Data transmission at SCell activation

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to data transmission when an SCell is activated. A terminal device determines that a first data transmission in a secondary cell is possible during an activation procedure of the secondary cell provided by a network device. The terminal device then transmits a first beam report for the one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device. Further, the terminal device receives, from the network device, a schedule of the first data transmission in the secondary cell. As a result, data transmission efficiency at a secondary cell (SCell) can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various example embodiments relate to the field of telecommunications, and in particular to methods, devices, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for data transmission when a secondary cell (SCell) is activated. Background Art

[0002] In communication systems such as New Radio (NR) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), when carrier aggregation (CA) is configured, SCells may be activated or deactivated to enable reasonable user equipment (UE) battery consumption. The transition between the activated state and the deactivated state may be based on a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command from a network device. For example, a SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE command from a network device may indicate to a UE whether the SCell should be activated or deactivated.

[0003] When the UE receives an activation command to activate a deactivated SCell, it takes activation time, i.e., activation delay, to switch from the deactivated state to the activated state. The activation delay required by the UE may vary depending on several factors, such as whether the SCell is known or unknown, whether the SCell belongs to frequency band 1 (FR1) or frequency band 2 (FR2), etc. However, how to reduce the impact caused by the activation delay needs to be studied and developed. Summary of the invention

[0004] In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for data transmission when SCell is activated.

[0005] In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the terminal device to at least: determine that a first data transmission in a secondary cell is possible during an activation process of the secondary cell provided by a network device; send a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device; and receive a schedule for the first data transmission in the secondary cell from the network device.

[0006] In a second aspect, a network device is provided. The network device includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the network device to at least: receive a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device from a terminal device; send a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, the at least one transmit beam being determined based on the first beam report and being used for scheduling of a first data transmission in the secondary cell; and send the first data transmission to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission during an activation process of the secondary cell.

[0007] In a third aspect, a method implemented at a terminal device is provided. The method includes: determining that a first data transmission in a secondary cell is possible during an activation process of the secondary cell provided by a network device; sending a first beam report for one or more transmit beams for the secondary cell to the network device; and receiving a schedule for the first data transmission in the secondary cell from the network device.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method implemented at a network device is provided. The method includes: receiving a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device from a terminal device; sending a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, the at least one transmit beam being determined based on the first beam report and being used for scheduling of a first data transmission in the secondary cell; and sending the first data transmission to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission during an activation process of the secondary cell.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for determining at a terminal device that a first data transmission in a secondary cell is possible during an activation process of the secondary cell provided by a network device; a component for sending a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device; and a component for receiving a scheduling of the first data transmission in the secondary cell from the network device.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a component for receiving, at a network device, a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device from a terminal device; a component for sending a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, the at least one transmit beam being determined based on the first beam report and used for scheduling of a first data transmission in the secondary cell; and a component for sending the first data transmission to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission during an activation process of the secondary cell.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the method according to any one of the third to fourth aspects.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least perform the method according to any one of the third to fourth aspects.

[0013] In a ninth aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes a determining circuit system configured to determine that a first data transmission in a secondary cell is possible during a secondary cell activation process provided by a network device; a transmitting circuit system configured to transmit a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device; and a receiving circuit system configured to receive a schedule of the first data transmission in the secondary cell from the network device.

[0014] In a tenth aspect, a network device is provided. The network device includes a receiving circuit system configured to receive a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device from a terminal device; a first transmitting circuit system configured to send a first indication for at least one transmit beam in the secondary cell to the terminal device, the at least one transmit beam being determined based on the first beam report and used for scheduling a first data transmission in the secondary cell; and a second transmitting circuit system configured to send the first data transmission to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission during an activation process of the secondary cell.

[0015] It should be understood that the invention summary is not intended to identify 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

[0016] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0017] Figure 1A illustrates an example network environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0018] Figure 1B A schematic diagram of beamforming on a network device and a terminal device side according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0019] Figure 2 illustrates an example signaling flow between a terminal device and a network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 3 illustrates an example process for enabling early data transmission upon SCell activation according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 4 Another example process of enabling early data transmission when SCell is activated according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0022] Figure 5A flowchart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0023] Figure 6 A flowchart of a method implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0024] Figure 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0025] Figure 8 An example block diagram of a computer readable medium according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0026] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only for illustrative purposes 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 for the way described below.

[0028] 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.

[0029] In this disclosure, references to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and "an example embodiment" 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. In addition, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, those skilled in the art believe 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.

[0030] It should be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the example embodiments, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0031] The term used herein is only used to describe specific embodiments, but is not intended to limit exemplary embodiments. The singular form "one", "one" and "the" used herein also include plural forms, unless the context clearly states otherwise. It will also be understood that the term "includes", "comprising", "having", "having", "including" and / or "comprising" specifies the existence of the features, elements and / or components when used in this article, but does not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or their combinations. As used in this article, "at least one of the following items: <list of two or more elements>" and "at least one of the list of <two or more elements>" and similar wording (wherein the list of two or more elements is connected by "and" or "or") refer to at least any one element in these elements, or at least any two or more elements in these elements, or at least all elements in these elements.

[0032] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0033] (a) a pure hardware circuit implementation (such as an implementation using only analog and / or digital circuitry), and

[0034] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable):

[0035] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0036] (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) (including digital signal processor(s)) with software, software and memory(s) that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions), and

[0037] (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.

[0038] 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 (or their) 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.

[0039] 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 device and the network device in the communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including but not limited to the third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) communication protocol, and / or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. 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 communication technologies and systems that can be used to embody future types of the present disclosure. It should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to the above-mentioned systems.

[0040] 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 new radio (NR) NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio cell (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low-power node (such as a femto, a pico), etc.

[0041] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not limitation, the 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 industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronic devices, equipment operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0042] As mentioned above, in NR, SCell is configured to be in an activated or deactivated state. When CA is configured, the SCell can be configured in a deactivated state to enable reasonable UE battery consumption. In the deactivated state, UE activity is low, for example related to the monitoring of physical downlink (DL) control channel (PDCCH) measurements. In the activated state, UE activity is frequent. In order to transition from the deactivated state to the activated state, the network needs to activate the deactivated SCell. After receiving the SCell activation command, it takes time for the UE to change from the deactivated state to the activated state. This delay is called the SCell activation delay, that is, the activation delay from the deactivated state to the activated state.

[0043] The SCell activation delay requirement was originally defined in LTE and used as a baseline for defining the initial NR SCell activation delay requirement. This requirement has been refined since Release 15. The SCell activation delay requirement Tactivation_time for activating a DL-only SCell is specified in Technical Specification (TS) 38.133. A maximum delay has been specified within which the UE should complete the SCell activation before it can perform data reception in the activated SCell. At the end of the SCell activation, the UE should be able to send valid Channel State Information (CSI) reports for the SCell being activated.

[0044] For FR2 unknown SCell, the activation delay is defined as follows:

[0045] If the primary cell (PCell) / primary secondary cell (PSCell) and the target SCell are configured for FR1-FR2 CA, or the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are in a FR2 band pair with independent beam management, and the target SCell is unknown to the UE, and a semi-persistent CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) is used for CSI reporting, if the auxiliary conditions are met Then T activation_time for:

[0046] 6ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +15*T SMTC_MAX +8*T rs +T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report +T HARQ +max(T uncertainty_MAC +T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP ).

[0047] If the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are configured for FR1-FR2 CA, or the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are in a FR2 band pair with independent beam management, and the target SCell is unknown to the UE, and periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, if the auxiliary conditions are met Then T activation_time for:

[0048] 3ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +15*T SMTC_MAX +8*T rs +T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report +max{(T HARQ +T uncertainty_MAC +5ms+T FineTiming ),(T uncertainty_RRC +T RRC_delay )}.

[0049] As shown above, in order to activate an unknown SCell in FR2, the UE needs to obtain beam information via L1-RSRP measurement. Similarly, if the SCell is unknown and not contiguous with the active cell in the same frequency band, L1-RSRP measurement is also required in FR1.

[0050] Otherwise, if the auxiliary condition is met Then T activation_time for:

[0051] 6ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +T SMTC_MAX +T rs +T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report +THARQ+max(T uncertainty_MAC +T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP ), if semi-persistent CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting,

[0052] 3ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +T SMTC_MAX +T rs +T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report +max(T HARQ +T uncertainty_MAC +5ms+T FineTiming ,T uncertainty_RRC +T RRC_delay ), if periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting.

[0053] The meanings of the above parameters are as follows.

[0054] In FR1, in case of intra-band SCell activation, if the cell-specific reference signals from the active serving cell and the SCells being activated or released are available in the same time slot, T SMTC_MAX Indicates a longer SMTC period between the active serving cell and the SCell being activated; in the case of inter-band SCell activation, if Release 15 only supports FR2 intra-band CA, T SMTC_MAX Indicates the SMTC period during which the SCell is activated. SMTC_MAX Can be set to a minimum value of 10ms.

[0055] If the UE is provided with the SMTC configuration for the SCell in the SCell additional information, T rs Indicates the SMTC period of the SCell being activated. Otherwise, T rs Indicates the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR with the same synchronization signal block (SSB) frequency and subcarrier spacing; if the UE is not provided with SMTC configuration or measurement object on this frequency, the T rs The demand is expressed in T rs =5ms is applied, assuming that the SSB transmission period is 5ms; if the SSB transmission period is not 5ms, there is no requirement.

[0056] T FirstSSB_MAX Indicates time slot The first complete SSB pulse end time indicated by SMTC also meets the following conditions:

[0057] In FR1, when intra-band SCell is activated, all active serving cells and activated or released SCells send SSB bursts in the same time slot; when inter-band SCell is activated, the first time the SCell is activated is to send SSB bursts.

[0058] In FR2, all active serving cells and activated or released SCells send SSB bursts in the same time slot.

[0059] T FineTiming Indicates the timing between the time when the UE completes processing the last activation command for the PDCCH Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI), the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) TCI (when applicable), and the first complete available SSB corresponding to the TCI state.

[0060] T L1-RSRP,measure Indicates the L1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) measurement delay T L1-RSRP_Measuent_Period_SSB ms or T L1-RSRP_Measuent_Period_CSI-RSBased on applicability as defined in clause 9.5 assuming M=1.

[0061] T L1-RSRP,report Indicates the delay in obtaining CSI report resources.

[0062] T uncertainty_MAC Indicates the time interval between the last activation command received for PDCCH TCI, PDSCH TCI (when applicable) and: for the known case, it is the SCell activation command; for the unknown case, it is the first valid L1-RSRP report.

[0063] T uncertainty_RRC Indicates the time interval for receiving TCI of periodic CSI-RS for CQI reporting (when applicable) related to the following items: for the known case, it is the SCell activation command; for the unknown case, it is the first valid L1-RSRP report.

[0064] T uncertainty_SP Indicates the time interval for receiving the activation command of the semi-persistent CSI-RS resource set for CQI reporting and the following items: for the known case, it is the SCell activation command; for the unknown case, it is the first valid L1-RSRP report.

[0065] T RRC_delay Indicates RRC process delay.

[0066] In these cases, the L1-RSRP measurement delay is defined as shown in Table 1 (see TS 38133 clause 9.5.4.1), where N=8 UE receive (Rx) beams are assumed to be used for L1-RSRP measurement. This takes into account the worst case, that is, the UE has no information about the SCell and therefore needs to measure all beams to ensure activation.

[0067] Table 1: Measurement period T for FR2 L1-RSRP Measurement Period SSB

[0068]

[0069] In Release 18, it was approved in RAN#95e to reduce SCell activation delay in FR2, although any solution may not be limited to FR2.

[0070] For the SCell activation process, the above activation delay requirement is based on the SCell conditions when the activation command is received and during the activation, including whether the SCell is known or unknown, whether the SCell belongs to FR1 or FR2, whether there is already a serving cell on the same FR2 frequency band, whether the periodic or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (SP-CSI-RS) is used for CSI reporting, etc.

[0071] Specifically, if the SCell to be activated is unknown in FR2, the UE needs to perform cell detection, time / frequency tracking, and L1-RSRP measurement to obtain beam information, and report the beam information (e.g., L1-RSRP) to the network via L1-RSRP reporting. The network can then use the received L1-RSRP to determine which DL beam (also called transmit beam) is best from the UE's perspective, and configure the TCI information to the UE to indicate the specific (multiple) DL beams that the UE needs to monitor.

[0072] So, on one hand, the BS has multiple transmit (Tx) beams, which are identified by their respective reference signals, such as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) and / or CSI-RSs. The UE needs to detect the DL beam RS and needs to perform scanning to detect the Tx beam. This is done during the normal radio resource management (RRM) measurement process, including during cell detection and measurement and the UE results including beam information are then reported to the network.

[0073] Assuming that for FR2, the UE uses different spatial Rx settings for layer 3 (L3) measurements and L1 measurements, these measurements may not be assumed to be performed simultaneously by the UE but rather assumed to be performed in a serial manner. The current assumption is that the network requires L1-RSRP measurements provided by the UE for beam management (BM). Based on the L1-RSRP report, the network will determine which DL Tx beam is best suited to schedule the UE and send a TCI indication to the UE. Therefore, which DL RS is used for DL ​​reception and which DL beams are used by the UE are explicitly indicated by the network via the TCI indication.

[0074] On the other hand, the UE can also maintain multiple Rx beams. That is, in addition to the Tx beam from the network, the UE needs to scan its own Rx beam to determine the best Rx beam setting for data transmission. But the processing / selection of the Rx beam depends on the UE implementation. In the context of FR2 unknown SCell activation, it has been assumed that cell detection and measurement at the UE are performed using a wide / coarse (non-fine) Rx space (Rx beam) setting, while the L1-RSRP measurement is based on a narrow / fine Rx space (Rx beam) at the UE. Therefore, an additional L1-RSRP measurement delay is required after the cell detection delay because the UE needs to be allowed to select the best fine beam for subsequent CSI measurements and data transmission.

[0075] While best fine beams do provide more accurate channel state information to the network and better channel quality to the UE, this comes at the expense of additional delay in the activation phase before the UE can be scheduled. It adds delays associated with L1-RSRP measurement delay, e.g., 8*TSSB, CSI-RS configuration and activation, and CSI measurement delay to estimate the exact channel quality and report. This also delays the preparation of the SCell and the time when the UE is ready for data transmission. It is worth noting that data transmission on the target SCell is not actually possible after the SCell activation is over and the CSI report indicates non-out-of-range, i.e. until a valid CSI report is made.

[0076] Therefore, the longer the activation delay, the more channel capacity is wasted, which reduces the throughput. Optimizing the SCell activation process to further improve the transmission efficiency remains an important issue to be addressed.

[0077] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a scheme for data transmission when SCell is activated is provided. Through this scheme, the terminal device determines that during the SCell activation process provided by the network device, the first data transmission in the SCell (also referred to as early data transmission) is possible. Then, the terminal device sends a first beam report (also referred to as an early beam report) for one or more transmit beams of the SCell to the network device. In addition, the terminal device receives a schedule for the first data transmission in the SCell from the network device.

[0078] This scheme optimizes SCell activation by enabling early data transmission during the SCell activation process. In this way, SCell activation is optimized by reducing the time between the UE receiving the activation command and enabling data transmission as early as possible during the SCell activation process. Therefore, it is possible to improve communication efficiency.

[0079] The principles and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1A , which illustrates an example network environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0080] Environment 100 (which may be part of a communication network) includes terminal devices 110 and network devices 120 that communicate with each other or with other devices via each other.

[0081] The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices and cells. In the communication environment 100, the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 may transmit data and control information to each other. The link from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 is called DL, and the link from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 is called UL. The terminal device 110 may be configured with more than one cell. In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be connected to a PCell and a SCell under the control of the network device 120.

[0082] It should be understood that two devices are shown in environment 100 for illustration purposes only and do not represent any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. In some example embodiments, environment 100 may include additional devices to communicate with terminal device 110 and network device 120.

[0083] Communications in environment 100 may follow any suitable communication standard or protocol already in existence or to be developed in the future, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standards, and employ any suitable communication technology, including, for example, 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.

[0084] Reference now Figure 1B , which illustrates a schematic diagram of beamforming on the network device and terminal device side according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A To describe Figure 1B .

[0085] like Figure 1BAs shown, the network device 120 has a plurality of transmission beams 150-1 to 150-4. The terminal device 110 performs beam scanning to detect these transmission beams 150-1 to 150-4. The terminal device 110 has a non-fine beam 160-1 and a fine beam 160-2.

[0086] In some example embodiments, if the SCell to be activated in FR2 is unknown, the terminal device 110 may need to perform cell detection, time / frequency tracking, and L1-RSRP measurement to obtain beam information, and report the L1-RSRP to the network device 120 via the L1-RSRP report. In this case, during the cell detection, the terminal device 110 may detect multiple Tx beams 150-1 to 150-4 using the non-fine beam 160-1. Then, during the L1-RSRP measurement, the terminal device 110 may detect multiple Tx beams 150-1 to 150-4 using the fine beam 160-2, and report the results of the beam measurement to the network device 120. The network device 120 may then use the received L1-RSRP to determine which DL beam is best from the perspective of the terminal device 110, and configure the TCI information to the terminal device, which will indicate the specific (multiple) DL beams that the terminal device 110 needs to monitor.

[0087] Figure 2 FIG. 2 shows a signaling flow 200 between a terminal device and a network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 1A The signaling process 200 is described.

[0088] like Figure 2As shown, the terminal device 110 determines (205) that a first data transmission 206 in the SCell is possible during an activation process of the SCell provided by the network device 120. The terminal device 110 sends (210) a first beam report 211 for one or more transmit beams of the SCell to the network device 120. The first beam report 211 for one or more transmit beams of the SCell may also be sent in other SCells configured with PUCCH, for example, in a PUCCH SCell with a valid timing advance. At the other end of the transmission, the network device 120 receives (215) the first beam report 211. For example, the first beam report 211 may include one or more reference signal received powers (RSRP) of reference signals on one or more transmit beams of the network device 120. The network device 120 may then determine at least one transmit beam for scheduling 216 of a first data transmission 206 in the SCell based on the first beam report 211. The network device 120 sends (220) a first indication 221 for at least one transmit beam of the SCell to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, the terminal device 110 receives (225) the first indication 221. In addition, the network device 120 sends (230) a schedule 216 for the first data transmission 206 to the terminal device 110 using at least one transmit beam. At the receiving end, the terminal device 110 receives (235) the schedule 216 for the first data transmission 206. Further, based on the schedule 216 for the first data transmission 206 during the activation process of the SCell, for example, using at least one transmit beam, the network device 120 sends (240) the first data transmission 206 to the terminal device 110 in the SCell. At the terminal device 110, it receives the first data transmission 206 based on the first indication 221.

[0089] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform cell detection during the activation process of the SCell. For example, the cell detection may be performed based on a non-fine beam of the terminal device 110. Then, for example, the terminal device 110 may send a first beam report 211 after completing the cell detection. In this case, the first beam report 211 may be based on measurements during the cell detection, and therefore, the first beam report 211 may be acquired based on a non-fine receive beam. For example, the first beam report may be based on an SSB one-time measurement sample during the cell detection. Alternatively / additionally, the first beam report 211 may be based on measurements performed by the terminal device 110 in a deactivated state of the SCell, and the terminal device 110 may send the first beam report 211 after receiving a SCell activation command. For example, in this case, the first beam report may be based on a beam-level (SSB index) L3 measurement performed on the SCell. Although the above measurements are not based on possible fine Rx beam settings but on non-fine Rx beam settings, these measurement information can indicate the DL ranges of candidate transmission beams that can be used to schedule the terminal device 110 and the beams that the terminal device 110 may need to monitor.

[0090] For example, if the terminal device 110 determines that the SCell is unknown, it may send the first beam report 211. As another example, if the terminal device 110 determines that the CSI-RS is not configured for measurement of a second beam report, such as an L1-RSRP measurement, it may send the first beam report 211. In this case, the terminal device 110 does not need to perform the L1-RSRP measurement based on the fine beam. As another example, if the terminal device 110 determines that the antenna gain difference between the undefined beam and the fine beam of the terminal device 100 is within a margin threshold, it may send the first beam report 211. That is, if the antenna gain difference between the L1-RSRP measurement and the L3 measurement is within the threshold, the terminal device 110 may send the first beam report 211. Alternatively or additionally, if the terminal device 110 determines that at least one measurement result of one or more transmit beams is above a threshold, which means that the channel conditions are assumed to be good enough, it may send the first beam report 211. As a further example, if the terminal device 110 has valid radio resource management measurements on the secondary cell, it may send a first beam report 211 in response to an activation command for the secondary cell.

[0091] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may send the first beam report 211 on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) configured for beam reporting. For example, the first beam report 211 may be sent on available PUCCH / PUSCH resources for L1-RSRP reporting. Since the first beam report 211 may reuse available resources for L1-RSRP reporting, the transmission of the first beam report 211 does not require additional resources. Therefore, no signaling overhead needs to be introduced. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 110 may send a request to the network device 120 for allocation of resources for sending the first beam report 211. The network device 120 may then allocate resources for the terminal device 110 and send an indication of the allocation of resources to the terminal device 110. The terminal device 110 may then send the first beam report 211 on the allocated resources. Accordingly, the network device 120 may receive the first beam report 211 on the allocated resources. In this case, the first beam report 211 may be sent as a measurement report different from the available L1-RSRP measurement report.

[0092] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may only report the best transmit beam, including the best DL RS of the network device 120, and then this DL RS is selected as indicating the implicitly activated DL beam. In this case, the terminal device 110 may be directly scheduled to this DL RS based on the first beam report without sending the first indication 221.

[0093] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may report a plurality of transmit beams. In this case, the network device 120 may determine at least one transmit beam for the SCell from the plurality of transmit beams, which beams are used for scheduling 216 of the first data transmission 206. The network device 120 may then send a first indication 221 to notify (or confirm) the terminal device 110 of the transmit beams that should be monitored for scheduling 216. The first indication 221 may also be referred to as an early DL beam activation or indication command, such as a TCI-like activation command.

[0094] In some example embodiments, based on receipt of the first indication 221 of at least one transmit beam for the SCell, the terminal device 110 may monitor the at least one transmit beam for scheduling of the first data transmission 206 indicated by the first indication 221. Then, for example, after receiving the schedule 216, the terminal device 110 may receive the first data transmission 206 from the network device 120 using the non-refined receive beam based on the received schedule 216.

[0095] In some example embodiments, the network device 120 may avoid scheduling 216 of the first data transmission 206 on resources overlapping with a reference signal on which fine beam based measurements (e.g., conventional L1-RSRP measurements) are to be performed. In this case, during SCell activation, the terminal device 110 is expected not to be scheduled on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols that overlap with SSB and / or CSI-RS resources configured for L1-RSRP measurements. That is, scheduling restrictions may be applied to ensure fine beam based L1-RSRP measurements.

[0096] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform measurements, such as conventional L1-RSRP measurements, based on the fine beams in parallel with the first data transmission 206. That is, in this case, the terminal device 110 may continue the conventional L1-RSRP measurements in parallel to further acquire the fine beam information. The terminal device 110 may then acquire a second beam report for one or more transmit beams of the SCell based on the fine beams. The terminal device 110 may then send the second beam report to the network device 120. For example, if the terminal device 110 determines that the second beam report is different from the first beam report 211, it may send the second beam report. As another example, if the terminal device 110 determines that the difference between the first beam report 211 and the second beam report is greater than a difference threshold, it may send the second beam report. Alternatively / additionally, if the terminal device 110 determines that different transmit beams are to be determined based on the first beam report 211 and the second beam report, it may send the second beam report.

[0097] Based on the second beam report, the network device 120 may determine at least one transmit beam for the SCell to be used for scheduling of a second data transmission in the SCell. The network device 120 may then send a second indication for the determined at least one transmit beam to the terminal device 110.

[0098] In some example embodiments, based on the reception of the second indication of at least one transmit beam for the SCell, the terminal device 110 may monitor the at least one transmit beam indicated by the second indication of the schedule for the second data transmission. Then, for example, after receiving the schedule for the second data transmission, based on the received schedule for the second data transmission, the terminal device 110 may receive the second data transmission using the fine receive beam from the network device 120.

[0099] In some example embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a reference signal used for channel measurement using at least one transmit beam determined based on the first beam report 211. Accordingly, the terminal device 110 may receive a reference signal for channel measurement based on at least one transmit beam indicated by the first indication 221. In this case, the terminal device 110 may perform channel measurement in parallel with the measurement for the second beam report. In this way, the second data transmission may be further advanced, thereby further reducing the activation delay.

[0100] By the proposed early beam reporting, the terminal device 110 is able to inform the network device 120 of the transmit beam information of the network device 120 at the earliest time, although this is based on the coarse UE Rx beam setting. The network device 120 can therefore schedule the terminal device 110 when the terminal device 110 continues to refine the Rx beam setting via continuous L1-RSRP measurement. In this way, early data transmission is allowed on a suitable transmit beam before the fine beam is fully determined. Therefore, not always using the fine UE beam setting and preventing the UE from being scheduled using a wide beam available at the UE can help reduce the time before the SCell can be called up. This minimizes the negative impact caused by the SCell activation delay. Allowing the first data transmission within the activation delay can help improve the utilization rate of the SCell.

[0101] It should be understood that the proposed solution can work with existing requirements as an additional activation enhancement step.

[0102] For example, the SCell activation delay can be reformulated as follows:

[0103] On the premise that the PCell or PSCell is in FR1 or FR2, if the SCell being activated belongs to FR2 and if there is no active serving cell in the FR2 band:

[0104] If the target SCell is known to the UE and semi-persistent CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, then T activation_time for:

[0105] If the UE receives the SCell activation command, the semi-persistent CSI-RS activation command and the TCI state activation command at the same time, then 3ms+max(T uncertainty_MAC +T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP ), where T uncertainty_MAC = 0 and T uncertainty_SP =0.

[0106] If the target SCell is known to the UE and periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, then T activation_time for:

[0107] If the UE receives both the SCell activation command and the TCI state activation command at the same time, max(T uncertainty_MAC +5ms+T FineTiming ,T uncertainty_RRC +T RRC_delay-THARQ ), where T uncertainty_MAC =0,.

[0108] If the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are configured for FR1-FR2 CA, or if the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are in a FR2 band pair with independent beam management, and the target SCell is unknown to the UE, and semi-persistent CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, if the auxiliary conditions are met The activation time T activation_time yes:

[0109] If an early L1-RSRP report is transmitted after cell detection, 6ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +15*T SMTC_MAX +8*T rs +T HARQ +max(T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report ,T L1-RSRP,report +max(T uncertainty_MAC +T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP ));or:

[0110] 6ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +15*T SMTC_MAX +8*T rs +T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report +T HARQ +max(T uncertainty_MAC +T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP ),otherwise;

[0111] If the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are configured for FR1-FR2 CA, or the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are in a FR2 band pair with independent beam management, and the target SCell is unknown to the UE, and periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, if the auxiliary conditions are met Then T activation_time yes:

[0112] If early L1-RSRP is transmitted, 3ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +15*T SMTC_MAX +8*Trs +T HARQ +max(T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report, T L1-RSRP,report +T uncertainty_MAC +5ms+T FineTiming ,T uncertainty_RRC +T RRC_delay ),,or

[0113] 3ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +15*T SMTC_MAX +8*T rs +T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report +max{(T HARQ +T uncertainty_MAC +5ms+T FineTiming ),(T uncertainty_RRC +T RRC_delay )}.

[0114] For example, starting from the time slot specified in clause 4.3 of TS 38.213 [3] (the time used for SCell activation / deactivation) until the terminal device 110 completes the first L1-RSRP measurement, if the terminal device 110 has available uplink resources to report the L1-RSRP for the SCell, in addition to the earlier L1-RSRP reports being sent, the terminal device 110 should report the lowest valid L1 synchronization signal-RSRP (SS-RSRP) range.

[0115] Figure 3 An example process 300 for enabling early data transmission upon SCell activation according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, the process 300 will refer to Figure 1A It should be understood that although process 300 has been described in Figure 1A The network environment 100 is described in detail, but the process can also be applied to other communication scenarios.

[0116] At 305, the network device 120 sends an SCell activation command to the terminal device 110 to activate the target SCell 306 provided by the network device 120. For example, the terminal device 110 determines that the SCell 306 is unknown in FR2. At 310, the terminal device 110 sends a HARQ ACK reply to the network device 120. Then, the terminal device 110 starts to perform cell detection and time / frequency tracking. For example, the cell detection may include beam scanning based on non-fine beams.

[0117] Then, at 315, the terminal device 110 sends an early L1-RSRP report to the network device 120 immediately after cell detection. For example, if the terminal device 110 determines that the antenna margin (also known as the antenna gain difference) between the coarse beam and the fine beam is within a threshold, it may send the early L1-RSRP report. Alternatively, if the terminal device 110 does not intend to further refine the Rx settings in its implementation, it may send the terminal device 110 transmission.

[0118] For example, the terminal device 110 may select the best one or more DL beams from the network device 120 and send an early L1-RSRP report corresponding to the selected beam, for example, based on the SSB index. As an example, the early L1-RSRP report may include the SSB index and the result of the best DL beam from a one-time measurement result based on the latest SSB. As another example, the terminal device 110 may send a list of early L1-RSRP reports to the network device 120, corresponding to all detected and measured SSBs, for example, including the SSB index. Based on the results of the report, the network device 120 may select at least one DL beam for the terminal device 110 to monitor for possible scheduling. Then, at 320, the network device 120 indicates to the terminal device 110 which DL beam to monitor for possible scheduling using, for example, an early DL beam activation command (such as a TCI activation command).

[0119] Then, upon receiving the early DL beam activation command, the terminal device 110 starts monitoring the indicated DL beam for possible scheduling on the coarse DL beam indicated in the DL beam activation command. At the same time, the terminal device 110 continues to perform L1-RSRP measurements on SSB and / or CSI-RS using the fine Rx beam settings. For example, the terminal device 110 is not scheduled on symbols where L1-RSRP measurements are expected to occur.

[0120] At 325, the terminal device 110 sends a valid L1-RSRP report obtained based on the fine beam, notifies the network device 120 of the fine beam information, and reports accordingly. For example, the effective L1-RSRP is reported only when it is different from the earlier L1-RSRP report, or when it causes the terminal device 110 to monitor a different DL beam. At 330, if necessary, the network device 120 updates the TCI state based on the received valid L1-RSRP report during the legacy SCell activation process.

[0121] After the new DL beam is determined based on the valid L1-RSRP measurement, the network device 120 sends an SP-CSI-RS activation command or configures periodic CSI-RS resources for measurement in use at 335. Then, at 340, the terminal device 110 responds with a valid CSI report as the end of the activation process.

[0122] As reference Figure 2 All the operations and features described above are also applicable to process 300 and have similar effects. For the purpose of simplicity, the details will be omitted.

[0123] Figure 4 Another example process 400 for enabling early data transmission when SCell is activated according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400 will refer to Figure 1A It should be understood that although process 400 has been described in Figure 1A The network environment 100 is described in detail, and the process can also be applied to other communication scenarios.

[0124] like Figure 4 As shown, at 405, the network device 120 sends an SCell activation command to the terminal device 110 to activate the target SCell 406. At 410, the terminal device 110 sends a HARQ ACK reply to the network device 120. At 415, the terminal device 110 starts to perform cell detection and time / frequency tracking based on non-fine beams. At 420, the terminal device 110 sends an early L1-RSRP report to the network device 120 immediately after the cell detection.

[0125] Then, at 425, based on the early L1-RSRP report or the early TCI indication, a semi-persistent CSI-RS (SP-CSI-RS) or a persistent CSI-RS (P-CSI-RS) is activated or configured. In this case, the SP-CSI-RS resources are activated on the (multiple) DL beams indicated by the early TCI. Therefore, the terminal device 110 is able to perform channel measurements in parallel with the L1-RSRP measurements. This can further reduce the SCell activation delay.

[0126] Then, at 430, the terminal device 110 sends a valid L1-RSRP report based on the fine beam acquisition to inform the network device 120 of the fine beam information. At 435, as in the legacy SCell activation process, the network device 120 can update the TCI state based on the received valid L1-RSRP report. Then, at 440, the terminal device 110 responds with a valid CSI report as the end of the activation process.

[0127] refer to Figure 2 All operations and features described in are also applicable to process 400 and have similar effects. For simplicity, the details will be omitted.

[0128] Figure 5 Flowchart 500 of a method implemented at terminal device 110 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, method 500 will refer to Figure 1A It is described from the perspective of the terminal device 110 .

[0129] At block 510, the terminal device 110 determines that a first data transmission is possible in a secondary cell provided by the network device 120 during an activation process of the secondary cell. At block 520, the terminal device 110 sends a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device 120 provided by the network device 120. At 530, the terminal device 110 receives a schedule for the first data transmission in the secondary cell from the network device 120. The schedule for the first data transmission may be sent in the SCell.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 performs cell detection during activation of the secondary cell, and the terminal device 110 sends the first beam report according to completing the cell detection.

[0131] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 receives a first indication of at least one transmit beam for a secondary cell from network device 120, the at least one transmit beam being based on a first beam report and being used for scheduling a first data transmission in the secondary cell; and during an activation process, receives a first data transmission based on the first indication from network device 120 in the secondary cell.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 monitors at least one transmit beam indicated by the first indication for scheduling of the first data transmission.

[0133] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 receives the first data transmission using a non-fine receive beam of terminal device 110 .

[0134] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is obtained based on a non-fine receive beam of terminal device 110 .

[0135] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 performs measurements based on a fine beam of terminal device 110 in parallel with the first data transmission; sends a second beam report for one or more transmit beams for a secondary cell to network device 120; and receives a second indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell from network device 120, the at least one transmit beam indicated by the second indication being based on the second beam report and being used for scheduling of a second data transmission in the secondary cell.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 receives a reference signal for channel measurement based on at least one transmit beam indicated by the first indication; and performs channel measurement in parallel with measurement for the second beam report.

[0137] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 sends the second beam report based on determining that the second beam report is different from the first beam report, or that the difference between the first beam report and the second beam report is greater than a difference threshold.

[0138] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 transmits the second beam report in accordance with determining that different transmit beams are determined based on the first beam report and the second beam report.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 sends the first beam report based on determining that the channel state information reference signal is not configured for measurement of the second beam report.

[0140] In some example embodiments, the first data transmission may not be scheduled on resources that overlap with a reference signal on which measurements for the second beam report are to be performed.

[0141] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 sends a first beam report based on a determination that a gain difference between an undefined beam and a fine beam of terminal device 110 is within a margin threshold.

[0142] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 transmits a first beam report based on a determination that at least one measurement result of one or more transmit beams is above a threshold.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 sends the first beam report in response to an activation command for the secondary cell based on having a valid wireless resource management measurement result on the secondary cell.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the first beam report includes one or more reference signal received powers of one or more transmit beams.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is based on measurements performed by the terminal device 110 during cell monitoring.

[0146] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is based on measurements performed by the terminal device 110 in a deactivated state of the secondary cell.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is sent on a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel configured for beam reporting.

[0148] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 sends a request to network device 120 for allocation of resources for sending the first beam report; and receives from network device 120 an indication of the resources allocated by network device 120. Furthermore, terminal device 110 sends the first beam report on the resources allocated by network device 120.

[0149] Figure 6 Flowchart 600 of a method implemented at network device 120 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, method 600 will refer to Figure 1A It is described from the perspective of network device 120 .

[0150] At block 610, the network device 120 receives a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device 120 from the terminal device 110. At block 620, the network device 120 sends a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device 110, the at least one transmit beam being determined based on the first beam report and being used for scheduling of a first data transmission in the secondary cell. At 630, the network device 120 sends the first data transmission to the terminal device 110 in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission during the activation process of the secondary cell.

[0151] In some example embodiments, network device 120 transmits a schedule of a first data transmission to terminal device 110 using at least one transmit beam.

[0152] In some example embodiments, network device 120 transmits the first data transmission using at least one transmit beam.

[0153] In some example embodiments, network device 120 transmits a reference signal used for channel measurement using at least one transmit beam.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the first beam report includes one or more reference signal received powers of one or more transmit beams.

[0155] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is received on a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel configured for beam reporting.

[0156] In some example embodiments, network device 120 receives a request from a terminal for allocation of resources for sending a first beam report, and sends an indication of the resources allocated by network device 120 to terminal device 110. In addition, network device 120 receives the first beam report on the resources allocated by the network device.

[0157] In some example embodiments, network device 120 receives a second beam report for one or more transmit beams for a secondary cell from terminal device 110, the second beam report being based on a fine receive beam of terminal device 110; and sends a second indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to terminal device 110, the at least one transmit beam indicated by the second indication being determined based on the second beam report and being used for scheduling of second data transmission in the secondary cell.

[0158] In some example embodiments, network device 120 avoids scheduling of the first data transmission on resources overlapping with a reference signal on which measurements for the second beam report are to be performed.

[0159] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing method 500 (e.g., terminal device 110) may include components for executing the corresponding steps of method 500. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0160] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: a component for determining that a first data transmission in a secondary cell is possible during an activation process of the secondary cell provided by a network device; a component for sending a first beam report for one or more transmit beams for the secondary cell to the network device; and a component for receiving a schedule for the first data transmission in the secondary cell from the network device.

[0161] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing cell detection during secondary cell activation, and the means for sending the first beam report comprises means for sending the first beam report in accordance with completing the cell detection.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for receiving a first indication of at least one transmit beam for a secondary cell from a network device, the at least one transmit beam being based on a first beam report and being used for scheduling a first data transmission in the secondary cell; and means for receiving the first data transmission in the secondary cell from the network device based on the first indication during an activation process.

[0163] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for monitoring at least one transmit beam indicated by the first indication of a schedule for the first data transmission.

[0164] In some example embodiments, means for receiving the first data transmission comprises means for receiving the first data transmission using a non-subtle receive beam of the terminal device.

[0165] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is obtained based on a non-fine receive beam of the terminal device.

[0166] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: a component for performing measurements based on a fine beam of a terminal device in parallel with the first data transmission; a component for sending a second beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell to a network device, the second beam report being obtained based on the measurement; and a component for receiving a second indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell from the network device, the at least one transmit beam indicated by the second indication being based on the second beam report and being used for scheduling a second data transmission in the secondary cell.

[0167] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for receiving a reference signal used for channel measurement based on at least one transmit beam indicated by the first indication; and means for performing channel measurement in parallel with measurement for second beam reporting.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the means for sending the second beam report includes means for sending the second beam report based on determining that the second beam report is different from the first beam report, or that the difference between the first beam report and the second beam report is greater than a difference threshold.

[0169] In some example embodiments, the means for sending the second beam report includes means for sending the second beam report in accordance with determining that a different transmit beam is determined based on the first beam report and the second beam report.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the means for sending the first beam report includes means for sending the first beam report in accordance with determining that a channel state information reference signal is not configured for measurement for the second beam report.

[0171] In some example embodiments, the first data transmission is not scheduled on resources overlapping with a reference signal on which measurements for the second beam report are to be performed.

[0172] In some example embodiments, means for sending a first beam report includes means for sending the first beam report in accordance with determining that a gain difference between an undefined beam and a fine beam in the terminal device is within a margin threshold.

[0173] In some example embodiments, means for sending the first beam report includes means for sending the first beam report based on determining that at least one measurement result of one or more transmit beams is above a threshold.

[0174] In some example embodiments, the means for sending the first beam report includes means for sending the first beam report in response to an activation command for the secondary cell based on having a valid radio resource management measurement result on the secondary cell.

[0175] In some example embodiments, the first beam report includes one or more reference signal received powers of one or more transmit beams.

[0176] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is based on measurements performed by the terminal device during cell detection.

[0177] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is based on measurements performed by the terminal device in a deactivated state of the secondary cell.

[0178] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is sent on a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel configured for beam reporting.

[0179] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: a component for sending a request to a terminal device for allocating resources for sending a first beam report; a component for receiving from a network device an indication of resources allocated by the network device, and the component for sending the first beam report comprises: a component for sending the first beam report on the resources allocated by the network device.

[0180] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps of method 500. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to cause execution of the apparatus together with the at least one processor.

[0181] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing method 600 (e.g., network device 120) may include components for executing corresponding steps in method 600. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0182] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: a component for receiving a first beam report for one or more transmit beams for a secondary cell provided by a network device from a terminal device; a component for sending a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, the at least one transmit beam being determined based on the first beam report and being used for scheduling of a first data transmission in the secondary cell; and a component for sending a first data transmission to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission during an activation process of the secondary cell.

[0183] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending a schedule of the first data transmission to the terminal device using at least one transmit beam.

[0184] In some example embodiments, means for sending the first data transmission includes means for sending the first data transmission using at least one transmit beam.

[0185] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for transmitting a reference signal used for channel measurement using at least one transmit beam.

[0186] In some example embodiments, the first beam report includes one or more reference signal received powers of one or more transmit beams.

[0187] In some example embodiments, the first beam report is received on a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel configured for beam reporting.

[0188] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: a component for receiving a request from a terminal for allocating resources for sending a first beam report, and a component for sending an indication of resources allocated by a network device to a terminal device, and the component for receiving the first beam report comprises: a component for receiving the first beam report on the resources allocated by the network device.

[0189] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: a component for receiving a second beam report for one or more transmit beams for a secondary cell from a terminal device, the second beam report being based on a fine receive beam of the terminal device; and a component for sending a second indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, the at least one transmit beam indicated by the second indication being determined based on the second beam report and being used for scheduling second data transmission in the secondary cell.

[0190] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for avoiding scheduling of the first data transmission on resources overlapping with a reference signal on which measurements for the second beam report are to be performed.

[0191] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps of method 600 in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to cause execution of the apparatus together with the at least one processor.

[0192] Figure 7 1 shows a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as a terminal device 110 or a Figure 1A The network device 120 is shown. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processors 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the processors 710.

[0193] The communication module 740 is used for two-way communication. The communication module 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

[0194] Processor 710 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network, and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of the following: 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 700 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time slaved to a clock synchronized with a main processor.

[0195] The memory 720 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) 724, 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) 722 and other volatile memories that will not persist during a power outage.

[0196] The computer program 730 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. The program 730 may be stored in the ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading the program 730 into the RAM 722.

[0197] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 730, so that the device 700 may execute the reference Figures 2 to 6Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0198] In some example embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or in other storage devices accessible to the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer-readable medium to the RAM 722 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.

[0199] Figure 8 800 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium 800 stores a program 730. It is worth noting that although Figure 8 Computer readable medium 800 is shown in the form of a CD or DVD, but computer readable medium 800 may be in any other form suitable for carrying or storing program 730.

[0200] 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 shown 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.

[0201] 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 5 and Figure 6 The method described. Typically, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functions of program modules can be combined or split between program modules as needed. The machine executable instructions of 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.

[0202] 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.

[0203] 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.

[0204] Computer readable medium can be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. 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 disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term "non-transient" used herein is a restriction on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, rather than a signal), rather than a restriction on data storage persistence (e.g., RAM and ROM).

[0205] 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.

[0206] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Instead, the specific features or acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A terminal device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to at least: determining that during an activation procedure of a secondary cell provided by a network device, a first data transmission in the secondary cell is possible; sending a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device; and A schedule for the first data transmission in the secondary cell is received from the network device.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: performing cell detection during the activation process of the secondary cell, and The terminal device is further configured to send the first beam report by: Based on completing the cell detection, the first beam report is sent.

3. The terminal device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: receiving, from the network device, a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell, the at least one transmit beam being reported based on the first beam and being used for the scheduling of the first data transmission in the secondary cell; and The first data transmission is received in the secondary cell from the network device based on the first indication during the activation procedure.

4. The terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: Monitoring the at least one transmit beam indicated by the first indication for the scheduling of the first data transmission.

5. A terminal device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the terminal device is caused to receive the first data transmission by: The first data transmission is received using a non-fine receive beam of the terminal device.

6. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first beam report is obtained based on a non-fine receive beam of the terminal device.

7. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: In parallel with the first data transmission, performing measurements based on a fine beam of the terminal device; Sending, to the network device, a second beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell, wherein the second beam report is obtained based on the measurement; as well as A second indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell is received from the network device, the at least one transmit beam indicated by the second indication being reported based on the second beam and used for scheduling second data transmission in the secondary cell.

8. The terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: receiving a reference signal used for channel measurement based on the at least one transmit beam indicated by the first indication; and The channel measurements are performed in parallel with the measurements for the second beam reporting.

9. The terminal device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the terminal device is caused to send the second beam report by: The second beam report is sent based on determining that the second beam report is different from the first beam report, or that a difference between the first beam report and the second beam report is greater than a difference threshold.

10. The terminal device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the terminal device is caused to send the second beam report by: In accordance with determining that a different transmit beam is to be determined based on the first beam report and the second beam report, the second beam report is transmitted.

11. The terminal device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the terminal device is caused to transmit the first transmit beam by: Based on determining that a channel state information reference signal is not configured for the measurement for the second beam report, sending the first beam report.

12. A terminal device according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the first data transmission is not scheduled on resources overlapping with a reference signal, and the measurement for the second beam report is to be performed on the reference signal.

13. A terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the terminal device is caused to send the first beam report by: The first beam report is sent based on determining that a gain difference between an undefined beam and a fine beam of the terminal device is within a margin threshold.

14. A terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the terminal device is caused to send the first beam report by: The first beam report is sent based on determining that at least one measurement result of one or more transmit beams is above a threshold.

15. A terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the terminal device is caused to send the first beam report by: The first beam report is sent in response to an activation command for the secondary cell according to having a valid radio resource management measurement result on the secondary cell.

16. A terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the first beam report includes one or more reference signal received powers of the one or more transmit beams.

17. A terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the first beam report is based on measurements performed by the terminal device during the cell detection.

18. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the first beam report is based on measurements performed by the terminal device in a deactivated state of the secondary cell.

19. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the first beam report is sent on a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel configured for beam reporting.

20. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the terminal device is further configured to: sending a request to the network device for allocation of resources for sending the first beam report; and receiving from the network device an indication of the resources allocated by the network device, and The terminal device is caused to send the first beam report by: The first beam report is sent on the resources allocated by the network device.

21. A network device comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: receiving, from the terminal device, a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device; Sending a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, where the at least one transmit beam is determined based on the first beam report and is used for scheduling a first data transmission in the secondary cell; as well as During an activation process of the secondary cell, the first data transmission is sent to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission.

22. The network device of claim 21, wherein the network device is further configured to: The schedule for the first data transmission is transmitted to the terminal device using the at least one transmit beam.

23. A network device according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the network device is caused to send the first data transmission by: The first data transmission is transmitted using the at least one transmit beam.

24. The network device according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein the network device is further configured to: Using the at least one transmit beam, a reference signal used for channel measurement is transmitted.

25. The network device of any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein the first beam report comprises one or more reference signal received powers of the one or more transmit beams.

26. The network device according to any one of claims 21 to 25, wherein the first beam report is received on a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel configured for beam reporting.

27. The network device according to any one of claims 21 to 25, wherein the network device is further configured to: receiving a request from the terminal for allocation of resources for sending the first beam report, and sending an indication of resources allocated by the network device to the terminal device, and wherein the network device is caused to receive the first beam report by: The first beam report is received on the resources allocated by the network device.

28. The network device according to any one of claims 21 to 27, wherein the network device is further configured to: receiving, from the terminal device, a second beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell, the second beam report being based on a fine receive beam of the terminal device; and A second indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell is sent to the terminal device, wherein the at least one transmit beam indicated by the second indication is determined based on the second beam report and is used for scheduling second data transmission in the secondary cell.

29. The network device of claim 28, wherein the network device is further caused to: Scheduling of the first data transmission is avoided on resources overlapping with a reference signal on which measurements for the second beam report are to be performed.

30. A method comprising: determining, at the terminal device, that during an activation process of a secondary cell provided by the network device, a first data transmission in the secondary cell is possible; sending a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device; and A schedule for the first data transmission in the secondary cell is received from the network device.

31. A method comprising: receiving, at a network device, from the terminal device, a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device; Sending a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, where the at least one transmit beam is determined based on the first beam report and is used for scheduling a first data transmission in the secondary cell; as well as During an activation process of the secondary cell, the first data transmission is sent to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission.

32. An apparatus comprising: means for determining, at a terminal device, that a first data transmission in the secondary cell is possible during activation of the secondary cell provided by a network device; means for sending a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of the secondary cell to the network device; as well as Means for receiving, from the network device, a schedule for the first data transmission in the secondary cell.

33. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving, at a network device, from the terminal device, a first beam report for one or more transmit beams of a secondary cell provided by the network device; means for sending a first indication of at least one transmit beam for the secondary cell to the terminal device, the at least one transmit beam being determined based on the first beam report and being used for scheduling of a first data transmission in the secondary cell; as well as Means for sending the first data transmission to the terminal device in the secondary cell based on the scheduling of the first data transmission during an activation procedure of the secondary cell.

34. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the method according to claim 30 or 31.

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