User equipment and base station for managing beam fault detection

Abstract

The invention relates to user equipment and a base station for managing beam fault detection. An apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory; the apparatus includes a processor, and communication circuitry via which the apparatus is connected to a communication network, the apparatus further including computer executable instructions stored in a memory, the computer executable instructions when executed by the processor causing the apparatus to: identify an apparatus capability, the apparatus capability being an indication of a capability of the apparatus to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for a plurality of cells; transmitting the device capability to another device; receiving at least one message including a change in network configuration from another device; and replacing the first set of cells on which the device performs BFD with a second set of cells based on the change in network configuration, such that the network configuration does not exceed the device capability.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with application date of January 10, 2020, application number 202080008616.7, and titled “User Equipment and Base Station for Managing Beam Fault Detection”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims the benefit of earlier-filed U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 62 / 790,952, filed on January 10, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0004] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to wireless communications systems, devices, methods, and computer-readable media operating with or having functions related to beam failure detection capabilities, especially for multiple cells. Background Art

[0005] The "background technology" description provided herein is to generally present the context of the present disclosure. To the extent described in this background technology section, the work of the inventors currently named and the aspects of the description that may not qualify as prior art at the time of filing are neither explicitly nor implicitly admitted to be prior art to the present invention.

[0006] Beam Failure Detection (BFD), New Beam Identification (NBI), and Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) are UE procedures designed to maintain the communication link between the network and the User Equipment (UE). By following these procedures, the UE can detect BFD, identify new candidate beams via NBI, and recover from beam failure by indicating the new beam to the network via BFR. As envisioned by today's industry standards, BFD, NBI, and BFR procedures are supported on special cells (SpCells) (i.e., PCell or PSCell) rather than secondary cells (SCells).

[0007] In some cases, "BFR" is used to refer to the entire beam failure detection / recovery, thus including BFD, NBI, and BFR. In some cases, "link recovery" is used to refer to all or part of beam failure detection / recovery, such as BFD, NBI, and / or BFR.

[0008] Using the IE RadioLinkMonitoringConfig, the UE can be explicitly configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling with up to two BFD reference signals (BFD-RS) in the downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP - a term used in 5G to describe a set of contiguous physical resource blocks, a contiguous subset of resource blocks for a given numerology on a given carrier is selected - and used to characterize the amount of carrier frequency bandwidth used). BFD-RS can be used for radio link quality measurements on the serving cell. BFD-RS can be configured in the same list as the radio link monitoring reference signal (RLM-RS) by setting the parameter "purpose" of up to two RSs to "beamFailure" or "both". If BFD-RS is not explicitly configured in RadioLinkMonitoringConfig, it is given implicitly, as further described below.

[0009] maxNrofFailureDetectionResources is 10. In contrast, a limit of up to 2 RSs for BFD is given in 3GPP Technical Specification TS 38.213 of the Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification. The traditional BFD description is provided in the L1 part of TS38.213, and the entire BFD, NBI, and BFR process is mainly managed by the MAC layer, as described in the 3GPP Technical Specification 38.321 V15.3.0 in September 2018.

[0010] The UE may be an RRC configured with an SCell set. In addition, the SCell is activated for the UE through a MAC CE indication, and the SCell may be deactivated for the UE in a variety of ways (e.g., deactivation indicated by a MAC CE, expiration of the sCellDeactivationTimer timer, or at handover). In contrast, the SpCell is always activated. Summary of the invention

[0011] As recognized by the inventors, the ability of different UEs to support BFD for cell groups will vary from UE to UE, and even depend on the state of the UE (such as a full battery state or a low battery state). Although the UE is able to report a measure of its ability to support BFD for multiple cells (commonly referred to as UE capability, or UE BFD capability, or UE BFD capability parameter) to the network (e.g., a base station or gNodeB, gNB), a UE according to the teachings of the present disclosure is also able to adapt to the number of cells included in the cell group for which it is responsible for performing BFD (or the amount of BFD processing to be performed for the cell). Similarly, it is also able to adapt to multiple BFD-RSS or BWPs. In addition, if the UE capability is less than the network configuration of the cell associated with performing BFD for a cell group or multiple BFD-RSs, the UE according to the present disclosure is able to reduce, for example, the number of cells or BFD-RSs for which it is responsible for BFD to a lower number within the capabilities of the UE.

[0012] In some embodiments, the processing circuit at the UE applies a selection rule or process to reduce the BFD demand on the UE by the UE determining which (configured) cell(s), BWP and / or BFD-RS it will perform BFD on. Thus, the UE is equipped to change the number of cells it will perform BFD on, and / or the BWP and / or reference signal of the cells it will perform BFD on, so as not to exceed the UE capabilities.

[0013] Alternatively, the UE changes the number of cells for which it is responsible for performing BFD based on guidance provided by the network (e.g., a serving base station). In this case, the base station uses the UE capability information reported by the UE and provides various forms of command signals to instruct the UE how to adjust the number of cells and / or BWP and / or reference signals for which it will perform BFD so as not to exceed the capabilities of the UE. As recognized by the inventors, the demand for BFD (or more generally, network configuration) may be greatly expanded in the future, far beyond the one or two cells that the UE may be responsible for today. For example, in some areas, perhaps 20 or 30 secondary cells may be included in the cell group for which the UE is responsible for performing BFD. Such high processing requirements may far exceed the processing capabilities of the UE, and therefore, in accordance with the present specification, the network may reduce the number of cells in the cell group assigned to the UE and / or the requirements associated with BFD. This coordination between the UE and the base station can be achieved using the various signaling and protocol mechanisms discussed herein, including RRC configuration, MAC signaling, and L1 signaling.

[0014] This Summary is provided to introduce in a simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the Detailed Description below. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to limitations that address any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The scope of the present disclosure may be best understood from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0016] Figure 1A is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an exemplary wireless communication system in which the methods and apparatus described and claimed herein may be implemented;

[0017] Figure 1B is a block diagram of an exemplary apparatus or device configured for wireless communication according to the embodiments described herein;

[0018] Figure 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example of a radio access network (RAN) architecture and a core network architecture according to an embodiment;

[0019] Figure 1D is a system diagram illustrating an example of a radio access network (RAN) architecture and a core network architecture according to another embodiment;

[0020] Figure 1E is a system diagram illustrating an example of a radio access network (RAN) architecture and a core network architecture according to another embodiment;

[0021] Figure 1F It is shown in Figure 1A , 1, 1D and 1E shown in the communication network of the example system diagram;

[0022] Figure 1G is a system diagram illustrating another example of a wireless communication system;

[0023] Figure 2 is a Venn diagram showing the relationship between cells that have been configured to operate in different states;

[0024] Figure 3 is a Venn diagram of the relationship between configured cells shown from the perspective of a UE with respect to cell activity status and BFD activation;

[0025] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a process managed by the network for changing a cell within a cell group for which a UE is responsible for performing BFD;

[0026] Figure 5 is similar to Figure 4 , but including adjustments for adding / releasing / changing the BWP(s) responsible for BFD of the UE;

[0027] Figure 6 6a and 6b show various embodiments of the BFD cell group relative to the set of cells that enable BFD and the set of cells that have BFD activated by MAC CE;

[0028] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a process performed at a UE for determining which cells to perform BFD;

[0029] Figure 8 is a flow chart of a process performed at a UE for determining cells in a group for which the UE is responsible for performing BFD, including an active cell with an active BWP that enables BFD;

[0030] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a process performed at a UE for selecting a set of active BFD-RS cells;

[0031] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a UE process performed at a UE for determining whether an existing BFD requirement (caused by network configuration) for a first set of cells exceeds UE capabilities, and then identifying a second set of cells if the UE determines that the first set of cells exceeds UE capabilities.

[0032] Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter.It should be understood that the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments is for illustrative purposes only and is therefore not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) develops technical standards for cellular telecommunication network technologies, including radio access, core transport network, and service capabilities - including work on codecs, security, and quality of service. Recent radio access technology (RAT) standards include WCDMA (commonly referred to as 3G), LTE (commonly referred to as 4G), LTE-Advanced, and New Radio (NR), also referred to as "5G". 3GPP NR standards development is expected to continue and include the definition of next generation radio access technologies (new RATs), which are expected to include the provision of new flexible radio access below 7 GHz and new ultra-mobile broadband radio access above 7 GHz. Flexible radio access is expected to consist of new, non-backwards compatible radio access in new spectrum below 7 GHz, and it is expected to include different operating modes that may be multiplexed together in the same spectrum to address a wide set of 3GPP NR use cases with different requirements. Ultra-mobile broadband is expected to include centimeter wave and millimeter wave spectrum, which will provide opportunities for ultra-mobile broadband access for indoor applications and hotspots, for example. In particular, ultra-mobile broadband is expected to share a common design framework with flexible radio access below 7 GHz, with design optimizations specific to centimeter-wave and millimeter-wave.

[0034] 3GPP has recognized the wide range of use cases that NR is expected to support, resulting in a variety of user experience requirements for data rates, latency, and mobility. Use cases include the following general categories: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), network operations (e.g., network slicing, routing, migration and interworking, energy conservation), and enhanced vehicle-to-everything (eV2X) communications, which can include any of vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure communications (V2I), vehicle-to-network communications (V2N), vehicle-to-pedestrian communications (V2P), and vehicle communications with other entities. Specific services and applications within these categories include, for example, monitoring and sensor networks, device remote control, two-way remote control, personal cloud computing, video streaming, wireless cloud-based office, first responder connectivity, automotive eCall, disaster alerts, real-time gaming, multi-person video calls, autonomous driving, augmented reality, tactile Internet, virtual reality, home automation, robotics, and aerial drones, among others. This article considers all of these use cases and others.

[0035] For the convenience of readers, the following abbreviations are provided

[0036] Table 1 Abbreviations

[0037]

[0038]

[0039]

[0040] References

[0041] Throughout this document, several standards are referenced in abbreviated form according to the following notation. 3GPP TS 38.331, V15.3.0, 2018-10, "38.331"

[0042] 3GPP TS 38.213,V15.3.0,2018-10,"38.213"

[0043] 3GPP TS 38.321,V15.3.0,2018-09,"38.321"

[0044] 3GPP TS 38.133,V15.3.0,2018-10,"38.133"

[0045] 3GPP TS 38.306,V15.3.0,2018-10,"38.306"

[0046] 3GPP TS 38.214,V15.3.0,2018-10,"38.214"

[0047] RP-182863, “Revised WID: Enhancements on MIMO for NR”, 2018-12-13

[0048] Exemplary Communication Systems and Networks

[0049] Figure 1AOne embodiment of an exemplary communication system 100 in which the methods and apparatus described and claimed herein may be implemented is shown. As shown, the exemplary communication system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f, and / or 102g (which may be generally or collectively referred to as WTRUs 102), a radio access network (RAN) 103 / 104 / 105 / 103b / 104b / 105b, a core network 106 / 107 / 109, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, other networks 112, and a V2X server (or ProSe function and server) 113, although it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f, 102g may be any type of device or apparatus configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. Figures 1A-1E , but it will be understood that, utilizing the various use cases contemplated for wireless communications, each WTRU may include or be implemented in any type of device or apparatus configured to send and / or receive wireless signals, including, by way of example only, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a consumer electronics product, a wearable device (such as a smart watch or smart clothing), a medical or e-health device, a robot, an industrial equipment, a drone, a vehicle (such as a car, bus or truck, train or airplane), and the like.

[0050] The communication system 100 may also include a base station 114a and a base station 114b. The base station 114a may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, network services 113, and / or other networks 112. Examples of network services may include V2X services, ProSe services, IoT services, video streaming, edge computing, etc. The base station 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the RRHs (remote radio heads) 118a, 118b, TRPs (transmit and receive points) 119a, 119b, and / or RSUs (roadside units) 120a and 120b to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, other networks 112, and / or network services 113. The RRHs 118a, 118b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102c to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, network services 113, and / or other networks 112. The TRPs 119a, 119b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, network services 113, and / or other networks 112. The RSUs 120a and 120b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102e or 102f to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, other networks 112, and / or network services 113. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a home Node B, a home eNode B, a next generation node-B (gNode B), a satellite, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, etc. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0051] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 103 / 104 / 105, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), a relay node, etc. The base station 114b may be part of the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), a relay node, etc. The base station 114a may be configured to send and / or receive wireless signals within a specific geographic area, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). The base station 114b may be configured to send and / or receive wired and / or wireless signals within a specific geographic area, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). The cell may also be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in an embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, for example, one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and, therefore, may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell.

[0052] The base station 114a may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c via an air interface 115 / 116 / 117, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interface 115 / 116 / 117 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0053] The base station 114b may communicate with one or more of the RRHs 118a, 118b, the TRPs 119a, 119b, and / or the RSUs 120a and 120b via a wired or air interface 115b / 116b / 117b, which may be any suitable wired (e.g., cable, optical fiber, etc.) or wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interface 115b / 116b / 117b may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0054] The RRHs 118a, 118b, TRPs 119a, 119b and / or RSUs 120a, 120b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f via an air interface 115c / 116c / 117c, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interface 115c / 116c / 117c may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0055] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f and / or 102g may communicate with each other via a direct air interface 115d / 116d / 117d (such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) side link communication), and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f and / or 102g may communicate with the network service 113 via a direct air interface 115e / 116e / 117e (such as vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) side link communication (not shown)), which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interface 115d / 116d / 117d may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0056] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, etc. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c or the RRHs 118a, 118b, the TRPs 119a, 119b and / or the RSUs 120a, 120b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may use Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) to establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c, respectively. WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0057] In an embodiment, the base station 114a in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c or RRHs 118a, 118b, TRPs 119a, 119b and / or RSUs 120a, 120b and WTRUs 102c, 102d in the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may use Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE Advanced (LTE-A) to establish an air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c, respectively. The air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c may implement 3GPP NR technology. LTE and LTE-A technologies include LTE D2D and V2X technologies and interfaces (such as sidelink communications, etc.). 3GPP NR technology includes NR V2X technology and interfaces (such as sidelink communication, etc.).

[0058] In an embodiment, the base station 114a in RAN103 / 104 / 105 and the WTRU102a, 102b, 102c or RRH 118a, 118 in RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, TRP119a, 119b and / or RSU 120a, 120b and WTRU 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.16 (e.g., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM Evolution (GERAN), etc.

[0059] For example, Figure 1AThe base station 114c in the example may be a wireless router, a home Node B, a home eNode B, or an access point, and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area such as an office, home, vehicle, train, aircraft, satellite, factory, campus, etc. In an embodiment, the base station 114c and the WTRU 102e may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114c and the WTRU 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In another embodiment, the base station 114c and the WTRU 102e may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or a femtocell. Figure 1A As shown, the base station 114c may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Therefore, the base station 114c may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the core network 106 / 107 / 109.

[0060] The RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b may be in communication with a core network 106 / 107 / 109, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, messaging, authorization and authentication, applications, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, and 102f. For example, the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, packet data network connectivity, Ethernet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions such as user authentication.

[0061] Although not in Figure 1A 105b and / or the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, which may utilize an E-UTRA radio technology, the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) that employs a GSM or NR radio technology.

[0062] The core network 106 / 107 / 109 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network that provides plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and the Internet Protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The other networks 112 may include wired or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include any type of packet data network (i.e., IEEE 802.3 Ethernet) or another core network connected to one or more RANs, which may use the same RAT as the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b or a different RAT.

[0063] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f in the communication system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks via different radio links. Figure 1A The WTRU 102g shown in FIG. 1 may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and the base station 114c, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0064] although Figure 1A Not shown, but it will be understood that the user equipment may have a wired connection to the gateway. The gateway may be a residential gateway (RG). The RG may provide connectivity to the core network 106 / 107 / 109. It will be understood that many of the ideas contained herein may be equally applicable to a UE that is a WTRU and a UE that uses a wired connection to connect to the network. For example, the ideas applicable to the wireless interfaces 115, 116, 117, and 115c / 116c / 117c may be equally applicable to a wired connection.

[0065] Figure 1B 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary apparatus or device (eg, WTRU 102) configured for wireless communication according to the embodiments described herein. Figure 1BAs shown in , the exemplary WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad / indicator 128, a non-removable memory 130, a removable memory 132, a power supply 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136 and other peripherals 138. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with the embodiment. In addition, the embodiment contemplates that the base stations 114a and 114b and / or the nodes that the base stations 114a and 114b may represent, such as but not limited to a transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, a site controller, an access point (AP), a home node-B, an evolved home node-B (eNodeB), a home evolved node-B (HeNB), a home evolved node-B gateway, a next generation node-B (gNode-B), and a proxy node, etc., may include Figure 1B Some or all of the elements depicted in and described herein.

[0066] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although Figure 1B The processor 118 and the transceiver 120 are depicted as separate components, but it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated in an electronic package or chip.

[0067] The send / receive element 122 of UE can be configured to send a signal to a base station (e.g., base station 114a) or receive a signal from a base station through an air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or send a signal to another UE or receive a signal from another UE through an air interface 115d / 116d / 117d. For example, in an embodiment, the send / receive element 122 can be an antenna configured to send and / or receive an RF signal. In an embodiment, the send / receive element 122 can be a transmitter / detector configured to, for example, send and / or receive an IR, UV or visible light signal. In another embodiment, the send / receive element 122 can be configured to send and receive both an RF signal and an optical signal. It will be understood that the send / receive element 122 can be configured to send and / or receive any combination of wireless or wired signals.

[0068] In addition, despite the Figure 1B 102 as a single element, but the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 115 / 116 / 117.

[0069] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As described above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs (e.g., NR and IEEE 802.11 or NR and E-UTRA) or to communicate with the same RAT via multiple beams to different RRHs, TRPs, RSUs, or nodes.

[0070] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad / indicator 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display unit), and may receive user input data therefrom. The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad / indicator 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as a non-removable memory 130 and / or a removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, or the like. In an embodiment, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server hosted in a cloud or edge computing platform or in a home computer (not shown).

[0071] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries, solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0072] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or in lieu of the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) over the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0073] The processor 118 may also be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include various sensors such as an accelerometer, a biometric (e.g., fingerprint) sensor, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos or videos), a universal serial bus (USB) port or other interconnect interface, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, modules, FM radio units, digital music players, media players, video game player modules, Internet browsers, etc.

[0074] The WTRU 102 may be implemented in other devices or equipment, such as sensors, consumer electronics, wearable devices (such as smart watches or smart clothing), medical or e-health devices, robots, industrial equipment, drones, vehicles (such as cars, trucks, trains, or airplanes). The WTRU 102 may be connected to other components, modules, or systems of such devices or equipment via one or more interconnect interfaces (such as an interconnect interface that may include one of the peripheral devices 138).

[0075] Figure 1C 1 is a system diagram of the RAN 103 and the core network 106 according to an embodiment. As described above, the RAN 103 may employ UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 115. The RAN 103 may also be in communication with the core network 106. Figure 1CAs shown in FIG. 1 , the RAN 103 may include Node-Bs 140a, 140b, 140c, each of which may include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 115. The Node-Bs 140a, 140b, 140c may each be associated with a particular cell (not shown) within the RAN 103. The RAN 103 may also include RNCs 142a, 142b. It will be appreciated that the RAN 103 may include any number of Node-Bs and RNCs while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0076] like Figure 1C As shown, Node-B 140a, 140b can communicate with RNC 142a. In addition, Node-B 140c can communicate with RNC 142b. Node-B 140a, 140b, 140c can communicate with corresponding RNC 142a, 142b via Iub interface. RNC 142a, 142b can communicate with each other via Iur interface. Each of RNC 142a, 142b can be configured to control each Node-B 140a, 140b, 140c connected to it. In addition, each of RNC 142a, 142b can be configured to perform or support other functions, such as outer loop power control, load control, admission control, packet scheduling, switching control, macro diversity, security functions, data encryption, etc.

[0077] Figure 1C The core network 106 shown in FIG. 1 may include a media gateway (MGW) 144, a mobile switching center (MSC) 146, a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 148, and / or a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 150. Although each of the aforementioned elements is depicted as part of the core network 106, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator.

[0078] The RNC 142a in the RAN 103 may be connected to the MSC 146 in the core network 106 via an IuCS interface. The MSC 146 may be connected to the MGW 144. The MSC 146 and the MGW 144 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices.

[0079] The RNC 142a in the RAN 103 may also be connected to the SGSN 148 in the core network 106 via an IuPS interface. The SGSN 148 may be connected to the GGSN 150. The SGSN 148 and the GGSN 150 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0080] As described above, the core network 106 may also be connected to other networks 112, which may include other wired or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0081] Figure 1D 1 is a system diagram of the RAN 104 and the core network 107 according to an embodiment. As described above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the core network 107.

[0082] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, for example, the eNode-B 160a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0083] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink and / or downlink, etc. Figure 1D As shown, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with each other via an X2 interface.

[0084] Figure 1D The illustrated core network 107 may include a mobility management gateway (MME) 162, a serving gateway 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway 166. While each of the aforementioned elements is depicted as being part of the core network 107, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator.

[0085] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, etc. The MME 162 may also provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM or WCDMA.

[0086] The serving gateway 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The serving gateway 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The serving gateway 164 may also perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when downlink data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0087] The serving gateway 164 may also be connected to the PDN gateway 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0088] The core network 107 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the core network 107 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the core network 107 may include, or may be in communication with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the core network 107 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the core network 107 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the networks 112, which may include other wired or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0089] Figure 1E1 is a system diagram of the RAN 105 and the core network 109 according to an embodiment. The RAN 105 may employ NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a and 102b over the air interface 117. The RAN 105 may also be in communication with the core network 109. The N3IWF 199 may employ non-3GPP radio technology to communicate with the WTRU 102c over the air interface 198. The N3IWF 199 may also be in communication with the core network 109.

[0090] The RAN 105 may include gNode-Bs 180a and 180b, but it will be appreciated that the RAN 105 may include any number of gNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. Each of the gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a and 102b over the air interface 117. In an embodiment using integrated access and backhaul connectivity, the same air interface may be used between the WTRU and the gNode-B (which may be the core network 109) via one or more gNBs. In an embodiment, the gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may implement MIMO, MU-MIMO, and / or digital beamforming techniques. Thus, for example, the gNode-B 180a may use multiple antennas to send wireless signals to and receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a. It should be appreciated that the RAN 105 may employ other types of base stations, such as an eNode-B. It should also be appreciated that the RAN 105 may employ more than one type of base station. For example, RAN may employ eNode-B and gNode-B.

[0091] The N3IWF 199 may include a non-3GPP access point 180c, but it will be appreciated that the N3IWF 199 may include any number of non-3GPP access points while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The non-3GPP access point 180c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRU 102c over the air interface 198. In an embodiment, the non-3GPP access point 180c may communicate with the WTRU 102c over the air interface 198 using the 802.11 protocol.

[0092] Each of the gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink and / or downlink, etc. Figure 1E As shown in , gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may communicate with each other via an Xn interface.

[0093] Figure 1EThe core network 109 shown in the figure can be a 5G core network (5GC). 5GC can provide a variety of communication services to customers interconnected by a radio access network. The 5G core network 109 includes multiple entities that perform core network functions. As used herein, the term "core network entity" or "network function" refers to any entity that performs one or more functions of the core network. It should be understood that such a core network entity can be a logical entity implemented in the form of software (i.e., computer executable instructions) that is stored in a device or such as a computer configured for wireless and / or network communications. Figure 1F in the memory of the computer system shown in and executed on its processor.

[0094] like Figure 1E As shown in , the 5G core network 109 may include access and mobility management function (AMF) 172, session management function (SMF) 174, user plane function (UPF) 176a and 176b, user data management function (UDM) 197, authentication server function (AUSF) 190, network exposure function (NEF) 196, policy control function (PCF) 184, non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) 199 and application function (AF) 188, user data repository (UDR) 178. Although each of the above elements is depicted as part of the 5G core network 109, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator. It should also be understood that the 5G core network may not include all of these elements, may include additional elements, and may include multiple instances of each of these elements. Figure 1E The network functions are shown connected directly to each other, however, it should be understood that they may communicate via a routing agent such as the diameter routing agent or a message bus. Figure 1E The connectivity between network functions is shown to be implemented via a set of interfaces or reference points, but it should be understood that network functions can be modeled, described or implemented as a set of services invoked or called by other network functions or services. The invocation of network function services can be implemented via direct connections between network functions, message exchanges on a message bus, calling software functions, etc.

[0095] The AMF 172 may be connected to the RAN 105 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 172 may be responsible for registration management, connection management, reachability management, access authentication, access authorization. The AMF may be responsible for forwarding user plane tunnel configuration information to the RAN 105 via the N2 interface. The AMF 172 may receive user plane tunnel configuration information from the SMF via the N11 interface. The AMF 172 may typically route and forward NAS packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c via the N1 interface. Figure 1E The N1 interface is not shown.

[0096] The SMF 174 may be connected to the AMF 172 via an N11 interface, to the PCF 184 via an N7 interface, and to the UPF 176 via an N4 interface. The SMF 174 may serve as a control node. For example, the SMF 174 may be responsible for session management, IP address allocation for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, management and configuration of traffic steering rules in the UPF 176a and UPF 176b, and generation of downlink data notifications to the AMF 172.

[0097] The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to a packet data network (DN), such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and other devices. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may also provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other types of packet data networks. For example, the other network 112 may be Ethernet or any type of network that switches data packets. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may receive traffic steering rules from the SMF 174 via the N4 interface. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may provide access to the packet data network by connecting the packet data network with the N6 interface or by connecting to other UPFs via the N9 interface. In addition to providing access to the packet data network, UPF 176 may also be responsible for packet routing and forwarding, policy rule enforcement, quality of service processing for user plane traffic, and downlink packet buffering.

[0098] The AMF 172 may also be connected to the N3IWF 199 via an N2 interface. The N3IWF facilitates connectivity between the WTRU 102c and the 5G Core Network 170 via 3GPP undefined radio interface technologies. The AMF may interact with the N3IWF 199 in the same or similar manner as it interacts with the RAN 105.

[0099] PCF 184 may be connected to SMF 174 via an N7 interface, to AMF 172 via an N15 interface, and to application function (AF) 188 via an N5 interface. Figure 1E The N15 and N5 interfaces are not shown in FIG. 184. The PCF 184 may provide policy rules to control plane nodes such as the AMF 172 and the SMF 174, thereby allowing the control plane nodes to implement these rules. The PCF 184 may send policies to the AMF 172 for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c so that the AMF may deliver the policies to the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c via the N1 interface. The policies may then be executed or applied at the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0100] The UDR 178 acts as a repository for authentication credentials and subscription information. The UDR can be connected to network functions so that the network functions can add, read, and modify data in the repository. For example, the UDR 178 can be connected to the PCF 184 via the N36 interface, the UDR 178 can be connected to the NEF 196 via the N37 interface, and the UDR 178 can be connected to the UDM 197 via the N35 interface.

[0101] UDM 197 may serve as an interface between UDR 178 and other network functions. UDM 197 may authorize network function access for UDR 178. For example, UDM 197 may be connected to AMF 172 via an N8 interface, UDM 197 may be connected to SMF 174 via an N10 interface, and UDM 197 may be connected to AUSF 190 via an N13 interface. UDR 178 and UDM 197 may be tightly integrated.

[0102] AUSF 190 performs authentication-related operations and is connected to UDM 178 via an N13 interface and to AMF 172 via an N12 interface.

[0103] NEF 196 exposes capabilities and services in 5G core network 109 to application functions 188. The exposure occurs over the N33 API interface. NEF can connect to AF 188 via the N33 interface, and it can connect to other network functions to expose capabilities and services of 5G core network 109.

[0104] The application function 188 may interact with the network function in the 5G core network 109. The interaction between the application function 188 and the network function may occur via a direct interface or may occur via the NEF 196. The application function 188 may be considered part of the 5G core network 109 or may be external to the 5G core network 109 and deployed by an enterprise having a commercial relationship with a mobile network operator.

[0105] Network slicing is a mechanism that can be used by mobile network operators to support one or more "virtual" core networks behind the operator's air interface. This involves 'slicing' the core network into one or more virtual networks to support different RANs or different service types running across a single RAN. Network slicing enables operators to create customized networks to provide optimized solutions for different market scenarios that require different requirements in the areas of functionality, performance and isolation, for example.

[0106] 3GPP has designed the 5G core network to support network slicing. Network slicing is a great tool that network operators can use to support a diverse set of 5G use cases (e.g., massive IoT, critical communications, V2X, and enhanced mobile broadband) that require very diverse and sometimes extreme requirements. Without the use of network slicing technology, when each use case has its own specific set of performance, scalability, and availability requirements, the network architecture is likely not to be flexible and scalable enough to effectively support a wider range of use case requirements. In addition, the introduction of new network services should be more efficient.

[0107] In a network slicing scenario, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to the AMF 172 via the N1 interface. The AMF may logically be part of one or more slices. The AMF may coordinate the connection or communication of the WTRU with one or more UPFs 176, SMFs 174, and other network functions. Each of the UPFs 176, SMFs 174, and other network functions may be part of a different or the same slice. When they are part of different slices, they may be isolated from each other in the sense that they may utilize different computing resources, security credentials, etc.

[0108] The 5G core network 109 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the 5G core network 109 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the 5G core network 109 and the PSTN 108. For example, the core network 109 may include, or may communicate with, a short message service (SMS) service center that facilitates communications via a short message service. For example, the 5G core network 109 may facilitate the exchange of non-IP data packets between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and servers or application functions 188. In addition, the core network 170 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the networks 112, which may include other wired or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0109] This article describes and Figure 1A , 1C The core network entities shown in 1D and 1E are identified by the names given to these entities in certain existing 3GPP specifications, but it will be understood that these entities and functions may be identified by other names in the future, and that certain entities or functions may be combined in future specifications published by 3GPP (including future 3GPP NR specifications). Figure 1A , 1B The specific network entities and functionality described and illustrated in 1C, 1D and 1E are provided by way of example only, and it will be understood that the subject matter disclosed and claimed herein may be implemented or realized in any similar communication system, whether currently defined or defined in the future.

[0110] Figure 1F It can be achieved Figure 1A , 1C, 1D and 1E are block diagrams of an exemplary computing system 90 of one or more devices of a communication network (such as certain nodes or functional entities in RAN 103 / 104 / 105, core network 106 / 107 / 109, PSTN 108, Internet 110, other networks 112 or network services 113). The computing system 90 may include a computer or server and may be primarily controlled by computer-readable instructions, which may be in the form of software, regardless of where or by what means such software is stored or accessed. Such computer-readable instructions may be executed within a processor 91 to enable the computing system 90 to operate. The processor 91 may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 91 may perform signal encoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other function that enables the computing system 90 to operate in a communication network. Coprocessor 81 is an optional processor distinct from main processor 91 that may perform additional functions or assist processor 91. Processor 91 and / or coprocessor 81 may receive, generate, and process data related to the methods and apparatus disclosed herein.

[0111] In operation, processor 91 retrieves, decodes and executes instructions, and transmits information to and from other resources via the computing system's main data transfer path, system bus 80. Such a system bus connects components in computing system 90 and defines a medium for data exchange. System bus 80 typically includes data lines for sending data, address lines for sending addresses, and control lines for sending interrupts and for operating the bus. An example of such a system bus 80 is a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus.

[0112] The memory coupled to the system bus 80 includes a random access memory (RAM) 82 and a read-only memory (ROM) 93. Such memory includes circuits that allow information to be stored and retrieved. ROM 93 typically contains stored data that is not easily modified. The data stored in RAM 82 can be read or changed by a processor 91 or other hardware device. Access to RAM 82 and / or ROM 93 can be controlled by a memory controller 92. The memory controller 92 can provide an address translation function that translates a virtual address into a physical address when an instruction is executed. The memory controller 92 can also provide a memory protection function that isolates processes within the system and isolates system processes from user processes. Therefore, a program running in the first mode can only access memory mapped through its own process virtual address space; unless memory sharing has been set up between processes, it cannot access memory within the virtual address space of another process.

[0113] In addition, computing system 90 may include a peripheral device controller 83 , which is responsible for transmitting instructions from processor 91 to peripheral devices, such as printer 94 , keyboard 84 , mouse 95 , and disk drive 85 .

[0114] The display 86 controlled by the display controller 96 is used to display the visual output generated by the computing system 90. Such visual output may include text, graphics, animated graphics, and video. The visual output may be provided in the form of a graphical user interface (GUI). The display 86 may be implemented with a CRT-based video display, an LCD-based flat panel display, a gas plasma-based flat panel display, or a touch panel. The display controller 96 includes the electronic components required to generate the video signal sent to the display 86.

[0115] In addition, computing system 90 may include communications circuitry, such as a wireless or wired network adapter 97, which may be used to connect computing system 90 to an external communications network or device, such as Figure 1A , 1B , RAN 103 / 104 / 105 of 1C, 1D and 1E, core network 106 / 107 / 109, PSTN 108, Internet 110, WTRU 102 or other network 112 to enable computing system 90 to communicate with other nodes or functional entities of those networks. Alone or in combination with processor 91, communication circuitry may be used to perform the sending and receiving steps of certain devices, nodes or functional entities described herein.

[0116] Figure 1GOne embodiment of an exemplary communication system 111 in which the methods and apparatus described and claimed herein may be implemented is shown. As shown, the exemplary communication system 111 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) A, B, C, D, E, F, a base station gNB 121, a V2X server 124, and RSUs 123a and 123b, but it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations gNBs, V2X networks, and / or network elements. One or several or all of the WTRUs A, B, C, D, E may be outside the coverage of the access network 122. WTRUs A, B, C form a V2X group, where WTRU A is the group leader and WTRUs B and WTRU C are group members. WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, F may communicate between them via Uu interfaces 129a / 129b if they are under the coverage of the access network, and may communicate between them via sidelink (PC5 or NR PC5) interfaces 125a if they are under or outside the coverage of the access network. WTRU A, B, C, D, E, F may communicate with the RSU via a vehicle-to-network (V2N) interface 126 or a sidelink interface 125b. WTRU A, B, C, D, E, F may communicate with a V2X server 124 via a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) interface 127. WTRU A, B, C, D, E, F may communicate with another UE via a vehicle-to-person (V2P) interface 128.

[0117] It should be understood that any or all of the devices, systems, methods, and processes described herein may be implemented in the form of computer executable instructions (e.g., program code) stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which, when executed by a processor such as processor 118 or 91, causes the processor to perform and / or implement the systems, methods, and processes described herein. Specifically, any step, operation, or function described herein may be implemented in the form of such computer executable instructions executed on a processor of a device or computing system configured for wireless and / or wired network communication. Computer-readable storage media include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any non-transient (e.g., tangible or physical) method or technology for storing information, but such computer-readable storage media do not include signals. Computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to: RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, cassettes, tapes, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible or physical media that can be used to store the desired information and can be accessed by a computing system.

[0118] Beam Fault Detection Management Overview

[0119] As recognized by the inventors, a UE configured with many cells may experience a situation where a large percentage of the configured cells are activated simultaneously. If those activated cells are configured for BFD, the UE may have to perform BFD for a large number of cells and process a large number of beam failure detection RSs, which may exceed the UE's ability to be used for beam failure detection.

[0120] If BFD / NBI / BFR (also known as link recovery) procedures are also supported on SCell in addition to SpCell, they may be performed on any activated cell. The most complex and power-consuming part of BFD / NBI / BFR is BFD because it is performed continuously, while NBI / BFR may only be performed in case of beam failure. For a large number of activated cells, simultaneous BFD on each or most cells (e.g., up to 32 cells) may be too complex and power-consuming. To this end, a BFD-related UE capability management method is described that apportions the available UE capability for simultaneous BFD across cells and / or BWPs and / or reference signals.

[0121] Since the UE capability for BFD is significantly lower than the UE capability required to support the number of cells activated simultaneously, the need to manage the set of cells (and / or BWPs and / or reference signals) on which the UE actually performs BFD increases. The present disclosure addresses this problem and provides various methods for managing BFD-based requirements imposed on UEs with limited capabilities.

[0122] If a "dormant" cell state (for the UE) is introduced with properties between the already existing deactivated and activated states, the result may be more frequent cell state transitions. Such a development would provide further motivation to be able to more dynamically manage the set of cells (and / or BWPs and / or reference signals) on which the UE performs BFD.

[0123] This disclosure describes solutions for managing beam failure detection across cells, BWPs and RSs so as not to exceed UE capabilities. Generally, two main categories of solutions are described: solutions based on network indication and solutions based on UE selection.

[0124] definition

[0125] Configure the cell

[0126] In various embodiments, the UE may be configured with one or more "configuration cells", such as a PCell, (multiple) PSCells, and / or (multiple) SCells. The (multiple) configurations may be received using RRC signaling, such as during initial access, handover, or cell (e.g., SCell) addition / release. In various embodiments, the configuration cell is a serving cell.

[0127] Different UEs may have different sets of configured cells. The set of configured cells of a UE may change over time, for example, by RRC reconfiguration including cell (e.g., SCell) addition / release. Below, for simplicity, the term "configured cell" is sometimes simply denoted as "cell".

[0128] Sleep and other cell states

[0129] The configured cell of the UE may be in one of multiple states, e.g., activated, deactivated, dormant. Some cells (e.g., PCell and PSCell) may be in only one state, e.g., activated. The cell state may be UE-specific, i.e., the state of the cell may be different for different UEs at the same time, e.g., for a first UE, the cell is in an activated state, while for a second UE, the same cell is in a deactivated state at the same time.

[0130] In various embodiments, the activated cell state is defined as follows: the UE applies normal operations on the activated cell (cell in the activated state), such as sending any configured SRS, PUCCH, monitoring PDCCH, measuring CSI and / or reporting CSI, etc.

[0131] In various embodiments, the deactivated cell state is defined as follows: the UE does not apply normal operations on the deactivated cell (cell in the deactivated state), for example, it does not transmit configured SRS, PUCCH, does not monitor PDCCH, does not measure and / or report CSI, etc.

[0132] In various embodiments, the dormant cell state is defined as follows: the UE may apply a subset of normal operations on the dormant cell. Further exemplary embodiments of the dormant cell state are given below.

[0133] In some embodiments, the UE sends a configured SRS on a dormant cell, and in some embodiments, the UE does not send a configured SRS on a dormant cell. In some embodiments, the UE sends a configured PUCCH on a dormant cell, and in some embodiments, the UE does not send a configured PUCCH on a dormant cell. In some embodiments, the UE monitors the PDCCH on a dormant cell. In some embodiments, the UE does not monitor the PDCCH on a dormant cell. In some embodiments, the UE measures and / or reports CSI on a dormant cell. In some embodiments, the UE does not measure and / or report CSI on a dormant cell. In some embodiments, the UE measures CSI on a dormant cell but reports CSI on another cell (e.g., PCell or PSCell).

[0134] Various further embodiments of the dormant cell are given below.

[0135] For a cell in dormant state, UE

[0136] oSend any configured SRS,

[0137] o Send any configured PUCCH,

[0138] o not monitor any configured PDCCH, and

[0139] oMeasure and report CSI for any configuration.

[0140] For a cell in dormant state, UE

[0141] oSend any configured SRS,

[0142] o Do not send any configured PUCCH,

[0143] o not monitor any configured PDCCH, and

[0144] o Measure and report (e.g. on another cell) any configured CSI

[0145] For a dormant cell, the UE

[0146] oDo not send any configured SRS,

[0147] o Do not send any configured PUCCH,

[0148] o not monitor any configured PDCCH, and

[0149] o Measure and report (e.g. on another cell) any configured CSI

[0150] In various embodiments, other combinations are used.

[0151] In various embodiments, the UE does not monitor any configured PDCCH (e.g., configured CORESET, associated search space, RNTI, etc.) on the dormant cell, except for such PDCCH that indicates that the cell state is switched from a dormant state to, for example, an activated state. In various embodiments, such a state switch triggering PDCCH is received on the dormant cell itself. In various embodiments, such a state switch triggering PDCCH is received on another cell (e.g., PCell or PSCell). Such a state switch triggering PDCCH may be associated with a specific (multiple) CORESET, (multiple) search space set, (multiple) search space, (multiple) RNTI, (multiple) DCI format and / or (multiple) aggregation level. These aspects may be configured and / or predefined.

[0152] In various embodiments, the UE performs BFD, NBI, BFR (if configured) on the dormant cell. For example, if the UE performs BFD on an activated cell that is subsequently switched to a dormant state, the UE continues to perform BFD on the dormant cell, at least if the BWP(s) have not changed. Note that in various embodiments, BFR may include BFRQ transmission and / or BFRR reception.

[0153] In various embodiments, the UE does not perform BFD, NBI, BFR (if configured) on a dormant cell. For example, if the UE performs BFD on an activated cell that is subsequently switched to a dormant state, the UE stops performing BFD on the dormant cell. If the cell state is subsequently switched back to activated, the UE resumes BFD, at least if the (multiple) BWPs have not changed since the last time the cell state was activated. In various embodiments, the UE performs BFD and NBI on the dormant cell, but performs BFRQ transmission and BFRR reception on another cell (e.g., SpCell). In various embodiments, the UE performs BFD and NBI on the dormant cell, performs BFRQ transmission on another cell (e.g., SpCell), and performs BFRR reception on the dormant cell. In various embodiments, the dormant cell transitions to an activated state in conjunction with the BFR process, such as upon beam failure or after a BFRQ transmission, such as on another cell. Therefore, in some cases, a beam failure on a cell in a dormant state is followed by BFRR reception on the same cell but in an activated state. In other words, during the process between BFD and BFRR, the cell state has changed.

[0154] In various embodiments, the dormant state of a cell is associated with an RRC configuration of the cell that is completely or partially separate from the RRC configuration that the UE applies to the cell when the cell state is activated. For example, the UE is configured with a serving cell RRC configuration that is applied when the cell is in the activated cell state and another (e.g., part of) serving cell RRC configuration that is applied when the cell is in the dormant cell state. In some embodiments, when the state of the cell switches between activation and dormancy, the UE switches between RRC serving cell configurations (or parts thereof). In some embodiments, the dormant cell state is associated with separate DL and / or UL BWP configurations, for example, a list of DL BWP configurations for the dormant state is separate from a list for the activated state, and a list of UL BWP configurations for the dormant state is separate from a list for the activated state. In some embodiments, one or more BWP configurations in the list of BWP configurations for the activated state are dedicated to the dormant state. In some embodiments, one or more BWP configurations in the list of BWP configurations for the activated state are also used for the dormant state. In some embodiments, the BWP used for the dormant state is a default BWP used in the activated state or a BWP whose BWP-Id is equal to the configured dormant BWP-id (which can be a parameter in the serving cell RRC configuration). In one example, switching to a dormant state means switching to (multiple) dormant BWPs. In various embodiments, in addition to active and inactive states, a BWP (e.g., a DL BWP) may be in a dormant state. In various embodiments, the definition of a dormant BWP state follows the description of the dormant cell state above (but applied to a BWP instead of a cell).

[0155] In various embodiments, a BWP for dormant state is not configured with a CORESET and / or search space, which may result in the UE not needing to perform PDCCH monitoring on the BWP.

[0156] In various embodiments, there are at least partially separate UE requirements for cells in dormant state, for example regarding CSI measurement accuracy, beam failure detection, etc.

[0157] Advantages of the dormant cell state over the activated cell state include: UE power consumption can be lower due to the execution of a subset of normal operations. Advantages of the dormant cell state over the deactivated cell state include: the transition time from the dormant state to normal operation in the activated cell state can be shorter than from the deactivated state.

[0158] In various embodiments, the UE maintains the RRC configuration of the cell across state switching. In various embodiments, the cell state switching can be triggered by MAC CE and / or L1 signaling (e.g., DCI), where the trigger is sent on a dormant cell (e.g., from activated to dormant) or on another cell such as a PCell or PSCell (e.g., from dormant to activated). In some embodiments, the network triggers the cell state switching to / from the dormant state. In some embodiments, the UE triggers the cell state switching to / from the dormant state. For example, a BFRQ transmission on a dormant cell or another cell such as a SpCell can trigger the cell state to switch from dormant to activated.

[0159] ON and OFF cell status and / or BWP status

[0160] In various embodiments, BFD, NBI, BFR and / or link recovery are supported in one or more cell states of the configured cell (e.g., in an activated state). In various embodiments, if the cell is a cell state that supports BFD, NBI and / or BFR, the cell is defined to be in the "ON" state. In some embodiments, if the cell is a cell state that supports BFD, the cell is defined to be in the "ON" cell state. In some embodiments, if the cell is a cell state that supports BFD and NBI, the cell is defined to be in the "ON" cell state. In some embodiments, if the cell is a cell state that supports BFD, NBI and BFRR reception, the cell is defined to be in the "ON" cell state. In some embodiments, if the cell is a cell state that supports link recovery, the cell is defined to be in the "ON" cell state.

[0161] In various embodiments, BFD, NBI, BFR, and / or link recovery are supported in one or more BWP states (e.g., active or dormant BWP states). In various embodiments, if the BWP is a BWP state that supports BFD, NBI, and / or BFR, the BWP is defined to be in the "ON" BWP state. In some embodiments, if the BWP is a BWP state that supports BFD, the BWP is defined to be in the "ON" BWP state. In some embodiments, if the BWP is a BWP state that supports link recovery, the BWP is defined to be in the "ON" BWP state.

[0162] In various embodiments, the operation(s) applied by the UE on the configured cell in the ON cell state include BFD, NBI and / or BFR, if these operations are configured, for example, by RRC.

[0163] In various embodiments, "supporting" (e.g., activating, deactivating) a UE function (e.g., BFD, NBI, BFR, and / or link recovery) in a specific cell state means that the UE can be expected to perform the function on a cell in a specific cell state. In various examples, if the function needs to be configured and / or activated by the network, the UE is expected to perform the function on the cell if the function is configured and / or activated by the network. In some cases, for example, using optional UE features (UE features may include one or more UE functions), even if the function is supported in the cell state, only UEs that support the corresponding features (and thus support the function) are expected to perform the function. In other words, a UE function supported in a specific cell state does not depend on any specific UE capability to support the function. In contrast, a UE function supported in a cell state means that the communication standard or protocol provides support for the function on a cell in a cell state, at least for certain configurations and for certain UEs.

[0164] Considering how "support" is generally defined herein, supporting BFD in a specific cell state may mean that the communication standard supports configuring and / or activating BFD into the UE for a cell in a specific cell state. This may imply evaluating (monitoring) one or more downlink qualities based on one or more BFD-RSs in order to detect (multiple) beam failure instances. Link quality assessment may involve estimating the BLER of a hypothetical PDCCH transmission and comparing it to one or more thresholds. In one example, BFD is supported on a cell in an activated state, but not on a cell in a deactivated state. Note that supporting BFD in a specific cell state does not mean that BFD, NBI and / or BFR are performed on the cell. BFD, NBI and / or BFR may be configured into the UE only for a specific cell, but not activated, or may not even be configured.

[0165] Considering how "support" is generally defined herein, supporting NBI in a specific cell state may mean that the communication standard supports configuring and / or activating NBI into the UE for a cell in a specific cell state. This may imply evaluating (monitoring) one or more downlink qualities (e.g., measuring RSRP) based on one or more candidate RSs in order to select a candidate beam associated with the candidate RS. In one example, NBI is supported on a cell in an activated state, but not on a cell in a deactivated state. Note that supporting NBI in a specific cell state does not mean that BFD, NBI and / or BFR are performed on the cell. BFD, NBI and / or BFR may only be configured into the UE for a specific cell, but not activated, or may not even be configured.

[0166] Considering how "support" is generally defined in this document, supporting BFR in a specific cell state may mean that the communication standard supports configuring and / or activating BFR into the UE for a cell in a specific cell state. This may imply that the UE sends a beam failure recovery request (BFRR) indicating the selected candidate beam. It may also imply that the UE receives a beam failure recovery response from the network, confirms the receipt of the BFRR and switches to the selected candidate beam. In one example, BFR is supported on a cell in an activated state, but not on a cell in a deactivated state. Note that supporting BFR in the state of a specific cell does not mean that BFD, NBI and / or BFR are performed on the cell. BFD, NBI and / or BFR may only be configured into the UE for a specific cell, but not activated, or may not even be configured.

[0167] The configured cells that are not in the ON cell state are in the OFF cell state.

[0168] In one example, for a UE, a configured cell may be in one of two cell states, e.g.

[0169] Activate cell state: ON cell state, because BFD is supported in this cell state.

[0170] o In one example, NBI and BFR are supported in this cell state.

[0171] o In one example, NBI is supported but BFR is not supported in this cell state.

[0172] o In one example, NBI and BFRR are supported, but BFRQ is not supported in this cell state.

[0173] Deactivated cell state: OFF cell state, because BFD is not supported in this cell state.

[0174] o In one example, NBI and BFR are not supported in this cell state.

[0175] o In one example, BFR is supported but NBI is not supported in this cell state.

[0176] o In one example, BFRQ is supported but NBI or BFRR is not supported in this cell state.

[0177] In this example, the ON cell state is equivalent to the activated cell state, and the OFF cell state is equivalent to the deactivated cell state. In one example, BFD is supported in the activated cell state, but not in the deactivated cell state, which means that the activated cell state is the ON cell state, and the deactivated cell state is the OFF cell state.

[0178] In another example, for a UE, a configured cell may be in one of three cell states, e.g.

[0179] Activate cell state: ON cell state, because BFD is supported in this cell state.

[0180] o In one example, NBI and BFR are supported in this cell state.

[0181] o In one example, NBI is supported but BFR is not supported in this cell state.

[0182] o In one example, NBI and BFRR are supported, but BFRQ is not supported in this cell state.

[0183] Sleep state: ON cell state, because BFD is supported in this cell state.

[0184] o In one example, NBI and BFR are supported in this cell state.

[0185] o In one example, NBI is supported but BFR is not supported in this cell state.

[0186] o In one example, NBI and BFR are not supported in this cell state.

[0187] o In one example, BFR is supported but NBI is not supported in this cell state.

[0188] o In one example, NBI and BFRR are supported, but BFRQ is not supported in this cell state.

[0189] Deactivated cell state: OFF cell state, because BFD is not supported in this cell state.

[0190] o In one example, NBI and BFR are not supported in this cell state.

[0191] o In one example, BFR is supported but NBI is not supported in this cell state.

[0192] o In one example, BFRQ is supported in this cell state, but NBI or BFRR are not supported.

[0193] In this example, the ON cell state is equivalent to the activated cell state or the dormant cell state, and the OFF cell state is equivalent to the deactivated cell state. In one example, BFD is supported in the activated cell state and the dormant cell state, but not in the deactivated cell state, which means that the activated cell state and the dormant cell state are the ON cell state, and the deactivated cell state is the OFF cell state.

[0194] Another example with three cell states is as follows

[0195] Activate cell state: ON cell state, because BFD is supported in this cell state.

[0196] o In one example, NBI and BFR are supported in this cell state.

[0197] o In one example, NBI is supported but BFR is not supported in this cell state.

[0198] o In one example, NBI and BFRR are supported, but BFRQ is not supported in this cell state.

[0199] Dormant state: OFF cell state, because BFD is not supported in this cell state.

[0200] o In one example, NBI and BFR are supported in this cell state.

[0201] o In one example, NBI is supported but BFR is not supported in this cell state.

[0202] o In one example, NBI and BFR are not supported in this cell state.

[0203] o In one example, BFR is supported but NBI is not supported in this cell state.

[0204] o In one example, NBI and BFRR are supported, but BFRQ is not supported in this cell state.

[0205] Deactivated cell state: OFF cell state, because BFD is not supported in this cell state.

[0206] o In one example, NBI and BFR are not supported in this cell state.

[0207] o In one example, BFR is supported but NBI is not supported in this cell state.

[0208] o In one example, BFRQ is supported in this cell state, but NBI or BFRR are not supported.

[0209] In this example, the ON cell state is equivalent to the activated cell state, and the OFF cell state is equivalent to the deactivated cell state or the dormant cell state. In one example, BFD is supported in the activated cell state, but not in the deactivated cell state or the dormant cell state, which means that the activated cell state is the ON cell state, and the deactivated cell state and the dormant cell state are the OFF cell state.

[0210] In some embodiments, the set of BFD / BFR related operations such as those listed above supported in different cell states depends on the cell type, such as SpCell and SCell.In some embodiments, some configured cells are always ON for UEs, such as SpCell.

[0211] For the sake of simplicity, the configured cells in the ON or OFF cell state will be represented as "ON cell" or "OFF cell" below.

[0212] In various embodiments, the concepts of ON cell and OFF cell refer to the state of the BWP of the cell, where the (DL and / or UL) BWP ON / OFF BWP state can follow the various embodiments of the above cell state. For example, the BWP can have three potential BWP states, such as an active BWP state (ON BWP state), an inactive BWP state (OFF BWP state), and a dormant BWP state (ON or OFF in various embodiments). For example, if the active DL BWP is ON, the cell is ON. In another example, if the active DL BWP and the active UL BWP are ON, the cell is ON. Note that the set of possible states may be different between the DL BWP and the UL BWP.

[0213] Various embodiments throughout the present disclosure are applicable to a cell and / or a BWP.For simplicity, "cell and / or BWP" is sometimes written as "cell / BWP".

[0214] BFD Cell

[0215] In various embodiments, a "BFD cell" for a UE is a configured cell on which the UE performs BFD.

[0216] In various embodiments, only cells in the ON state may be BFD cells. In some embodiments, the set of BFD cells for a UE is a subset of the ON cells. In some embodiments, the set of BFD cells is equal to the set of ON cells.

[0217] In some embodiments, a "BFD cell" is a configured cell on which the UE may perform NBI and / or BFR if a beam failure is detected on the cell. Note that in various embodiments, NBI and / or BFR may be performed partially or entirely on a BFD cell or other (multiple) cells other than the BFD cell, i.e., the cell on which the corresponding beam failure is detected.

[0218] In various embodiments, the term "link recovery" may refer to or be equivalent to BFD, NBI, BFR, BFD+NBI, BFD+BFR, NBI+BFR, and / or BFD+NBI+BFR or a portion thereof. For example, enabling / disabling and / or activating / deactivating BFD on a cell / BWP may be equivalent to enabling / disabling and / or activating / deactivating "link recovery" on a cell / BWP, because in some cases, BFD is a necessary first step in the link recovery process. Therefore, in various embodiments, the term "BFD cell" may refer to a cell on which the UE performs link recovery, BFD, NBI, BFR, BFD+NBI, BFD+BFR, NBI+BFR, and / or BFD+NBI+BFR or a portion thereof. In some embodiments, a cell is not a BFD cell only when it is not expected that the UE performs link recovery, BFD, NBI, or BFR on the cell.

[0219] In various embodiments, a BFD-BWP for a UE is a BWP on which the UE performs BFD, such as an active DL BWP. In various embodiments, such as embodiments in which at most one DL BWP and / or at most one UL BWP are simultaneously active in a cell, a cell is a BFD cell if and only if the cell's active DL BWP is a BFD-BWP. For example, a cell is a BFD cell if and only if the cell's active DL BWP is a BFD-BWP. A cell (e.g., an SCell) may have an active DLBWP but no active UL BWP (e.g., such as in a DL-only SCell where no UL BWP is configured for the cell).

[0220] In various embodiments, the term "BFD BWP" may refer to a BWP on which the UE performs link recovery, BFD, NBI, BFR, BFD+NBI, BFD+BFR, NbI+BFR and / or BFD+NBI+BFR or portions thereof. In some embodiments, the BWP is not a BFD BWP only when it is not desired for the UE to perform link recovery, BFD, NBI or BFR on the BWP.

[0221] Figure 2 It is a Venn diagram of various cell sets observed from the perspective of the UE. The set of all cells may include all cells detected by the UE and / or all cells otherwise indicated / configured to the UE. The set of configured cells is a subset of all cells (e.g., configured (multiple) SpCells and (multiple) SCells) that have been configured by the network, for example, through RRC signaling. The set of configured cells has two subsets, ON cells and OFF cells. OFF cells are in the OFF state, while ON cells are in the ON state. The set of BFD cells is a subset of ON cells.

[0222] ON and OFF BFD-RS

[0223] In various embodiments, the BFD-RS is a reference signal that the UE can use for BFD. The BFD-RS can be a CSI-RS, SSB (e.g., PSS, SSS, PBCH and / or PBCH-DMRS), SRS, DMRS and / or other signals. In various embodiments, the BFD-RS has different types. In some embodiments, there are two BFD-RS types, where the first BFD-RS type is a periodic CSI-RS and the second BFD-RS type is an SSB.

[0224] In various embodiments, the UE may be configured with one or more BFD-RS in a configuration cell. In some embodiments, zero or more BFD-RS may be configured per BWP. In some embodiments, the BFD-RS is explicitly configured, for example, by selecting an RS type (e.g., CSI-RS or SSB) and an explicit indication of the corresponding RS index. In some embodiments, the BFD-RS is implicitly configured, for example, as (multiple) RSs configured to be quasi-co-located with a monitored CORESET in an active BWP (e.g., QCL type D as in [38.214]), for example, by an activated TCI state. In various embodiments, a combination of explicit and implicit BFD-RS configurations is used. In various embodiments, the BFD-RS in a cell / BWP is configured by RRC, MAC, and / or DCI signaling, or a combination thereof. For example, a first RS set is configured for a BWP using RRC signaling. In some embodiments, a BFD-RS set is selected from a first RS set by MAC signaling (e.g., using a MAC CE). In some embodiments, a second RS set is selected from a first set by, for example, MAC signaling (e.g., using a MAC CE). In some embodiments, the BFD-RS set is selected from the first RS set by L1 signaling (eg, DCI).In some embodiments, the BFD-RS set is selected from the second RS set by L1 signaling (eg, DCI).

[0225] In some embodiments, implicit configuration of BFD-RS is only applied to SpCell. For example, if BFD-RS is not configured in a cell (or its BWP), it means that BFD is not enabled on the SCell (of its BWP).

[0226] In various embodiments, the BWP may be a DL BWP and / or a UL BWP.

[0227] In various embodiments, an "ON BFD-RS" for a UE is a BFD-RS configured for the UE to monitor beam failure, e.g., the UE performs measurements on the ON BFD-RS (and potentially other resources and / or signals) and evaluates whether the corresponding link quality is below a threshold. In various embodiments, if all ON BFD-RS of a cell / BWP are below a threshold, L1 indicates a beam failure to a higher layer (e.g., MAC). In various embodiments, the UE performs measurements and / or evaluations according to a periodicity that may be predefined, configured, and / or derived from other parameters.

[0228] The non-ON configuration BFD-RS is "OFF BFD-RS", that is, the UE does not monitor it for beam failure.

[0229] In some embodiments, all BFD-RS configured for active BWPs in a BFD cell are ON BFD-RS. In some embodiments, a subset of BFD-RS configured for active BWPs in a BFD cell are ON BFD-RS, i.e., some BFD-RS configured for active DL BWPs in a BFD cell may be OFF.

[0230] In various embodiments, the BFD-RS configured in the inactive BWP is an OFF BFD-RS.

[0231] In various embodiments, a cell with at least one ON BFD-RS is a BFD cell. In various embodiments, a BWP with at least one ON BFD-RS is a BFD BWP.

[0232] Various mechanisms for cell / BWP status change

[0233] In various embodiments, the cell and / or BWP configured for the UE may be in one of one or more potential states, such as activated, deactivated, dormant. The state of the cell / BWP may change over time. Examples of various mechanisms include:

[0234] • RRC configuration, e.g., cell / BWP addition, release, modification.

[0235] o For example, if the cell / BWP index is included in the cell / BWP to be released list and / or the cell / BWP to be added and / or modified list, the cell / BWP state is changed.

[0236] Cell / BWP state change based on MAC CE (e.g., MAC CE in PDSCH)

[0237] o For example, the cell / BWP state is changed according to one or more bits corresponding to the cell / BWP, for example in a bitmap, sequence or list in which the association between the bits / items and the cell / BWP is predefined or preconfigured, for example using RRC signaling. For example, a specific value of one or more bits may correspond to a specific cell / BWP state and / or a specific change of cell / BWP state (e.g., different values ​​may correspond to handover, no state change, etc.).

[0238] o In some examples, an explicit cell / BWP index will be included in the MAC CE. In some examples, the presence or absence of the cell / BWP index in the MAC CE will indicate a cell / BWP state change, such as no change, state switch, or state change from one to the next, according to a predefined state transition diagram.

[0239] • Cell / BWP state change based on DCI (eg DCI in PDCCH).

[0240] o In some embodiments, the DCI indicates a cell / BWP state transition of the cell / BWP on which the DCI was received.

[0241] o In some embodiments, the DCI indicates a cell / BWP state transition of another cell / BWP other than the cell / BWP on which the DCI is received, e.g., on another frequency carrier. In one example, this can be achieved by using a carrier indicator in the DCI to indicate the cell, e.g., if the UE is configured for cross-carrier scheduling.

[0242] o In some embodiments, an indication of the state that the cell / BWP should change to is included in the DCI. In some embodiments, a state transition or state transition according to a state transition diagram is indicated explicitly or implicitly in the DCI.

[0243] o In various embodiments, transitions to / from the sleep state may be triggered by a DCI.

[0244] Timer-based cell / BWP state change. The cell / BWP state changes upon expiration of a timer (e.g., an inactivity timer), which expires if there is no activity (e.g., control and / or data transmission / reception) for the UE on the cell / BWP until the timer expires.

[0245] If a UE with a dormant SCell has data to send and sends a scheduling request on a cell (e.g., PCell or PSCell), this may trigger activation of the dormant cell, e.g., in anticipation of receiving subsequent UL grants on the dormant cell. Which dormant cell(s) to activate in this case, e.g., SCell(s), may be configured in the RRC configuration.

[0246] The number of cells (e.g., SCells) that remain in a dormant state may be related to or based on a data buffer status in the UE, such as a UE buffer status report (BSR). Little or no data in the buffer may trigger more cells to be switched to a dormant state. More data in the buffer may trigger more cells to be switched to an active state so that data can be transferred quickly.

[0247] The state of the SpCell can trigger the state switching of the SCells in the same cell group, such as to / from the dormant state. For example, if the SpCell active BWP (e.g., DL and / or UL BWP) is switched to the default BWP, this can trigger one or more SCells in the active state to switch to the dormant state.

[0248] In some cases, the dormant cell state can only be reached from the activated state. In some cases, the dormant state can be reached from both the activated state and the deactivated state. In various embodiments, the dormant state is a substate of the activated state, where another substate can be non-dormant activated (e.g., "fully activated"). In various embodiments, when a cell is deactivated and subsequently activated, the cell maintains its activated substate. For example, if a cell is in dormancy (activated substate) and a deactivation MAC CE is received, the cell switches to the deactivated state. If a cell activation MAC CE is subsequently received, the cell switches back to dormancy, i.e., the substate before deactivation. Similarly, in various embodiments, if the cell is non-dormant activated before switching to deactivation, the cell can return to non-dormant activated after subsequent activation. In various embodiments, the dormant state is a substate of the deactivated state. Similarly, such a substate of the deactivated state can be maintained after activation and subsequent deactivation, for example, by a MAC CE.

[0249] UE Capabilities for BFD

[0250] The specific network configuration creates a BFD processing requirement (or simply "demand") on the UE, and the ability to meet that requirement, as characterized by the UE capabilities, is related to the UE complexity, processing power, and power consumption, as it involves RS tracking and measurements, and periodic beam failure metric calculations, etc. Therefore, the amount of simultaneous BFD performed by a UE across configured cells may have to be limited depending on the UE capabilities.

[0251] In various embodiments, one or more UE capabilities are reported by the UE to the network (e.g., a base station such as a gNB). Although the term UE capabilities is used herein to describe information about performance attributes of the UE that is sent to the network, it should be understood that UE capabilities include various parameters. For example, optional parameters include processing capacity / reservation for handling BFD processing, and battery power. Such one or more capabilities may be formulated / characterized in various ways, such as one or more of the following UE capability parameters:

[0252] The maximum number of simultaneous BFD-BWPs,

[0253] The maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0254] The maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB),

[0255] the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (e.g., the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS),

[0256] The combination of the maximum number of simultaneous BFD cells and the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RSs,

[0257] The maximum number of configured BFD-RS, i.e. the maximum number of RS configured into the UE to support both PDCCH quality monitoring or new beam identification,

[0258] The maximum number of configured BFD-RS,

[0259] the maximum number of configured first type BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0260] The maximum number of configured second type BFD-RS (e.g., SSB) and / or

[0261] the maximum number of configured BFD-RSs (e.g., the sum of configured first type BFD-RSs and configured second type BFD-RSs),

[0262] The maximum number of simultaneous BFD cells.

[0263] Although the above parameters may be reported in isolation, it should be appreciated that the parameters need not be independent of each other and may be reported in multi-dimensional vectors such as the combined number of cells and BFD-BWP capabilities. For example, a UE may be able to handle N cells. However, it may only be able to handle N-2 cells with different numbers of BWPs or RSs simultaneously. Therefore, for simplicity, the above examples are given as single parameters, but it should be appreciated that UE capability parameters may not be independent of each other and may therefore be reported or considered by the UE in groups of two or more.

[0264] In various embodiments described herein, UE capabilities related to BFD, NBI, and / or BFR include multiple UE capabilities related to the BFD, NBI, and / or BFR capabilities of the UE. In some embodiments, multiple such UE capabilities are components (e.g., parts) of UE capabilities for BFD, NBI, and / or BFR. For simplicity, the term "UE capability" or "UE capability parameter" (used in the singular, although it may include plural parts) is also used in such embodiments.

[0265] In various embodiments, the UE may report UE capabilities related to BFD, NBI, and / or BFR (e.g., multiple components) by frequency band, by frequency band combination (e.g., multiple bands), by frequency range, and / or by UE, etc. In various embodiments, the UE may report UE capabilities related to BFD, NBI, and / or BFR (e.g., multiple components) by frequency band and report (possibly different) UE capabilities related to BFD, NBI, and / or BFR (e.g., multiple components) by UE.

[0266] In various embodiments, the UE may report a single UE capability value / parameter for a specific capability that applies per frequency band, and the single capability value is then applied to each band (similar to band combinations, etc.). In various embodiments, the UE may report multiple UE capability values ​​for a specific capability that applies per frequency band, and each of the multiple values ​​is then applied to a different band (similar to band combinations, etc.).

[0267] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities by frequency band in the form of an RRC message, although other messages such as NAS messages may also be used. The following are different types of UE capability information that may be reported in fields of the message:

[0268] The maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and

[0269] • Maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (eg, SSB).

[0270] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities per frequency band:

[0271] The maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0272] The maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB), and

[0273] the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (e.g., the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB)),

[0274] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities per UE:

[0275] The maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and

[0276] • Maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (eg, SSB).

[0277] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities per UE:

[0278] The maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0279] The maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB), and

[0280] the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (e.g., the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB)),

[0281] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities per UE:

[0282] the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (e.g., the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB)),

[0283] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities:

[0284] By frequency band: Maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0285] By frequency band: Maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB),

[0286] By frequency band: maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (e.g., sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB)),

[0287] Per UE: Maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0288] Per UE: Maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB), and

[0289] • Per UE: Maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (eg, the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (eg, periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (eg, SSB)).

[0290] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities:

[0291] By frequency band: Maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0292] By frequency band: Maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB),

[0293] By frequency band: the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (e.g., the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB)), and

[0294] • Per UE: Maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (eg, the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (eg, periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (eg, SSB)).

[0295] In various embodiments, the UE may report the following UE capabilities:

[0296] By frequency band: Maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS),

[0297] By frequency band: Maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB), and

[0298] • Per UE: Maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (eg, the sum of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (eg, periodic CSI-RS) and simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (eg, SSB)).

[0299] In various embodiments, the UE capabilities related to BFD-RS (e.g., the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS) count only explicitly configured BFD-RS. In various embodiments, the UE capabilities related to BFD-RS (e.g., the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS) count both explicitly and implicitly configured BFD-RS.

[0300] In various embodiments, the UE capabilities related to BFD-RS (e.g., the maximum number of BFD-RS ON at the same time) are based on an assumed period. In some embodiments (A), the period is a period in which the physical layer notifies higher layers when the radio link quality is worse than a threshold. In some embodiments (B) of the period, the UE will evaluate whether the downlink radio link quality of the BFD-RS estimated in the previous period becomes worse than the threshold within the period. In some embodiments, if the configured or applicable period is scaled compared to the assumed period, the actual UE capabilities are scaled (compared to the reported UE capabilities).

[0301] Consider an example where the period is assumed to be 2 milliseconds (ms) but the configured period is 10 ms (e.g., for embodiment (A)), for example, because the period of the (multiple) BFD-RS is 10 ms. This means that the scaling factor between the configured and assumed period is 5. If the UE reports a UE capability of 4 for the maximum number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS (assuming a 2 ms period), the actual UE capability that the network can apply is g4*5=20 simultaneous ON BFD-RS.

[0302] In various embodiments, the UE indicates capabilities, such as BFD-related capabilities, based at least in part on its battery power state and / or based on a battery power saving scheme applied by the UE. For example, when the UE has a high battery state, it may indicate a higher BFD-related capability, such as more BFD-RS. When the UE applies a power saving scheme, it may indicate a lower BFD-related capability, thereby prohibiting excessive BFD-related power consumption.

[0303] Overview of Network / UE Hybrid BFD Management Solution and UE-Based Implementation

[0304] In the first category of BFD management embodiments, the network (or gNB, or simply base station) determines BFD based on UE capabilities and adjusts the cell-based resource group allocated to the UE for BFD so as not to exceed the UE capabilities. As will be discussed, there are three categories of embodiments: RRC configuration, MAC signaling, and L1 (PHY layer) signaling.

[0305] In a second class of BFD management embodiments, if the network configuration results in exceeding the BFD UE capabilities, the UE applies one or more selection rules or procedures. For example, this may occur in multi-RAT (e.g., EN-DC) and / or multi-connectivity scenarios in which RRC signaling (e.g., NR) is processed in the LTE cell and coordination between the LTE cell and the NR cell is limited. Using the selection rules or procedures, the UE determines which (configured) cell, BWP, and / or BFD-RS it performs BFD on. Also note that one / more UE capabilities related to BFD, NBI, and / or BFR may be indicated by band, band combination, frequency range, and / or by UE, etc. If there are UE capabilities reported by band, various embodiments of the described solution, etc. may be applied by band, band combination, frequency range, and / or by UE, etc., to ensure that each reported capability is not exceeded. For example, for two bands, consider a UE that reports by band: (1) the maximum number of simultaneous first type ON BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) and (2) the maximum number of simultaneous second type ON BFD-RS (e.g., SSB). Various embodiments for managing the number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS can then be applied to each of the two bands to avoid exceeding the UE capabilities of each band. In addition, for UE capabilities that report separately by RS type (e.g., periodic CSI-RS and SSB), various embodiments of solutions for managing the number of simultaneous ON BFD-RS can then be applied to each of the two RS types so as not to exceed the UE capabilities of each type.

[0306] Alternative embodiments of network / UE-based BFD management

[0307] In various embodiments, the network (e.g., serving base station, gNB) indicates to the UE which cells are BFD cells, for example, which ON cells are also BFD cells.

[0308] In various embodiments, the network indicates to the UE which BFD-RS are ON BFD-RS.

[0309] In various embodiments, the UE performs measurements on the BFD-RS, other RS / signals, and / or other time-frequency resources allocated for measurement, such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, RSSI. The UE may feedback corresponding measurement results or information derived from such measurements to the network. The network may use such feedback and other information to decide which cells and / or BFD-RS are ON or OFF to indicate to the UE.

[0310] Alternative embodiments of network / UE-based BFD management based on RRC signaling

[0311] This section is divided into four categories, each of which will be discussed in turn: (i) cell-level RRC configuration, (ii) BWP-level RRC configuration, (iii) enabling BF on the cell and / or BWP, and (iv) BFD-RS-level RRC configuration.

[0312] Cell-level RRC configuration

[0313] In various embodiments, the network indicates to the UE which of the cells (eg, ON cells) are BFD cells using RRC signaling.

[0314] In various embodiments, the network uses RRC signaling to indicate to the UE whether "BFD is enabled on the cell". In some embodiments, if BFD is enabled on the cell and the cell is in the ON state, the cell is a BFD cell. If the cell is in the OFF state, the cell is not a BFD cell even if BFD is enabled in the cell RRC configuration.

[0315] Figure 3 An exemplary Venn diagram of various cell sets is shown. These sets are viewed from the perspective of a UE. The entire rectangle represents the set of configured cells for the UE. A configured cell is either in the ON state or in the OFF state. In addition, according to various embodiments, a configured cell either has BFD enabled or does not have BFD enabled. In various embodiments, a subset of cells that are both in the ON state and have BFD enabled are BFD cells.

[0316] In various embodiments, the network ensures that the number of BFD cells does not exceed the UE capabilities. This can be achieved, for example, by limiting the number of cells in the ON state (e.g., configured using MAC CE or DCI signaling) that enable BFD. A complementary approach is to use RRC signaling to disable and / or enable BFD on a cell before, after, or at the time of a cell state transition.

[0317] BWP-level RRC configuration

[0318] In various embodiments, the network uses RRC signaling to indicate to the UE whether "BFD is enabled on the BWP". In some embodiments, if BFD is enabled on the active BWP and the cell is in the ON state, the cell is a BFD cell. If the cell is in the OFF state and / or BFD is not enabled on the active BWP, the cell is not a BFD cell.

[0319] In some embodiments, the network uses RRC signaling to indicate to the UE whether BFD is enabled on the cell and whether BFD is enabled and / or disabled on one or more of its BWPs. In this case, if BFD is enabled on the cell, the cell is ON and BFD is enabled on the active BWP, then the cell is a BFD cell.

[0320] In various embodiments, the absence of RRC signaling (eg, the absence of an optional parameter or IE) may indicate that BFD is disabled on the cell and / or BWP, for example, if disabling BFD is a default state of the cell and / or BWP.

[0321] In various embodiments, it is up to the network to ensure that the number of BFD cells and / or BFD BWPs does not exceed the UE capabilities. This can be achieved, for example, by limiting the number of cells / BWPs in the ON state (e.g., configured using MAC CE or DCI signaling) with BFD enabled. A complementary approach is to configure one or more BWPs in a cell so that BFD is enabled on some BWPs and disabled on other (multiple) BWPs. If the number of ON cells exceeds the UE BFD capability, the network can limit the number of BFD cells by activating a BWP with disabled BFD in enough ON cells. In some embodiments, if NBI and / or BFR is enabled on the active UL BWP of the same cell, i.e., RRC configuration / setting, BFD is performed on the DL BWP of the cell.

[0322] Enable BFD on the cell and / or BWP

[0323] In some embodiments, an explicit indication, such as a one-bit indication, that BFD is enabled on the cell is included in the cell RRC configuration (eg, ServingCellConfig IE).

[0324] In some embodiments, an explicit indication, e.g., a one-bit indication, to enable BFD on the BWP is included in the BWP RRC configuration (e.g., BWP-DownlinkDedicated, radioLinkMonitoringConfig, BWP-UplinkDedicated, and / or BeamFailureRecoveryConfig IE).

[0325] In various embodiments, if BFD is enabled on a cell and / or BWP, e.g. using an explicit indication, but BFD-RS is not explicitly configured for that cell and / or BWP, the UE uses the BFD-RS implicitly defined by the current QCL configuration of the monitored CORESET(s).

[0326] In some cases, BFD is enabled on a cell and / or BWP if one or more relevant IEs, such as configuration / setting of BFD, NBI, and / or BFR, are included in the cell configuration and / or BWP configuration. In some embodiments, BFD is enabled on a cell if BFD, NBI, and / or BFR are enabled / set / configured on at least one DL BWP and / or UL BWP. In some embodiments, BFD is enabled on a cell if BFD, NBI, and / or BFR are enabled / set / configured on each configured DL BWP and / or each configured UL BWP. In some embodiments, BFD is enabled on a cell if BFD, NBI, and / or BFR are enabled / set / configured on one or more active BWPs, for example, if BFD is enabled / set / configured on an active DL BWP and / or NBI / BFR is enabled / set / configured on an active ULBWP.

[0327] In various embodiments, BFD is always enabled on the SpCell, for example, on all configured BWPs of the SpCell, and in some cases only in a set of frequency bands or frequency ranges, for example, in FR2.

[0328] The configuration of BFD may be a configuration of a BFD-RS, such as a RadioLinkMonitorConfig IE and / or a RadioLinkMonitorConfig IE having a RadioLinkMonitoringRS IE having one or more RSs configured for beam failure detection, for example, having a purpose parameter set to "beamFailure" and / or "both" and / or "rlf" and / or another value associated with enabled BFD. In some embodiments, some purpose parameter values ​​(e.g., "beamFailure" and / or "both") are associated with enabled BFD, while other purposes (e.g., "rlf") are associated with disabled BFD.

[0329] In various embodiments, if BFD is enabled on a cell and / or BWP, for example by using an explicit indication or by the establishment / presence of a RadioLinkMonitorConfigIE, but BFD-RS is not explicitly configured for the cell and / or BWP, the UE uses the BFD-RS implicitly defined by the current active QCL configuration of the monitored CORESET(s), as described above. On the other hand, if BFD-RS has been explicitly configured for the cell and / or BWP, for example by using a RadioLinkMonitorRS IE, those explicitly defined BFD-RS are used.

[0330] The configuration of NBI and / or BFR may be the configuration of candidate RSs for NBI and / or the configuration of BFRQ, for example, resources for BFRQ, such as dedicated resources for CFRA, PUCCH, SRS, etc., and / or the configuration of BFRR, for example, the configuration of CORESET and / or the search space for BFRR.

[0331] In various embodiments, the UE is indicated that BFD is enabled on the cell and / or BWP by setting up / presence of the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig IE or a similar IE dedicated to SCell BFR in the cell or BWP configuration.

[0332] BFD-RS level RRC configuration

[0333] In various embodiments, the network indicates to the UE using RRC signaling whether the BFD-RS is ON BFD-RS. In some embodiments, if the BFD-RS is activated and the corresponding cell is in the ON state, the BFD-RS is ON BFD-RS. If the cell is in the OFF state, the BFD-RS is not ON BFD-RS even if the BFD-RS is activated in the cell RRC configuration.

[0334] In various embodiments, RRC signaling can be used to release a previously explicitly configured BFD-RS, for example using the failureDetectionResourcesToReleaseList parameter in the RadioLinkMonitoringConfig IE. In some embodiments, the BFD-RS can be suspended and / or activated using RRC signaling, for example by including the BFD-RS index (e.g., RadioLinkMonitorRS-Id) in the index list used for suspension and / or activation. The suspended BFD-RS is not monitored by the UE, i.e., it is an OFF BFD-RS, and if the corresponding cell is ON and / or the BWP is ON, the activated BFD-RS will be used for BFD, i.e., it is an ON BFD-RS. The advantage of using a suspension / activation parameter instead of setting up / adding / modifying / releasing is that it requires far fewer bits.

[0335] For example, something like the following

[0336] failureDetectionResourcesToSuspendList SEQUENCE SIZE(1..maxNrofFailureDetectionResources)) OF RadioLinkMonitoringRS-Id OPTIONAL, --Need M The RRC parameter may indicate the set of BFD-RS indices (RadioLinkMonitoringRS-Id) for which the suspend / activate state will be toggled. In some embodiments, the BFD-RS is activated by default after being configured, for example, using the failureDetectionResourcesToAddModList parameter.

[0337] In some embodiments, there are separate suspension lists and separate activation lists instead of a single list with state switching functionality.In some embodiments, the suspension / activation BFD-RS list(s) are included in the RRC configuration of each BWP (eg, RadioLinkMonitoringConfig in the DL BWP configuration).

[0338] In some embodiments, a (multiple) suspension / activation BFD-RS list is included in the cell-level RRC configuration (e.g., ServingCellConfig IE). In some embodiments, the presence of a specific BFD-RS index (e.g., RadioLinkMonitoringRS-Id) in the (multiple) suspension and / or activation list suspends / activates the corresponding BFD-RS index in each configured BWP in which the BFD-RS index is configured.

[0339] In various embodiments, for example using (multiple) lists as described above, a suspension / activation mechanism is used to suspend and activate implicitly configured BFD-RS. In some embodiments, if there is no explicitly configured BFD-RS, the index in the (multiple) suspension / activation list refers to a CORESET index, such as a ControlResourceSetId parameter. In various such embodiments, if the implicitly configured BFD-RS corresponding to the CORESET index is suspended, it is an OFF BFD-RS. If it is activated, it may be an ON BFD-RS if the cell is ON, the BWP is ON and / or the CORESET is monitored.

[0340] In various embodiments, it is up to the network to ensure that the number of ON BFD-RS does not exceed the UE capabilities. In various embodiments, it is up to the network to ensure that the number of ON BFD-RS for a first RS type (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) does not exceed the corresponding UE capabilities for the first RS type. In various embodiments, it is up to the network to ensure that the number of ON BFD-RS for a second RS type (e.g., SSB) does not exceed the corresponding UE capabilities for the second RS type. In some embodiments, this can be achieved by suspending and / or activating BFD-RS in ON and OFF cells.

[0341] In various embodiments, the physical layer uses only activated BFD-RS when evaluating beam failure (i.e., whether a beam failure indication should be provided to higher layers). In some embodiments, the ON BFD-RS is a subset of the activated BFD-RS, such as the activated BFD-RS of the ON cell and / or the ON BWP. In some embodiments, the activated BFD-RS on the OFF cell and / or the OFF BWP is the OFF BFD-RS.

[0342] Example UE Procedures

[0343] Figure 4 Various embodiments of the UE process for maintaining a BFD cell set are shown in the flowchart of FIG. Various embodiments include only a portion of the steps and / or perform the steps in a different order.

[0344] Step S401. At the beginning of the process, the UE may be connected to the network, for example, to the SpCell, or may attempt to perform initial access to the SpCell. This step may also include the UE reporting one or more UE capabilities related to BFD, NBI and / or BFR to the network (e.g., gNB).

[0345] Step S402. In this step, a query is made as to whether the UE has received a configuration (e.g., RRC configuration) from the network, the configuration including configuration of a set (group) of cells. In some embodiments, the configuration includes the addition of one or more cells. In some embodiments, the configuration includes the release of one or more cells. If the response is positive, the process proceeds to step S403, but if the response is negative, the process proceeds to the query of S404.

[0346] Step S403. In this step, if the UE receives a configuration update of the cell set from the network, such as a change of PCell, addition / release / change of PSCell and

[0347] If / or (multiple) SCells are added / released, the UE updates the configured cell set accordingly.

[0348] a. In various embodiments, releasing a cell from the set of configured cells implies releasing other cell configurations, such as BFD enabled / disabled, cell ON / OFF, etc., i.e., the UE does not maintain various such states for such released cells. As an example, consider a BFD-enabled cell that is first released and then added to the set of configured cells again. After the addition, in various embodiments, the cell does not enable BFD, i.e., the release and subsequent addition disable BFD.

[0349] Step S404. In this step, a query is made as to whether the UE has received an RRC configuration for a set of cells with BFD enabled from the network. In some cases, BFD can be enabled and / or disabled for a cell configuration by adding the cell to the configured cell set in the same reconfiguration message, for example, including the BFD enable and / or disable configuration in the configuration of the added cell. In some cases, after the cell has been added to the configured cell set, BFD can be enabled and / or disabled for the configured (e.g., added) cell, for example, including the BFD enable and / or disable configuration in the configuration of the modified cell. If the response is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S405, if negative,

[0350] The process then proceeds to the inquiry of step S406.

[0351] Step S405. If the UE receives a configuration to update the set of cells for which BFD is enabled and / or disabled, the UE updates the set. In various embodiments, such a set is not explicitly maintained in the UE. Instead, for each configured cell and / or

[0352] Or configure BWP to maintain BFD configuration for the configured cell.

[0353] Step S406. In this step, a query is made as to whether the UE can receive a configuration (e.g., MAC CE and / or DCI) indicating a change (e.g., between ON and OFF) of the cell state (s). If the response to the query is positive, the process proceeds to step S407, and if the response is negative, the process proceeds to step S408.

[0354] Step S407. If the UE receives a configuration regarding a cell state change, such as ON / OFF, the UE may update the ON cell set and / or the OFF cell set accordingly. In various embodiments, such a set is not explicitly maintained in the UE. Instead, the ON / OFF state is maintained for each configured cell. Step S408. Note that in various embodiments, the order of steps S402 / 3, steps S404 / 5, and steps S406 / 7 is different, for example, the ON / OFF configuration in step S406 / 7 is received before the BFD enabling / disabling in step S404 / 5. In various embodiments, the UE receives a subset of the configurations mentioned in step S402-7, for example, the UE only receives the configurations of the ON / OFF cells. In various embodiments, the UE determines the BFD cell set after receiving a configuration that affects the determination of the BFD cell set from the network (such as one or more configurations in step S402-7).

[0355] Figure 5 An additional embodiment of the UE process for maintaining a BFD cell set is shown in FIG. Figure 4 Various embodiments of steps other than those described. Various embodiments include Figure 4 Embodiments of the steps described herein are combined Figure 5 Embodiments of the steps described. Various embodiments include only some of the steps and / or in a different order.

[0356] Step S501. See Figure 4 Various descriptions of the corresponding steps in the description.

[0357] Step S502. In this step, a query is made as to whether the UE has received a configuration (e.g., RRC configuration) from the network, the configuration comprising configuration of a set of (multiple) configured BWPs ((multiple) DL and / or UL BWPs). In some embodiments, the configuration comprises the addition of one or more BWPs. In some embodiments, the configuration comprises the release of one or more BWPs. If the response to the query is positive, the process proceeds to step S503, but if negative,

[0358] The process then proceeds to step S504.

[0359] Step S503: If the UE receives a configuration to update the configured BWP set from the network, for example, the addition / release / change of (multiple) BWPs, the UE updates the configured BWP set accordingly.

[0360] a. In various embodiments, releasing a BWP from the set of configured BWPs implies releasing other BWP configuration(s), such as BFD enabled / disabled, activated / deactivated, etc., i.e., the UE does not maintain various such states for such released BWP. As an example, consider that a BFD-enabled BWP is first released and then added again to the set of configured BWPs. After the addition, in various embodiments, the BWP does not enable BFD, i.e., the release and subsequent addition disable BFD, for example, because the default state is disabled.

[0361] Step S504. In this step, a query is performed as to whether the UE has received a configuration of a BFD-enabled BWP set (multiple) from the network. In some cases, BFD enabling and / or disabling may be configured for the BWP by the same reconfiguration message that adds the BWP to the configured BWP set, for example, including the BFD enabling and / or disabling configuration in the configuration of the added BWP. In some cases, after the BWP has been added to the configured BWP set, BFD enabling and / or disabling may be configured for the configured (e.g., added) BWP, for example, including the BFD enabling and / or disabling configuration in the configuration of the modified BWP. If the response to the query is positive, the process proceeds to step S505, and if negative, the process proceeds to step S506.

[0362] Step S505. If the UE receives a BWP set that updates BFD enablement and / or disablement

[0363] In various embodiments, such a set is not explicitly maintained in the UE. Instead, for each configured BWP

[0364] Maintain the BFD configuration.

[0365] Step S506. See Figure 4 The corresponding description.

[0366] Step S507. See Figure 4 The corresponding description.

[0367] Step S508. In this step, a query is made as to whether the UE has received a configuration (e.g., MAC CE and / or DCI) indicating a change of (multiple) BWP states (e.g., between activation / deactivation or ON / OFF) from the network. If the response to the query is positive, the process proceeds to step S509, and if it is negative, the process proceeds to step S510.

[0368] Step S509. If the UE receives the configuration about the BWP state change, the UE

[0369] The BWP set in various states may be updated accordingly, such as an activated BWP set, a deactivated BWP set, an ONBWP set, and / or an OFF

[0370] BWP Set. Note again that such a set does not need to be explicitly maintained by the UE. Instead, the UE can maintain the state of each BWP (e.g., activated or deactivated).

[0371] Step S510. Note that, in various embodiments, the order of steps S502 / 3, S504 / 5, S506 / 7 and S508 / 9 is different, for example, the ON / OFF configuration in step S506 / 7 is received before the BFD enable / disable in step S504 / 5. In various embodiments, the UE receives a subset of the configurations mentioned in steps S502-9, for example, the UE only receives the BWP activation for a specific cell.

[0372] / Deactivate.

[0373] In various embodiments, the UE determines the BFD cell set after receiving a configuration affecting the determination of the BFD cell set (such as one or more configurations in steps S502 to S509 ) from the network.

[0374] Note that in various processes, the UE performs BFD on the BFD cell set. In various embodiments, performing BFD means performing BFD such that corresponding requirements are met, for example, according to corresponding requirements in 3GPP RAN4 specifications.

[0375] Cell activation / deactivation

[0376] An example portion of a MAC procedure for cell (eg, SCell in this example) activation / deactivation is given below.

[0377] For each configured SCell, the MAC entity performs:

[0378] 1> If an SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE is received to activate the SCell:

[0379] 2> Activate SCell; that is, apply normal SCell operations, including:

[0380] 3> Perform beam failure detection on SCell (if configured).

[0381] 1> Otherwise, if a SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE is received to deactivate the SCell; or

[0382] 1> If the sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the activated SCell expires:

[0383] 2> Deactivate SCell;

[0384] 1> If SCell is deactivated:

[0385] 2> Do not perform beam failure detection on SCell;

[0386] In other examples, "beam failure detection" above is replaced by "beam failure detection and recovery" or "beam failure detection and recovery process." In other examples, "configure" above is replaced by "configure RadioLinkMonitoringConfig," "configure BeamFailureRecoveryConfig," "configure BeamFailureRecoveryConfig and RadioLinkMonitoringConfig," "configure BeamFailureRecoveryConfig or RadioLinkMonitoringConfig," or "enable."

[0387] Alternative embodiments of network / UE-based BFD management based on MAC signaling

[0388] MAC CE for BFD activation / deactivation

[0389] In various embodiments, MAC CE may be used to activate and / or deactivate BFD on a cell and / or BWP.

[0390] In various embodiments, the BFD activation / deactivation MAC CE includes a field sequence, such as a bitmap, in which different fields (e.g., bits) correspond to different cell indexes, such as SCellIndex or ServCellIndex. In some embodiments, Bi represents the i-th field, such as the i-th bit. In some embodiments, Bi represents the i-th bit in an N-bit field. For example, if there is a cell (e.g., SCell) configured for a MAC entity with cell index i, the field / bit indicates the MAC CE activation / deactivation of BFD for the cell with index i. For example, the Bi field / bit is set to "1" to indicate that BFD on the cell with index i will be activated, and is set to "0" to indicate that BFD on the cell with index i will be deactivated.

[0391] In various embodiments, if the cell is in the ON state and BFD on the cell is activated by MAC CE, the cell is a BFD cell. In various embodiments, if the cell is in the OFF state and / or BFD on the cell is deactivated by MAC CE, the cell is not a BFD cell.

[0392] In various embodiments, enabling BFD on a cell, for example using RRC signaling such as previously described, is combined with BFD activation / deactivation using MAC CE. In various embodiments, a cell is a BFD cell if and only if the cell has BFD enabled and BFD is activated by MAC CE. In various embodiments, even if the cell does not have BFD enabled, for example using default and / or implicit BFD, NBI and / or BFR configurations, the cell is also a BFD cell if the cell has BFD activated by MAC CE. In some embodiments, BFD is enabled for each configured cell.

[0393] In some embodiments, for a cell / BWP that has been RRC configured (eg, BFD enabled) but has not had BFD activated / deactivated by MAC CE, the default BFD MAC CE state is deactivated, while in other embodiments it is activated.

[0394] Figure 6 (a) and Figure 6 (b) shows various embodiments of a BFD cell set relative to a BFD-enabled cell set and a cell set with BFD activated by a MAC CE.

[0395] exist Figure 6 In (a), the BFD cell set is the intersection of the BFD-enabled cell set and the MAC CE-activated BFD cell set. In various embodiments, a cell is a BFD cell if BFD is enabled in the cell, for example, using BFD, NBI and / or BFR RRC configuration and / or according to various embodiments previously discussed regarding RRC signaling.

[0396] exist Figure 6 In (b), the BFD cell set is the set of cells for which BFD has been activated by the MAC CE, even if some of these cells are not BFD-enabled. According to various embodiments, the UE may perform BFD, NBI and / or BFR on cells for which BFD is not enabled, for example, using corresponding BFD, NBI and / or BFR RRC configurations, for example, by applying default and / or implicit configuration / (s) parameters such as an implicitly defined BFR-RS.

[0397] In some embodiments, activation / deactivation of BFD of a cell means activating / deactivating BFD on the active BWP of the cell, that is, different BWPs of the cell can maintain different BFD activation / deactivation states. In some embodiments, a BFD cell (or non-BFD cell) can be switched to a non-BFD cell (or BFD cell) by BWP switching, for example, if the old and new BWPs of the cell are activated and deactivated, respectively. In various embodiments, if a cell is in the ON state and the BFD on the active BWP of the cell is MAC CE activated, the cell is a BFD cell. If the cell is in the OFF state and / or the BFD on the active BWP of the cell is MAC CE deactivated, the cell is not a BFD cell. In some embodiments, for a BWP that has been RRC configured but not MAC CE BFD activated / deactivated, the default BFD MAC CE state is deactivated, while in other embodiments it is activated.

[0398] In various embodiments, the MAC CE for BFD activation / deactivation is separate from the MAC CE for SCell activation / deactivation. In various embodiments, the MAC CE for BFD activation / deactivation is combined and / or jointly encoded with the MAC CE for SCell activation / deactivation.

[0399] In various embodiments, the joint SCell and BFD activation / deactivation MAC CE consists of a sequence of fields (e.g., a bitmap), where different fields (e.g., bits) correspond to different cell indexes (e.g., SCellIndex or ServCellIndex). For example, let Bi indicate the i-th field, e.g., the i-th bit. For example, if there is a cell (e.g., SCell) configured for a MAC entity with cell index i, then this field indicates the SCell and BFD activation / deactivation of the cell with index i.

[0400] In various embodiments, the joint SCell and BFD activation / deactivation MAC CE consists of fields (eg, a sequence of values), where different values ​​correspond to different cell indices (eg, SCellIndex or ServCellIndex). For example, let Bi indicate the i-th value.

[0401] Example values ​​of the Bi field / value and the corresponding state are given in Tables 2 and 3 below. For a cell state of OFF, BFD activation / deactivation information is not used because BFD is not supported in this state. In the example in Table 2, only the deactivated SCell state is in the OFF state, while in the example in Table 3, both the deactivated and dormant cell states are in the OFF state. In these examples, if the cell is activated (using MAC CE), in the ON state, and is BFD activated (using MAC CE), then the cell is a BFD cell. Otherwise, it is not a BFD cell.

[0402] Table 2: Example of joint indication of cell activation status and BFD activation status in MAC CE

[0403]

[0404] Table 3: Example of joint indication of cell activation status and BFD activation status in MAC CE

[0405]

[0406]

[0407] In various embodiments, the MAC CE for BFD activation / deactivation includes a sequence of fields, where different fields indicate different cells. i Indicates the i-th field, where i=0, ..., N-1. In some embodiments, field B i A cell index, such as SCellIndex or ServCellIndex, may be indicated. Thus, the MAC CE may indicate up to N cell indexes. In various embodiments, if a cell index is indicated, this may switch the BFD activation / deactivation state of the cell. If no cell index is indicated, the BFD activation / deactivation state of the cell may be maintained. In some embodiments, field B may be used to indicate a cell index, such as SCellIndex or ServCellIndex. Thus, the MAC CE may indicate up to N cell indexes. In various embodiments, if a cell index is indicated, this may switch the BFD activation / deactivation state of the cell. If no cell index is indicated, the BFD activation / deactivation state of the cell may be maintained. i Both the cell index and the BFD activation / deactivation status may be included, such as a bit indicating activation or deactivation.

[0408] In some embodiments, the MAC CE for BFD activation / deactivation refers to the BFD activation / deactivation on the cell receiving it. In some embodiments, it refers to the BFD activation / deactivation on another cell (e.g., all configured cells (or SCells) or all activated cells (or SCells)).

[0409] By introducing BFD activation / deactivation in MAC CE, the network can control the BFD cell set similarly (e.g., dynamically and with similar overhead and latency) because the network can control the set of SCells that are activated / deactivated. This enables the network to effectively ensure that the UE capabilities for BFD are not exceeded.

[0410] MACCE for BFD-RS activation / deactivation

[0411] In various embodiments, a single BFD-RS or a set of BFD-RSs may be activated / deactivated using a MAC CE. For example, a larger set of BFD-RSs may be configured for a cell and / or BWP via RRC signaling, and a subset of these BFD-RSs may be selected for a cell and / or BWP via a BFD-RS activation / deactivation MAC CE. In some embodiments, the RRC may configure one or more sets of BFD-RSs, which may be activated / deactivated using a MAC CE. In some embodiments, the set is limited to a single BWP. In some embodiments, the set spans one or more BWPs of one or more cells.

[0412] In some embodiments, if BFD-RS is activated by BFD-RS activation / deactivation MAC CE and / or the corresponding cell is ON and / or the corresponding BWP is ON, then BFD-RS is ON.

[0413] In some embodiments, the BFD-RS activation / deactivation MAC CE includes a sequence of fields, such as a bitmap, where each field corresponds to a BFD-RS (or a set thereof). i Indicates the i-th field, where i=0, ..., N-1. In some embodiments, field B i A BFD-RS index (or BFD-RS set index) may be indicated, such as RadioLinkMonitoringRS-Id (explicit BFD-RS) or ControlResourceSetId (implicit BFD-RS). Thus, the MAC CE may indicate up to N BFD-RS indexes (or BFD-RS set indexes). In various embodiments, if a BFD-RS index (or BFD-RS set index) is indicated, this may convert the BFD-RS (or BFD-RS set) activation / deactivation state of the BFD-RS (or BFD-RS set). If a BFD-RS index (or BFD-RS set) is not indicated, the BFD-RS (or BFD-RS set) activation / deactivation state of the BFD-RS (or BFD-RS set) may be maintained. In various embodiments, field B iThe BFD-RS (or BFD-RS set) activation / deactivation status may be included, such as a bit indicating activation or deactivation. i A BFD-RS index (or BFD-RS set index) and a BFD-RS (or BFD-RS set) activation / deactivation state may be included, such as a bit indicating activation or deactivation. In some embodiments, an activated BFD-RS set means that all BFD-RSs in the set are activated, and / or a deactivated BFD-RS set means that all BFD-RSs in the set are deactivated.

[0414] In some embodiments, the MAC CE for BFD-RS (or its set) activation / deactivation refers to the BFD-RS (or its set) activation / deactivation on the cell receiving it. In some embodiments, it refers to the BFD-RS (or its set) activation / deactivation on another cell (e.g., all configured cells or all activated cells). In some embodiments, the BFD-RS activation / deactivation MAC CE can activate / deactivate the BFD-RS or (multiple) BFD-RS sets in a frequency band (e.g., the frequency band on which the MAC CE is received) or a band combination or a frequency range.

[0415] In various embodiments, the MAC CE for BFD-RS (or its set) activation / deactivation explicitly activates and / or deactivates the RRC configured BFD-RS (or its set). In various embodiments, the MAC CE for BFD-RS (or its set) activation / deactivation implicitly activates and / or deactivates the RRC configured BFD-RS (or its set), such as one or more RS currently configured / indicated / activated as QCL with one or more monitored CORESETs. In some embodiments, the monitored CORESET is a CORESET associated with the search space monitored by the UE.

[0416] In various embodiments, for a BFD-RS implicitly configured using a MAC CE for TCI state indication for a UE-specific PDCCH, a MAC CE for TCI state indication for a UE-specific PDCCH is used to activate / deactivate (or turn on / off) BFD. In some embodiments, the MAC CE for TCI state indication is extended with a field indicating whether the implicitly configured BFD-RS is activated / deactivated or turned on / off (e.g., by an explicit activation or deactivation indication, or by switching or not switching states). In some embodiments, reception of a MAC CE for TCI state indication for a UE-specific PDCCH switches the corresponding implicitly configured BFD-RS state (between activation / deactivation or ON / OFF), and the MAC CE activates the TCI state of the CORESET and the cell that has been activated. In various embodiments, the TCI state RRC configuration includes, for example, in a QCL info IE, an indication, such as a bit, indicating whether the BFD-RS implicitly configured using the TCI state should be activated / deactivated or turned on / off.

[0417] Example UE Procedures

[0418] Figure 7 Various embodiments of the UE process for maintaining a BFD cell set are shown in FIG. 1. The numbered steps in the flowchart are discussed below. Various embodiments include only a portion of the steps and / or in a different order. Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of steps other than those described. Various embodiments include Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Embodiments of the steps described herein are combined Figure 7 Examples of the steps described.

[0419] Step S701. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0420] Step S702. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0421] Step S703. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0422] Step S704. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0423] Step S705. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0424] Step S706. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0425] Step S707. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0426] Step S708. A query is made as to whether the UE has received a configuration (e.g., MAC CE and / or DCI) from the network indicating activation and / or deactivation of BFD, NBI, and / or BFR for one or more cells. If the response to the query is positive, the process proceeds to step S709, and if it is negative, proceeds to step S710.

[0427] Step S709. If the UE receives a configuration regarding BFD / NBI / BFR activation / deactivation, the UE may update the BFD activated cell set and the BFD deactivated cell set accordingly. In various embodiments, such sets are not explicitly maintained in the UE. Instead, the BFD activation / deactivation state is maintained for each configuration and / or ON cell.

[0428] Step S710. Note that, in various embodiments, the order of step S702 / 3, step S704 / 5, step S706 / 7 and step S708 / 9 is different, for example, the ON / OFF configuration in step S706 / 7 is received before the BFD enable / disable in step S704 / 5. In various embodiments, the UE receives a subset of the configuration mentioned in step S702-9, for example, the UE only receives the configuration of the ON / OFF cell.

[0429] In various embodiments, the UE determines the BFD cell set after receiving a configuration affecting the determination of the BFD cell set from the network, such as one or more configurations in step S702 - 9 .

[0430] An additional embodiment of a UE process for maintaining a BFD cell set is illustrated. Figure 8 , the following describes Figure 4 , Figure 5 and Figure 7 Various embodiments of steps other than those described. Various embodiments include Figure 4 Embodiments of the steps described herein are combined Figure 5 Embodiments of the steps described. Various embodiments include only a portion of the steps and / or in a different order. Figure 8 ,

[0431] Step S801. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0432] Step S802. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0433] Step S803. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0434] Step S804. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0435] Step S805. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0436] Step S806. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0437] Step S807. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0438] Step S808. See Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0439] Step S809. See Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0440] Step S810. See Figure 7 Various embodiments of the description.

[0441] Step S811. See Figure 7 Various embodiments of the description.

[0442] Step S812. Note that, in various embodiments, the order of step S802 / 3, step S804 / 5, step S806 / 7, step S808 / 9 and step S810 / 11 is different, for example, the ON / OFF configuration in step S806 / 7 is received before the BFD enable / disable in step S804 / 5. In various embodiments, the UE receives a subset of the configurations mentioned in step S802-11, for example, the UE only receives BWP activation / deactivation for a specific cell.

[0443] In various embodiments, the UE determines the BFD cell set after receiving a configuration affecting the determination of the BFD cell set (such as one or more of the configurations in steps 2 to 11) from the network.

[0444] Cell activation / deactivation

[0445] An example portion of a MAC procedure for cell (eg, SCell in this example) activation / deactivation is given below.

[0446] For each configured cell, the MAC entity shall:

[0447] 1> If an SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE is received to activate the SCell:

[0448] 2> Activate SCell; that is, apply normal SCell operations, including:

[0449] 3> If activated, beam failure detection is performed on SCell.

[0450] 1> Otherwise, if a SCell activation / deactivation MAC CE is received to deactivate the SCell; or

[0451] 1> If the sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the activated SCell expires:

[0452] 2> Deactivate SCell;

[0453] 1> If SCell is deactivated:

[0454] 2> Do not perform beam failure detection on SCell;

[0455] Note that “activation” in this example refers to “beam failure detection.” In other examples, “beam failure detection” in this example is replaced by “beam failure detection and recovery” or “beam failure detection and recovery process.”

[0456] BFD activation / deactivation

[0457] An example portion of the MAC procedure for BFD activation / deactivation is given below, in this example for SCell.

[0458] For each configured SCell, the MAC entity shall:

[0459] 1> If an SCell beam failure detection activation / deactivation MACCE is received to activate SCell beam failure detection:

[0460] 2>Activate SCell beam failure detection;

[0461] 1> Otherwise, if an SCell beam failure detection activation / deactivation MAC CE is received to deactivate SCell beam failure detection:

[0462] 2> Deactivate SCell beam fault detection;

[0463] 1> If SCell beam failure detection is activated; and

[0464] 1> If SCell is activated:

[0465] 2>Perform beam failure detection on SCell.

[0466] 1> Otherwise, if SCell is deactivated:

[0467] 2> Do not perform beam failure detection on SCell;

[0468] In other examples, "beam failure detection" in this example is replaced by "beam failure detection and recovery" or "beam failure detection and recovery process".

[0469] Alternative embodiments of network / UE-based BFD management based on L1 signaling

[0470] In various embodiments, L1 signaling is used to activate / deactivate BFD on a cell and / or BWP for one or more UEs, for example, using a single bit parameter. In various embodiments, L1 signaling is used to turn on / off BFD on a cell and / or BWP for one or more UEs, for example, using a single bit parameter.

[0471] In various embodiments, the L1 signaling includes one or more parameters in the DCI, parameters for scrambling the CRC (e.g., RNTI), parameters for generating (e.g., initializing) sequences (e.g., DMRS sequences, preamble sequences, etc.). In various embodiments, the L1 signaling is received on the same cell and / or BWP as the cell and / or BWP where BFD is activated / deactivated / turned on / off. In various embodiments, the L1 signaling refers to BFD on one or more cells and / or BWPs that are different from the cell and / or BWP where the L1 signaling is received, for example by including (multiple) carrier indicators and / or (multiple) BWP indicators in the L1 signaling.

[0472] In various embodiments, L1 indicates a cell state to one or more UEs using, for example, a cell state index, for example, a state from a set state described in Table 4, Table 5, or Table 6, or from a subset thereof, or from a subset thereof plus other states not listed in Table 4, Table 5, or Table 6.

[0473] Table 4: Example of BFD cell indication using L1 signaling

[0474] Cell status index Cell Status BFD cell status i0 Deactivation Non-BDF cell i1 Hibernation Non-BDF cell i2 Hibernation BDF Community i3 activation Non-BDF cell i4 activation BDF Community

[0475] Table 5: Example of BFD cell indication using L1 signaling

[0476] Cell status index Cell Status BFD cell status i0 Deactivation Non-BDF cell i1 Hibernation Non-BDF cell i2 activation Non-BDF cell i3 activation BDF Community

[0477] Table 6: Example of BFD cell indication using L1 signaling

[0478] Cell status index Cell Status BFD cell status i0 Hibernation Non-BDF cell i1 Hibernation BDF Community i2 activation Non-BDF cell i3 activation BDF Community

[0479] In various embodiments, the header rows of Table 4, Table 5, and Table 6 are replaced with "BWP Status Index," "BWP Status," and / or "BFD BWP?".

[0480] In various embodiments, e.g., according to the above embodiments, the L1 signaling refers to BFD on the active BWP, e.g., the L1 signaling enables / disables / turns on / off BFD on the active BWP. In various embodiments, the BWP is in the same cell and / or is the same BWP that receives the L1 signaling. In various embodiments, the BWP is in another cell and / or another BWP, e.g., indicated by a carrier indicator and / or a BWP indicator in the L1 signaling. In various embodiments, the L1 signaling indicates a BWP switch and also indicates whether to turn on or off BFD on the BWP to which the UE switches.

[0481] In various embodiments, a single BFD-RS or (multiple) BFD-RS sets may be turned on or off using L1 signaling (e.g., DCI). For example, a larger BFD-RS set may be configured for a cell and / or BWP via RRC and / or MAC CE signaling, and a subset of these BFD-RS may be selected for a cell and / or BWP via L1 signaling. In some embodiments, RRC and / or MAC CE may configure one or more BFD-RS sets, which may be turned on / off using L1 signaling, respectively. For example, L1 signaling may select a set from one or more sets configured by RRC and / or MAC CE. In some embodiments, an empty set may be configured by RRC and / or MAC CE and selected by L1 signaling. In some embodiments, an empty set may be selected by L1 signaling even if the empty set has not been explicitly configured by RRC and / or MAC CE. In some embodiments, selecting an empty BFD-RS set means turning off BFD on a cell and / or BWP. In various embodiments, the set of ON BFD-RS is indicated / selected by L1 signaling from an explicitly configured BFD-RS set (e.g., in a DL BWP RRC configuration, such as in RadioLinkMonitoringConfig) or from a subset of explicitly RRC configured BFD-RS (where the subset has been selected by MAC CE signaling). In various embodiments, the set of BFD-RS indicated / selected by L1 signaling is an implicitly defined set of BFD-RS, such as the RS currently associated with the monitored CORESETQCL(s). In some embodiments, the set is limited to a single BWP. In some embodiments, the set spans one or more BWPs of one or more cells, for example, in a frequency band, a frequency band combination, and / or a frequency range.

[0482] In some embodiments, the (multiple) BFD-RS set indicated / selected by L1 signaling means that all BFD-RS in the set are enabled or ON, while the (multiple) other BFD-RS set not indicated / selected by L1 signaling means that all BFD-RS in the set are disabled or OFF.

[0483] Example UE Procedures

[0484] Fig. 9 Various embodiments of the UE process for selecting an ON BFD-RS set are shown. The numbered steps in the flow chart are discussed below. Various embodiments include only a portion of the steps and / or in a different order.

[0485] Step S901. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0486] Step S902. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0487] Step S903. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0488] Step S904. According to various embodiments, a query is made as to whether the UE has received a configuration of a BFD-RS or a set of BFD-RS (e.g., explicitly or implicitly RRC-configured per DL BWP) from the network. In various embodiments, the UE also receives a MAC CE that selects a subset of BFD-RS from the set of BFD-RS configured by RRC. If the response to the query is positive, the process proceeds to step S905, but if it is negative, the process proceeds to step S906.

[0489] Step S905: The UE updates the BFD-RS set based on the received RRC configuration and / or updates the BFD-RS subset based on the received MAC CE configuration.

[0490] Step S906. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0491] Step S907. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0492] Step S908. A query is made as to whether the UE has received a configuration (e.g., MAC CE and / or DCI) from the network indicating activation and / or deactivation of BFD, NBI and / or BFR of one or more cells. If the response is positive, the process proceeds to step S909, but if it is negative, the process proceeds to step S910.

[0493] Step S909. If the UE receives a configuration regarding BFD / NBI / BFR activation / deactivation, the UE may update the BFD activated cell set and the BFD deactivated cell set accordingly. In various embodiments, such a set is not explicitly maintained in the UE. Instead, the BFD activation / deactivation state is maintained for each configuration and / or ON cell.

[0494] Step S910. Note that, in various embodiments, the order of steps S902 / 3, S904 / 5, S906 / 7, and S908 / 9 is different, for example, the ON / OFF configuration in step S906 / 7 is received before the BFD-RS configuration in step S904 / 5. In various embodiments, the UE receives a subset of the configurations mentioned in step S902-9, for example, the UE only receives the configuration of the ON / OFF cell.

[0495] In various embodiments, the UE receives DCI on an activated BWP (e.g., a BWP in an ON cell), wherein the DCI indicates a set of BFD-RSs. For example, according to various embodiments, the DCI indicates which of the BFD-RSs configured in step S904 / 5 are currently ON. The DCI may also explicitly or implicitly indicate which BFD-RSs are OFF.

[0496] Step S911. If the UE receives a configuration of ON BFD-RS in the DCI, the UE updates the ON BFD-RS set. According to various embodiments, the DCI may indicate which of the BFD-RS configured in step S904 / 5 are currently ON. In various embodiments, the DCI may be in the same BWP,

[0497] Turn BFD-RS ON / OFF in the cell and / or band.

[0498] UE-Based Selection Rules / Processes / Criteria for BFD Management Alternative Embodiments

[0499] In various embodiments, the selection of the BFD cell set and / or ON BFD-RS set is performed by the UE. In some embodiments, the selection is based on predefined rules and / or procedures, for example, as described in the technical specifications and / or configured by the network. In some embodiments, the parameters used in such rules and / or procedures are predefined. In some embodiments, the parameters used in such rules and / or procedures are configured by the network, for example by using RRC, MAC and / or L1 signaling. In various embodiments, the selection may depend partially or entirely on the UE implementation. For example, the criteria (e.g., thresholds) may be predefined and / or configured, and it is up to the UE implementation to select among the cells and / or BFD-RS that meet the criteria (e.g., exceed the threshold).

[0500] In various embodiments, multiple selection rules / procedures are supported, and the network configures which rule / procedure to use, potentially including an associated set of parameters.

[0501] In various embodiments, the UE determines a first set of BFD cells / BWPs, BFD-RSs, first type BFD-RSs, and / or second type BFD-RSs based on various configurations from the network, e.g., BFD-enabled cells / BWPs, BFD-RSs configured on such cells / BWPs, a set of ON cells, a set of ON BWPs, and / or a set of BFD-activated cells / BWPs, e.g., according to various embodiments described herein, such as Figure 5 , Figure 6 , Figure 8 and Fig. 9 As shown. If the first set of BFD cells, BWPs and / or BFD-RSs so determined does not exceed the relevant UE capabilities related to BFD, the UE uses the first set (e.g., as BFD cells, BFD BWPs and / or ON BFD-RSs) for BFD. If the first set of BFD cells, BWPs and / or BFD-RSs so determined exceeds the relevant UE capabilities, the UE applies a selection rule / procedure / criterion to determine a second set of BFD cells, BWPs and / or BFD-RSs that do not exceed the capabilities. Then, the UE does not use the first set for BFD, but uses the second set (e.g., as BFD cells, BFD BWPs and / or ON BFD-RSs) for BFD because it does not exceed the UE capabilities. Depends on if the UE capabilities are by band, band combination and / or UE, the selection rule / procedure / criterion is applied by band, band combination and / or UE. In some embodiments, the UE capabilities related to BFD have (multiple) components by band and by UE. In this case, the selection rules / procedures / criteria may be applied taking into account both per-band capabilities and per-UE capabilities so as not to exceed the UE capabilities (or any component thereof).

[0502] Cell / BWP selection rules / process

[0503] In various embodiments, a UE may be configured with more BFD-enabled cells and / or BWPs than its UE capabilities. In some cases, the number of BFD-enabled ON cells (e.g., a first BFD cell set) exceeds the corresponding UE capabilities. In some cases, the number of BFD-enabled active BWPs exceeds the corresponding UE capabilities. In some cases, the number of first-type BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) on all active BWPs enabled with BFD in an ON cell (e.g., in a band, in a band combination, or for a UE) exceeds the corresponding UE capabilities. In some cases, the number of second-type BFD-RS (e.g., SSB) on all active BWPs enabled with BFD in an ON cell (e.g., in a band, in a band combination, or for a UE) exceeds the corresponding UE capabilities. In some cases, the total number of BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS and SSB) on all active BWPs enabled with BFD in an ON cell (e.g., in a band, in a band combination, or for a UE) exceeds the corresponding UE capabilities.

[0504] In various embodiments, the UE selects a subset of BFD-enabled ON cells and / or active BWPs as a BFD cell set so that its corresponding BFD UE capabilities are not exceeded. In various embodiments, the size of the selected BFD cell set matches the corresponding UE capabilities, for example, just does not exceed the capabilities. In various embodiments, if the number of BFD-enabled ON cells does not exceed the UE capabilities, the UE does not select a BFD cell set. In various embodiments, the selection rules are predefined so that the network knows the selected BFD cell set even if the UE applies the rules / procedures.

[0505] In various embodiments, the first set of BFD cells is denoted as C ON , for example, a set of ON cells with BFD enabled (eg, configured by RRC) and / or activated (eg, by MAC CE). In various embodiments, the BFD cell set is denoted as C BFD , for example, a second set of BFD cells.

[0506] In various embodiments, for example, when the UE capability is in the form of a maximum number of BFD cells and / or BFD BWPs, C BFD The maximum size of the UE capability is denoted as C max In various embodiments, if |C ON |≤C max , that is, it does not exceed the UE capability (|C| represents the size of set C), then the UE selects C BFD =C ON On the other hand, for example according to the following various embodiments, if |C ON|>C max , then UE selects C BFD As C ON In various embodiments, the selection makes |C BFD |=C max or |C BFD | <C max or |C BFD |≤C max .

[0507] In various embodiments, the UE capability is in the form of a maximum number of BFD-RS (e.g., first or second type) across both types, by frequency band, by band combination, by UE, or a combination thereof. BFD The maximum size of may depend on which cells / BWPs are selected and how many BFD-RSs are configured in the selected cells / BWPs (e.g., first type, second type, and / or a combination across both types). max,i represents the UE capability related to BFD, where i is the capability index or the index in the capability component. For the i-th capability, the function C can be defined api (C), which maps the cell / BWP set to the value corresponding to the i-th capability value, that is, C can be directly api (C) is compared with the capability value. As an example, consider the UE capability in the form of the maximum number of first type BFD-RS (e.g., periodic CSI-RS) in the band. As an example, if the maximum capability value is 8 and the capability has index i=1, then D max,2 =8. In this example, C ap2 (C) Mapping the selected cell set to a number of first-type BFD-RSs in the frequency band, i.e., according to UE capabilities. ap2 (C ON )=12 can mean that in the set C ON In another example, where the UE capability is in the form of the maximum number of BFD cells, the mapping function may be as in the example in the previous paragraph, i.e., C api (C) = |C|.

[0508] In various embodiments, if for each index i corresponding to a UE capability related to BFD, C api (C ON )≤D max,i , that is, it does not exceed the UE capability, then the UE selects C BFD =C ON On the other hand, for example, according to the following various embodiments, if for a certain index i corresponding to the BFD-related UE capability, C api (CON )>D max,i , then UE selects C BFD As C ON In various embodiments, for an index i corresponding to a BFD-related UE capability, the index i is selected such that in various combinations, C api (C BFD )=D max,i or C api (C BFD ) <D max,i or C api (C BFD )≤D max,i .

[0509] In the following description of the embodiments, several cell and / or BWP selection rules / processes / criteria are described. An example of UE capability in the form of the maximum number of BFD cells and / or BFD BWPs is given, i.e., C in the above example max For the sake of simplicity, other examples with other forms of UE capabilities related to BFD are not presented, namely D max,i However, the cell and / or BWP selection rules / procedures / criteria are equally applicable to scenarios with such other forms of BFD-related UE capabilities, e.g., as described above, by utilizing C api (C) Replace |C| and use D max,i Replace C max .

[0510] Selection based on cell / BWP index

[0511] In various embodiments, according to C ON The cell index and / or active BWP index of the cell in the C cell, such as ServingCellIndex or SCellIndex, the UE selects C BFD As C ON For example, in C BFD Including C ON The cell with the lowest and / or highest cell index (s), e.g., C max A community.

[0512] The motivation for using this selection method may be that it is simple and the network can control the UE's selection in C through the configured association between cell and cell index (and / or BWP and BWP index). BFD The order / priority of the cells is included in the UE. BFD The network may assign the lowest cell index to the cell on which the network prefers the UE to perform BFD.

[0513] Selection based on time in cell / BWP state

[0514] In various embodiments, the UE selects C based on the duration that the cell / BWP has been in the current cell / BWP state. BFD As C ON For example, in C ON The cell / BWP with the longest and / or shortest duration in the current state (e.g., C max cells) are included in C BFD In various embodiments, the duration that a cell / BWP has been in an ON state is considered, where the ON state may include one or more states, such as an active and a dormant state.

[0515] Include cells that have been in the ON state for a long time in C BFD The motivation in may be that such a cell may be used as a form of anchor cell with relatively frequent transmissions (which may include various control information). On the other hand, a cell that is in the ON state for a shorter time is more likely to be used as a form of data boosting cell that switches between states more frequently depending on the UE traffic.

[0516] Selection based on inactivity time in cell / BWP

[0517] In various embodiments, the UE selects C based on one or more inactivity durations of the cell and / or BWP. BFD As C ON For example, in C ON The cell / BWP with the longest and / or shortest inactivity (e.g., C max Cell / BWP) is included in C BFD middle.

[0518] The cell inactivity time may be, for example, similar to the sCellDeactivationTimer timer defined in [3GPP Technical Specification 38.321, V15.3.0, September 2018, or "38.321"]. The BWP inactivity timer may be, for example, similar to the bwp-InactivityTimer timer defined in [38.321]. Various embodiments of the inactivity time on the first cell / BWP are the minimum time of all or a subset of the following times:

[0519] • The time since a PDCCH on the first cell / BWP (e.g. addressed to a C-RNTI and / or CS-RNTI) indicated an uplink grant or downlink allocation; and / or

[0520] • the time since a PDCCH on a second cell that schedules the first cell indicated an uplink grant or downlink allocation for the first cell; and / or

[0521] • the time since a MAC PDU was sent in a configured uplink grant or received in a configured downlink allocation on the first cell; and / or

[0522] • The time since the DL BWP and / or UL BWP switch on the first cell; and / or

[0523] • The time since the cell status of the first cell changed.

[0524] Include cells with long inactivity times in C BFD The motivation in may be that, for example, if aperiodic and / or semi-persistent beam management RS transmissions and / or reporting are used, then beam management may also have been inactive for a long time. Therefore, the risk may be greater than if the UE experiences some blocking without the network knowing about it.

[0525] In various embodiments, the duration of inactivity that triggers the cell / BWP to switch to the OFF state is taken into account. BFD Included in the OFF state are cells / BWPs with the longest inactivity but with a specific time margin (eg, predefined or RRC configured) until the inactivity timer trigger switches them to the OFF state.

[0526] Include cells with short inactivity times in C BFD The motivation in may be that recovering a frequently active cell may be more important (for the UE) than an infrequently active cell.

[0527] Selection based on cell frequency

[0528] In various embodiments, the UE selects C according to the frequency of the cell (eg, the cell DL frequency). BFD As C ON The cell frequency may be represented, for example, by the absolute frequency of the SSB defined by the cell (e.g., by the parameter AbsoluteFrequencySSB in the FrequencyInfoDL IE in [38.331]), the absolute frequency of the reference point A (e.g., by the parameter AbsoluteFrequencyPointA in the FrequencyInfoDL IE in [38.331]), and / or the absolute frequency of the first PRB of the initial DL BWP (e.g., given in part by the parameter locationAndBandwidth in the BWP IE in [38.331]). For example, in C ON The cells with the highest and / or lowest frequency are included in C BFD For example, C maxIn various embodiments, the UE maps cell frequencies to cells to be included in the C BFD The priority function in C is based on the frequency of the cells to be included in the selection. BFD A cell in which the function may be predefined and / or fully / partially configurable.

[0529] Include cells with high frequencies in C BFD The motivation in may be that cells on high frequencies are more likely to have beam failures than cells on low frequencies.

[0530] Frequency band selection based on cell / BWP

[0531] A frequency band is a continuous or discontinuous frequency range. In various embodiments, a cell and / or a BWP is within a frequency range, and a frequency range may contain one or more cells. In various embodiments, the frequency bands partially overlap in frequency, which means that a cell and / or a BWP may be in multiple frequency bands.

[0532] In various embodiments, the cell and / or BWP set C ON Located by B ON Represents a set of (multiple) frequency bands, where C ON The cell / BWP in B ON In various embodiments, the set C of selected cells / BWPs is BFD Located by B BFD represents a set of (multiple) frequency bands, where C BFD The cell / BWP in B BFD A non-strict subset of a set. Note also that other uses of "subset" herein refer to non-strict subsets, which is a common use of the term "subset" to refer to fewer than all elements of a set. However, as used here, a non-strict subset should be interpreted as including either fewer than all elements of a set, or the same elements as the set.

[0533] In various embodiments, the UE selects C based on the frequency band(s) in which the cell / BWP is located. BFD As C ON A subset of .

[0534] In |B ON |≤C max In various embodiments, select C BFD The cell / BWP in B BFD =B ON , that is, B BFD Option B ONAt least one cell / BWP in each frequency band in the same frequency band. This selection approach may be motivated by the fact that beam failure events may be correlated across cells / BWPs in the same frequency band, e.g. due to blocking. For example, if a beam failure occurs in one cell / BWP, there is a high risk that it also occurs in another cell / BWP in the same frequency band.

[0535] In some embodiments, in C ON There is a candidate set of cells / BWPs located in the same frequency band in the C-band, and the UE can select one or more cells / BWPs from the candidate set to be included in the C-band. BFD In various embodiments, the UE selects which cell(s) / BWP(s) from the candidate set to be included in the C BFD In the case of B BFD =B ON In various embodiments, the UE uses one or more selection criteria to select which cell(s) / BWP(s) in the candidate set to include in the C BFD In, including various embodiments described in the present disclosure, such as based on cell / BWP index, time in state, inactivity time, cell / BWP frequency, priority value, service / QoS of service to be carried on cell / BWP, cell group configuration, etc.

[0536] For example, consider C ON One or more candidate sets of cells / BWPs in the same candidate set, where the cells / BWPs in the same candidate set are located in the same frequency band. BFD =B ON , one or more cells / BWPs should be selected from each candidate set to be included in C BFD The UE first selects a first cell / BWP from each candidate set according to one or more selection criteria, including various embodiments described according to the present invention, such as based on cell / BWP index, time in state, inactivity time, cell / BWP frequency, priority value, service / QoS of service to be carried on the cell / BWP, cell group configuration, etc. In selecting the first cell / BWP from each candidate set to be included in the C BFD After that, that is |B ON | cells / BWP, UE has achieved B BFD =B ON Now, if |B ON | <C max , then UE can select other C max -|B ON | cells / BWP to include in C BFD The second selection may be based on the same criteria as the first selection, or it may be based on other criteria, or it may depend on the UE implementation.

[0537] In various embodiments, for example where |B ON |>C max , select C BFD The cell / BWP in the BFD |Maximize. In various embodiments, select C BFD The cell / BWP in C BFD Each cell / BWP in is located in a different frequency band. In various embodiments, for example, when C BFD When no cell / BWP is located in multiple frequency bands, |B BFD |=C max In various embodiments, for example, when C BFD When the cells / BWP in |B are located in multiple frequency bands, BFD |>C max In various embodiments, the UE uses one or more selection criteria to select B ON Which frequency band(s) should be included in B BFD In some embodiments, the selection of the frequency band is based on the selection of the cell / BWP, e.g., with an additional constraint related to the number of cells / BWPs selected per frequency band, e.g., at most a single cell / BWP is selected per frequency band. In some embodiments, the selection of the frequency band is based on the band frequency (e.g., the lowest or highest frequency defined by the band), the band index, a predefined and / or configured band priority for BFD, NBI, and / or BFR.

[0538] In various embodiments, the frequency range (FR) in which the cell / BWP is located is used to select whether to include it in the C BFD For example, the frequency range is

[0539] Above or below 7.125 GHz (also called FR1 and FR2)

[0540] Below 3 GHz, between 3 and 24.25 GHz, and above 24.25 GHz

[0541] For example, in various embodiments, if a cell / BWP is located within a certain (certain) specific frequency range, then in some cases, the cell / BWP is not included in the CFD even if it is selected using another criterion / rule / process. BFD In some cases, another cell / BWP is selected instead. In other cases, another cell / BWP is not selected instead. In various embodiments, C BFDAt least one cell / BWP from each "group" will be included in the C, where a group can be, for example, cells / BWPs located in the same frequency band, belonging to the same TAG, etc. If all cells in the group are located in a certain (certain) specific frequency range, then the group is excluded from the selection, i.e., the UE can omit selecting at least one cell / BWP from the group into the C BFD In various embodiments, the above applicable certain (certain) specific frequency ranges may be predefined in the specification and / or configured by the network.

[0542] In some cases, the network configures one or more groups of cells and / or BWPs for the UE so that (multiple) TCI state IDs for (multiple) CORESETs and / or PDSCHs are activated simultaneously by a MAC CE. For example, the network configures two groups of cells for the UE, the cells in the first group are in one frequency band, and the cells in the second group are in a second frequency band. In this example, the groups may correspond to frequency bands. In other examples, the groups contain cells from multiple frequency bands. When the UE receives a MAC CE that activates the TCI state ID for the CORESET ID of the cells in the second group, it activates the TCI state ID of the CORESET with the same ID in all cells in the second group. This functionality may be useful, for example, if the network knows that the same (multiple) beams will be used in multiple cells. Signaling overhead can be reduced by simultaneous TCI state ID activation across multiple cells, rather than individual activations. In one example, the group can be configured by RRC using one or more cell lists (e.g., simultaneousTCI-CellList1 is a sequence of ServCellIndex (size is (1,..., maxNrofServingCells), simultaneousTCI-CellList2 is a sequence of ServCellIndex (size is (1,..., maxNrofServingCells), etc.). In one example, the group can be configured by RRC using a list, where each element includes a serving cell index and a group / list ID (e.g., simultaneousTCI-CellList is a sequence of X (size is (1,..., maxNrofServingCells), where X includes both ServCellIndex and simultaneousTCI-CellListId, where simultaneousTCI-CellListId can be, for example, 0 or 1).

[0543] In various embodiments, the cell and / or BWP set C ON Located by B ON On the set of (multiple) groups represented by C ON The cell / BWP in BON In some cases, not C ON All cells and / or BWPs in C are included in the configuration set of group(s), for example, by the above-mentioned list(s). ON Each cell not configured in the group may be in B ON In some cases, the C configured in the group is first ON The selection method is used for the cells in the group, and then the C ON In other cases, the selection method is used for the cells not configured in the group. ON The cells in the group use the selection method, and then configure the C ON In various embodiments, the set C of selected cells / BWPs BFD Located by B BFD In the set of (multiple) groups represented by C BFD The cell / BWP in B BFD In some cases, a cell can be in at most one group.

[0544] In various embodiments, the UE selects C based on the group(s) in which the cell / BWP is located. BFD As C ON A subset of .

[0545] In |B ON |≤C max In various embodiments, select C BFD The cell / BWP in B BFD =B ON , that is, B BFD Option B ON At least one cell / BWP in each group in the group. A motivation for this selection approach may be that beam failure events may be correlated across cells / BWPs in the same group, for example, because the same beam set is used for cells within the group.

[0546] In some embodiments, in C ON There is a candidate set of cells / BWPs in the same group, and the UE can select one or more cells / BWPs from the candidate set to be included in the C BFD In various embodiments, the UE selects which cell(s) / BWP(s) in the candidate set to be included in the C BFD In the case of B BFD =B ON In various embodiments, the UE uses one or more selection criteria to select which cell / BWP in the candidate set to include in the CBFD In, including various embodiments described in the present disclosure, such as based on cell / BWP index, time in state, inactivity time, cell / BWP frequency, priority value, service / QoS of the service to be carried on the cell / BWP, cell group configuration, etc.

[0547] For example, consider C ON One or more candidate sets of cells / BWPs in the same candidate set, where cells / BWPs in the same candidate set are in the same group. BFD =B ON , one or more cells / BWPs should be selected from each candidate set (group) to be included in C BFD The UE first selects a first cell / BWP from each candidate set (group) according to one or more selection criteria, including various embodiments described in the present disclosure, such as based on group index, cell / BWP index, time in state, inactivity time, cell / BWP frequency, priority value, service / QoS of service to be carried on the cell / BWP, cell group configuration, etc. After the first cell / BWP is selected from each candidate set (group) to be included in the C BFD After that, that is |B ON | cells / BWP, UE has achieved B BFD =B ON Now, if |B ON | <C max , then UE can select other C max -|B ON | cells / BWP to include in C BFD The second selection may be based on the same criteria as the first selection, or may be based on other criteria, or may depend on the UE implementation.

[0548] In various embodiments, for example where |B ON |>C max , select C BFD The cell / BWP in the BFD |Maximize. In various embodiments, select C BFD The cell / BWP in C BFD Each cell / BWP in is located in a different group. In various embodiments, for example, when C BFD When no cell / BWP is in multiple groups, |B BFD |=C max (In some cases, the groups of configurations need to be disjoint.) In various embodiments, for example, when C BFD When the cells / BWPs in |B are in multiple groups, BFD |>C maxIn various embodiments, the UE uses one or more selection criteria to select B ON Which group(s) should be included in B BFD In some embodiments, the selection of a group is based on the selection of a cell / BWP, e.g., with an additional constraint on the number of cells / BWPs selected per band, e.g., at most a single cell / BWP is selected per band. In some embodiments, the selection of a group is based on a group index. In some embodiments, C ON Cells that are not in any RRC configured group are placed in B ON In their own group, UEs first ON Select the RRC configuration group for C BFD 's community.

[0549] Selection based on cell / BWP priority value

[0550] In various embodiments, cells and / or BWPs have one or more priority values ​​associated with BFD, NBI, and / or BFR. In various embodiments, the UE uses the cell / BWP priority value as a means for selecting cells / BWPs to include in the C BFD Criteria in, for example, C with the highest and / or lowest priority values max Cells / BWP.

[0551] In various embodiments, the priority value of the cell and / or BWP is configured by the network, for example as part of the RRC configuration. In some embodiments, the priority value of the cell and / or BWP may be included in the cell configuration, for example ServingCellConfig. In some embodiments, the priority value of the cell and / or BWP may be included in the DL BWP or ULBWP configuration, such as in radiLinkMonitoringConfig (in the DL BWP configuration) or BeamFailureRecoveryConfig (in the UL BWP configuration).

[0552] Selection based on service / QoS associated with cell / BWP

[0553] In various embodiments, the cell and / or BWP may be associated with one or more service types, such as eMBB and / or URLLC. In various embodiments, the cell and / or BWP may be associated with one or more QoS classes, categories, and / or levels. In various embodiments, this association is configured by the network. In some embodiments, this association is established by default. In some embodiments, this association is implicitly configured.

[0554] In various embodiments, the UE uses the service type(s) associated with the cell(s) / BWP(s) to select which cell(s) / BWP(s) to include in the C BFD For example, C with the highest requirements on reliability and / or latency max Cells / BWP.

[0555] In various embodiments, the UE uses the QoS associated with the cell(s) / BWP(s) to select which cell(s) / BWP(s) to include in the C BFD For example, C has the highest QoS requirements in terms of block error rate, delay, etc. max Cells / BWP.

[0556] In various embodiments, a cell / BWP is associated with one or more flows and / or logical channels. In various embodiments, such flows and / or logical channels are associated with one or more service types and / or QoS. In various embodiments, for the purpose of selecting a cell / BWP to include in a C BFD For the purpose of , the UE selects the flow / logical channel to represent the cell / BWP in terms of service type / QoS, e.g. the flow / logical channel with the highest requirement(s) on reliability and / or latency.

[0557] Cell-based TAG selection

[0558] In various embodiments, a timing advance group (TAG) is a group of cell(s) and / or BWP(s) to which the UE applies the same transmission timing advance for UL transmission. Cells / BWPs belonging to the same TAG generally mean that they are transmitted from the same transmission point or at least from quasi-co-located transmission points. This may lead to correlations such as beam failures between cells / BWPs in the same TAG.

[0559] In various embodiments, each or some cells and / or BWP C ON Belongs to TAG. C ON The TAG set to which the cell / BWP in the ON In some embodiments, each cell / BWP belongs to a TAG. ON The cells / BWPs in a TAG may belong to zero or one TAG. In various embodiments, the set C of selected cells / BWPs may be BFD Belongs to T BFD Represents a set of tags.

[0560] In various embodiments, the UE selects a C based at least in part on the TAG(s) to which the cell / BWP belongs. BFD As C ON A subset of .

[0561] In |T ON |≤C max In various embodiments, select C BFD The cell / BWP in T BFD =T ON , that is, B BFD Option B ON At least one cell / BWP in each TAG in the same TAG. The motivation for this selection approach may be that beam failure events may be correlated across cells / BWPs in the same TAG, e.g. due to blocking. For example, if a beam failure occurs in one cell / BWP, there is a high risk that it also occurs in another cell / BWP in the same TAG.

[0562] In some embodiments, in C ON There is a candidate set of cells / BWPs in the same TAG, and the UE can select one or more cells / BWPs from the candidate set to be included in the C BFD In various embodiments, the UE selects which cell(s) / BWP(s) in the candidate set to include in the C BFD In the case of B BFD =B ON In various embodiments, the UE uses one or more selection criteria to select which cell / BWP in the candidate set to include in the C BFD In, including various embodiments described in the present disclosure, for example, based on cell / BWP index, time in state, inactivity time, cell / BWP frequency, priority value, service / QoS of cell / BWP, service / QoS of cell / BWP, etc.

[0563] For example, consider C ON One or more candidate sets of cells / BWPs in the same candidate set, where the cells / BWPs in the same candidate set are located in the same TAG. BFD =T ON , one or more cells / BWPs should be selected from each candidate set to be included in C BFD The UE first selects a first cell / BWP from each candidate set according to one or more selection criteria, including various embodiments described according to the present invention, such as based on cell / BWP index, time in state, inactivity time, cell / BWP frequency, priority value, service / QoS of the cell / BWP, cell group configuration, etc. In selecting the first cell / BWP from each candidate set to be included in the C BFD After that, that is, |T ON | cells / BWP, UE has achieved T BFD =T ON Now, if |TON | <C max , then UE can select other C max -|T ON |Each cell / BWP is included in C BFD The second selection may be based on the same criteria as the first selection, or it may be based on other criteria, or it may depend on the UE implementation.

[0564] In various embodiments, for example where |T ON |>C max , select C BFD The cell / BWP in the BFD |Maximize. In various embodiments, select C BFD The cell / BWP in C BFD Each cell / BWP in is located in a different TAG. In various embodiments, for example, when C BFD When no cell / BWP is located in multiple TAGs, |T BFD |=C max In various embodiments, for example, when C BFD When the cell / BWP in |T is located in multiple TAGs, BFD |>C max In various embodiments, the UE uses one or more selection criteria to select T ON Which tags should be included in T BFD In some embodiments, the selection of a TAG is based on the selection of a cell / BWP, e.g., with an additional constraint related to the number of cells / BWPs selected per TAG, e.g., at most a single cell / BWP is selected per TAG. In some embodiments, the selection of a TAG is based on the time advance of the TAG (e.g., the lowest or highest TA), the TAG index, the TAG priority predefined and / or configured for BFD, NBI and / or BFR.

[0565] Selection based on cell type

[0566] In various embodiments, cells are distinguished into different types. In various embodiments, the UE uses the cell type to select (multiple) cells to include in the C BFD Examples of different cell types include:

[0567] PCell, PSCell and SCell

[0568] SpCell (including PCell and PSCell) and SCell

[0569] PUCCH cells (e.g., SpCell(s), PUCCH cells(s), and non-PUCCH cells(s))

[0570] A cell configured to schedule other cell(s), e.g. cross-carrier scheduling using PDCCH

[0571] In various embodiments, the UE first BFD The cells in include (multiple) SpCells (SCells and PSCells, if defined). BFD If the number of SCells is greater than the number of SpCells, the UE uses another criterion / rule / procedure to select SCells to be included in the C BFD , for example according to the embodiments described in the present disclosure.

[0572] In various embodiments, the UE prioritizes PUCCH cells over non-PUCCH cells. BFD The cells in the PUCCH cell list include (multiple) PUCCH cells (PCell and PSCell, if defined). For example, if the UE has one or more ON PUCCH SCells, they may be included in the PUCCH cell list before other SCells. BFD middle.

[0573] In various embodiments, the UE enables the C configured to schedule other cell(s). BFD Cells that are scheduled by other cells take precedence over cells that are configured to be scheduled by only self-scheduled. In various embodiments, the first two types (cross-scheduling and self-scheduling) further take precedence over cells that are configured to be scheduled by other cells (multiple).

[0574] Selection based on explicitly and / or implicitly defined BFD-RS

[0575] In various embodiments, the UE is explicitly configured with a BFD-RS, i.e., sometimes in addition to other purposes such as beam management, for example, in an RRC configuration such as RadioLinkMonitoringConfig, it is explicitly indicated that the RS should be used for BFD. In various embodiments, the UE is implicitly configured with a BFD-RS, for example when the BFD-RS is not explicitly configured. When the BFD-RS is implicitly configured, the UE also uses RS defined / configured for other purposes for BFD. For example, in various embodiments, an RS configured to be associated with a CORESET / search space QCL (e.g., spatial QCL) monitored by the UE is an implicitly defined BFD-RS.

[0576] Selection based on BWP and BWP-Inactivity Timer attributes

[0577] In various embodiments, the UE is configured to configure a BWP inactivity timer for a cell. In various embodiments, the UE may be explicitly configured with a default BWP. In some embodiments, in the absence of an explicitly configured default BWP, the default DL / UL BWP is the initial DL / UL BWP.

[0578] In various embodiments, the UE prioritizes cells equipped with a BWP inactivity timer to be included in the C BFD In various embodiments, when the active DL BWP is the default DL BWP, the UE prioritizes the cell / BWP. In various embodiments, the UE prioritizes the cell configured with the BWP inactivity timer and the active DL BWP is the default BWP. BFD middle.

[0579] A motivation for prioritizing the default DL BWP may be that BWP inactivity due to beam failure does not cause the UE to switch BWP after the inactivity timer expires. For other cells (not yet on the default DL BWP), the UE may still switch the active DL BWP to the default DL BWP after inactivity due to beam failure on the active DL BWP. Note that the set of configured and / or monitored BFD-RS may be different between BWPs.

[0580] Selection based on UE measurements

[0581] In various embodiments, the UE selects cells / BWPs to include in the C BFD In some embodiments, the UE ON A first type of measurement is performed on a cell / BWP in the BFD measurement, such as a measurement with lower complexity and / or power consumption than a BFD measurement. An example of such a measurement is an RSRP measurement, such as with a relaxed measurement accuracy requirement. For a cell / BWP with multiple BFD-RSs, the RSRP value may be obtained by averaging the RSRP measured on the multiple BFD-RSs of the cell / BWP.

[0582] In various embodiments, the UE selects the min(|C ON |,C max ) cells / BWP to include in C BFD In various embodiments, the UE may select any cell / BWP with a measurement result (e.g., RSRP) below a threshold to include in the C BFD Where the threshold may be predefined or configured using RRC. Note that if the selection is based on UE measurements, the network may not be aware of the UE selection.

[0583] Selection based on cell status

[0584] In various embodiments, the UE selects cells / BWPs to include in the C BFD In some embodiments, the UE prioritizes cells in the activated cell state over cells in the dormant cell state. BFD In some embodiments, before a switch from dormant to activated cell state occurs, for example, when an SR has been transmitted on another cell (for example, on SpCell), the UE BFD The cell / BWP is included in the UE, and the UE expects to receive a grant on the cell that is switched from dormant to active subsequently. If necessary, this method can help link recovery on the cell that is about to become active.

[0585] Multiple selection criteria

[0586] In various embodiments, the UE uses multiple selection criteria to select which cells and / or BWPs to include in the C BFD For example, primary and secondary criteria are defined. In another example, primary, secondary, and tertiary criteria are defined.

[0587] In some embodiments, the UE uses a first selection criterion to include cells / BWPs in the C BFD If the first criterion does not fully select C BFD In some embodiments, the UE selects a cell / BWP without considering a selection already achieved by the first criterion, such as a partial selection. If the second criterion is not sufficient, a third criterion may be used similarly. Some embodiments further include other criteria in addition to the third criterion.

[0588] For example, if the priority value is used as the primary criterion, cells are first included in the C based on the priority value (eg, highest and / or lowest value). BFD If a selection needs to be made between cells / BWPs with the same priority due to the priority value, a secondary criterion is used to select among those cells / BWPs, e.g. based on the cell / BWP index.

[0589] In an example, a band set is selected in a first criterion, for example, B is selected according to various embodiments regarding the frequency band of a cell / BWP. BFD If in the band (for example, in B BFDIf there are multiple cells / BWPs in a band, the cell / BWP priority value is used as a secondary criterion for selection among the cells / BWPs located in the band. If there are multiple cells / BWPs in a band with the same priority value, a third criterion may be used, for example based on the cell / BWP index.

[0590] Note that even if multiple selection criteria are defined, it may not be necessary to use them in many cases, for example if the first criterion is sufficient to fully select the items to be included in C. BFD Cell / BWP in.

[0591] In various embodiments with multiple selection criteria, the UE uses a combination of the selection criteria / rules / procedures described in various embodiments of the present disclosure as the first, second, third, etc. selection criteria, for example, as described as a variation of the cell / BWP selection rule / procedure. In various embodiments, the last criterion (e.g., the second or third criterion) depends on the UE implementation. For example, if further selection is required after selection according to the first criterion or according to the first and second criteria, it is up to the UE to decide how to finalize the selection.

[0592] In various embodiments where the UE determines at least in part how to select cells and / or BWPs, the network may not be aware of the UE's selection. In some embodiments, after selecting cells and / or BWPs, the UE indicates to the network which cells and / or BWPs it has selected. In some cases, an indication, such as a 1-bit indication, is included in the UCI to perform or not perform BFD on a cell (e.g., a cell associated with the UCI and / or a cell associated with a PUCCH resource used to carry the UCI). In some embodiments, an indication of which cells and / or BWPs the UE selects for BFD is included in a MAC CE from the UE to the network.

[0593] BFD-RS selection rules / process

[0594] In various embodiments, the UE may be configured with more BFD-RS in the ON cells and / or active BWPs than its UE capabilities, which in various embodiments is in the form of a maximum number of first type BFD-RSs monitored simultaneously by the UE, a maximum number of second type BFD-RSs monitored simultaneously, a maximum number of first type and second type BFD-RSs monitored simultaneously combined, by frequency band, by frequency band combination, and / or by the maximum number of simultaneously monitored BFD-RSs by the UE. In various embodiments, the UE selects a subset of BFD-RSs in the BFD-enabled ON cells and / or active BWPs as the set of ON BFD-RSs so as not to exceed its corresponding BFD UE capabilities.

[0595] In various embodiments, the size of the selected ON BFD-RS set matches the corresponding UE capability, for example, just does not exceed the capability. In various embodiments, the set of ON BFD-RS is the number of BFD-RS in the BFD-enabled ON cells and / or activated BWPs, for example, when the set does not exceed the UE capability. In various embodiments, the selection rule is predefined so that the network knows the selected ON BFD-RS set even if the UE applies the rule / procedure.

[0596] In various embodiments, the BFD-RS set configured on a BFD-enabled (eg, configured by RRC) and / or BFD-activated (eg, by MACCE and / or DCI) cell and / or active BWP is denoted as R ON In various embodiments, the ON BFD-RS set for BFD is denoted as R BFD In various embodiments, R BFD The maximum size of the UE capability is denoted as R max In various embodiments, if |R ON |≤R max , that is, it does not exceed the UE capability, then the UE selects R BFD =R ON On the other hand, if |R ON |>R max , the UE selects R according to various embodiments regarding BFD-RS index, priority value, QCL attribute and multiple selection criteria, for example. BFD As R ON In various embodiments, the selection makes |R BFD |=R max or |R BFD | <R max or |R BFD |≤R max .

[0597] In various embodiments, there are multiple individual UE capabilities related to BFD-RS, such as on different types of BFD-RS and / or different frequency bands, etc. In such embodiments, a selection rule / process may be applied such that each individual UE capability is not exceeded.

[0598] In various embodiments, the first type BFD-RS set configured on a BFD-enabled (e.g., configured by RRC) and / or BFD-activated (e.g., by MACCE and / or DCI) cell and / or active BWP is denoted as R ON,1 Similarly, the set of the second type BFD-RS is denoted as R ON,2In various embodiments, the first type of BFD-RS set for BFD is denoted as R BFD,1 , and the second type BFD-RS set for BFD is denoted as R BFD,2 In various embodiments, R BFD,1 The maximum size of the UE capability is denoted as R max,1 , and R BFD,2 The maximum size of the UE capability is denoted as R max,2 In various embodiments, if |R ON,i |≤R max,i , that is, the UE capability does not exceed the i-th type BFD-RS, then the UE selects R BFD,i =R ON,i On the other hand, if |R ON,i |>R max,i , then, for example, according to various subsequent embodiments, the UE selects R BFD,i As R ON,i In various embodiments, the selection makes |R BFD,i |=R max,i or |R BFD,i | <R max,i or |R BFD,i |≤R max,i .

[0599] In various embodiments, for example, if the BFD-enabled cell / BWP is not explicitly configured with a BFD-RS, the set R ON Some of the RSs in are implicitly configured BFD-RSs.

[0600] In various embodiments, a combination of BFD-RS selection and cell / BWP selection is used.

[0601] In various embodiments, a combination of different forms of UE capabilities may be applied, such as a maximum number of different types of BFD-RS per frequency band and a combined maximum number of different types of BFD-RS per frequency band, etc. In these embodiments, BFD-RS of different types, different frequency bands, etc. may be jointly selected so as not to exceed each UE capability.

[0602] In the following description of the embodiments, various examples of selection rules / processes / criteria are described. In the example, the UE capability is the maximum number of ON BFD-RS (e.g., R max ) form. For the sake of brevity, other examples of UE capabilities related to BFD-RS in other forms are not presented, namely R in the above examples. max,i However, as described above, the BFD-RS selection rules / procedures / criteria are equally applicable to scenarios with such other forms of BFD-related UE capabilities, such as by using Rmax,i Replace R max .

[0603] Selection based on BFD-RS index

[0604] In various embodiments, the UE ON RS index, such as RadioLinkMonitoringRS-Id, SSB index, and / or NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, select R BFD As R ON Note that in various embodiments, such RS indices are typically defined per cell and / or BWP, which means that the same set of possible indices can be used in each cell and / or BWP. For example, an explicitly defined BFD-RS can be defined per DL BWP, such as in RadioLinkMonitoringConfig, and can be indexed from 0 to maxNrofFailureDetectionResources-1 (e.g., 9).

[0605] In various embodiments, the R with the lowest and / or highest index(es) ON BFD-RS in, for example, R max BFD-RS is included in R BFD middle.

[0606] In some embodiments, the RS with the lowest and / or highest index in all ON cells and / or active BWPs is included. For example, if there is any RS with index 0 in any ON cell and / or active BWP, it is included first in the RS. BFD Then, if there is any RS with index 1 in any ON cell and / or active BWP, it is included in the R BFD and so on, for example, until R max Various such embodiments may result in BFD-RS from different ON cells and / or active BWPs being BFD For example, all BFD-RSs from some cells may be included, e.g., if they are configured with a low index, while BFD-RSs from other cells may not be included, e.g., if they are configured with a high index.

[0607] In some embodiments, the RS with the lowest and / or highest index in the ON cells and / or active BWPs is included. For example, assuming that there are no RSs exceeding BFD , for each ON cell and / or BWP, the RS with the lowest and / or highest index is included first in the R BFDThereafter, the RS having the second lowest and / or second highest index is included in R BFD In, etc., as long as it does not exceed R BFD Various such methods may result in more uniform inclusion of BFD-RS to R across ON cells and / or active BWPs. BFD In one example, even if the BFD-RS in different ON cells and / or active BWPs are configured with very different indices, R BFD One BFD-RS for each ON cell and / or active BWP is also included.

[0608] The motivation for using this selection method may be that it is simple and the network can control the UE's selection in RS by configuring the association between RS and RS index. BFD The order / priority of BFD RS is included in the R BFD If the BFD-RS with the lowest cell index is included in the UE, the network may assign the lowest RS index to the BFD-RS on which the network prefers the UE to perform BFD.

[0609] Selection based on BFD-RS priority value

[0610] In various embodiments, the BFD-RS has one or more priority values ​​associated with BFD, NBI, and / or BFR. In various embodiments, the UE uses the BFD-RS priority value as a factor in selecting a BFD-RS to include in the R BFD The criteria in , such as R with the highest and / or lowest priority values max BFD-RS.

[0611] In various embodiments, the priority value of the BFD-RS is configured by the network, for example as part of the RRC configuration, such as in RadioLinkMonitoringRS. In some embodiments, the priority values ​​of the BFD-RS may be predefined, such as a priority value associated with the BFD-RS as an SSB and another priority value associated with the BFD-RS as a CSI-RS.

[0612] Selection based on QCL properties

[0613] In various embodiments, the UE uses a set of configured QCL relationships (e.g., TCI states configured by RRC and / or TCI states indicated via MAC CE and / or DCI) to determine which BFD-RS to include in the R BFDIn some embodiments, the UE prioritizes RSs associated with the monitored CORESET / search space QCL. In some embodiments, the UE prioritizes RSs associated with the monitored CORESET / search space QCL with a specific index (e.g., CORESET index 0) for inclusion in the R BFD middle.

[0614] In various embodiments, multiple RSs are associated with the monitored CORESET QCL. In some such embodiments, ON In some such embodiments, multiple RSs are included in R ON , but RS with QCL type D (see [38.214]) are preferentially included in R BFD middle.

[0615] Multiple selection criteria

[0616] In various embodiments, the UE uses multiple selection criteria to select which BFD-RS to include in the R BFD For example, primary and secondary criteria are defined. In another example, primary, secondary, and tertiary criteria are defined.

[0617] In some embodiments, the UE uses a first selection criterion to include the BFD-RS in the R BFD If the first criterion is not R BFD In some embodiments, the UE selects a BFD-RS completely, for example because multiple BFD-RS are equal according to the first criterion, and the UE selects the BFD-RS using the second criterion. In some embodiments, the second criterion is used to break ties to resolve selections that are not resolved by using the first criterion. In some embodiments, the second criterion is used to select the BFD-RS without considering the selection that has been achieved by the first criterion, such as a partial selection. If the second criterion is not sufficient, the third criterion can be used similarly. Some embodiments also include other criteria in addition to the third criterion. For example, if the priority value is used as the primary criterion, the BFD-RS is first included in the BFD-RS based on the priority value, such as the highest and / or lowest value. BFD If selection among BFD-RSs with the same priority is required due to the priority value, a secondary criterion is used to select among those BFD-RSs, for example based on the RS index.

[0618] In an example, for example according to various embodiments regarding selection based on a BFD-RS index, a first criterion includes the BFD-RS in the R using the RS index. BFD If further selection between BFD-RS with the same / equivalent index is required, a second criterion based on the cell and / or BWP is used, such as the cell index.

[0619] Note that even if multiple selection criteria are defined, it may not be necessary to use them in many cases, for example, if the first criterion is sufficient to fully select the BFD-RS to be included in the R BFD middle.

[0620] In various embodiments with multiple selection criteria, the UE uses a combination of the selection criteria / rules / processes described in various embodiments of the present disclosure as the first, second, third, etc. selection criteria, for example, as described with respect to the BFD-RS selection rules / processes. In various embodiments, the last criterion (e.g., the second or third criterion) is determined by the UE implementation. For example, if further selection is required after selection according to the first criterion or according to the first and second criteria, it is up to the UE to decide how to finally determine the selection.

[0621] Example UE Procedures

[0622] Fig.10 Various embodiments of UE processes for maintaining a set of BFD cells, BFD BWPs, and / or BFD-RSs that do not exceed UE capabilities are shown in FIG. The numbered steps in the flowchart are discussed below. Various embodiments include only a portion of the steps and / or in a different order.

[0623] Step S1001. See Figure 4 and / or Figure 5 Various embodiments of the description.

[0624] Step S1002. The UE receives various configurations related to BFD from the network, such as RRC configuration, MAC CE configuration, or configuration via DCI. For example, the UE receives one or more configurations discussed in the network indication, such as Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 7 and Figure 8 shown.

[0625] Step S1003 . The UE determines a first set of BFD cells, BFD BWPs and / or BFD-RSs, for example, according to the various configurations received in step S1002 .

[0626] In various embodiments where multiple different forms of UE capabilities may apply, multiple first sets of BFD-RS may be determined. For example, if a capability for a maximum number of ON BFD-RS of a first type and a capability for a maximum number of ON BFD-RS of a second type apply, then in this step the UE may determine the first type of BFD-RS.

[0627] A first set of RSs and a first set of second type BFD-RSs.

[0628] Step S1004: The UE evaluates whether the first set exceeds one or more BFD-related UE capabilities.

[0629] In various embodiments with a first set of first type BFD-RS and a first set of second type BFD-RS, in this step the UE evaluates whether the set exceeds the corresponding UE capabilities, i.e. whether the first set of first type BFD-RS exceeds the UE capabilities with respect to the first type ON BFD-RS.

[0630] Step S1005: If not exceeded, the UE uses the first set for BFD.

[0631] • In various embodiments with a first set of first type BFD-RS and a first set of second type BFD-RS, in this step, the UE uses these first sets of BFD-RS as ON BFD-RS.

[0632] Step S1006. If the first set exceeds the UE capability, the UE determines a second set of BFD cells, BFD BWPs and / or BFD-RSs based on one or more selection rules / procedures, for example, as described in the embodiments regarding cell / BWP selection rules / procedures and BFD-RS selection rules / procedures.

[0633] · Having the capability for the first type BFD-RS and the capability for the second type BFD-

[0634] In various embodiments of the capability of the RS, the UE determines in this step, for example jointly, a second set of the first type BFD-RS and a second set of the second type BFD-RS.

[0635] So as not to exceed the capabilities of each corresponding UE.

[0636] Step S1007. The UE uses the second set for BFD.

[0637] • In various embodiments with a second set of first type BFD-RS and a second set of second type BFD-RS, in this step, the UE uses these second sets of BFD-RS as ON BFD-RS.

[0638] An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a first device (e.g., 102) including a processor (e.g., processor 118), a memory (e.g., memory 130, memory 132, etc.), and a communication circuit (which may include, for example, transceiver 120). The first device is connected to a communication network via its communication circuit. The first device also includes computer executable instructions stored in the memory of the first device, which, when executed by the processor of the first device, causes the first device to: identify a device capability (e.g., UE capability), which is an indication of the ability of the first device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for multiple cells; send the device capability to a second device (e.g., gNode B), receive at least one message including information of a change in network configuration (e.g., different cells assigned to the UE, or different BDF-RSs assigned to the UE, or a change in the ON / OFF state of the cell) from the second device; and replace the first set of cells on which the first device performs BFD with the second set of cells based on the information of the change in network configuration, so that the network configuration does not exceed the device capability.

[0639] The embodiment described in the above paragraphs is one of many ways to solve the problem that the network configuration (e.g., the cell or BWP or BFD-RS assigned to the UE for performing BFD) exceeds the UE capabilities. Here, the UE identifies the device capabilities (e.g., UE capabilities) and sends them to the second device (e.g., gNode B), the device capabilities being an indication of the ability of the first device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for multiple cells. The second device then changes the network configuration so that the cells, BWP, and BFD-RS assigned to it for BFD do not exceed the UE capabilities. The UE receives at least one message including information about the change in network configuration from the second device, and in response, replaces the first set of cells on which the first device performs BFD with the second set of cells based on the information about the change in network configuration, so that the network configuration does not exceed the device capabilities. The second set of cells (and / or BWP and BFD-RS) can be provided to the UE by the second device.

[0640] As previously mentioned, the requirements for a UE to perform BFD can be significantly higher than conventional systems, where, according to the present disclosure, a UE may be assigned more than 2 different cells to perform BFD on, such as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, or even 36. As the inventors have recognized, without a proactive way to manage the load / demand on the UE, the UE's ability to provide BFD on cells where it is expected to provide BFD may fail. The present disclosure provides a number of ways to address this potential problem.

[0641] In the second approach, the UE itself determines that its UE capabilities are exceeded, and in turn applies a set of rules or procedures to replace a second set of cells with a first set of cells, the network configuration of which falls within the capabilities of the UE.

[0642] Similarly, although many of the exemplary embodiments provided herein describe discrete numbers or amounts, such as the number of cells, the number of reference signals, and / or BWP, the inventors recognize that the teachings of the present disclosure also encompass dynamic control to adapt to changes in power levels at the UE or other cells. Similarly, the teachings of the present disclosure have described various parameters (e.g., UE capabilities) in terms of integers (e.g., the number of cells). However, UE capability parameters and the demand for BFD functionality of the UE do not need to be integers (i.e., in the case where all cells place equal demands on the UE). For example, it is recognized that some cells may require more BFD processing capacity than other cells because perhaps (1) the number of BFD-RS they use is different from other cells, (2) the SNR or (signal to interference plus noise) ratio may impose greater BFD pressure on the UE than other cells, or (3) the power level at the cell may be below a threshold, which causes signal interference such as beam fading, zero offset, other BFD-RS attributes such as transmission periodicity, and other aspects such as frequency bandwidth and density. Therefore, these factors do not necessarily lead to a quantization level of network configuration represented by an integer number of cells, but also real numbers. In addition, these real numbers will have a time component that reflects changes in cell and channel states. As a non-limiting example, a UE may be assigned two cells, the first cell creating a demand of 90% of the standard cell demand at time T1, and the second cell creating a second demand of 110% of the standard cell demand. However, at time T2, the corresponding demands change to 110% and 120%, respectively, which in turn triggers the network or UE to determine that the demand exceeds the UE capabilities for BFD. In response to this implementation, the network adapts the cell configuration of the UE, or the UE decides by itself by applying a set of rules that the set of cells on which the UE will perform BFD will be replaced with a second set of cells whose demands are within the UE capabilities for BFD. Similarly, UE capabilities may not be static, so the changes identified in the UE capabilities will be implemented by the UE and / or the network and act as a triggering event similar to the above to replace the first set of cells with the second set of cells.

[0643] In an exemplary embodiment, the first device receives at least one message including information of a change in network configuration from the second device. The at least one message can be in several forms. For example, it can be in a radio resource control (RRC) signal, wherein the RRC signal contains an indication of the cell configuration of a candidate cell of the second cell set, the indication of whether BFD is enabled on a bandwidth part (BWP) of the candidate cell, whether BFD is enabled on the candidate cell, and whether at least one of a BFD reference signal (BFD-RS) is configured for the candidate cell. Alternatively, it can occur via MAC CE signaling or L1 signaling regarding activation of BFD, BWP and / or BFD-RS on the candidate cell. In the case of L1 signaling, the (multiple) signals may include a cell state index indicating the state of the candidate cell.

[0644] In an exemplary embodiment, as discussed above with respect to the “second approach,” a first device identifies a device capability that is an indication of an ability of the first device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for a plurality of cells; determines whether a network configuration of a first set of cells exceeds the device capability of performing BFD for the first set of cells for a plurality of cells; and in response to determining that the device capability is exceeded, replaces the first set of cells on which the first device performs BFD with a second set of cells.

[0645] In an exemplary embodiment, the first device compares the device capability with the network configuration of the first cell set, and reduces the number of cells in the second cell set relative to the first cell set so as to no longer exceed the device capability.

[0646] In an exemplary embodiment, the first device is used to: select a candidate cell to be included in the second cell set based on selection criteria, the selection criteria including at least one of: a cell index, a BWP index, a time in a cell state, a time in a BWP state, an inactivity time in a cell state, an inactivity time in a BWP state, a cell frequency, a frequency band of a cell, a frequency band of a BWP, a cell priority value, a BWP priority value, a service or service quality of a cell, a service or service quality of a BWP, a timing advance group of a cell, a cell type, whether a configuration of a cell is performed using a BFD reference signal (BFD-RS), at least one of BWP and BWP inactivity timer attributes, a first device measurement, and a cell state.

[0647] Likewise, in an exemplary embodiment, the first device may select a candidate cell to be included in the second set of cells based on a selection criterion including at least one of a BFD reference signal (BFD-RS) index, a BFD-RS priority value, and a quasi co-location attribute.

[0648] In an exemplary embodiment, a first device includes: a processor; a memory; and a communication circuit, the first device is connected to a communication network via the communication circuit, and the first device also includes computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, which, when executed by the processor, cause the first device to: identify a device capability, which is an indication of the ability of the first device to perform beam fault detection (BFD) for multiple BFD-reference signals (RS); send the device capability to a second device; receive at least one message including information about a change in network configuration from the second device; and replace a first set of cells on which the first device performs BFD with a second set of cells based on the information about the change in network configuration, so that the network configuration does not exceed the device capability.

[0649] In an exemplary embodiment, a first device includes: a processor; a memory; and a communication circuit, the first device is connected to a communication network via the communication circuit, and the first device also includes computer executable instructions stored in the memory, which, when executed by the processor, cause the first device to: identify a device capability, which is an indication of the ability of the first device to perform beam fault detection (BFD) for multiple BFD-reference signals (RS); determine whether a network configuration of a first cell set exceeds the device capability to perform BFD for a first BFD-RS set; and in response to determining that the device capability is exceeded, replace the first cell set on which the first device performs BFD with a second cell set, so that the network configuration does not exceed the device capability.

[0650] In an exemplary embodiment, a method for managing beam failure detection (BFD) in a first device is described, the first device including a processor, a memory, and a communication circuit, and connected to a communication network via the communication circuit, the method including: identifying a device capability, which is an indication of the ability of the first device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for multiple cells; sending the device capability to a second device; receiving at least one message including a change in network configuration from the second device; and replacing a first set of cells on which the first device performs BFD with a second set of cells based on the change in the network configuration, so that the network configuration does not exceed the device capability.

[0651] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions tangibly recorded thereon is described, which, when executed by a processing circuit, causes the processing circuit to manage beam failure detection in a first device, the method comprising: identifying a device capability, the device capability being an indication of the ability of the first device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for multiple cells; sending the device capability to a second device; receiving at least one message including a change in network configuration from the second device; and replacing a first set of cells on which the first device performs BFD with a second set of cells based on the change in the network configuration, such that the network configuration does not exceed the device capability.

[0652] In an exemplary embodiment, the second device includes a processor; a memory; and a communication circuit, the second device being connected to a communication network via its communication circuit, and the second device also includes computer executable instructions stored in the memory, which, when executed by the processor, cause the second device to: receive device capabilities in at least one message from the first device, the device capabilities including an indication of the device capabilities of the first device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) on a cell in the communication network; and send cell configuration information for a first set of cells to the first device, the cell configuration information including information indicating whether each cell is configured to have BDF enabled via at least one of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and L1 signaling.

[0653] In an exemplary embodiment, the second device sends cell configuration information via RRC signaling, and the RRC signaling includes an indication of the cell configuration of a candidate cell of a second cell set on which the first device performs BFD, the indication being about at least one of: whether BFD is enabled on a bandwidth part (BWP) of the candidate cell, whether BFD is enabled on the candidate cell, and whether BFD-RS is ON for the candidate cell.

[0654] In an exemplary embodiment, the second device sends the cell configuration information and an indication of whether the candidate cells in the second cell set have activated the BFD-RS through a MAC CE.

[0655] In an exemplary embodiment, the second device sends the cell configuration information and an indication of whether the candidate cells in the second cell set have activated BFD and BWP through a MAC CE.

[0656] In an exemplary embodiment, the second apparatus sends the cell configuration information and an indication of whether the candidate cells in the second cell set have activated BFD and BWP through L1 signaling.

[0657] In an exemplary embodiment, a method for managing beam failure detection (BFD) in a first device via configuration information sent from a second device is described, the second device including a processor, a memory, and a communication circuit, and connected to a communication network via the communication circuit, the method including: receiving an indication of the device capability of the first device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) on a cell in the communication network in at least one message from the first device; and sending cell configuration information for a first cell set to the first device, the cell configuration information including information indicating whether each cell is configured to enable BDF via at least one of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and L1 signaling.

[0658] Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the disclosed systems and methods can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from their spirit or essential features. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed at present are considered to be illustrative and not limited in all respects. It is not exhaustive, nor does it limit the present disclosure to the exact form disclosed. According to the above teachings, modifications and changes are possible, or can be obtained from the practice of the present disclosure without departing from its breadth or scope. Therefore, although specific configurations have been discussed herein, other configurations may also be adopted. Many modifications and other embodiments (e.g., combinations, rearrangements, etc.) can be implemented by the present disclosure, and are within the scope of ordinary technicians in the field, and are considered to fall within the scope of the disclosed subject matter and any equivalent thereof. The features of the disclosed embodiments can be combined, rearranged, omitted, etc. within the scope of the present invention to produce additional embodiments. In addition, certain functions can sometimes play an advantage without the corresponding use of other functions. Therefore, (multiple) applicants intend to accept all such substitutions, modifications, equivalents and variations within the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter.

[0659] Unless explicitly stated, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one," but rather "one or more." Further, where a phrase similar to "at least one of A, B, or C" is used in a claim, it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that in an embodiment only A may be present, in an embodiment only B may be present, in an embodiment only C may be present, or in a single embodiment any combination of elements A, B, and C may be present; for example, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.

[0660] The claims herein are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the element is expressly stated using the phrase "means for". As used herein, the terms "comprises", "comprising" or any other variation thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device comprising a list of elements includes not only those elements but may also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method or article. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes within their meaning, range and equivalence are intended to be included therein.

Claims

1. A method comprising: identifying a device capability, the device capability being an indication of an ability of the device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for a plurality of cells, determining whether a network configuration of the first set of cells exceeds a device capability to perform BFD on the first set of cells of the plurality of cells, and In response to determining that the device capabilities are exceeded, replacing a first set of cells on which the device performs BFD with a second set of cells.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The device capabilities are compared to the network configuration of the first set of cells, and the number of cells in the second set of cells is reduced relative to the first set of cells so that the device capabilities are no longer exceeded.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: A candidate cell to be included in the second set of cells is selected based on a selection criterion, the selection criterion comprising at least one of the following: Cell index, BWP index, Time in cell state, time in BWP state, Inactivity time in cell state, inactivity time in BWP state, Cell frequency, The frequency band of the cell and the frequency band of the BWP, Cell priority value, BWP priority value, The service or service quality of the cell, the service or service quality of the BWP, The time advance group of the community, Cell type, Whether the cell is configured using the BFD-reference signal (BFD-RS), at least one of the BWP and BWP-InactivityTimer attributes, Device measurements, and Cell status.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: A candidate cell to be included in the second set of cells is selected based on a selection criterion, the selection criterion comprising at least one of the following: BFD-Reference Signal (BFD-RS) index, BFD-RS priority value, and Quasi-co-location properties.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein: The second cell set includes a first cell group operating in a first frequency band and a second cell group operating in a second frequency band, and activation of one or more TCI state IDs for each cell in the first frequency band for a user equipment (UE) is triggered by a message sent to the UE identifying one of the cells in the first frequency band.

6. A device comprising: processor; Memory; a communication circuit via which the apparatus is connected to a communication network, the apparatus further comprising computer executable instructions stored in the memory, the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the apparatus to: receiving device capabilities in at least one message from another device, the device capabilities comprising an indication of a device capability of the other device to perform beam failure detection (BFD) for a cell in a communications network; as well as Cell configuration information of the first cell set is sent to the other apparatus, the cell configuration information including information indicating whether each cell is configured to have the BDF enabled via at least one of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and L1 signaling.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein: The computer executable instructions further cause the apparatus to: The cell configuration information is sent via RRC signaling, the RRC signaling including an indication of a cell configuration of a candidate cell of a second cell set on which the other apparatus performs BFD, the indication relating to at least one of the following: whether to enable BFD on the bandwidth part (BWP) of the candidate cell, whether to enable BFD on the candidate cell, and Whether BFD-RS is ON for the candidate cell.

8. The device of claim 6, wherein: The computer executable instructions further cause the apparatus to: The cell configuration information and an indication of whether the candidate cells in the second cell set have BFD and BWP activated by MAC CE are sent.

9. The device according to claim 6, wherein: The computer executable instructions further cause the apparatus to: The cell configuration information and an indication of whether a candidate cell in the second cell set has a BFD-RS activated by a MAC CE are sent.

10. The device of claim 6, wherein: The computer executable instructions further cause the apparatus to: The cell configuration information and an indication of whether the candidate cells in the second cell set have BFD and BWP activated by L1 signaling are sent.

11. The device according to claim 6, wherein: The second cell set includes a first cell group operating in a first frequency band and a second cell group operating in a second frequency band, and activation of one or more TCI state IDs of each cell in the first frequency band of a user equipment (UE) is triggered by a message sent to the UE identifying one of the cells in the first frequency band.

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