Method and apparatus for power headroom reporting

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to power headroom reporting in dual connectivity. A terminal device: obtains a power headroom report indication indicating that a cross-cell group PH report is disabled, in which PH information of active serving cells of both a first cell group and a second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; and creating a PH report based on the PH report indication, the PH report including PH information on one of the first cell group and the second cell group. In this manner, signaling overhead and power consumption may be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications, and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for power headroom (PH) reporting (PHR). Background Art

[0002] With the development of communication technology, terminal devices can be served by both a primary cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) at the same time (this may also be called dual connectivity (DC)) to improve communication capacity and coverage.

[0003] In dual connectivity scenarios, such as dual connectivity in Long Term Evolution (LTE DC), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) New Radio (NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity (NE-DC), and NR dual connectivity (NR-DC), many PH report (PHR) triggers are for two media access control (MAC) entities.

[0004] In the conventional PHR process, in the case of dynamic power sharing, the uplink (UL) transmission power for one cell group may also affect the UL power allocation in the other cell group, and therefore, the PH of all active serving cells from the two cell groups are reported to the two base stations. In other words, whenever a PHR is reported, the PH of all active serving cells of the two cell groups is reported. Summary of the invention

[0005] In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for power headroom reporting in dual connectivity.

[0006] In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device may include: one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers, wherein the terminal device is configured with dual connectivity with a first cell group and a second cell group, and the one or more processors are configured to enable the terminal device to: obtain a power headroom (PH) report indication, the PH report indication indicating that cross-cell group PH reporting is disabled, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; and based on the PH report indication, create a PH report PHR, the PHR including: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0007] In a second aspect, a network device is provided. The network device may include: one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and configured to enable the network device to: send a configuration regarding uplink power control or power headroom report configuration, the configuration explicitly or implicitly indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both a first cell group and a second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; and receive a PH report PHR, the PHR including: PH information regarding one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0008] In a third aspect, a method implemented at a terminal device is provided. The method may include: obtaining a power headroom (PH) report indication, the PH report indication indicating disabling cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both a first cell group and a second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; and creating a PH report PHR based on the PH report indication, the PHR including: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0009] In a fourth aspect, a method implemented at a network device is provided. The method may include: sending a configuration regarding uplink power control or PHR configuration, the configuration explicitly or implicitly indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both a first cell group and a second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; and receiving a PH report PHR, the PHR including: PH information regarding one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0010] In a fifth aspect, a device of a terminal device is provided. The device may include: a component for obtaining a power headroom (PH) report indication, the PH report indication indicating disabling cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; and a component for creating a PH report PHR based on the PH report indication, the PHR including: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0011] In a sixth aspect, a device of a network device is provided. The device may include: a component for sending a configuration regarding uplink power control or PHR configuration, the configuration explicitly or implicitly indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both a first cell group and a second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; and a component for receiving a PH report PHR, the PHR including: PH information regarding one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0012] In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to execute a method according to at least the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0013] It should be understood that the invention summary is not intended to determine the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Figure 1 illustrates an example network environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0016] Figure 2 A flowchart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0017] Figure 3 illustrates a PHR MAC CE format that may be used to implement an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 4 A flowchart of a method implemented at a network device according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0019] Figure 5 illustrates a signaling diagram according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, the signaling diagram illustrating an example PHR procedure in a DC;

[0020] Figure 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0021] Figure 7 A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium is illustrated in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only to illustrate and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, and do not represent any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various other ways except the way described below.

[0024] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0025] In this disclosure, references to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and "an example embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment must include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, those skilled in the art recognize that it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0026] It should be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. can be used to describe various elements in this article, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiment, the first element can be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element can be referred to as the first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0027] The terms used herein are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" also include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It is further understood that the terms "include", "comprise", "have", "have", "include", and / or "contain" when used herein specify the presence of the features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0028] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one, more, or all of the following:

[0029] (a) a pure hardware circuit implementation (such as an implementation using only analog and / or digital circuitry), and

[0030] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable):

[0031] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0032] (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(s) that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions, and

[0033] (c) Hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but which may not be present when the software is not required for operation.

[0034] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term circuitry also covers a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0035] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that complies with any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. In addition, the communication between the terminal equipment and the network equipment in the communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to the third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocol and / or higher generation communication protocol. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communication, there will certainly be future types of communication technologies and systems that can embody the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be considered to be limited to the above-mentioned systems.

[0036] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network, via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services from the network. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), such as a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low-power node (such as a femto, a pico, etc.), etc.

[0037] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet computer, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback device, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop embedded device (LEE), a laptop mounted device (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical equipment and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial equipment and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of an industrial and / or automated processing chain), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms “terminal device,” “communication device,” “terminal,” “end device,” “station,” “STA,” “user equipment,” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0038] As described above, the PHR can be triggered to provide the gNB with the difference between the maximum allowed transmission power of the terminal device and the currently evaluated uplink transmission power, which is evaluated between the estimated uplink transmission power and the UE maximum transmission power. Therefore, the gNB can control power and schedule resources for the terminal device based on the PHR.

[0039] Typically, PHR can be triggered in the following situations:

[0040] ■phr-ProhibitTimer expires or has expired, and the path loss has changed by more than the threshold; phr-PeriodicTimer expires;

[0041] ■ Upon configuration or reconfiguration of the power headroom reporting functionality by upper layers (it is not used to disable the functionality); Activation of a SCell with any MAC entity configured uplink whose firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id is not set to the sleep bandwidth part (BWP); Activation of an SCG;

[0042] ■Addition of a PSCell, unless the SCG is deactivated (i.e., the PSCell is newly added or changed);

[0043] ■ Upon switching of the active BWP of the SCell with any MAC entity configuring uplink from a dormant BWP to a non-dormant DLBWP, etc.

[0044] However, in dual connectivity scenarios, such as LTE DC, EN-DC, NE-DC, and NR-DC, many PH reporting (PHR) triggers are for two media access control (MAC) entities. In other words, whenever a PHR is reported, the PH information of all active serving cells of the two cell groups is reported. For simplicity, this may also be referred to as, but not limited to, cross-cell group PH reporting. However, since the PH information of the two cell groups is to be reported, such PH reporting will result in higher PHR overhead.

[0045] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a solution for power headroom reporting is provided. In the solution, a terminal device obtains a PH report indication, which indicates that cross-cell group PH reporting is disabled. In the cross-cell group PH report, PH information of activated service cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported, and the PH report indication that the cross-cell group PH report is disabled may also be referred to as a cross-cell group PH report disable indication. In addition, the terminal device creates a PHR based on the PH report indication, and the PHR includes: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group. One of the first cell group and the second cell group about which the PH information is included in the PHR may be a cell group that satisfies the PHR trigger condition, or a cell group associated with a MAC entity that satisfies the PHR trigger condition. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the cross-cell group PH is not used, the cross-cell group PH report may be explicitly or implicitly disabled, thereby reducing the PHR overhead.

[0046] The following will refer to Figure 1-Figure 6 Example embodiments of the present disclosure for PH reporting are described.

[0047] Figure 1 An example network environment 100 is illustrated in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The environment 100, which may be part of a communication network, includes terminal devices and network devices.

[0048] like Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , in a network environment 100, a first device 110 is configured with carrier aggregation (CA) and is in dual connectivity (DC) with a second device 120 and a third device 130. The first device 110 may be implemented as a terminal device (which may also be referred to as a terminal device 110 or a UE 110 hereinafter). The second device 120 and the third device 130 may be network devices (which may be referred to as gNBs 120 and 130, or network devices 120 and 130), such as a base station for providing radio coverage to the first device 110.

[0049] In dual connectivity (DC) mode, the terminal device can be served by a primary cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). MCG can be a group of service cells associated with a primary radio access network (RAN) node, and can be understood as a cell group, to which the cell in which the UE first initiates random access (RACH) belongs. There can be multiple cells in an MCG, and the cell in which the UE first initiates initial access is called a primary cell (PCell), and other cells are called SCells (secondary cells). The PCell and SCell in the MCG can be combined with the aid of CA technology. Similarly, there is a primary cell in the SCG, which is called a primary secondary cell (PSCell), and the PSCell can also be simply understood as a cell in which the initial access is initiated in the SCG. In addition, the SCG can optionally include one or more SCells.

[0050] like Figure 1 As shown in , the second device 120 provides and manages an MCG including a PCell 121. The PCell 121 can operate on a primary frequency, where the first device 110 performs an initial connection establishment process or initiates a connection reestablishment process. It is assumed that the PCell 121 is always in an activated state. The third device 130 provides and manages an SCG including a PSCell 131.

[0051] For each of the MCG and SCG, one or more SCells (e.g., SCell 122, SCell 123, and SCell 132) may be configured to provide additional radio resources to the first device 110. However, SCells are not required for DC operation, and in some cases, SCells may not be included in the MCG or SCG. It should be noted that the number of SCells included in the MCG and SCG is for illustrative purposes only. Depending on network deployment, resource configuration, actual needs, etc., there may be more or fewer SCells in each of the MCG and SCG.

[0052] The first device 110 may communicate with the second device 120 and / or the third device 130 on an uplink (UL) or a downlink (DL). Specifically, the direction from the first device 110 to the second device 120 and / or the third device 130 refers to the uplink (UL), and the direction from the second device 120 and / or the third device 130 to the first device 110 refers to the downlink (DL).

[0053] During operation, the first device 110 can determine whether there is a power headroom (PH) reporting indication indicating that cross-cell group PH reporting is disabled and create a PHR regarding one of the MCG and the SCG to provide power information to the MCG or the SCG (i.e., the second device 120 or the third device 130).

[0054] In the scenario of power splitting between two cell groups, the gNB can configure the maximum transmission power for each cell group. The maximum transmit power that the UE can use on the serving cell may also be limited by p-NR-FR1 (configured for the cell group) and p-UE-FR1 (the sum configured for all serving cells operating on FR1). In this case, if the sum of the total power of the two cell groups is not higher than the maximum transmit power of the UE, the terminal device and the network device operate in static power allocation mode without dynamic power sharing between the cell groups. In this case, when the NW does not intend to use cross-cell group PH reporting to reduce PH overhead, an explicit or implicit power headroom (PH) reporting indication may be provided, thereby improving system performance and system efficiency. The term "cross-cell group" used herein may refer to providing information of one cell group (e.g., MCG or SCG) to another cell group (e.g., SCG or MCG), and the term "cross-cell group PH reporting" may refer to reporting PH information of one cell group (e.g., MCG or SCSG) to another cell group (e.g., SCG or MCG). For example, using "cross-cell group PH reporting", the UE will report the PH of the cell associated with the SCG in the PHR sent to the MCG, or will report the PH of the cell associated with the MCG in the PHR sent to the SCG. In other words, in the cross-cell group PH reporting mode, PH information about both the SCG and the MCG will be reported. On the other hand, when "cross-cell group" or "cross-cell group PH reporting" is disabled or not allowed, the UE may not report the PH of the cell associated with one cell group (e.g., MCG or SCG) in the cell group to another cell group (e.g., SCG or MCG), but only report the PH of the cell associated with one cell group (e.g., MCG or SCG) in the cell group to one cell group (e.g., MCG or SCG).

[0055] In addition, in NR Rel-17, more enhanced PHR formats (e.g., enhanced multi-entry PHR MAC CE, enhanced multi-entry PHR for multiple transmit receive points (TRP) MAC CE) are introduced for further enhanced MIMO (FeMIMO) with multiple beams / TRPs, so as to report more information for each serving cell, such as multiple entry points (MPE) for multiple beams, PH values ​​for multiple TRPs, etc. In this case, it will also further increase the PHR overhead. In one example, one of the gNBs supports FeMIMO while the other gNB does not, and the gNB that does not support FeMIMO will not be able to decode the additional information or benefit from it. In another example, a MAC entity is not configured with a two-PHR mode for m-TRP (e.g., a MAC entity associated with a node that does not support FeMIMO), and then only one PH of the multiple PHs of the serving cell is reported, so that it also does not work well because it does not include complete information about the power condition. This may cause nodes that do not use / support FeMIMO to make wrong scheduling decisions. By providing such an explicit or implicit power headroom (PH) reporting indication, the problem of reducing PH overhead can be solved, thereby improving system performance and system efficiency. In addition, when only one gNB supports FeMIMO, the operation of FeMIMO can be simplified. Therefore, the solution can also facilitate flexible and efficient power headroom reporting.

[0056] According to some embodiments, for the purpose of backward compatibility, in addition to the power information of the MCG, the PHR may also include the power information of the Pcell of the SCG via, for example, the PSCell 131 PH entry, especially for implicit PH reporting indication. Therefore, it can reduce the PH overhead while maintaining backward compatibility.

[0057] It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices is only for illustrative purposes and does not represent any limitation. System 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices suitable for implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it should be understood that one or more terminal devices may be located in environment 100.

[0058] The communication in the network environment 100 can be implemented according to any appropriate (multiple) communication protocols, including but not limited to the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G), wireless local area network communication protocols (such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc.), and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. In addition, the communication can utilize any appropriate wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), Bluetooth, ZigBee and machine type communication (MTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communication (mMTC), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), and new radio unlicensed (NR-U) technology.

[0059] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method 200 implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 The method 200 is described from the perspective of the terminal device 110. It should be understood that the method 200 may also include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some of the shown blocks, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0060] At step 210, the terminal device 110 may: obtain a PH report indication, the PH report indication indicating that cross-cell group PH reporting is disabled, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report. In other words, the terminal device 110 may determine whether there is a PH report indication based on an explicit indication or configuration from a network device, or based on some implicit information (e.g., implicit signaling), or some related configuration parameters and predetermined criteria.

[0061] In some embodiments, the PH reporting indication may be explicitly indicated by, for example, one or more bits indicating the disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting. For example, the PH reporting indication may be explicitly indicated by a direct control bit in the PHR configuration. Such a bit may be a new bit or a reused bit in the PHR configuration, or may be a separate signaling, for example, via RRC or MAC.

[0062] In some embodiments, the PH report indication may be implicitly indicated by one or more of the following: configuration of the power control mode of the first cell group and the second cell group in the semi-static mode; configuration that the power limit of the first cell group and the second cell group is less than or equal to the transmission power of the terminal device; or inconsistency in the PH report format configuration between the first cell group and the second cell group. In other words, the terminal device can obtain the PH report indication from some configuration parameters based on some predefined rules. For example, the terminal device can check the PHR mode, and when two PHRModes are configured for the MAC entity, it can determine that there is a PH report indication when one or more cells in another MAC entity are configured with mTRP PUSCH repetition.

[0063] In some embodiments, the method 200 further includes: at the terminal device, receiving a configuration regarding uplink power control or PHR configuration, wherein the PH reporting indication is obtained from the configuration.

[0064] In some embodiments, the method 200 further includes: triggering a PH report for one of the first cell group and the second cell group that meets the PHR triggering condition based on the PH report indication.

[0065] In some embodiments, triggering a PH report includes: a media access control MAC entity of the first cell group or the second cell group determines the trigger based on whether its corresponding cell group satisfies the PHR triggering condition; and only considers the service cell or timer of one of the first cell group and the second cell group. In other words, when determining whether to trigger the PHR of the MCG, the MAC entity for the MCG only considers the situation that its own cell is in the MCG, and when determining whether to trigger the PHR, the MAC entity for the SCG only considers the situation that its own cell is in the SCG. For example, the MAC entity only considers whether its own service cell or timer meets any situation that triggers the PHR.

[0066] At block 220 , the terminal device 110 may: based on the PH reporting indication, create a PHR, the PHR including: PH information on one of the first cell group and the second cell group. In other words, cross-cell group PH reporting will be disabled.

[0067] In some embodiments, creating the PH report further includes: in the PH report, only including PH information of the activated serving cells of one of the first cell group and the second cell group. In one example, when one or more serving cells in the serving cells of the MCG trigger the PH report, the PHR only includes the PH information of the MCG. In another example, when one or more serving cells in the serving cells of the SCG trigger the PH report, the PHR only includes the PH information of the SCG.

[0068] In some embodiments, creating the PH report further comprises: including in the PH report PH information of a serving cell of one of the first cell group and the second cell group, and PH information of a primary cell of the other of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0069] In the embodiment of explicit indication or signaling, backward compatibility with the UE can be ensured, because the UE will report the PHR only when the network has configured the UE to do so. Regarding the above implicit indication, in principle, there is no backward compatibility problem, because there is a bitmap in the PHR MAC CE that can be used to indicate which cells' PH is reported.

[0070] like Figure 3 As shown in FIG, in a multi-entry PHR MAC CE format, a bitmap may be included in the PHR to indicate whether the serving cell is reported. The bitmap includes C i field, and the C in the bitmap i The PH field indicates the presence of the serving cell with ServCellIndex i. A C i The PH field indicates that the serving cell with ServCellIndex i is reported. A C i The PH field indicates that the PH field of the serving cell with ServCellIndex i is not reported. Therefore, the MAC entity may indicate the PH of cells of other cell groups as not reported.

[0071] However, in the bitmap, no bit is used for the indication of the primary cell, and therefore no bit can be used to indicate whether PCell 121 or PScell ​​131 is reported in the bitmap. In this case, in order to maintain backward compatibility, for the case of implicit PH reporting indication, it can be specified that the PH information of the PCell of the second cell group is still reported. For the case of a partial disabling scheme, such a solution can be considered.

[0072] Furthermore, to ensure backward compatibility with legacy nodes or LTE nodes, the PH of the PCell may be reported to the MCG or SCG even in the case of an explicit PH reporting indication.

[0073] In some embodiments, method 200 may further include: sending a PH report to a network device. If a PH report indication is obtained, it means that cross-cell group PH reporting disabling is configured. In this case, PH information of cells associated with one cell group (e.g., MCG or SCG) in the cell group is sent to another cell group (e.g., SCG or MCG), but a separate PH report should be applied. For example, a PH report triggered by an MCG may include only PH information about cells in the MCG and may be sent only to the MCG, or alternatively, a PH report triggered by an SCG may include only PH information about cells in the SCG and may be sent only to the SCG.

[0074] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 400 implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to Figure 1 The method 400 is described from the perspective of the network device 120 or 130. It should be understood that the method 400 may also include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0075] At block 410, the network device 120 may send a configuration regarding uplink power control or PHR configuration, which explicitly or implicitly indicates disabling cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported. In other words, the terminal device 110 may obtain an explicit indication or an implicit indication of disabling cross-cell group PH reporting based on, for example, the configuration.

[0076] In some embodiments, in this configuration, the PH reporting indication is explicitly indicated by a bit indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting.

[0077] In some embodiments, wherein in this configuration, the PH report indication is implicitly indicated by any one or more of the following: configuration of the power control mode of the first cell group and the second cell group in semi-static mode, configuration of the power limit of the first cell group and the second cell group being less than or equal to the transmission power of the terminal device, or inconsistency in the PH report format configuration between the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0078] At block 420 , the network device 120 or the network device 130 may receive a PHR including PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0079] In some embodiments, the PH report only includes: PH information of an activated serving cell of one of the first cell group and the second cell group in the PH report.

[0080] In some embodiments, the PH report includes: in the PH report, PH information of an activated serving cell of one of the first cell group and the second cell group, and PH information of a primary cell of the other of the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0081] Figure 5 FIG. 1 illustrates a signaling diagram according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, which illustrates an example PHR process in a DC. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to Figure 1 Describe process 500. For example, device 110 Figure 1 In the example, the UE 501 implements the MCF 502 and the SCG 503, and the MCF 502 and the SCG 503 may be implemented as Figure 1 MCG and SCG in.

[0082] like Figure 5 As shown in FIG. 5 , at 511 , UE 501 , MCG 502 , and SCG 503 are in dual connectivity mode. UE 501 may be connected to MCG 502 and SCG 503 simultaneously, so that MCG 502 and SCG 503 provide communication resources to UE 401 .

[0083] At 512, UE 501 may obtain a configuration of power control. In some example embodiments, the configuration includes information such as UE transmit power limit, inconsistency in PH report format configuration between MCG 502 and SCG 503, etc. For example, MCG 502 and SCG 503 may measure the path loss of the serving cell to determine the uplink transmit power of MCG 502 and SCG 503, and then MCG 502 sends the path loss information to UE 501 in the configuration.

[0084] At 513, UE 501 may trigger PH reporting based on a configuration including information disabling cross-cell group PH reporting. For example, when the change in path loss of any serving cell of any MAC entity exceeds a threshold, UE 501 may trigger PH reporting of one of MCG 502 and SCG 503. In some example embodiments, cross-cell group PH reporting may be disabled by explicitly disabling using separate signaling (e.g., via RRC or MAC). In some example embodiments, cross-cell group PH reporting may be disabled by implicitly disabling based on one or more of the following: configuration of a power control mode of the first cell group and the second cell group in a semi-static mode; configuration that the power limit of the first cell group and the second cell group is less than or equal to the transmission power of the terminal device; or inconsistency in PH report format configuration between the first cell group and the second cell group.

[0085] At 514, UE 501 may create a PHR using only the PH information of MCG 502 or SCG 503 based on the configuration. In some example embodiments, UE 501 may create a PHR for MCG 502 when one or more of the serving cells of MCG 502 trigger a PH report, and may create a PHR for SCG 503 when one or more of the serving cells of SCG 503 trigger a PH report.

[0086] At 515, UE 501 may include the PH of SCG 503 or MCG 502 via a PScell ​​PH entry. In some example embodiments, when one or more of the serving cells of MCG 502 trigger a PH report, UE 501 may include a PScell ​​131 PH entry into the PHR of MCG 502. In some example embodiments, when one or more of the serving cells of SCG 503 trigger a PH report, UE 501 may include a Pcell 121 PH entry into the PHR of SCG 503.

[0087] Then, at 516, UE 501 may send the constructed PHR to MCG 502 or SCG 503. In some example embodiments, when one or more of the serving cells of MCG 502 trigger a PH report, UE 501 may send the constructed PHR to MCG 502. In some example embodiments, when one or more of the serving cells of SCG 503 trigger a PH report, UE 501 may send the constructed PHR to SCG 503.

[0088] References Figure 1-Figure 4 The operations and features described are also applicable to process 500 and have similar effects. For simplicity, the details will be omitted.

[0089] Figure 6 600 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as Figure 1 The terminal device 110, the network device 120 or the network device 130 shown. As shown in the figure, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more transmitters and / or receivers (TX / RX) 640 coupled to the processor 610.

[0090] TX / RX 640 is used for bidirectional communication. TX / RX 640 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements.

[0091] Processor 610 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network, and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 600 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time slaved to a clock synchronized with a main processor.

[0092] The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 624, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), and other magnetic storage devices and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that do not persist during power outages.

[0093] Computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by associated processor 610. Program 630 may be stored in ROM 624. Processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 630 into RAM 622.

[0094] The embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by means of program 630, so that device 600 can execute reference Figures 2 to 5 Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0095] In some embodiments, the program 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or in other storage devices accessible to the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer-readable medium to the RAM 622 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 7 An example of a computer readable medium 700 in the form of a CD or DVD is shown. The computer readable medium has a program 630 stored thereon.

[0096] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented using hardware, while other aspects may be implemented using firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0097] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, which are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above reference Figure 2-Figure 5 The method 300 or 400 or process 500 described. Typically, a program module includes a routine, program, library, object, class, component, data structure, etc. that performs a specific task or implements a specific abstract data type. In various embodiments, the functions of the program modules can be combined or split between program modules as needed. The machine executable instructions of the program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0098] The program code for executing the method of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device so that the program code is implemented when executed by the processor or controller in the flow chart and / or the block diagram. The program code can be executed completely on the machine, partially on the machine, as an independent software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or completely on a remote machine or server.

[0099] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0100] The computer readable medium can be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor systems, devices or equipment, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A more specific example of a computer readable storage medium will include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer floppy disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0101] In addition, although the operations are described in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in order or performing all the operations shown to obtain the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather descriptions of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0102] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Instead, the specific features or actions described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A terminal device, include: one or more transceivers; as well as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers, wherein the terminal device is configured with dual connectivity to a first cell group and a second cell group, and the one or more processors are configured to cause the terminal device to: obtaining a power headroom (PH) reporting indication, the PH reporting indication indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; as well as Based on the PH report indication, a PH report PHR is created, where the PHR includes: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group. 2 . The terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein the PH report indication is explicitly indicated by a bit indicating disabling of the cross-cell group PH report.

3. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the PH report indication is implicitly indicated by one or more of the following: Configuration of power control modes of the first cell group and the second cell group in semi-static mode; The power limit of the first cell group and the second cell group is less than or equal to the configuration of the transmission power of the terminal device; or The PH report format configuration between the first cell group and the second cell group is inconsistent.

4. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: receiving a configuration regarding uplink power control or PHR configuration, The PH report indication is obtained from the configuration.

5. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the creating a PH report include: The PH report includes only the PH information of the activated serving cell of the one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

6. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the creating a PH report include: The PH report includes PH information of an activated serving cell of one of the first cell group and the second cell group, and PH information of a primary cell of the other of the first cell group and the second cell group.

7. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: trigger the PH report for one of the first cell group and the second cell group that meets the PHR trigger condition based on the PH report indication.

8. The terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the triggering of the PH report include: The trigger is determined by the media access control MAC entity of the first cell group or the second cell group based on whether its corresponding cell group meets the PHR trigger condition.

9. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: send the PHR to the network device.

10. A network device, include: one or more transceivers; as well as One or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and configured to cause the network device to: Sending a configuration about uplink power control or power headroom report PHR configuration, the configuration explicitly or implicitly indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; as well as A PH report PHR is received, wherein the PHR includes: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group. 11 . The network device according to claim 10 , wherein in the configuration, the PH report indication is explicitly indicated by a bit indicating disabling of the cross-cell group PH report.

12. The network device according to claim 10, wherein in the configuration, the PH report indication is implicitly indicated by any one or more of the following: configuration of the power control mode of the first cell group and the second cell group in the semi-static mode, The power limits of the first cell group and the second cell group are less than or equal to the configuration of the transmission power of the terminal device, or The PH report format configuration between the first cell group and the second cell group is inconsistent.

13. The network device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the PH report only include: The PH report contains PH information of the activated serving cell of the one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

14. The network device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the PH report include: In the PH report, the PH information of the activated serving cell of the one of the first cell group and the second cell group and the PH information of the primary cell of the other of the first cell group and the second cell group.

15. A method at a terminal device, include: obtaining a power headroom (PH) reporting indication, the PH reporting indication indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; as well as Based on the PH report indication, a PH report PHR is created, where the PHR includes: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

16. A method at a network device, include: Sending a configuration regarding uplink power control or PHR configuration, the configuration explicitly or implicitly indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; as well as A PH report PHR is received, wherein the PHR includes: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

17. A device of a terminal device, include: means for obtaining a power headroom (PH) report indication, the PH report indication indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; as well as A component for creating a PH report PHR based on the PH report indication, the PHR comprising: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

18. A device for a network device, include: means for sending a configuration regarding uplink power control or PHR configuration, the configuration explicitly or implicitly indicating disabling of cross-cell group PH reporting, wherein PH information of activated serving cells of both the first cell group and the second cell group is reported in the cross-cell group PH report; as well as A component configured to receive a PH report PHR, wherein the PHR includes: PH information about one of the first cell group and the second cell group.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the method according to claim 15 or 16.

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