SIB 1) provided in a CORESET associated with an SS B transmission. In some cases, the UAC parameters of the anchor carrier may be used for each configured non-anchor carrier. In other cases, one or more additional UAC parameters may be provided for a set of one or more non-anchor carriers. In such cases, since the RACH process may involve an anchor carrier, one or more non-anchor carriers, or a combination thereof, the system information may include configuration information to indicate which carriers are used for RACH. The UE may decode the system information and use one or more cell barring flags and RACH configuration (e.g., including carrier selection) to determine whether the virtual cell is accessible for cell access communications. In some cases, if at least one of the carriers selected for RACH is barred, the virtual cell is barred for cell access.

[0092] Figure 4 An example of a process flow 400 for supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Aspects of the process flow 400 may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100 or 200 or any combination thereof, or may be implemented by these aspects. In particular, the process flow 400 illustrates a UE 115-b, a first cell 405-a (e.g., providing an anchor carrier), and a second cell 405-b (e.g., providing a non-SSB carrier), which may support cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation, as described with reference to FIG. Figure 1As described in Figure 3, and other aspects.

[0093] In some examples, the operations illustrated by process flow 400 may be performed by hardware (e.g., including circuits, processing blocks, logic components, and other components), code executed by a processor (e.g., software), or any combination thereof. The following alternative examples may be implemented in which some of the steps are performed in a different order than described or not performed at all. In some cases, the steps may include additional features not mentioned below, or other steps may be added.

[0094] At 410, the first cell 405-a may provide (e.g., send) configuration information to the UE 115-b. In other words, the UE 115-b may obtain (e.g., receive) configuration information from the first cell 405-a, which may provide an anchor carrier or PCell in a CA configuration. The configuration information may be provided in an RRC message, a DCI message, a MAC-CE message, etc. In some cases, the configuration information may include information for performing a cell access procedure for one or more cells, which may include one or more anchor carriers, one or more non-anchor carriers, or any combination thereof, as discussed in various aspects of this document.

[0095] At 415, the UE 115-b may determine a monitoring configuration. For example, the first UE 115-b may determine to monitor for a discovery signal, such as an SSB, via a first carrier served by the first cell 405-a. At 420, the first cell 405-a may output (e.g., transmit) a discovery signal, such as a periodic SSB transmission.

[0096] At 425, UE 115-b may determine whether to send an initial access message for a cell access procedure. In some cases, the initial access message may be sent based on data arriving in an uplink buffer at UE 115-a to be sent to the network via one or more of the first cell 405-a or the second cell 405-b. In other cases, the initial access message may be sent based on a paging notification received at UE 115-b.

[0097] At 430, the UE 115-b may determine initial access message parameters. According to various techniques as discussed herein, the UE 115-b may determine parameters including a cell to which the initial access message may be transmitted. For example, based on a cell barring indication provided by the first cell, the UE 115-b may determine that an initial access procedure message (e.g., a RACH MSG-1 random access request) is to be sent via the second cell 405-b, and at 435, the UE 115-b may send the initial access procedure message via the second cell 405-b. At 440, the UE 115-b, the first cell 405-a, and the second cell 405-b may complete the initial access procedure, such as by exchanging additional RACH messages (e.g., MSG-2, MSG-3, MSG-4) via one or both of the first cell 405-a or the second cell 405-b.

[0098] Figure 5 A block diagram 500 of a device 505 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of the UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a transmitter 515, and a communication manager 520. The device 505 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0099] The receiver 510 may provide means for receiving information (such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications). The information may be communicated to other components of the device 505. The receiver 510 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

[0100] The transmitter 515 may provide means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 505. For example, the transmitter 515 may transmit information (such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications). In some examples, the transmitter 515 may be co-located with the receiver 510 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 515 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

[0101] The communication manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communication manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations thereof or components thereof may support methods for performing one or more of the functions described herein.

[0102] In some examples, the communication manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in a communication management circuit). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, which is configured to or otherwise supports components for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, the processor and a memory coupled to the processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by executing instructions stored in the memory by the processor).

[0103] Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communication manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code executed by a processor (e.g., as communication management software or firmware). If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functionality of the communication manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured or otherwise supported to perform the functions described in the present disclosure).

[0104] In some examples, communication manager 520 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send) using or otherwise cooperating with receiver 510, transmitter 515, or both. For example, communication manager 520 may receive information from receiver 510, transmit information to transmitter 515, or be integrated with receiver 510, transmitter 515, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0105] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 520 may support wireless communications at the UE. For example, the communication manager 520 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for receiving an SSB (or other discovery signal) via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission (or other discovery signal) in the second carrier. The communication manager 520 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability for cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0106] By including or configuring a communication manager 520 according to examples as described herein, the device 505 (e.g., a processor controlling the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, the communication manager 520, or a combination thereof or otherwise coupled thereto) may support techniques for cell access via one or more anchor carriers, one or more non-anchor carriers, or any combination thereof, which may provide flexibility in scheduling different carriers, enhance efficiency of communications, provide more efficient use of wireless resources, and enhance reliability of communications.

[0107] Figure 6 A block diagram 600 of a device 605 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 605 may be an example of aspects of the device 505 or UE 115 as described herein. The device 605 may include a receiver 610, a transmitter 615, and a communication manager 620. The device 605 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0108] The receiver 610 may provide means for receiving information (such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications). The information may be communicated to other components of the device 605. The receiver 610 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

[0109] The transmitter 615 may provide means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 605. For example, the transmitter 615 may transmit information (such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications). In some examples, the transmitter 615 may be co-located with the receiver 610 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 615 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

[0110] The device 605 or its various components may be examples of components for performing various aspects of the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communication manager 620 may include an SSB manager 625, a cell access manager 630, or any combination thereof. The communication manager 620 may be an example of various aspects of the communication manager 520 as described herein. In some examples, the communication manager 620 or its various components may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send) using or otherwise cooperating with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or both. For example, the communication manager 620 may receive information from the receiver 610, transmit information to the transmitter 615, or be integrated with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0111] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 620 may support wireless communications at the UE. The SSB manager 625 may be configured to or otherwise support components for receiving an SSB via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communications in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The cell access manager 630 may be configured to or otherwise support components for initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communications via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability for cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0112] Figure 7A block diagram 700 of a communication manager 720 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 720 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 520, the communication manager 620, or both as described herein. The communication manager 720 or its various components may be examples of components for performing various aspects of the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communication manager 720 may include an SSB manager 725, a cell access manager 730, a cell barring manager 735, or any combination thereof. Each of these components may communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0113] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 720 may support wireless communications at the UE. The SSB manager 725 may be configured to or otherwise support components for receiving an SSB via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communications in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The cell access manager 730 may be configured to or otherwise support components for initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communications via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability for cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0114] In some examples, the cell barring manager 735 may be configured to or otherwise support components for delaying the transmission of an initial access request via a second carrier based on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access. In some examples, the cell access manager 730 may be configured to or otherwise support components for transmitting an initial access request via a second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access. In some examples, the first carrier is an anchor carrier for a virtual cell, and the second carrier is a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell. In some examples, the SSB includes a cell barring indication in a MIB transmitted in the SSB, wherein the cell barring indication is for an anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

[0115] In some examples, the cell barring indication in the first carrier includes a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access procedure is initiated for the second cell based on the second cell barring indication. In some examples, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries SSB transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry SSB transmission. In some examples, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries SSB transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication includes a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

[0116] In some examples, the cell barring indication is provided by one or more access control parameters in a SIB sent via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier. In some examples, the SIB is received based on information from an SSB, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0117] In some examples, the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to a carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein initiating an initial access procedure is further based on a RACH configuration of the virtual cell. In some examples, if a cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability of access to the cell, the virtual cell is barred from performing an initial access procedure.

[0118] Figure 8 A diagram of a system 800 including a device 805 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 805 may be an example of a device 505, a device 605, or a UE 115 as described herein or include components thereof. The device 805 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof. The device 805 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, such as a communication manager 820, an input / output (I / O) controller 810, a transceiver 815, an antenna 825, a memory 830, a code 835, and a processor 840. These components may be electronically communicated or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 845).

[0119] I / O controller 810 can manage input and output signals of device 805. I / O controller 810 can also manage peripheral devices that are not integrated into device 805. In some cases, I / O controller 810 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 810 can utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally or alternatively, I / O controller 810 may represent or interact with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. In some cases, I / O controller 810 may be implemented as part of a processor such as processor 840. In some cases, a user may interact with device 805 via I / O controller 810 or via hardware components controlled by I / O controller 810.

[0120] In some cases, the device 805 may include a single antenna 825. However, in some other cases, the device 805 may have more than one antenna 825, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 815 may communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas 825, a wired or wireless link, as described herein. For example, the transceiver 815 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 815 may also include a modem for: modulating packets; providing the modulated packets to one or more antennas 825 for transmission; and demodulating packets received from one or more antennas 825. The transceiver 815 or the transceiver 815 and the one or more antennas 825 may be examples of transmitters 515, transmitters 615, receivers 510, receivers 610, or any combination thereof or components thereof as described herein.

[0121] The memory 830 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory 830 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 835 including instructions that, when executed by the processor 840, cause the device 805 to perform various functions described herein. The code 835 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 835 may not be directly executable by the processor 840, but may cause the computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein. In some cases, in addition to this, the memory 830 may also contain a basic I / O system (BIOS) that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0122] The processor 840 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 840 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 840. The processor 840 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., a memory 830) to cause the device 805 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications). For example, the device 805 or a component of the device 805 may include a processor 840 and a memory 830 coupled to or coupled to the processor 840, and the processor 840 and the memory 830 are configured to perform the various functions described herein.

[0123] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 820 may support wireless communications at the UE. For example, the communication manager 820 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for receiving an SSB via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The communication manager 820 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability for cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0124] By including or configuring a communications manager 820 according to examples as described herein, the device 805 may support techniques for cell access via one or more anchor carriers, one or more non-anchor carriers, or any combination thereof, which may provide flexibility in scheduling different carriers, enhance efficiency of communications, provide more efficient use of wireless resources, and enhance reliability of communications.

[0125] In some examples, the communication manager 820 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, monitor, transmit) using or otherwise cooperating with the transceiver 815, one or more antennas 825, or any combination thereof. Although the communication manager 820 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communication manager 820 may be supported or performed by the processor 840, the memory 830, the code 835, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 835 may include instructions that are executable by the processor 840 to cause the device 805 to perform various aspects of the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein, or the processor 840 and the memory 830 may be otherwise configured to perform or support such operations.

[0126] Fig. 9 A block diagram 900 of a device 905 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of the network entity 105 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a transmitter 915, and a communication manager 920. The device 905 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0127] The receiver 910 may provide means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information (such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). The information may be passed to other components of the device 905. In some examples, the receiver 910 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the receiver 910 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

[0128] The transmitter 915 may provide means for outputting (e.g., sending, providing, conveying, transmitting) information generated by other components of the device 905. For example, the transmitter 915 may output information associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack), such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). In some examples, the transmitter 915 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter 915 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 915 and the receiver 910 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include a modem or be coupled to the modem.

[0129] The communication manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communication manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations thereof or components thereof may support methods for performing one or more of the functions described herein.

[0130] In some examples, the communication manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in a communication management circuit). The hardware may include a processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof that is configured as or otherwise supports components for performing the functions described in this disclosure. In some examples, a processor and a memory coupled to the processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by executing instructions stored in the memory by the processor).

[0131] Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communication manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code executed by a processor (e.g., as communication management software or firmware). If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functionality of the communication manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured or otherwise supported to perform the functions described in the present disclosure).

[0132] In some examples, the communication manager 920 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send) using or otherwise cooperating with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both. For example, the communication manager 920 may receive information from the receiver 910, transmit information to the transmitter 915, or be integrated with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0133] According to the examples disclosed herein, the communication manager 920 may support wireless communication at a network entity. For example, the communication manager 920 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for sending an SSB to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The communication manager 920 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0134] By including or configuring a communication manager 920 according to examples as described herein, the device 905 (e.g., a processor controlling the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, the communication manager 920, or a combination thereof or otherwise coupled thereto) may support techniques for cell access via one or more anchor carriers, one or more non-anchor carriers, or any combination thereof, which may provide flexibility in scheduling different carriers, enhance efficiency of communications, provide more efficient use of wireless resources, and enhance reliability of communications.

[0135] Fig.10 A block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of the device 905 or network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1005 may include a receiver 1010, a transmitter 1015, and a communication manager 1020. The device 1005 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0136] The receiver 1010 may provide means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information (such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). The information may be passed to other components of the device 1005. In some examples, the receiver 1010 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the receiver 1010 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

[0137] The transmitter 1015 may provide means for outputting (e.g., sending, providing, conveying, transmitting) information generated by other components of the device 1005. For example, the transmitter 1015 may output information associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack), such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). In some examples, the transmitter 1015 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter 1015 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical fiber) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1015 and the receiver 1010 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include a modem or be coupled to the modem.

[0138] Device 1005 or its various components may be examples of components for performing various aspects of cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein. For example, communication manager 1020 may include SSB manager 1025, cell access manager 1030, or any combination thereof. Communication manager 1020 may be an example of various aspects of communication manager 920 as described herein. In some examples, communication manager 1020 or its various components may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send) using or otherwise cooperating with receiver 1010, transmitter 1015, or both. For example, communication manager 1020 may receive information from receiver 1010, transmit information to transmitter 1015, or be integrated with receiver 1010, transmitter 1015, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0139] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1020 may support wireless communications at a network entity. The SSB manager 1025 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for sending an SSB to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The cell access manager 1030 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0140] Fig.11 A block diagram 1100 of a communication manager 1120 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 1120 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 920, the communication manager 1020, or both as described herein. The communication manager 1120 or its various components may be examples of components for performing various aspects of the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communication manager 1120 may include an SSB manager 1125, a cell access manager 1130, a cell barring manager 1135, or any combination thereof. Each of these components may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses), which may include communication within a protocol layer of a protocol stack, communication associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack, within a device, component, or virtualized component associated with the network entity 105, between devices, components, or virtualized components associated with the network entity 105), or any combination thereof.

[0141] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1120 may support wireless communications at a network entity. The SSB manager 1125 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for sending an SSB to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The cell access manager 1130 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0142] In some examples, the cell barring manager 1135 may be configured or otherwise support components for delaying monitoring of initial access procedure transmissions via the second carrier based on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access. In some examples, the cell access manager 1130 may be configured or otherwise support components for monitoring initial access procedure transmissions via the second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0143] In some examples, the first carrier is an anchor carrier for the virtual cell, and the second carrier is a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell. In some examples, the SSB includes a cell barring indication in the MIB sent in the SSB, wherein the cell barring indication is for the anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier. In some examples, the cell barring indication in the first carrier includes a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access process is initiated for the second cell based on the second cell barring indication. In some examples, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries S SB transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry S SB transmission. In some examples, the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries S SB transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication includes a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

[0144] In some examples, the cell barring indication is provided by one or more access control parameters in a SIB sent via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier. In some examples, the SIB is sent using resources indicated in an SSB, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0145] In some examples, the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to a carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein the cell access associated with the initial access procedure is further based on the RACH configuration of the virtual cell. In some examples, if a cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability of cell access, the virtual cell is barred from the initial access procedure.

[0146] Fig.12 A diagram of a system 1200 including a device 1205 supporting cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1205 may be an example of a device 905, a device 1005, or a network entity 105 as described herein, or include components thereof. The device 1205 may communicate with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof, which may include communication through one or more wired interfaces, through one or more wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. The device 1205 may include components that support output and receive communications, such as a communication manager 1220, a transceiver 1210, an antenna 1215, a memory 1225, a code 1230, and a processor 1235. These components may be electronically communicated or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1240).

[0147] The transceiver 1210 may support bidirectional communication via a wired link, a wireless link, or both, as described herein. In some examples, the transceiver 1210 may include a wired transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wired transceiver. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the transceiver 1210 may include a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. In some examples, the device 1205 may include one or more antennas 1215, which may be capable of sending or receiving wireless transmissions (e.g., concurrently). The transceiver 1210 may also include a modem for: modulating a signal; providing the modulated signal for transmission (e.g., via one or more antennas 1215, via a wired transmitter); receiving a modulated signal (e.g., from one or more antennas 1215, from a wired receiver); and demodulating a signal. The transceiver 1210, or the transceiver 1210 and one or more antennas 1215 or wired interfaces (if applicable) may be examples of transmitter 915, transmitter 1015, receiver 910, receiver 1010, or any combination thereof or components thereof as described herein. In some examples, the transceiver may be operable to support communication via one or more communication links (e.g., communication link 125, backhaul communication link 120, midhaul communication link 162, fronthaul communication link 168).

[0148] Memory 1225 may include RAM and ROM. Memory 1225 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1230 including instructions that, when executed by processor 1235, cause device 1205 to perform various functions described herein. Code 1230 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, code 1230 may not be directly executable by processor 1235, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein. In some cases, in addition to this, memory 1225 may also include BIOS, which may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0149] The processor 1235 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 1235 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 1235. The processor 1235 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1225) to cause the device 1205 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications). For example, the device 1205 or a component of the device 1205 may include a processor 1235 and a memory 1225 coupled to the processor 1235, the processor 1235 and the memory 1225 being configured to perform the various functions described herein. Processor 1235 can be an example of a cloud computing platform (e.g., one or more physical nodes and supporting software such as an operating system, virtual machine, or container instance) that can host functionality for performing functions of device 1205 (e.g., by executing code 1230).

[0150] In some examples, bus 1240 may support communications of a protocol layer (e.g., within a protocol layer) of a protocol stack. In some examples, bus 1240 may support communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack), which may include communications performed within a component of device 1205, or communications between different components of device 1205 that may be co-located or located in different locations (e.g., device 1205 may refer to a system in which one or more of communication manager 1220, transceiver 1210, memory 1225, code 1230, and processor 1235 may be located in one of the different components or divided between the different components).

[0151] In some examples, communication manager 1220 may manage aspects of communications with core network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links). For example, communication manager 1220 may manage the transmission of data communications for client devices such as one or more UEs 115. In some examples, communication manager 1220 may manage communications with other network entities 105 and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UE 115 in collaboration with other network entities 105. In some examples, communication manager 1220 may support an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between network entities 105.

[0152] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1220 may support wireless communications at a network entity. For example, the communication manager 1220 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for sending a synchronization signal block to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier. The communication manager 1220 may be configured to or otherwise support a component for monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0153] By including or configuring a communications manager 1220 according to examples as described herein, the device 1205 may support techniques for cell access via one or more anchor carriers, one or more non-anchor carriers, or any combination thereof, which may provide flexibility in scheduling different carriers, enhance efficiency of communications, provide more efficient use of wireless resources, and enhance reliability of communications.

[0154] In some examples, the communication manager 1220 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, transmit) using or otherwise cooperating with the transceiver 1210, one or more antennas 1215 (e.g., if applicable), or any combination thereof. Although the communication manager 1220 is shown as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communication manager 1220 may be supported or performed by the processor 1235, the memory 1225, the code 1230, the transceiver 1210, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 1230 may include instructions that are executable by the processor 1235 to cause the device 1205 to perform various aspects of the cell barring techniques for carrier aggregation in wireless communications as described herein, or the processor 1235 and the memory 1225 may be otherwise configured to perform or support such operations.

[0155] Fig.13 A flowchart illustrating a method 1300 for supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof as described in reference to Figures 1 to 8The described UE 115 may be performed. In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0156] At 1305, the method may include receiving an SSB via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no SSB transmission is present in the second carrier. The operations of 1305 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1305 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The described SSB manager 725 is executed.

[0157] At 1310, the method may include initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein availability for cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access. The operations of 1310 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The cell access manager 730 described above is used for execution.

[0158] Fig.14 A flowchart illustrating a method 1400 for supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof as described in reference to Figures 1 to 8 The described UE 115 may be performed. In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0159] At 1405, the method may include receiving an SSB via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no SSB transmission is present in the second carrier. The operations of 1405 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The described SSB manager 725 is executed.

[0160] At 1410, the method may include initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein availability for cell access at the second cell is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access. The operations of 1410 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The cell access manager 730 described above is used for execution.

[0161] At 1415, the method may include delaying the initial access request transmission via the second carrier based on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access. The operations of 1415 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The described cell barring manager 735 is performed.

[0162] At 1420, the method may include sending an initial access request via a second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access. The operations of 1420 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1420 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The cell access manager 730 described above is used for execution.

[0163] Fig.15 A flowchart illustrating a method 1500 for supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a network entity or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a network entity or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 1 to 4 as well as Figures 9 to 12 In some examples, the network entity may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0164] At 1505, the method may include sending an SSB to the UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The operations of 1505 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.11 The described SSB manager 1125 is executed.

[0165] At 1510, the method may include monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from a UE to initiate communication via one or more of a first cell or a second cell, wherein availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with an SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access. The operations of 1510 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.11 The cell access manager 1130 described above is used for execution.

[0166] Fig.16 A flowchart illustrating a method 1600 for supporting a cell barring technique for carrier aggregation in wireless communications according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a network entity or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a network entity or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 1 to 4 as well as Figures 9 to 12 In some examples, the network entity may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0167] At 1605, the method may include transmitting an SSB to the UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including a first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no SSB transmission in the second carrier. The operations of 1605 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.11 The described SSB manager 1125 is executed.

[0168] At 1610, the method may include monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined based on a cell barring indication associated with the SSB indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access. The operations of 1610 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.11 The cell access manager 1130 described above is used for execution.

[0169] At 1615, the method may include delaying monitoring of an initial access procedure sent via a second carrier based on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access. The operations of 1615 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.11 The described cell barring manager 1135 is performed.

[0170] At 1620, the method may include monitoring an initial access procedure transmission via a second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell is enabled for cell access. The operations of 1620 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1620 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.11 The cell access manager 1130 described above is used for execution.

[0171] The following provides an overview of various aspects of the disclosure:

[0172] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication at a UE, the method comprising: receiving a synchronization signal block via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no synchronization signal block is sent in the second carrier; and initiating an initial access procedure at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability for cell access at the second cell is determined at least in part based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0173] Aspect 2: According to the method of Aspect 1, the method also includes: delaying the sending of an initial access request via the second carrier at least in part based on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access; and sending the initial access request via the second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0174] Aspect 3: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 2, wherein the first carrier is an anchor carrier for a virtual cell, and the second carrier is a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell.

[0175] Aspect 4: A method according to Aspect 3, wherein the synchronization signal block includes the cell barring indication in a master information block (MIB) sent in the synchronization signal block, wherein the cell barring indication is for the anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

[0176] Aspect 5: A method according to Aspect 1, wherein the cell barring indication in the first carrier includes a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access procedure is initiated for the second cell based at least in part on the second cell barring indication.

[0177] Aspect 6: A method according to Aspect 5, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block transmission, and wherein the second cell prohibition indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry a synchronization signal block transmission.

[0178] Aspect 7: A method according to any one of Aspects 5 to 6, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier and a third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication includes a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

[0179] Aspect 8: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 7, wherein the cell barring indication is provided by one or more access control parameters in a SIB sent via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0180] Aspect 9: A method according to aspect 8, wherein the SIB is received based at least in part on information from the synchronization signal block, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0181] Aspect 10: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 9, wherein the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to the carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein initiating the initial access procedure is further based at least in part on the RACH configuration of the virtual cell.

[0182] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 10, wherein if the cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability for cell access, the virtual cell is barred from performing the initial access procedure.

[0183] Aspect 12: A method for performing wireless communications at a network entity, the method comprising: sending a synchronization signal block to a UE via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no synchronization signal block is sent in the second carrier; and monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined at least in part based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0184] Aspect 13: According to the method according to Aspect 12, the method also includes: delaying the monitoring of the initial access process sent via the second carrier at least in part based on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access; and monitoring the initial access process sent via the second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access.

[0185] Aspect 14: The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 13, wherein the first carrier is an anchor carrier for a virtual cell and the second carrier is a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell.

[0186] Aspect 15: A method according to Aspect 14, wherein the synchronization signal block includes the cell barring indication in a master information block (MIB) sent in the synchronization signal block, wherein the cell barring indication is for the anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

[0187] Aspect 16: A method according to Aspect 12, wherein the cell barring indication in the first carrier includes a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access procedure is initiated for the second cell based at least in part on the second cell barring indication.

[0188] Aspect 17: A method according to Aspect 16, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier and the third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry a synchronization signal block transmission.

[0189] Aspect 18: A method according to any one of Aspects 16 to 17, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier and a third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication includes a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

[0190] Aspect 19: A method according to any one of Aspects 12 to 18, wherein the cell barring indication is provided by one or more access control parameters in a SIB sent via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0191] Aspect 20: A method according to aspect 19, wherein the SIB is sent using resources indicated in the synchronization signal block, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

[0192] Aspect 21: A method according to any one of Aspects 12 to 20, wherein the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to the carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein the cell access associated with the initial access procedure is further based at least in part on the RACH configuration of the virtual cell.

[0193] Aspect 22: The method according to aspect 21, wherein if the cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability for cell access, the virtual cell is barred from performing the initial access procedure.

[0194] Aspect 23: An apparatus for performing wireless communications at a UE, the apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 11.

[0195] Aspect 24: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, the apparatus comprising at least one component for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11.

[0196] Aspect 25: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a code for wireless communication at a UE, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11.

[0197] Aspect 26: An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, the apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 12 to 22.

[0198] Aspect 27: An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, the apparatus comprising at least one component for performing the method according to any one of aspects 12 to 22.

[0199] Aspect 28: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a network entity, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to any one of aspects 12 to 22.

[0200] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the various operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more methods may be combined in a method.

[0201] Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR systems may be described for example purposes, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein may also be applicable to networks other than LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communication systems, such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0202] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips mentioned throughout the specification may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0203] The various illustrative blocks and components described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0204] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or sent via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Other examples and specific implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or any combination of these items. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located at different locations, including being distributed so that various parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0205] Computer-readable medium includes both non-transient computer storage medium and communication medium, and it includes any medium that facilitates computer program to transfer from one place to another.Non-transient storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by general or special-purpose computer.By way of example and not limitation, non-transient computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc (CD) ROM or other optical disc storage device, disk storage or other magnetic storage device or can be used for carrying or storing desired program code parts and any other non-transient medium that can be accessed by general or special-purpose computer or general or special-purpose processor in the form of instruction or data structure.Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as computer-readable medium.For example, if software is sent from website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave, then coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0206] As used herein (including in the claims), "or" used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items followed by a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates an inclusive list, so that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). In addition, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step described as "based on condition A" can be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on."

[0207] The terms "determine" or "determine" encompass various actions, and thus, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, database or other data structure), ascertaining, etc. Additionally, "determining" may include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data in a memory), etc. Additionally, "determining" may include resolving, obtaining, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.

[0208] In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference label. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a dash and a second label to distinguish between the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description may apply to any of the similar components having the same first reference label regardless of the second reference label, or other subsequent reference labels.

[0209] The descriptions set forth herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describe example configurations and do not represent all examples that may be implemented or within the scope of the claims. The term "example" as used herein means "used as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "advantageous over other examples." The detailed description includes specific details to provide an understanding of the described technology. However, the technologies may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to suppress the concepts that obscure the described examples.

[0210] The description herein is provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to implement or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a synchronization signal block via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no synchronization signal block is transmitted in the second carrier; as well as An initial access procedure is initiated at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell is determined at least in part based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: delaying sending an initial access request via the second carrier based at least in part on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access; as well as An initial access request is sent via the second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first carrier is an anchor carrier for a virtual cell and the second carrier is a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the synchronization signal block includes the cell barring indication in a master information block (MIB) sent in the synchronization signal block, wherein the cell barring indication is for the anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell barring indication in the first carrier comprises a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access procedure is initiated for the second cell based at least in part on the second cell barring indication.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and a third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry a synchronization signal block transmission.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and a third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication comprises a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell barring indication is provided by one or more access control parameters in a system information block (SIB) sent via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the SIB is received based at least in part on information from the synchronization signal block, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to the carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein initiating the initial access procedure is further based at least in part on a random access channel (RACH) configuration of the virtual cell.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein if the cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability for cell access, the virtual cell is barred from performing the initial access procedure.

12. A method for wireless communication at a network entity, the method comprising: Sending a synchronization signal block to a user equipment (UE) via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no synchronization signal block transmission is present in the second carrier; and monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined at least in part based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: delaying the monitoring of the initial access procedure sent via the second carrier based at least in part on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access; as well as The initial access procedure transmission via the second carrier is monitored when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first carrier is an anchor carrier for a virtual cell and the second carrier is a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the synchronization signal block includes the cell barring indication in a master information block (MIB) sent in the synchronization signal block, wherein the cell barring indication is for the anchor carrier, and wherein the cell barring indication is applied to each of the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the cell barring indication in the first carrier comprises a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access procedure is initiated for the second cell based at least in part on the second cell barring indication.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and a third carrier, and both the second carrier and the third carrier do not carry synchronization signal block transmissions, and wherein the second cell barring indication is applied to each carrier that does not carry synchronization signal block transmissions.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the carrier aggregation scheme uses at least the first carrier, the second carrier, and a third carrier, and neither the second carrier nor the third carrier carries a synchronization signal block transmission, and wherein the second cell barring indication comprises a separate indication for each of the second carrier and the third carrier.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the cell barring indication is provided by one or more access control parameters in a system information block (SIB) sent via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the SIB is transmitted using resources indicated in the synchronization signal block, and wherein the one or more access control parameters include separate cell barring indications for the first carrier and the second carrier.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein the first cell and the second cell form a virtual cell for communication according to the carrier aggregation scheme, and wherein the cell access associated with the initial access procedure is further based at least in part on a random access channel (RACH) configuration of the virtual cell.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein if the cell barring indication associated with either the first cell or the second cell indicates unavailability for cell access, the virtual cell is barred from the initial access procedure.

23. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receiving a synchronization signal block via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein no synchronization signal block is transmitted in the second carrier; as well as An initial access procedure is initiated at the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell is determined at least in part based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: delaying sending an initial access request via the second carrier based at least in part on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access; and An initial access request is sent via the second carrier when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first carrier is an anchor carrier for a virtual cell and the second carrier is a non-anchor carrier for the virtual cell.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the cell barring indication in the first carrier comprises a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access procedure is initiated for the second cell based at least in part on the second cell barring indication.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the cell barring indication is provided by one or more access control parameters in a system information block (SIB) sent via the first carrier, and wherein the one or more access control parameters in the SIB are applied to each of the first carrier and the second carrier.

28. An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, the apparatus comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmitting a synchronization signal block to a user equipment (UE) via a first carrier of two or more carriers used for communication with the UE in a carrier aggregation scheme, the two or more carriers including the first carrier associated with a first cell and a second carrier associated with a second cell, wherein there is no synchronization signal block transmission in the second carrier; as well as Monitoring an initial access procedure transmission from the UE to initiate communication via one or more of the first cell or the second cell, wherein the availability of cell access at the second cell for the initial access procedure transmission is determined at least in part based on a cell barring indication associated with the synchronization signal block indicating whether the first cell can be used for cell access.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: delaying the monitoring of the initial access procedure sent via the second carrier based at least in part on the cell barring indication having a value indicating that the first cell cannot be used for cell access; and The initial access procedure transmission via the second carrier is monitored when the cell barring indication has a value indicating that the first cell can be used for cell access.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the cell barring indication in the first carrier comprises a first cell barring indication associated with the first cell and a second cell barring indication associated with the second cell, and wherein the initial access procedure is initiated for the second cell based at least in part on the second cell barring indication.

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