Enhancement for aircraft relay continuity

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) can communicate with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft using a first beam associated with the first relay device. The UE can receive, via a first relay device of a first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with a network entity, the second beam associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The UE can switch from the first beam to the second beam according to one or more physical layer parameters. The UE can communicate with the network entity using the second beam based at least in part on the handover.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following relates to wireless communications, including enhancements for aircraft relay continuity. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, and the like. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems). These systems may employ techniques such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include one or more base stations, each of which supports wireless communications for communication devices, which may be referred to as user equipment (UE). Summary of the invention

[0003] The described technology relates to improved methods, systems, devices and apparatuses that support enhancements for aircraft relay continuity. The described technology provides for signaling physical layer parameters of the next beam to be used for a relay aircraft. A user equipment (UE) may communicate with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft (e.g., may perform relay communication). The relay device may include any device of an aircraft that is capable of performing or otherwise supporting wireless communications within a wireless network. Relay communication may be performed using a first beam associated with a first relay device. In a broad sense, a reference to a beam may refer to any beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) or a beam pair (e.g., a transmit beam / receive beam pair) used for downlink transmission from a relay device to a UE or for uplink transmission from a UE to a relay device. In some aspects, the communication may include the UE receiving or otherwise obtaining an indication of one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for communication with a network entity. That is, the one or more physical layer parameters for the second beam may be for the same aircraft (e.g., the first aircraft) or for a different aircraft (e.g., the second aircraft, which may include its own relay device) selected for continued relay operation between the UE and the network entity. For example, the physical layer parameters may include an indication of the timing advance and frequency compensation for the second beam, or may include information for determining the timing advance and frequency compensation (e.g., delay and Doppler spread). Therefore, the UE may switch from the first beam to the second beam according to the one or more physical layer parameters and use the second beam to communicate with the network entity (e.g., continue to perform relay communication using the second beam via the first aircraft or the second aircraft).

[0004] Additionally or alternatively, aspects of the various techniques described herein provide for configuring, configuring, or otherwise determining a common or shared cell identifier (ID) to be used by an aircraft communicating with a UE within a geographic region. A geographic region may correspond to a continent, a country on a continent, a state, a province, or a territory within a country, a county or region within a state, or a city or autonomous region within a county. Therefore, each geographic region is assigned a unique cell ID for use by an aircraft communicating with a UE within the geographic region (communication between the UE and the network entity is relayed by the aircraft or strictly UE to aircraft communication, either or both). For example, a first geographic region may be assigned or otherwise assigned a first cell ID, a second geographic region may be assigned a second cell ID, and so on. Therefore, an aircraft (e.g., a wireless device of an aircraft) may determine that it is operating within a geographic region and select a corresponding cell ID for the geographic region for communication with a UE located within the geographic region. The aircraft may also be located within the geographic region, or may be operating near the geographic region and communicating with a UE located within the geographic region.

[0005] A method for wireless communication at a UE is described. The method may include: using a first beam associated with a first relay device of a first aircraft to communicate with a network entity via the first relay device; receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; switching from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters; and communicating with the network entity using the second beam based on the switching.

[0006] An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft using a first beam associated with the first relay device; receive, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; switch from the first beam to the second beam according to the one or more physical layer parameters; and communicate with the network entity using the second beam based on the switch.

[0007] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include: means for communicating with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft using a first beam associated with the first relay device; means for receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; means for switching from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters; and means for communicating with the network entity using the second beam based on the switching.

[0008] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: communicate with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft using a first beam associated with the first relay device; receive, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; switch from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters; and communicate with the network entity using the second beam based on the switch.

[0009] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters may include operations, features, components, or instructions for: receiving an indication of a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam; and switching to the second beam based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0010] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters may include operations, features, components, or instructions for: receiving an indication of a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based on the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both; and switching to the second beam based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0011] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters can be received via a radio resource control (RRC) message, downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof.

[0012] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a delay time between receiving the indication and using the second beam to communicate with the network entity based on the indication of one or more physical layer parameters, wherein the switching may be based on the delay time.

[0013] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, communicating with the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft may include operations, features, components, or instructions for the following items: sending an indication of positioning information of the UE to the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft, wherein the second beam may be based on the positioning information of the UE relative to the first aircraft or relative to the second aircraft.

[0014] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for: determining an identifier associated with the communication between the UE and the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft; and maintaining the identifier when the second relay device via the second aircraft communicates with the network entity using the second beam.

[0015] A method for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft is described. The method may include: relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft and the UE; identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and sending an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0016] An apparatus for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft is described. The apparatus may include: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: relay communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft and the UE; identify one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and send an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0017] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft is described. The apparatus may include: means for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft and the UE; means for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and means for sending an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0018] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: relay communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft and the UE; identify one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and send an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0019] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, at the relay device of the aircraft, switching from the first beam to the second beam is performed based on the one or more physical layer parameters; and relaying communication between the UE and the network entity using the second beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft.

[0020] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters may include operations, features, components, or instructions for: identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based on a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; and sending an indication of the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam, wherein the UE switches from the first beam to the second beam based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0021] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters may include operations, features, components, or instructions for: identifying a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; and sending an indication of the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam to the UE.

[0022] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters may be sent via an RRC message, a DCI, a MAC-CE, a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

[0023] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a delay time between the UE receiving the indication and using the second beam to communicate with the network entity, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

[0024] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof of the UE to the second relay device of the second aircraft via the network entity or directly via an inter-aircraft link.

[0025] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for: receiving an indication of positioning information of the UE from the UE; and sending the positioning information of the UE to the network entity, wherein the second beam may be based on the positioning information of the UE.

[0026] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for: determining that positioning information of the UE may be unknown; and sending an indication of aircraft positioning information, a first beam configuration and an identifier for the first beam, or both, to the network entity, wherein the second beam may be based on the aircraft positioning information, the first beam configuration and the identifier, or both.

[0027] A method for wireless communication at a wireless device of an aircraft is described. The method may include: determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region; selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft; and using the first cell identifier to communicate with a UE located within the first geographic region when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0028] An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device of an aircraft is described. The apparatus may include: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determine that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region; select a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft; and use the first cell identifier to communicate with a UE located within the first geographic region when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0029] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device of an aircraft is described. The apparatus may include: means for determining that the position of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region; means for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the position of the aircraft; and means for using the first cell identifier to communicate with a UE located within the first geographic region when the position of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0030] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a wireless device of an aircraft is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: determine that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region; select a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft; and use the first cell identifier to communicate with a UE located within the first geographic region when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0031] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for: receiving an indication of a set of cell identifiers corresponding to the set of geographic regions from a network entity within the first geographic region; and selecting the first cell identifier from the set of cell identifiers to be used for the communication with the UE based on the positioning of the aircraft.

[0032] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving an indication of the first cell identifier from a network entity associated with the first geographic region, wherein the first cell identifier may be used for communicating with the UE based on the reception.

[0033] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for determining that the aircraft may have moved from the first geographic region to a second geographic region from the set of geographic regions; and selecting a second cell identifier corresponding to the second geographic region for communication with a UE within the second geographic region based on the aircraft moving to the second geographic region.

[0034] A method of wireless communication at a network entity is described. The method may include: performing relayed communication with a UE via a first relay device of a first aircraft based on a first beam for relaying communication between the UE and the first relay device; identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communication between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and communicating an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0035] An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The apparatus may include: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: perform relay communication with a UE via a first relay device of a first aircraft based on a first beam for relaying communication between the UE and the first relay device; identify one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communication between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and communicate an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0036] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The apparatus may include: means for performing relayed communication with a UE via a first relay device of a first aircraft based on a first beam for relaying communication between the UE and the first relay device; means for identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communication between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and means for communicating an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0037] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: perform relayed communication with a UE via a first relay device of a first aircraft based on a first beam for relaying communication between the UE and the first aircraft; identify one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communication between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and communicate an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0038] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a delay time between the UE receiving the indication and the UE using the second beam to communicate with the network entity, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

[0039] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for relaying positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof of the UE from the first aircraft to the second relay device of the second aircraft, wherein the second beam may be based on the positioning information, the configuration information, the context information, or the combination thereof.

[0040] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for: receiving an indication of positioning information for the UE; and identifying the second beam based on the positioning information for the UE.

[0041] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for determining that positioning information of the UE may be unknown; and identifying the second beam based on the aircraft positioning information of the first aircraft, the first beam configuration for the first beam, or both.

[0042] A method of wireless communication at a network entity is described. The method may include: identifying a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier; and sending an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0043] An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The apparatus may include: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: identify a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier; and send an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0044] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The apparatus may include: means for identifying a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier; and means for sending an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0045] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a network entity is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: identify a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier; and send an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0046] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending the indication of the first cell identifier may include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending an indication of a set of identifiers corresponding to the set of geographic regions, wherein the first cell identifier may be used for communication between the UE and the aircraft based on the positioning of the aircraft within the first geographic region.

[0047] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for determining that the aircraft may be within the first geographic area; and sending an indication of the first cell identifier to the aircraft based at least in part on the aircraft being within the first geographic area. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0049] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0050] Figure 3 An example of a process supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0051] Figure 4 An example of a wireless communication system supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0052] Figure 5 An example of a process supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0053] Figure 6 An example of a wireless communication system supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0054] Figure 7 and Figure 8 A block diagram of a device supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0055] Fig. 9 A block diagram of a communications manager supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0056] Fig.10 A diagram of a system including devices supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0057] Fig.11 and Fig.12 A block diagram of a device supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0058] Fig.13 A block diagram of a communications manager supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0059] Fig.14 A diagram of a system including devices supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0060] Figures 15 to 18A flow chart illustrating a method of supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] A user equipment (UE) may support performing emergency communications, such as based on an end user of the UE experiencing an emergency (e.g., such as an accident, getting lost, or other emergency situation). Therefore, an aircraft may be configured with one or more relay devices (e.g., wireless communication nodes or devices capable of performing wireless communications) that are capable of relaying emergency and non-emergency communications between the UE and a network entity (e.g., to facilitate rescue and recovery of the end user, support communications between the UE and the network entity, or both). Relay communications may be performed using beamforming communication techniques (such as using one or more beams). One or more beams may be based on the movement of a single aircraft (e.g., from a first beam of a first aircraft to a second beam) or based on the movement of multiple aircraft (e.g., from a first beam of a first aircraft to a second beam of a second aircraft). For example, multiple aircraft may be within the range of the UE during takeoff or landing or at any time when the aircraft is flying below a threshold altitude. In some examples, multiple aircraft traversing an area may support relaying communications between the UE and a network entity. Wireless networks may support techniques for identifying a next relay aircraft for a given UE (e.g., based on the location of the UE and the location of aircraft traversing an area) to continue enabling relay communications between the UE and network entities. However, such networks do not provide a mechanism for configuring the UE for the next relay beam, regardless of whether the second beam (e.g., the next beam to be used for communication) is for the same aircraft or for another aircraft.

[0062] The described technology provides for signaling the physical layer parameters of the next beam to be used for relaying an aircraft. A user equipment (UE) may communicate with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft (e.g., may perform relay communication). A relay device may include any device of an aircraft that is capable of performing or otherwise supporting wireless communication within a wireless network. Relay communication may be performed using a first beam associated with a first relay device. In a broad sense, a reference to a beam may refer to any beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) or a beam pair (e.g., a transmit beam / receive beam pair) used for downlink transmission from a relay device to a UE or for uplink transmission from a UE to a relay device. In some aspects, communication may include a UE receiving or otherwise obtaining an indication of one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for communication with a network entity. That is, one or more physical layer parameters for a second beam may be for the same aircraft (e.g., a first aircraft) or for a different aircraft (e.g., a second aircraft, which may include its own relay device) selected for continued relay operation between a UE and a network entity. For example, the physical layer parameters may include an indication of a timing advance and a frequency compensation for the second beam, or may include information for determining the timing advance and the frequency compensation (e.g., delay and Doppler spread). Thus, the UE may switch from the first beam to the second beam according to the one or more physical layer parameters and use the second beam to communicate with the network entity (e.g., continue to perform relay communication using the second beam via the first aircraft or the second aircraft).

[0063] Additionally or alternatively, aspects of the various techniques described herein provide for configuring, configuring, or otherwise determining a common or shared cell identifier (ID) to be used by an aircraft communicating with a UE within a geographic region. A geographic region may correspond to a continent, a country on a continent, a state, a province, or a territory within a country, a county or region within a state, or a city or autonomous region within a county. Therefore, each geographic region is assigned a unique cell ID for use by an aircraft communicating with a UE within the geographic region (communication between the UE and the network entity is relayed by the aircraft or strictly UE to aircraft communication, either or both). For example, a first geographic region may be assigned or otherwise assigned a first cell ID, a second geographic region may be assigned a second cell ID, and so on. Therefore, an aircraft (e.g., a wireless device of an aircraft) may determine that it is operating within a geographic region and select a corresponding cell ID for the geographic region for communication with a UE located within the geographic region. The aircraft may also be located within the geographic region, or may be operating near the geographic region and communicating with a UE located within the geographic region.

[0064] Aspects of the disclosure are first described in the context of wireless communication systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by, and described with reference to, apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flow diagrams relating to enhancements for aircraft relay continuity.

[0065] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an Advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating according to other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0066] The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communication system 100, and may include devices in different forms or with different capabilities. In various examples, the network entities 105 may be referred to as network elements, mobility elements, radio access network (RAN) nodes, or network equipment, among other nomenclature. In some examples, the network entities 105 and the UE 115 may communicate wirelessly via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., radio frequency (RF) access links). For example, the network entity 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) within which the UE 115 and the network entity 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area within which the network entity 105 and the UE 115 may support signal communications according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs).

[0067] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the coverage area 110 of the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile or both stationary and mobile at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or with different capabilities. Figure 1 Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communication with various types of devices such as Figure 1 Other UEs 115 or network entities 105 are shown communicating.

[0068] As described herein, a node of the wireless communication system 100 (which may be referred to as a network node or a wireless node) may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein), a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein), a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, the node may be a UE 115. As another example, the node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In other aspects of this example, the first node, the second node, and the third node may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, references to UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, etc. may include disclosure of UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, etc. as nodes. For example, a disclosure that UE 115 is configured to receive information from network entity 105 also discloses that the first node is configured to receive information from a second node.

[0069] In some examples, the network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or with each other, or both. For example, the network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130 via one or more backhaul communication links 120 (e.g., according to S1, N2, N3, or other interface protocols). In some examples, the network entities 105 may communicate with each other via the backhaul communication links 120 (e.g., according to X2, Xn, or other interface protocols) directly (e.g., directly between the network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130). In some examples, the network entities 105 may communicate with each other via the midhaul communication links 162 (e.g., according to the midhaul interface protocol) or the fronthaul communication links 168 (e.g., according to the fronthaul interface protocol) or any combination thereof. The backhaul communication links 120, the midhaul communication links 162, or the fronthaul communication links 168 may be or include one or more wired links (e.g., electrical links, optical fiber links), one or more wireless links (e.g., radio links, wireless optical links), etc. or various combinations thereof. UE 115 may communicate with core network 130 via communication link 155 .

[0070] One or more of the network entities 105 described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a transceiver base station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation Node B, or a Gigabit Node B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), a Home Node B, a Home Evolved Node B, or other suitable terms). In some examples, the network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in an aggregated (e.g., monolithic, stand-alone) base station architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single network entity 105 (e.g., a single RAN node, such as a base station 140).

[0071] In some examples, the network entity 105 may be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) that may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more network entities 105, such as an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN)). For example, the network entity 105 may include one or more of the following: a central unit (CU) 160, a distributed unit (DU) 165, a radio unit (RU) 170, a RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 175 (e.g., a near real-time RIC (near RT RIC), a non-real-time RIC (non-RT RIC)), a service management and orchestration (SMO) 180 system, or any combination thereof. The RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH), a remote radio unit (RRU), or a transmit receive point (TRP). One or more components of the network entity 105 in the decomposed RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entity 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations). In some examples, one or more network entities 105 of the decomposed RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., virtual CU (VCU), virtual DU (VDU), virtual RU (VRU)).

[0072] The functional split between CU 160, DU 165, and RU 170 is flexible and may support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, and any combination thereof) are performed at CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between CU 160 and DU 165 such that CU 160 may support one or more layers of a protocol stack and DU 165 may support one or more different layers of a protocol stack. In some examples, CU 160 may host higher protocol layer (e.g., layer 3 (L3), layer 2 (L2)) functionality and signaling (e.g., radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)). The CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170, and the one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170 may host lower protocol layers, such as layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between the DUs 165 and RUs 170, such that the DUs 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack, and the RUs 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DUs 165 may support one or more different cells (e.g., via one or more RUs 170). In some cases, the functional split between CU 160 and DU 165 or between DU 165 and RU 170 may be within the protocol layer (e.g., some functions of the protocol layer may be performed by one of CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by different ones of CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170). CU 160 may be further functionally split into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 via midhaul communication links 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u), and DU 165 may be connected to one or more RUs 170 via fronthaul communication links 168 (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface). In some examples, midhaul communication link 162 or fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented based on an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities 105 that communicate via such communication links.

[0073] In some wireless communication systems (e.g., wireless communication system 100), infrastructure and spectrum resources for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, thereby providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to core network 130). In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) may be partially controlled by each other. One or more IAB nodes 104 may be referred to as donor entities or IAB donors. One or more DUs 165 or one or more RUs 170 may be controlled in part by one or more CUs 160 associated with a donor network entity 105 (e.g., donor base station 140). One or more donor network entities 105 (e.g., IAB donors) may communicate with one or more additional network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication links 120). The IAB node 104 may include an IAB mobile terminal (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by a coupled IAB donor's DU 165. The IAB-MT may include an independent set of antennas for relaying communications with the UE 115, or may share the same antennas of the IAB node 104 (e.g., of the RU 170) for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node 104 (e.g., referred to as a virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT)). In some examples, the IAB node 104 may include a DU 165 that supports communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB node 104, UE 115) within a relay chain or configuration (e.g., downstream) of the access network. In such cases, one or more components of the decomposed RAN architecture (e.g., one or more IAB nodes 104 or components of the IAB node 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.

[0074] For example, an access network (AN) or RAN may include an access node (e.g., an IAB donor), communications between an IAB node 104, and one or more UEs 115. The IAB donor may facilitate a connection between the core network 130 and the AN (e.g., via a wired or wireless connection to the core network 130). That is, the IAB donor may refer to a RAN node having a wired or wireless connection to the core network 130. The IAB donor may include a CU 160 and at least one DU 165 (e.g., and RU 170), wherein the CU 160 may communicate with the core network 130 via an interface (e.g., a backhaul link). The IAB donor and the IAB node 104 may communicate via an F1 interface according to a protocol defining a signaling message (e.g., an F1 AP protocol). Additionally or alternatively, CU 160 may communicate with the core network via an interface (which may be an example of a portion of a backhaul link) and may communicate with other CUs 160 (e.g., CU 160 associated with an alternative IAB donor) via an Xn-C interface (which may be an example of a portion of a backhaul link).

[0075] An IAB node 104 may refer to a RAN node that provides IAB functionality (e.g., access for UE 115, wireless self-backhaul capabilities, etc.). DU 165 may act as a distributed scheduling node toward child nodes associated with IAB node 104, and IAB-MT may act as a scheduled node toward a parent node associated with IAB node 104. That is, an IAB donor may be referred to as a parent node that communicates with one or more child nodes (e.g., an IAB donor may relay for transmissions to UEs through one or more other IAB nodes 104). Additionally or alternatively, depending on the relay chain or configuration of the AN, an IAB node 104 may also be referred to as a parent node or child node of other IAB nodes 104. Thus, the IAB-MT entity of the IAB node 104 may provide a Uu interface for the child IAB node 104 to receive signaling from the parent IAB node 104 , and a DU interface (eg, DU 165 ) may provide a Uu interface for the parent IAB node 104 to signal to the child IAB node 104 or the UE 115 .

[0076] For example, the IAB node 104 may be referred to as a parent node supporting communications for a child IAB node or as a child IAB node associated with an IAB donor, or both. The IAB donor may include a CU 160 having a wired or wireless connection (e.g., backhaul communication link 120) to the core network 130, and may act as a parent node of the IAB node 104. For example, the DU 165 of the IAB donor may relay the transmission to the UE 115 through the IAB node 104, or may directly signal the transmission to the UE 115, or both. The CU 160 of the IAB donor may signal the establishment of a communication link to the IAB node 104 via the F1 interface, and the IAB node 104 may schedule the transmission (e.g., the transmission relayed from the IAB donor to the UE 115) via the DU 165. That is, data may be relayed to and from the IAB node 104 via signaling via the NR Uu interface of the MT to the IAB node 104. Communications with the IAB node 104 may be scheduled by the DU 165 of the IAB donor, and communications with the IAB node 104 may be scheduled by the DU 165 of the IAB node 104 .

[0077] Where the techniques described herein are applied to the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support enhancements for aircraft relay continuity as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally or alternatively be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., an IAB node 104, a DU 165, a CU 160, a RU 170, a RIC 175, a SMO 180).

[0078] UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where a "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, a client, or the like. UE 115 may also include or be referred to as a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a multimedia / entertainment device (e.g., a radio, an MP3 player, or a video device), a camera, a gaming device, a navigation / positioning device (e.g., a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) device based on, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System), BeiDou system, GLONASS or Galileo system, ground-based equipment, etc.), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a smartbook, a personal computer, a smart device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, virtual reality goggles, a smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet)), a drone, a robot / robotic device, a vehicle, a vehicle's equipment, a meter (e.g., a parking meter, an electricity meter, a gas meter, a water meter), a monitor, a gas pump, an appliance (e.g., a kitchen appliance, a washing machine, a dryer), a location tag, a medical / health care device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. In some examples, UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communication (MTC) device, etc., which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances or vehicles, meters, etc.

[0079] The UE 115 described herein may be capable of communicating with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, which may sometimes act as relays, as well as network entities 105 and network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, etc. Figure 1 shown.

[0080] UE 115 and network entity 105 can use resources associated with one or more carriers to communicate with each other wirelessly via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., access links). The term "carrier" can refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a physical layer structure defined to support communication link 125. For example, a carrier for communication link 125 may include a portion of an RF spectrum band (e.g., bandwidth portion (BWP)) that operates according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-APro, NR). Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling for coordinating carrier operations, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communication system 100 may support communication with UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. According to the carrier aggregation configuration, UE 115 may be configured to have multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation can be used for both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers. Communication between the network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between these devices and any portion (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of the network entity 105. For example, the terms "send," "receive," or "communicate" when referring to the network entity 105 may refer to any portion of a network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, CU 160, DU 165, RU 170) of a RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities 105).

[0081] In some examples, such as in a carrier aggregation configuration, a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates the operation of other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute RF Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be identified based on a channel raster used for discovery by UE 115. A carrier may operate in a standalone mode, in which case initial acquisition and connection may be made by UE 115 via the carrier, or a carrier may operate in a non-standalone mode, in which case a different carrier (e.g., of the same or different radio access technology) is used to anchor the connection.

[0082] The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include downlink transmissions (e.g., forward link transmissions) from the network entity 105 to the UE 115, uplink transmissions (e.g., return link transmissions) from the UE 115 to the network entity 105, or both, as well as other transmission configurations. A carrier may carry downlink communications or uplink communications (e.g., in FDD mode), or may be configured to carry downlink communications and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode).

[0083] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the RF spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a set of bandwidths of carriers for a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4 megahertz (MHz), 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz). Devices of the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., the network entity 105, the UE 115, or both) may have a hardware configuration that supports communications using a particular carrier bandwidth, or may be configured to support communications using one of the carrier bandwidths in the set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a network entity 105 or a UE 115 that supports concurrent communications using carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured to operate using a portion (e.g., a subband, a BWP) or all of the carrier bandwidth.

[0084] The signal waveform transmitted via the carrier may include multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may refer to a resource of one symbol period (e.g., the duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The amount of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both), so that a relatively higher amount of resource elements (e.g., in the transmission duration) and a relatively higher modulation scheme order may correspond to a relatively higher communication rate. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of RF spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity used for communication with UE 115.

[0085] One or more parameter sets for a carrier may be supported, and the parameter sets may include subcarrier spacing (Δf) and cyclic prefixes. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs with the same or different parameter sets. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time, and communications of a UE 115 may be constrained to one or more active BWPs.

[0086] The time interval for the network entity 105 or the UE 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit, which may be, for example, a sampling period T s =1 / (Δf max ·N f) seconds, where Δf max It can represent the supported subcarrier spacing, and N f The supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size may be indicated. Time intervals of the communication resources may be organized according to radio frames, each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0087] Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes or time slots, and each subframe or time slot may have the same duration. In some examples, the frame may be divided into subframes (e.g., in the time domain), and each subframe may be further divided into a certain number of time slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of time slots, and the number of time slots may depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include a certain number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix appended in front of each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, the time slot may be further divided into a plurality of micro time slots associated with one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may be associated with one or more (e.g., N f The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or the operating frequency band.

[0088] A subframe, a time slot, a mini-time slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the amount of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in a burst of a shortened TTI (sTTI)).

[0089] According to various techniques, physical channels may be multiplexed using carriers for communication. Physical control channels and physical data channels may be multiplexed for signaling via downlink carriers, for example, using one or more of a time division multiplexing (TDM) technique, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique, or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) of a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across a system bandwidth of a carrier or a subset of that system bandwidth. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of UEs 115. For example, one or more UEs in UE 115 may monitor or search a control region to obtain control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or more control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. The aggregation level of a control channel candidate may refer to the amount of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with coded information for a control information format having a given payload size. The search space sets may include a common search space set configured for transmitting control information to multiple UEs 115 , and a UE-specific search space set for transmitting control information to a specific UE 115 .

[0090] The network entity 105 may provide communication coverage via one or more cells (e.g., macro cells, small cells, hot spots, or other types of cells, or any combination thereof). The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with the network entity 105 (e.g., using a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or other cell identifier) ​​used to distinguish adjacent cells. In some examples, a cell may also refer to a coverage area 110 or a portion of a coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) on which a logical communication entity operates. Depending on various factors such as the capabilities of the network entity 105, such cells may range from smaller areas (e.g., structures, subsets of structures) to larger areas. For example, a cell may be or may include a building, a subset of a building, or an external space between or overlapping coverage areas 110, and the like.

[0091] A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access to a UE 115 that has a service subscription with a network provider that supports the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower power network entity 105 (e.g., a lower power base station 140) than a macro cell, and the small cell may operate using the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency band as the macro cell. A small cell may provide unrestricted access to a UE 115 that has a service subscription with a network provider, or may provide restricted access to a UE 115 associated with a small cell (e.g., a UE 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), a UE 115 associated with a user in a home or office). A network entity 105 may support one or more cells, and may also use one or more component carriers to support communications via one or more cells.

[0092] In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)) that may provide access to different types of devices.

[0093] In some examples, the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140, RUs 170) may be mobile and thus provide communication coverage for mobile coverage areas 110. In some examples, different coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same network entity 105. In some other examples, overlapping coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by different network entities 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of network entities 105 provide coverage for various coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0094] The wireless communication system 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different network entities 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the network entities 105 may have different frame timing, and in some examples, transmissions from different network entities 105 may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous operation or asynchronous operation.

[0095] Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automated communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or with a network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140) without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communication from devices with integrated sensors or meters to measure or acquire information and relay such information to a central server or application that uses the information or presents the information to a person interacting with the application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or implement automated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples of applications for MTC devices include: smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, health care monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geographic event monitoring, queue management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based commercial charging. In one aspect, the technology disclosed herein may be applicable to MTC or IoT UEs. MTC or IoT UE may include MTC / enhanced MTC (eMTC, also known as CAT-M, Cat M1) UE, NB-IoT (also known as CAT NB1) UE, and other types of UE. eMTC and NB-IoT may refer to future technologies that may evolve from or be based on these technologies. For example, eMTC may include FeMTC (further eMTC), eFeMTC (further enhanced eMTC), mMTC (massive MTC), and NB-IoT may include eNB-IoT (enhanced NB-IoT) and FeNB-IoT (further enhanced NB-IoT).

[0096] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ an operating mode that reduces power consumption, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports unidirectional communication via transmission or reception but does not transmit and receive concurrently). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other energy-saving techniques for UE 115 include entering a power-saving deep sleep mode when not engaged in active communications, operating using limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrowband protocol type that is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., a set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within a guard band of a carrier, or outside a carrier.

[0097] The wireless communication system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable communication or low-latency communication or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). UE 115 may be designed to support ultra-reliable or low-latency or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communication may include private communication or group communication, and may be supported by one or more services (such as push-to-talk, video, or data). Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms "ultra-reliable", "low latency", and "ultra-reliable low latency" are used interchangeably herein.

[0098] In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured to support communication directly with other UEs 115 via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (e.g., according to a peer-to-peer (P2P), D2D, or sidelink protocol). In some examples, one or more UEs 115 in a group that are performing D2D communication may be within a coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a RU 170), which may support aspects of such D2D communication configured by the network entity 105 (e.g., scheduled by the network entity). In some examples, one or more UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the coverage area 110 of the network entity 105, or may otherwise be unable or not configured to receive transmissions from the network entity 105. In some examples, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may support a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each of the other UEs 115 in the group. In some examples, network entity 105 may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In some other examples, D2D communications may be performed between UEs 115 without involving network entity 105.

[0099] In some systems, the D2D communication link 135 can be an example of a communication channel (such as a sidelink communication channel) between vehicles (e.g., UE 115). In some examples, the vehicles can communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or some combination of these items. The vehicles can signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergency situations, or any other information related to the V2X system. In some examples, vehicles in the V2X system can communicate with roadside infrastructure (such as roadside units), or communicate with the network via one or more network nodes (e.g., network entity 105, base station 140, RU 170) using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication, or both.

[0100] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC), which may include at least one control plane entity (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) for managing access and mobility and at least one user plane entity (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)) for routing packets or interconnecting to an external network. The control plane entity may manage non-access layer (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management of UE 115 served by a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be delivered through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to the IP service 150 of one or more network operators. IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or packet-switched streaming services.

[0101] The wireless communication system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands that may be in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Generally speaking, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelength ranges from about one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features (which may be referred to as clusters), but these waves may be sufficient to penetrate structures so that macro cells provide services to UEs 115 located indoors. Communications using UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) than communications using lower frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0102] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate using a super high frequency (SHF) region (also known as a centimeter band) that may be in the range of 3 GHz to 30 GHz or an extremely high frequency (EHF) region (e.g., 30 GHz to 300 GHz) (also known as a millimeter band) using a spectrum. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between UE 115 and network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170), and the EHF antenna of the corresponding device may be smaller and closer than the UHF antenna. In some examples, such technology may facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the device. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be affected by greater attenuation and shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein may be adopted across transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the use of frequency bands specified across these frequency regions may vary by country or regulatory agency.

[0103] The wireless communication system 100 can utilize licensed and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can use unlicensed bands (such as the 5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band) to employ license assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology. When operating using unlicensed RF spectrum bands, devices such as network entity 105 and UE 115 can employ carrier sensing for conflict detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations using unlicensed bands can be based on carrier aggregation configuration (e.g., LAA) in combination with component carriers operating using licensed bands. Operations using unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, and the like.

[0104] The network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170) or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas that can be used to employ technologies such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication, or beamforming. The antennas of the network entity 105 or UE 115 may be located in one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly such as an antenna tower. In some examples, antennas or antenna arrays associated with the network entity 105 may be located at different geographical locations. The network entity 105 may include an antenna array having a collection of multiple rows and columns of antenna ports that the network entity 105 can use to support beamforming for communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna panel may support RF beamforming for signals sent via the antenna ports.

[0105] The network entity 105 or UE 115 may use MIMO communication to utilize multipath signal propagation and improve spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such a technique may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may be sent, for example, by a transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, the multiple signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry information associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques include: single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to the same receiving device; and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to multiple devices.

[0106] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or direct an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining signals conveyed via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating along a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals conveyed via antenna elements may include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to signals carried via antenna elements associated with the device. Adjustments associated with each of these antenna elements may be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device or relative to some other orientation).

[0107] The network entity 105 or UE 115 may use beam scanning techniques as part of a beamforming operation. For example, the network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170) may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be sent multiple times by the network entity 105 along different directions. For example, the network entity 105 may send signals according to different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmission directions. Transmissions along different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by a transmitting device (such as network entity 105), or by a receiving device (such as UE 115)) beam directions for later transmission or reception by the network entity 105.

[0108] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be sent by a transmitting device (e.g., transmitting network entity 105, transmitting UE 115) along a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device (such as receiving network entity 105 or receiving UE 115)). In some examples, a beam direction associated with transmission along a single beam direction may be determined based on signals sent along one or more beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals sent by network entity 105 along different directions, and may report to network entity 105 an indication of the signal received by UE 115 with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality.

[0109] In some examples, transmission by a device (e.g., by network entity 105 or UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from network entity 105 to UE 115). UE 115 may report feedback indicating precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured set of beams across a system bandwidth or one or more subbands. Network entity 105 may send a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which may or may not be precoded. UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel codebook, a linear combination codebook, a port selection codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals sent along one or more directions by a network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170), UE 115 may use similar techniques to send signals multiple times along different directions (e.g., to identify a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115), or to send signals along a single direction (e.g., to send data to a receiving device).

[0110] A receiving device (e.g., UE 115) may perform receiving operations according to multiple receiving configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from a receiving device (e.g., network entity 105). For example, the receiving device may perform reception according to multiple receiving directions by: receiving via different antenna subarrays, processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different receiving beamforming weight sets (e.g., different directional listening weight sets) applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or processing received signals according to different receiving beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" according to different receiving configurations or receiving directions. In some examples, the receiving device may use a single receiving configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). A single receive configuration may be aligned along a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receive configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or other acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0111] The wireless communication system 100 may be a packet-based network operating according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or PDCP layer may be IP-based. The RLC layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate via logical channels. The MAC layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also implement error detection techniques, error correction techniques, or both to support retransmission to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the RRC layer may provide the establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection for a radio bearer supporting user plane data between the UE 115 and the network entity 105 or the core network 130. The PHY layer may map transport channels to physical channels.

[0112] UE 115 and network entity 105 may support retransmission of data to increase the likelihood that the data is successfully received. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is a technique for increasing the likelihood of correctly receiving data via a communication link (e.g., communication link 125, D2D communication link 135). HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer under poor radio conditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise ratio conditions). In some examples, a device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, in which case the device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbol in the slot. In some other examples, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot or according to some other time interval.

[0113] UE 115 may communicate with network entity 105 via a first relay device using a first beam associated with a first aircraft. UE 115 may receive, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. UE 115 may switch from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters. UE 115 may communicate with network entity 105 using the second beam based at least in part on the switching.

[0114] A relay device of the aircraft (e.g., a UE 115 and / or a network entity 105 when configured or otherwise supporting wireless communications on the aircraft) may relay communications between the UE 115 and the network entity 105 using a first beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft and the UE 115. The relay device may identify one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE 115 and the network entity 105, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The relay device may send an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE 115.

[0115] A wireless device of the aircraft (e.g., a UE 115 and / or a network entity 105 when configured or otherwise supporting wireless communication on the aircraft) may determine that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region. The wireless device may select a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based at least in part on the location of the aircraft. When the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region, the wireless device may use the first cell identifier to communicate with the UE 115 located within the first geographic region.

[0116] The network entity 105 may perform relayed communications with the UE 115 via the first relay device based at least in part on the first beam used to relay communications between the UE 115 and the first relay device of the first aircraft. The network entity 105 may identify one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used to relay communications between the UE 115 and the network entity 105, the second beam being associated with the second relay device of the second aircraft. The network entity 105 may communicate an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE 115 via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0117] The network entity 105 may identify a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region, wherein the network entity 105 is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier. The network entity 105 may send an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE 115 and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0118] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system 200 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 200 may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100.

[0119] The wireless communication system 200 may include a UE 205 and an aircraft 210, which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein. For example, a reference to the aircraft 210 may refer to a relay device or any wireless device operating on the aircraft or otherwise associated with the aircraft, which is capable of performing wireless communications between the aircraft and a UE (such as UE 205), a network entity, or with other wireless devices. The wireless device of the aircraft may be implemented at or by the UE, at or by the network entity, or at or by both devices. For example, the wireless device may include one or more subcomponents, functions, or features of a network entity implemented on the aircraft, such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or other network entity features or functions. The wireless device may support wireless communications between the aircraft 210 and a network entity of a terrestrial network (TN) (e.g., a cellular-based wireless network) or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) (e.g., a satellite-based cellular wireless network). The wireless device may also be capable of performing or otherwise implementing wireless communications between aircraft (e.g., inter-aircraft communications). The wireless device may support or otherwise perform wireless communication based on a cellular interface (e.g., a Uu interface), a sidelink interface (e.g., a PC5 interface), or any other interface for wireless communication between wireless devices.

[0120] The wireless communication system 200 may support air-to-ground (ATG) communications. For example, the aircraft 210 may include a wireless device (e.g., implemented as or via a UE function, a network entity function, or other function implemented for wireless communication) coupled to one or more antennas on the bottom, side, or top of the aircraft 210. The network entity may support ATG communications using one or more antennas that are directional or otherwise tilted upward. Other onboard devices (e.g., the aircraft 210) may rely on customer premises equipment (CPE) deployment to perform such ATG communications.

[0121] Various types of services may be supported for ATG communication. For example, ATG communication may include, but is not limited to, in-flight passenger communications (e.g., commercial traffic), route operations communications (e.g., flight plans, aircraft maintenance, weather), air traffic control (e.g., as a backup to traditional air traffic control communication systems). Another ATG communication type may include emergency services from UEs on the ground (such as SOS signaling when UEs (such as end users of UEs) are experiencing emergency situations, getting lost, etc.). Such emergency services may include sending relatively small amounts of data to support rescue and recovery efforts, such as relying on MTC types or other small data service technologies. However, the aircraft is moving so that the aircraft conveying the emergency service (or any other type of service, such as relay communication between UE and network entities) will be relatively quickly out of the range of the UE. Therefore, the wireless communication system 200 may support aircraft relay continuity based on the positioning of the UE and the positioning of the next relay aircraft to identify the next aircraft to communicate with the UE. The next aircraft may be identified by the current aircraft communicating with the UE and / or by a network entity managing the relay communication with the UE via the aircraft traversing the area. This may enable subsequent communications with the UE (eg, in response to an emergency or SOS transmission feedback) after the initial relay aircraft leaves the area (eg, out of range of the UE).

[0122] Although techniques for identifying and configuring the next aircraft are supported, conventional techniques do not provide a mechanism for signaling to the UE the physical layer parameters for the next beam to be used for UE-to-aircraft communication. That is, UE-to-aircraft communication may be performed in a directional manner, such as using one or more beams (e.g., transmit beams, receive beams, or transmit beam / receive beam pairs) to increase communication range and / or throughput. Directional communication techniques rely on various physical layer parameters for determining the communication direction (e.g., beam) based on positioning, direction of travel (e.g., in four polar coordinates), travel speed, travel angle (e.g., reference to altitude upward or downward), and other physical channel parameters (e.g., propagation characteristics of the channel). The communication direction (e.g., beam) may also be based on the capabilities of the UE and aircraft or other supported functions. For example, the supported antenna configurations, antenna panels, antenna ports, or other analog or digital beamforming techniques may determine how the device can perform beamforming communications using one or more beams. In some examples, attempting to use ATG communications using directional communication techniques using the wrong beam may result in a complete loss of communication between the UE and the aircraft and the resulting network. In some emergency situations, such loss of communications may result in disruption of rescue and recovery efforts for the end user of the UE.

[0123] However, in the case where directional communication technology is applied to communication between UE and aircraft, beam tracking and management functions may be important given the speed and movement of the aircraft. For example, the UE may be able to use a first beam to communicate with a single aircraft. However, the movement of the aircraft may cause the aircraft to be located in a different direction relative to the UE, so that when the aircraft is in a second position, the second beam can be used for communication between the aircraft and the UE. However, conventional technology does not provide a mechanism for indicating information about the next beam to be used for communication with the UE. Alternatively, conventional technology relies on a beam failure recovery (BFR) technique in which the UE must determine that communication with the aircraft using the first beam has not yet met a performance threshold. Therefore, the UE must perform a beam discovery procedure to find the next beam to be used for communication with the aircraft. This BFR process takes time to execute, which can result in the loss of communication opportunities with the aircraft using the second beam when the aircraft leaves the coverage area of ​​the UE before the second beam can be found. In some cases, the second position fix may be associated with a different aircraft (eg, in relay aircraft communications) such that the next beam to be used for communications with the UE is associated with the wireless device of the next aircraft.

[0124] Thus, aspects of the techniques described herein provide various techniques for signaling physical layer parameters of a next beam (e.g., a second beam) to UE 205 so that UE 205 can more quickly tune to the second beam to continue communications with aircraft 210. It should be understood that the second beam in this context can be a second beam of the same aircraft (e.g., aircraft 210), such as when the aircraft is still within range of UE 205 but is located in a different position relative to UE 205, or the second beam can be for a different aircraft. The wireless communication system 200 illustrates an example in which the second beam is associated with a first aircraft, and Figure 4 The wireless communication system 400 illustrates an example in which the second beam is associated with a different (eg, second) aircraft.

[0125] Thus, UE 205 may be communicating with a network entity via a first relay device (e.g., a wireless device) of a first aircraft (e.g., aircraft 210). Communication between UE 205 and aircraft 210 may be performed using a first beam. The first beam may correspond to directional communication using beamforming techniques. The first beam may include a transmit beam or a receive beam of UE 205, a transmit beam or a receive beam of aircraft 210, or a transmit beam / receive beam pair between devices. In some examples, communication using the first beam may include aircraft 210 sending or otherwise conveying an indication of a physical layer parameter associated with a second beam to UE 205. That is, in Figure 2In the example shown, the second beam may correspond to a next beam to be used for communication with the network entity via the aircraft 210. The UE 205, the aircraft 210, or both may use the physical layer parameters to switch to the second beam, and the UE 205 may use the second beam to communicate with the network entity. That is, the second beam may be the next beam to be used for ongoing communication between the UE 205 and the network entity via the aircraft 210. Signaling the physical layer parameters to the UE 205 may enable the UE 205 to quickly tune, configure, or otherwise implement communication using the second beam to provide continuity for communication between the network entity and the UE 205.

[0126] The physical layer parameters may generally be based on the expected location of the aircraft 210 when communicating using the second beam. For example, the aircraft 210 may be moving from a first location to a second location. When the aircraft 210 is at the first location, the first beam may be suitable for communication between the UE 205 and the aircraft 210. As the aircraft 210 moves to the second location, the second beam may be better suited to continue the communication between the UE 205 and the aircraft 210. The second location may be identified or otherwise determined based on the location, orientation, speed, or other positioning information of the aircraft 210 and the location of the UE 205. The second location may be determined by the aircraft 210, or may be determined by a network entity based on the aircraft 210 signaling such information (e.g., speed, direction, or other positioning information) to the network entity.

[0127] The determination of the second position may permit determination of various physical layer parameters of the second beam. For example, the second position may be relative to the positioning of the UE, which may define physical layer parameters between the UE 205 and the aircraft 210 when at the second position, such as a delay for the second beam, a Doppler shift for the second beam, or both. Based on the delay, this may provide an indication of a timing advance to be used for communications between the UE 205 and the aircraft 210 using the second beam. Based on the Doppler shift, this may provide an indication of a frequency compensation to be used for communications between the UE 205 and the aircraft 210 using the second beam. That is, the delay and Doppler shift corresponding to the first position may be different from the delay and Doppler shift corresponding to the second position. This may result in different timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​being used for communications using the first beam relative to the second beam. Signaling these physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE 205 during communications using the first beam may enable the UE 205 to quickly tune to the second beam when the first beam fails (e.g., without having to perform a BFR procedure), thereby improving continuity of communications between the UE 205 and network entities via the aircraft 210.

[0128] In some examples, the physical layer parameters signaled to the UE 205 may include timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam. For example, the aircraft 210 or a network entity may calculate, identify, or otherwise determine the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​based on the delay and Doppler shift for the second location, and send or otherwise provide an indication of the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam to the UE 205 via the aircraft 210. Both the UE 205 and the aircraft 210 may use these timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​to switch to the second beam.

[0129] In some examples, the physical layer parameters signaled to the UE 205 may include a delay and a Doppler shift for the second beam. For example, the aircraft 210 or a network entity may calculate or otherwise determine the delay and Doppler shift for the second location based on the aircraft position, direction of travel, speed, angle of travel (e.g., altitude), or other positioning information of the aircraft 210. The aircraft 210 may send or otherwise provide an indication of the delay and Doppler shift for the second beam to the UE 205. The UE 205 may then calculate, identify, or otherwise determine a timing advance and frequency compensation value for the second beam using the delay and Doppler shift indicated by the aircraft 210. The UE 205 may switch to the second beam based on the timing advance and frequency compensation values.

[0130] In some examples, the physical layer parameters signaled to the UE 205 may include information of the aircraft 210. For example, the aircraft 210 may signal its location, direction of travel, velocity, etc. to the UE 205. The UE 205 may use such information to calculate or otherwise determine a second position (e.g., the location of the expected aircraft 210), and thus calculate or otherwise determine a corresponding delay and Doppler shift for the second beam. The UE 205 may use the delay and Doppler shift to calculate, identify, or otherwise determine a timing advance and frequency compensation value for the second beam. The UE 205 and the aircraft 210 may switch to the second beam based on the timing advance and frequency compensation values.

[0131] In some examples, the aircraft 210 may use various signaling techniques to indicate the physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE 205. For example, the aircraft 210 may use a radio resource control (RRC) message, downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a broadcast transmission, or a paging message. For example, if the UE 205 is operating in an RRC connected mode, the DCI, MAC-CE, or RRC signaling may be used to indicate the physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE 205. If the UE 205 is operating in an RRC inactive or idle state, broadcast or paging signaling may be used to signal the physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE 205. In some aspects, the paging size may affect the paging signal technique.

[0132] In some examples, the UE 205 may use the first beam (when available) to send or otherwise provide an indication of its positioning information to a network entity via the aircraft 210. For example, the UE 205 may be configured with various positioning determination features, functions, or capabilities. One example may include the UE 205 storing the last known position of the UE 205 and transmitting the last known position as the positioning information. Another example may include the UE 205 being configured with a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellite capable of determining the positioning information of the UE 205 using GNSS. The UE 205 may use other techniques to identify or otherwise determine the positioning information of the UE 205 (e.g., the last used cell ID, the last detected Wi-Fi signal, the ID of the last neighboring UE, or other parameters that can be used to locate the UE 205). Therefore, the positioning information of the UE 205, when known, may be signaled to the aircraft 210 or used by the UE 205 when determining the second beam. In other cases, the UE 205 may not know its location information or the location information of the UE 205 cannot be determined by the aircraft 210 or the network entity.

[0133] In some aspects, the aircraft 210 may send or otherwise provide an indication of the positioning information of the UE 205 to the network entity. For example, when the network entity is managing aspects of communications between the UE 205 and the aircraft 210, the network entity may identify or otherwise determine the physical layer parameters for the second beam. For example, the network entity may receive the indication of the positioning information and / or the physical layer parameters for the second beam from the aircraft 210. The network entity may use the positioning information of the UE 205 (when known) to identify or otherwise determine the second beam.

[0134] For example, the network entity may be communicating with multiple aircraft in proximity to UE 205. The network entity may collect the positioning information of UE 205 (when known) and the positioning information of each aircraft that communicates with UE 205 or may potentially communicate with UE 205. That is, each aircraft (including aircraft 210, such as when the positioning information of UE 205 is unknown) may send or otherwise provide speed, direction of travel, altitude information, or other positioning information to the network entity, which may determine the second beam based on the communication with UE 205 using the first beam. In some examples, each aircraft may send or otherwise provide its positioning information to the network entity periodically or in response to receiving an emergency message from UE 205. The network entity may use the positioning information of each aircraft to determine the second position, which may then define the delay and Doppler shift for the second beam. The delay and Doppler shift may be used to find the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam. Thus, in some examples a network entity may communicate physical layer parameters to UE 205 (eg, via aircraft 210).

[0135] In some examples, a common or shared identifier may be used for communications between UE 205 and network entities via one or more aircraft. That is, the association between physical aircraft beams and logical cells may be continuously reconfigured so that the same aircraft entity identifier (gNB / Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) / UE / Relay ID), cell ID, and tracking area code (TAC) may be associated with the location of UE 205. For example, an identifier associated with communications between UE 205 and a network entity via a relay aircraft may be maintained when switching to a second beam of a second aircraft. Each aircraft communicating with UE 205 may use the identifier during such communications.

[0136] Thus, UE 205 and aircraft 210 may switch from the first beam to the second beam to communicate with the network entity via aircraft 210 using the physical layer parameters of the second beam signaled to UE 205. This may improve communications via the aircraft, for example when providing relay aircraft continuity to UE 205.

[0137] Figure 3An example of a process 300 that supports enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The process 300 may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100 or the wireless communication system 200. Aspects of the process 300 may be implemented at or by a UE 305 or an aircraft 310, which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein. For example, reference to the aircraft 310 may refer to a wireless device operating on or otherwise associated with the aircraft that is capable of performing wireless communications between the aircraft and a UE (such as the UE 305), a network entity, or both devices.

[0138] At 315, aircraft 310 may send or otherwise provide an indication of physical layer parameters of the second beam to UE 305. The indication may be provided using the first beam. For example, UE 305 and aircraft 310 may be using the first beam to perform wireless communications. The first beam may correspond to or otherwise be based on communications between UE 305 and aircraft 310 using directional techniques. Directional techniques may include using the first beam based on positioning information of UE 305 and aircraft 310. In some examples, the communications between UE 305 and aircraft 310 may be relay communications for UE 305 to communicate with a network entity via aircraft 310.

[0139] At 320, UE 305 identifies or otherwise determines a timing advance and frequency compensation value for a second beam to be used for communications between UE 305 and aircraft 310. That is, due to the movement of aircraft 310, the first beam will become unavailable for continued communications between UE 305 and aircraft 310. Thus, anticipating future positioning of aircraft 310 relative to UE 305 may enable identification of a next beam (e.g., a second beam) to be used for directional communications between UE 305 and aircraft 310. One or more physical layer parameters of the second beam indicated to UE 305 may enable determination of a timing advance and frequency compensation factor for the second beam, which may enable a rapid switch from communications using the first beam to communications using the second beam, thereby improving continuity of communications for UE 305.

[0140] In some examples, the physical layer parameters of the second beam may include an indication of the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam. That is, the aircraft 310 or the network entity may identify or otherwise determine the second beam and calculate the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam. The network entity or the aircraft 310 may use the first beam to signal the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam to the UE 305, and the UE 305 may switch to the second beam accordingly.

[0141] In some examples, the physical layer parameters of the second beam may include an indication of the delay and Doppler shift for the second beam. In this example, the UE 305 may use the delay and Doppler shift to determine the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam and switch to the second beam accordingly.

[0142] In some examples, the physical layer parameters of the second beam may include an indication of positioning information for aircraft 310. For example, the physical layer parameters of the second beam signaled to UE 305 may include the position, speed, direction, or other positioning information of aircraft 310. UE 305 may use such positioning information as well as its own positioning information to determine the delay and Doppler shift of the second beam. UE 305 may use the delay and Doppler shift to determine the timing advance and frequency compensation values ​​for the second beam and switch to the second beam accordingly.

[0143] At 325, UE 305 and aircraft 310 may perform communication using the second beam. For example, UE 305 and aircraft 310 may switch from the first beam to the second beam according to a physical layer parameter signaled to UE 305. The second beam may enable continued communication between UE 305 and aircraft 310 after aircraft 310 has moved to a different location. This may improve the continuity of communication for UE 305. In an example where the communication between UE 305 and aircraft 310 is a relay communication, this may enable continued communication between UE 305 and a network entity via aircraft 310.

[0144] Figure 4 An example of a wireless communication system 400 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 200 may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100 or the wireless communication system 200 or aspects of the process 300 .

[0145] The wireless communication system 400 may include a UE 405 as well as an aircraft 410, an aircraft 415, and a network entity 420, which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein. For example, a reference to any aircraft may refer to a wireless device operating on or otherwise associated with the aircraft, the wireless device being capable of performing wireless communications between the aircraft and a UE (such as UE 405), a network entity (such as network entity 420), or with other wireless devices. In some examples, the network entity 420 may also be considered an ATG communication network (e.g., ATG-gNB) entity because the network entity 420 is capable of performing wireless communications with one or more aircraft.

[0146] Various aspects of the techniques described herein provide various techniques for signaling physical layer parameters of a next beam (e.g., a second beam) to a UE 405 so that the UE 405 can more quickly tune to the second beam to continue communications via an aircraft. It should be understood that the second beam in this context can be a second beam of the same aircraft or the second beam can be for a different aircraft. The wireless communication system 200 illustrates an example in which the second beam is associated with a first aircraft (e.g., the same aircraft), and Figure 4 The wireless communication system 400 illustrates an example in which the second beam is associated with a different (eg, second) aircraft (eg, aircraft 415).

[0147] Thus, UE 405 may be communicating with network entity 420 via a first relay device (e.g., wireless device) of a first aircraft (e.g., aircraft 410). Communication between UE 405 and aircraft 410 may be performed using a first beam. The first beam may correspond to directional communication using beamforming techniques. The first beam may include a transmit beam or a receive beam of UE 405, a transmit beam or a receive beam of aircraft 410, or a transmit beam / receive beam pair between devices. In some examples, communication using the first beam may include aircraft 410 sending or otherwise conveying an indication of a physical layer parameter associated with a second beam to UE 405. That is, in Figure 4 In the example shown, the second beam may correspond to a next beam to be used for communication with the network entity via the aircraft 415. The UE 405, the aircraft 415, or both may use the physical layer parameters to switch to the second beam, and the UE 405 may communicate with the network entity 420 via the aircraft 415 using the second beam. That is, the second beam may be the next beam to be used for ongoing communication between the UE 405 and the network entity via the aircraft. Signaling the physical layer parameters to the UE 405 may enable the UE 405 to quickly tune, configure, or otherwise implement communication using the second beam to provide continuity for communication between the network entity 420 and the UE 405.

[0148] The physical layer parameters may generally be based on the expected location of aircraft 415 when using the second beam to communicate with UE 405. For example, aircraft 410 may be communicating with UE 405 using a first beam based on the location of UE 405 and aircraft 410. When aircraft 410 is located at the first location, the first beam may be suitable for communication between UE 405 and aircraft 410. As aircraft 410 moves out of range of UE 405, the next aircraft to be used for communication with UE 405 may be identified and otherwise configured. Figure 4In the illustrated non-limiting example, the next aircraft selected for communication with UE 405 may be aircraft 415. That is, based on the positioning information of UE 405 (when known) and the positioning information of aircraft 415, aircraft 410 or network entity 420 may identify or otherwise determine that aircraft 415 is more suitable for continued communication with UE 405. Thus, aspects of the techniques described herein provide for exchanging various information for identifying or otherwise determining a second beam.

[0149] It should be appreciated that exchanging the various information discussed below may be performed between aircraft or via network entity 420. That is, in some examples, wireless devices of aircraft 410 and aircraft 415 may be able to communicate directly with each other to exchange information. In other examples, aircraft 410 may send or otherwise provide information to network entity 420, which may forward the information to aircraft 415. Broadly speaking, depending on the circumstances, the information exchanged between aircraft 410, aircraft 415, and network entity 420 may include positioning information, configuration information, or context information for UE 405. Although the following discussion regarding the exchange of such information for determining a second beam for UE 405 is described in the context of the second beam being with a different aircraft, it should be appreciated that the second beam may also be exchanged in the context of a situation where the second beam is with a first aircraft (such as a situation where the second beam is with a different aircraft). Figure 2 This information is exchanged between the first aircraft and the network entity 420 as shown).

[0150] In some examples, the positioning information exchanged to enable determination of the second beam may include the location of UE 405 (e.g., such as measured by the first aircraft when available or reported by UE 405). In some examples, the information may include various context information, such as an indication of the last message received from UE 405, the last message transmitted to UE 405, or other identifiable information. In some examples, the configuration information may include previous L1 configurations / measurements for UE 405 (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), angle of arrival (AoA), delay, Doppler shift, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), time domain resource allocation (TDRA), frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) for aircraft-to-UE and UE-to-aircraft links using the first beam for continued relaying by aircraft 415 using the second beam with the same L1 configuration / measurements).

[0151] In some examples, the information may include an identifier of the first aircraft. That is, in some examples the identifier may be associated with communications between UE 405 and network entity 420 via aircraft 410. For example, the association between physical aircraft beams and logical cells may be continuously reconfigured so that the same aircraft entity identifier (gNB / IAB / UE / Relay ID), cell ID, and TAC are always associated with finding the location of UE 405 (e.g., for communications between UE 405 and network entity 420 via the aircraft).

[0152] Thus, information may be exchanged between aircraft 410 and aircraft 415 directly via each aircraft's wireless device or via relaying via network entity 420. Information may be exchanged via a cellular link (e.g., via a Uu interface) using RRC, MAC-CE, or DCI signaling, or via a side link (e.g., via a PC5 interface) using RRC, MAC-CE, or sidelink control information (SCI) signaling. When inter-aircraft communication cannot be performed, network entity 420 may forward information from aircraft 410 to aircraft 415.

[0153] Thus, the exchanged information may be used to identify or otherwise determine a second beam based on the expected position of the aircraft 415. The second beam may be better suited for communications between the UE 405 and the aircraft 415. The determination of the second position may permit determination of various physical layer parameters of the second beam. Thus, the UE 405 and the aircraft 415 may switch to the second beam to communicate with the network entity 420 via the aircraft 415 using the physical layer parameters of the second beam signaled to the UE 405. This may improve communications via the aircraft, for example, when providing relay aircraft continuity to the UE 405.

[0154] Figure 5An example of a process 500 for supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The process 500 may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100, 200, or 400 and / or aspects of the process 300. Aspects of the process 500 may be implemented at or by a UE 505 or an aircraft 510, a network entity 515, and an aircraft 520, which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein. For example, a reference to an aircraft may refer to a wireless device operating on or otherwise associated with the aircraft, the wireless device being capable of performing wireless communications between the aircraft and a UE (such as UE 505), a network entity (such as network entity 515), or both devices. The process 500 illustrates a non-limiting example in which a second beam is associated with a second wireless device of a second aircraft (e.g., aircraft 520 in this example). Although process 500 is described as a scenario where network entity 515 is capable of relaying communications between aircraft 510 and aircraft 520 , it should be appreciated that in other scenarios communications may be direct communications (eg, inter-aircraft communications) rather than through network entity 515 .

[0155] At 525, UE 505 and aircraft 510 may be performing wireless communications using a first beam. The first beam may refer to directional communications used for communications between UE 505 and aircraft 510. In some examples, the communications may include UE 505 sending or otherwise providing an indication of its positioning information to aircraft 510 (when available). When positioning information for UE 505 is not available, such positioning information may be determined based on the positioning of aircraft 510 and the first beam when communicating with UE 505 and based on the context / configuration used for communications between UE 505 and aircraft 510.

[0156] At 530, UE 510 may send or otherwise provide (and base station 515 may receive or otherwise obtain) relayed communications from UE 505. For example, aircraft 510 may forward one or more messages received from UE 505 to network entity 515 as well as forwarding positioning information of UE 505 and its own positioning and first beam information.

[0157] At 535, network entity 515 may send or otherwise provide (and aircraft 520 may receive or otherwise obtain) a relay request. The relay request may generally signal a request that aircraft 520 will be the next aircraft to communicate with UE 505 (e.g., aircraft 520 will be positioned such that the second beam is best suited for communicating with UE 505). In some examples, the relay request may be a forwarding of information received from UE 505 via aircraft 510. For example, positioning information, configuration information, or context information for communications between UE 505 and aircraft 510 using the first beam may be provided in the relay request. In other examples, the relay request may simply indicate a request for positioning information for aircraft 520.

[0158] At 540, aircraft 520 may send or otherwise provide (and network entity 515 may receive or otherwise obtain) an acknowledgment (ACK) message in response to the relay request. In some examples, the acknowledgment message may confirm that aircraft 520 will communicate with UE 505 and include various positioning information of aircraft 520 (e.g., such as position information, vector information, or other positioning information).

[0159] exist Figure 5 In the illustrated non-limiting example, the network entity 515 identifies or otherwise determines the physical layer parameters of the second beam using the positioning information of the UE 505 and the aircraft 520. However, it should be appreciated that in some examples the aircraft 510 may determine the physical layer parameters of the second beam based on the positioning information of the aircraft 520 received directly or via the network entity 515. In other examples, the aircraft 520 may determine the physical layer parameters based on the positioning information of the UE 505 and its positioning information and signal the physical layer parameters to the network entity 515 in an acknowledgement message.

[0160] Thus, at 545 the network entity 515 may send or otherwise provide (and the aircraft 510 may receive or otherwise obtain) an indication of physical layer (e.g., L1) parameters of positioning information for the aircraft 520 (such as timing advance and frequency compensation values, delay, and Doppler shift).

[0161] In some examples, there may be a delay time associated with UE 505 using the second beam to communicate. For example, aircraft 520 may not have yet arrived at a location corresponding to the second beam. The delay time may generally define a time at which UE 505 receives an indication of the physical layer parameters of the second beam and when UE 505 may use the second beam to communicate. In some examples, network entity 515 may include an indication of the delay time to aircraft 510, which may send an indication of the delay time to UE 505.

[0162] At 550, aircraft 510 may send or otherwise provide an indication of the physical layer parameters of the second beam to UE 505. The indication may be provided using the first beam. For example, UE 505 and aircraft 510 may be performing wireless communications using the first beam. In some examples, the communication between UE 505 and aircraft 510 may be a relay communication for UE 505 to communicate with network entity 515 via aircraft 510.

[0163] At 555, the UE 505 identifies or otherwise determines a timing advance and frequency compensation value for a second beam to be used for communications between the UE 505 and the aircraft 520. The one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam indicated to the UE 505 may enable determination of a timing advance and frequency compensation factor for the second beam, which may enable a fast switch from communications with the aircraft 510 using the first beam to communications with the aircraft 520 using the second beam, thereby improving continuity of communications for the UE 505.

[0164] At 560, the UE 505 and the aircraft 520 may perform communication using the second beam. For example, the UE 505 and the aircraft 520 may switch to the second beam according to the physical layer parameters signaled to the UE 505. The second beam may enable continued communication between the UE 505 and the network entity 515 via the aircraft 520. This may improve the continuity of the communication of the UE 505. In an example where the communication between the UE 505 and the aircraft 520 is a relay communication, this may enable continued communication between the UE 505 and the network entity 515 via the aircraft 520.

[0165] Figure 6 An example of a wireless communication system 600 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Wireless communication system 600 may implement aspects of wireless communication systems 100, 200, or 400 or aspects of process 300 or process 500.

[0166] The wireless communication system 600 may include a UE 605 and an aircraft 610, a network entity 615, and an aircraft 620, which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein. For example, a reference to any aircraft may refer to a wireless device operating on or otherwise associated with the aircraft, the wireless device being capable of performing wireless communications between the aircraft and a UE (such as UE 605), a network entity (such as network entity 615), or with other wireless devices. In some examples, the network entity 615 may also be considered an ATG communication network (e.g., ATG-gNB) entity because the network entity 615 is capable of performing wireless communications with one or more aircraft.

[0167] Various aspects of the techniques described herein provide various techniques for signaling physical layer parameters of a next beam (e.g., a second beam) to a UE 605 so that the UE 605 can more quickly tune to the second beam to continue communications via an aircraft. It should be understood that the second beam in this context can be a second beam of the same aircraft or the second beam can be for a different aircraft. The wireless communication system 200 illustrates an example in which the second beam is associated with a first aircraft (e.g., the same aircraft), and Figure 4 The wireless communication system 400 and Figure 6 The wireless communication system 600 illustrates an example in which the second beam is associated with a different (eg, second) aircraft (eg, aircraft 620).

[0168] Thus, UE 605 may be communicating with network entity 615 via a first relay device (e.g., wireless device) of a first aircraft (e.g., aircraft 610). Communication between UE 605 and aircraft 610 may be performed using a first beam. In some examples, communication using the first beam may include aircraft 610 sending or otherwise conveying to UE 605 an indication of a physical layer parameter associated with a second beam. That is, in Figure 6 In the example shown, the second beam may correspond to a next beam to be used for communication with the network entity via the aircraft 620. The UE 605, the aircraft 620, or both may use the physical layer parameters to switch to the second beam, and the UE 605 may communicate with the network entity 615 via the aircraft 620 using the second beam. That is, the second beam may be the next beam to be used for ongoing communication between the UE 605 and the network entity via the aircraft. Signaling the physical layer parameters to the UE 605 may enable the UE 605 to quickly tune, configure, or otherwise implement communication using the second beam to provide continuity for communication between the network entity 615 and the UE 605.

[0169] As discussed above, exchanging the various information discussed herein may be performed between aircraft or via network entity 615. That is, in some examples, wireless devices of aircraft 610 and aircraft 620 may be able to communicate directly with each other to exchange information. In other examples, aircraft 610 may send or otherwise provide information to network entity 615, which may forward the information to aircraft 620. Broadly speaking, depending on the circumstances, the information exchanged between aircraft 610, aircraft 620, and network entity 615 may include positioning information, configuration information, or context information of UE 605.

[0170] In some examples, the positioning information exchanged to enable determination of the second beam may include the location of UE 605 (e.g., such as measured by the first aircraft or reported by UE 605 when available). In some examples, the information may include an identifier of the first aircraft. That is, in some examples the identifier may be associated with communications between UE 605 and network entity 615 via aircraft 610. For example, the association between physical aircraft beams and logical cells may be continuously reconfigured so that the same aircraft entity identifier (gNB / IAB / UE / relay ID), cell ID, and TAC are always associated with finding the location of UE 605 (e.g., for communications between UE 605 and network entity 615 via aircraft).

[0171] Thus, information may be exchanged between aircraft 610 and aircraft 620 directly via the wireless devices of each aircraft or via relaying via network entity 615. Information may be exchanged via a cellular link (e.g., via a Uu interface) using RRC, MAC-CE, or DCI signaling, or via a side link (e.g., via a PC5 interface) using RRC, MAC-CE, or SCI signaling. When inter-aircraft communication cannot be performed, network entity 615 may forward information from aircraft 610 to aircraft 620.

[0172] Thus, the exchanged information may be used to identify or otherwise determine a second beam based on the expected position of the aircraft 620. The second beam may be better suited for communications between the UE 605 and the aircraft 620. The determination of the second position may permit determination of various physical layer parameters of the second beam. Thus, the UE 605 and the aircraft 620 may switch to the second beam to communicate with the network entity 615 via the aircraft 620 using the physical layer parameters of the second beam signaled to the UE 605. This may improve communications via the aircraft, for example, when providing relay aircraft continuity to the UE 605.

[0173] In some aspects, the selection of the next relay aircraft may be based on the zone 625. For example, a zone may be defined to correspond to the zone 625. For example, the zone may generally define an area in which communications with the UE 605 may be performed. The network entity 615 may determine that the aircraft 620 is the most suitable aircraft within the zone for continued communication with the UE 605 based on the zone (e.g., based on the positioning information of the aircraft 620 relative to the positioning information of the UE 605). In some examples, each aircraft operating within the zone may be assigned a priority level, and the network entity 615 selects the aircraft 620 based on the priority level of the aircraft 620. For example, the priority level of a given aircraft may be based on various factors, such as the communication capabilities of the wireless device of the aircraft 620, the distance between the potential aircraft and the UE 605, or other positioning information. In some examples, a zone identifier may be assigned to the zone and signaled to the aircraft performing the communication with the UE 605.

[0174] In some examples, region 625 may correspond to a first geographic region. That is, in some examples, region 625 may correspond to a first geographic region configured with a first cell identifier.

[0175] In addition to or in lieu of the techniques discussed above regarding signaling physical layer parameters of the second beam to UE 605, the present disclosure also provides that one or more geographic regions are assigned unique identifiers for use by aircraft operating within the geographic region. Each aircraft operating within a given geographic region may select a cell identifier (e.g., a unique identifier) ​​configured for the geographic region and use this identifier when communicating with a UE located within the geographic region. In some examples, region 625 may correspond to a first geographic region configured with a first cell identifier.

[0176] More particularly, additionally or alternatively, aspects of the various techniques described herein provide for configuring, configuring or otherwise determining a common or shared cell identifier (ID) to be used by an aircraft communicating with a UE within a geographic region. A geographic region may correspond to any of a continent, a country on a continent, a state, a province, or a territory within a country, a county or region within a state, or a city or autonomous region within a county. Therefore, geographic regions are each assigned a unique cell identifier for use by an aircraft communicating with a UE within the geographic region (either one or both of the communication between the UE and the network entity being relayed by the aircraft relay or strictly the communication between the UE and the aircraft). For example, a first geographic region may be assigned or otherwise assigned a first cell identifier, a second geographic region may be assigned a second cell identifier, and so on. Therefore, an aircraft (e.g., a wireless device of an aircraft) may determine that it is operating within a geographic region and select a corresponding cell identifier for the geographic region for communication with a UE located within the geographic region. The aircraft may also be located within the geographic region, or may be operating near the geographic region and communicating with a UE located within the geographic region.

[0177] In some examples, this may support globally varying aircraft cell identifiers. Aircraft may use different cell identifiers when located in different geographic regions (e.g., located in different countries or regions). In some examples, the cell identifier for a particular region may include an NR cell global identifier (NCGI) formed based on a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier and an NC cell identifier (NCI). The PLMN identifier may change when the operator changes due to being located in a different geographic region. The NCI may change on a smaller scale (e.g., all aircraft may use the same identifier when operating in a particular area.

[0178] In some aspects, aircraft changing cell identifiers based on geographic regions may be triggered by different signaling techniques. One technique may include an aircraft being (pre)configured with a list of cell identifiers corresponding to different geographic regions (e.g., a set of cell identifiers). An aircraft entering a new geographic region may simply adopt the cell identifier of the geographic region using the list of cell identifiers. Another technique may include an aircraft being signaled with a cell identifier. For example, in the case of being signaled with a set of cell identifiers or not being signaled with a set of cell identifiers, the aircraft may receive an indication of the cell identifier (such as from an access and management function (AMF) or other entity in the core network) via a network entity (such as network entity 615). The aircraft being signaled with a cell identifier may be used as a trigger for the aircraft to switch to the signaled cell identifier for communication with a UE located within the geographic region. In addition, an aircraft transitioning from one geographic region to a different geographic region may adopt a cell identifier for the new geographic region (e.g., adopting a second cell identifier based on moving into a second geographic region).

[0179] Figure 7 A block diagram 700 of a device 705 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 705 may be an example of aspects of the UE 115 as described herein. The device 705 may include a receiver 710, a transmitter 715, and a communication manager 720. The device 705 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0180] Receiver 710 may provide means for receiving information (such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to enhancements for aircraft relay continuity). The information may be communicated to other components of device 705. Receiver 710 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of multiple antennas.

[0181] The transmitter 715 may provide a component for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 705. For example, the transmitter 715 may transmit information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels related to enhancements for aircraft relay continuity, data channels, information channels), such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 715 may be co-located with the receiver 710 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 715 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of multiple antennas.

[0182] The communication manager 720, the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the enhancements for aircraft relay continuity as described herein. For example, the communication manager 720, the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or various combinations thereof or components thereof may support methods for performing one or more of the functions described herein.

[0183] In some examples, the communication manager 720, the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in a communication management circuit), in software (e.g., executed by a processor), or any combination thereof. The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof that is configured to or otherwise supports components for performing the functions described herein. In some examples, a processor and a memory coupled to the processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by executing instructions stored in the memory by the processor).

[0184] Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communication manager 720, the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code executed by a processor (e.g., as communication management software). If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functionality of the communication manager 720, the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a GPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured or otherwise supported to perform the functions described in the present disclosure).

[0185] In some examples, the communication manager 720 can be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send) using or otherwise cooperating with the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or both. For example, the communication manager 720 can receive information from the receiver 710, transmit information to the transmitter 715, or integrate with the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0186] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 720 may support wireless communications at the UE. For example, the communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a network entity via a first relay device using a first beam associated with a first aircraft. The communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. The communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for switching from the first beam to the second beam according to the one or more physical layer parameters. The communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with the network entity using the second beam based on the switching.

[0187] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 720 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of an aircraft and the UE. The communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0188] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 720 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. The communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft. The communication manager 720 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0189] By including or configuring a communication manager 720 according to the examples described herein, the device 705 (e.g., a processor controlling the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, the communication manager 720, or a combination thereof or otherwise coupled thereto) may support techniques for signaling to a UE physical layer parameters for a next beam to improve communications between the UE and an aircraft.

[0190] Figure 8 A block diagram 800 of a device 805 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 805 may be an example of aspects of the device 705 or UE 115 as described herein. The device 805 may include a receiver 810, a transmitter 815, and a communication manager 820. The device 805 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0191] Receiver 810 may provide means for receiving information (such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof) associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to enhancements for aircraft relay continuity). The information may be communicated to other components of device 805. Receiver 810 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of multiple antennas.

[0192] The transmitter 815 may provide a component for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 805. For example, the transmitter 815 may transmit information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels related to enhancements for aircraft relay continuity, data channels, information channels), such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 815 may be co-located with the receiver 810 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 815 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of multiple antennas.

[0193] Device 805 or its various components may be examples of components for performing various aspects of enhancements for aircraft relay continuity as described herein. For example, communication manager 820 may include beam manager 825, physical layer parameter manager 830, beam 835, relay manager 840, region manager 845, or any combination thereof. Communication manager 820 may be an example of various aspects of communication manager 720 as described herein. In some examples, communication manager 820 or its various components may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, transmit) using or otherwise cooperating with receiver 810, transmitter 815, or both. For example, communication manager 820 may receive information from receiver 810, transmit information to transmitter 815, or be integrated in combination with receiver 810, transmitter 815, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0194] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 820 may support wireless communications at the UE. The beam manager 825 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a network entity via a first relay device using a first beam associated with a first aircraft. The physical layer parameter manager 830 may be configured to or otherwise support components for receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. The beam 835 may be configured to or otherwise support components for switching from the first beam to the second beam according to the one or more physical layer parameters. The beam manager 825 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with the network entity using the second beam based on the switching.

[0195] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 820 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. The relay manager 840 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of an aircraft and the UE. The physical layer parameter manager 830 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The physical layer parameter manager 830 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0196] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 820 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. The region manager 845 may be configured to or otherwise support means for determining that the position of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. The region manager 845 may be configured to or otherwise support means for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the position of the aircraft. The region manager 845 may be configured to or otherwise support means for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the position of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0197] Fig. 9 A block diagram 900 of a communication manager 920 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 920 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 720, the communication manager 820, or both as described herein. The communication manager 920 or its various components may be examples of components for performing various aspects of enhancements for aircraft relay continuity as described herein. For example, the communication manager 920 may include a beam manager 925, a physical layer parameter manager 930, a beam 935, a relay manager 940, a region manager 945, a physical layer parameter indication manager 950, a delay time manager 955, a positioning manager 960, a cell identifier manager 965, a beam switching manager 970, an inter-aircraft coordination manager 975, a region switching manager 980, or any combination thereof. Each of these components may communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0198] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 920 may support wireless communications at the UE. The beam manager 925 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a network entity via a first relay device using a first beam associated with a first aircraft. The physical layer parameter manager 930 may be configured to or otherwise support components for receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. The beam 935 may be configured to or otherwise support components for switching from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters. In some examples, the beam manager 925 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with the network entity using the second beam based on the switching.

[0199] In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured or otherwise support means for receiving an indication of a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam. In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured or otherwise support means for switching to the second beam based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0200] In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured to or otherwise support means for receiving an indication of a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam. In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured to or otherwise support means for identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based on the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both. In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured to or otherwise support means for switching to the second beam based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0201] In some examples, the indication of one or more physical layer parameters is received via an RRC message, a DCI, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

[0202] In some examples, the delay time manager 955 may be configured as or otherwise support components for identifying a delay time between receiving an indication and using a second beam to communicate with a network entity based on an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, wherein the switching is based on the delay time.

[0203] In some examples, to support communication with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft, the positioning manager 960 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of positioning information for the UE to the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft, wherein the second beam is based on the positioning information of the UE relative to the first aircraft or relative to the second aircraft.

[0204] In some examples, the cell identifier manager 965 may be configured or otherwise support components for determining an identifier associated with communications between the UE and the network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft. In some examples, the cell identifier manager 965 may be configured or otherwise support components for maintaining the identifier when communicating with the network entity using a second beam via a second relay device of a second aircraft.

[0205] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 920 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. The relay manager 940 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of an aircraft and the UE. In some examples, the physical layer parameter manager 930 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. In some examples, the physical layer parameter manager 930 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0206] In some examples, beam switching manager 970 may be configured or otherwise support components for switching from a first beam to a second beam according to one or more physical layer parameters at a relay device of the aircraft. In some examples, beam switching manager 970 may be configured or otherwise support components for relaying communications between the UE and a network entity using a second beam associated with a relay device of the aircraft.

[0207] In some examples, to support sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based on a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam. In some examples, to support sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam, wherein the UE switches from the first beam to the second beam based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0208] In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam. In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 950 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam to the UE.

[0209] In some examples, the indication of one or more physical layer parameters is sent via an RRC message, a DCI, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

[0210] In some examples, the delay time manager 955 may be configured as or otherwise support components for identifying a delay time between the UE receiving an indication and using a second beam to communicate with a network entity, wherein an indication of one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

[0211] In some examples, inter-aircraft coordination manager 975 may be configured or otherwise support components for sending positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof for the UE to a second relay device of a second aircraft via a network entity or directly via an inter-aircraft link.

[0212] In some examples, the positioning manager 960 may be configured to or otherwise support components for receiving an indication of positioning information for the UE from the UE. In some examples, the positioning manager 960 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending positioning information of the UE to a network entity, wherein the second beam is based on the positioning information of the UE.

[0213] In some examples, positioning manager 960 may be configured or otherwise support components for determining that positioning information for the UE is unknown. In some examples, positioning manager 960 may be configured or otherwise support components for sending an indication of aircraft positioning information, a first beam configuration and an identifier for a first beam, or both, to a network entity, wherein the second beam is based on the aircraft positioning information, the first beam configuration and the identifier, or both.

[0214] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 920 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. The region manager 945 may be configured to or otherwise support components for determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. In some examples, the region manager 945 may be configured to or otherwise support components for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft. In some examples, the region manager 945 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0215] In some examples, cell identifier manager 965 may be configured or otherwise support components for receiving, from a network entity within a first geographic region, an indication of a set of cell identifiers corresponding to the set of geographic regions. In some examples, cell identifier manager 965 may be configured or otherwise support components for selecting, from the set of cell identifiers, a first cell identifier to be used for communications with the UE based on the positioning of the aircraft.

[0216] In some examples, cell identifier manager 965 may be configured or otherwise support components for receiving an indication of a first cell identifier from a network entity associated with a first geographic region, wherein the first cell identifier is used to communicate with the UE based on reception.

[0217] In some examples, zone switch manager 980 may be configured or otherwise support components for determining that an aircraft has moved from a first geographic region to a second geographic region from the set of geographic regions. In some examples, zone switch manager 980 may be configured or otherwise support components for selecting a second cell identifier corresponding to the second geographic region for communication with UEs within the second geographic region based on the aircraft moving to the second geographic region.

[0218] Fig.10A diagram of a system 1000 including a device 1005 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1005 may be an example of a device 705, a device 805, or a UE 115 as described herein, or include components thereof. The device 1005 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof. The device 1005 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending communications and receiving communications, such as a communication manager 1020, an input / output (I / O) controller 1010, a transceiver 1015, an antenna 1025, a memory 1030, a code 1035, and a processor 1040. These components may be electronically communicated or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1045).

[0219] I / O controller 1010 can manage input signals and output signals of device 1005. I / O controller 1010 can also manage peripheral devices that are not integrated into device 1005. In some cases, I / O controller 1010 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 1010 can utilize an operating system, such as or another known operating system. Additionally or alternatively, I / O controller 1010 may represent or interact with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. In some cases, I / O controller 1010 may be implemented as part of a processor, such as processor 1040. In some cases, a user may interact with device 1005 via I / O controller 1010 or via hardware components controlled by I / O controller 1010.

[0220] In some cases, the device 1005 may include a single antenna 1025. However, in some other cases, the device 1005 may have more than one antenna 1025, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 1015 may communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas 1025, a wired or wireless link, as described herein. For example, the transceiver 1015 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1015 may also include a modem for: modulating packets; providing the modulated packets to one or more antennas 1025 for transmission; and demodulating packets received from one or more antennas 1025. The transceiver 1015 or the transceiver 1015 and one or more antennas 1025 may be examples of transmitters 715, transmitters 815, receivers 710, receivers 810, or any combination thereof or components thereof as described herein.

[0221] The memory 1030 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory 1030 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1035 including instructions that, when executed by the processor 1040, cause the device 1005 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1035 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1035 may not be directly executable by the processor 1040, but may (e.g., when compiled and executed) cause the computer to perform the functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1030 may also contain, among other things, a basic I / O system (BIOS) that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0222] Processor 1040 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a GPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, processor 1040 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into processor 1040. Processor 1040 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1030) to enable device 1005 to perform various functions (e.g., various functions or tasks that support enhancements for aircraft relay continuity). For example, device 1005 or a component of device 1005 may include processor 1040 and memory 1030 coupled to or coupled to processor 1040, and processor 1040 and memory 1030 are configured to perform various functions described herein.

[0223] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1020 may support wireless communications at the UE. For example, the communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a network entity via a first relay device using a first beam associated with a first aircraft. The communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. The communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for switching from the first beam to the second beam according to the one or more physical layer parameters. The communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with the network entity using the second beam based on the switching.

[0224] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1020 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of the aircraft and the UE. The communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0225] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1020 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. The communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft. The communication manager 1020 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0226] By including or configuring the communication manager 1020 according to examples as described herein, the device 1005 may support techniques for signaling physical layer parameters for a next beam to a UE to improve communications between the UE and an aircraft.

[0227] In some examples, the communication manager 1020 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, monitor, transmit) using or otherwise cooperating with the transceiver 1015, one or more antennas 1025, or any combination thereof. Although the communication manager 1020 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communication manager 1020 may be supported or performed by the processor 1040, the memory 1030, the code 1035, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 1035 may include instructions executable by the processor 1040 to cause the device 1005 to perform various aspects of the enhancement for aircraft relay continuity as described herein, or the processor 1040 and the memory 1030 may be otherwise configured to perform or support such operations.

[0228] Fig.11 A block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1105 may be an example of aspects of the network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1105 may include a receiver 1110, a transmitter 1115, and a communication manager 1120. The device 1105 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0229] The receiver 1110 may provide components for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack), such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). The information may be passed to other components of the device 1105. In some examples, the receiver 1110 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the receiver 1110 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

[0230] The transmitter 1115 may provide a component for outputting (e.g., sending, providing, conveying, transmitting) information generated by other components of the device 1105. For example, the transmitter 1115 may output information associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). In some examples, the transmitter 1115 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter 1115 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1115 and the receiver 1110 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include a modem or be coupled to a modem.

[0231] The communication manager 1120, the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the enhancements for aircraft relay continuity as described herein. For example, the communication manager 1120, the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, or various combinations thereof or components thereof may support methods for performing one or more of the functions described herein.

[0232] In some examples, the communication manager 1120, the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in a communication management circuit), in software (e.g., executable by a processor), or any combination thereof. The hardware may include a processor, a DSP, a CPU, a GPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof that is configured to or otherwise supports components for performing the functions described herein. In some examples, a processor and a memory coupled to the processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by executing instructions stored in the memory by the processor).

[0233] Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communication manager 1120, the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code executed by a processor (e.g., implemented as communication management software). If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functionality of the communication manager 1120, the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a GPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured or otherwise supported to perform the functions described in the present disclosure).

[0234] In some examples, communication manager 1120 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send) using or otherwise cooperating with receiver 1110, transmitter 1115, or both. For example, communication manager 1120 may receive information from receiver 1110, transmit information to transmitter 1115, or be integrated in conjunction with receiver 1110, transmitter 1115, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0235] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1120 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft. For example, the communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of the aircraft and the UE. The communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0236] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1120 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. The communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft. The communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0237] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1120 may support wireless communications at a network entity. For example, the communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for performing relay communications with a UE via a first relay device based on a first beam for relaying communications between the UE and a first relay device of a first aircraft. The communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating an indication of one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0238] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1120 may support wireless communications at a network entity. For example, the communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier. The communication manager 1120 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0239] By including or configuring a communication manager 1120 according to the examples described herein, the device 1105 (e.g., a processor controlling the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, the communication manager 1120, or a combination thereof or otherwise coupled thereto) may support techniques for signaling to a UE physical layer parameters for a next beam to improve communications between the UE and an aircraft.

[0240] Fig.12 A block diagram 1200 of a device 1205 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1205 may be an example of aspects of the device 1105 or network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1205 may include a receiver 1210, a transmitter 1215, and a communication manager 1220. The device 1205 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0241] The receiver 1210 may provide components for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack), such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). The information may be passed to other components of the device 1205. In some examples, the receiver 1210 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the receiver 1210 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

[0242] The transmitter 1215 may provide a component for outputting (e.g., sending, providing, conveying, transmitting) information generated by other components of the device 1205. For example, the transmitter 1215 may output information associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units). In some examples, the transmitter 1215 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more antennas. Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter 1215 may support outputting information by sending signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, optical) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1215 and the receiver 1210 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include a modem or be coupled to a modem.

[0243] Device 1205 or its various components may be examples of components for performing various aspects of enhancements for aircraft relay continuity as described herein. For example, communication manager 1220 may include relay manager 1225, physical layer parameter manager 1230, region manager 1235, physical layer parameter indication manager 1240, or any combination thereof. Communication manager 1220 may be an example of various aspects of communication manager 1120 as described herein. In some examples, communication manager 1220 or its various components may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, transmit) using or otherwise cooperating with receiver 1210, transmitter 1215, or both. For example, communication manager 1220 may receive information from receiver 1210, transmit information to transmitter 1215, or be integrated in combination with receiver 1210, transmitter 1215, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0244] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1220 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft. The relay manager 1225 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft and the UE. The physical layer parameter manager 1230 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The physical layer parameter manager 1230 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0245] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1220 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. The region manager 1235 may be configured to or otherwise support components for determining that the position of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. The region manager 1235 may be configured to or otherwise support components for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the position of the aircraft. The region manager 1235 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the position of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0246] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1220 may support wireless communications at a network entity. The relay manager 1225 may be configured to or otherwise support components for performing relay communications with a UE via a first relay device based on a first beam for relaying communications between the UE and a first relay device of a first aircraft. The physical layer parameter manager 1230 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The physical layer parameter indication manager 1240 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating an indication of one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0247] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1220 may support wireless communications at a network entity. The region manager 1235 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier. The region manager 1235 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0248] Fig.13A block diagram 1300 of a communication manager 1320 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 1320 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1120, the communication manager 1220, or both as described herein. The communication manager 1320 or its various components may be examples of means for performing various aspects of enhancements for aircraft relay continuity as described herein. For example, the communication manager 1320 may include a relay manager 1325, a physical layer parameter manager 1330, a region manager 1335, a physical layer parameter indication manager 1340, a beam switching manager 1345, a delay time manager 1350, an inter-aircraft coordination manager 1355, a positioning manager 1360, a cell identifier manager 1365, a region switching manager 1370, or any combination thereof. Each of these components may communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via one or more buses), which communication may include communication within a protocol layer of a protocol stack, communication associated with a logical channel of the protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack, within a device, component, or virtualized component associated with the network entity 105, between devices, components, or virtualized components associated with the network entity 105), or any combination thereof.

[0249] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1320 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft. The relay manager 1325 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of the aircraft and the UE. The physical layer parameter manager 1330 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. In some examples, the physical layer parameter manager 1330 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0250] In some examples, beam switching manager 1345 may be configured or otherwise support components for switching from a first beam to a second beam at a relay device of the aircraft according to one or more physical layer parameters. In some examples, beam switching manager 1345 may be configured or otherwise support components for relaying communications between the UE and a network entity using a second beam associated with a relay device of the aircraft.

[0251] In some examples, to support sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 1340 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based on a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam. In some examples, to support sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 1340 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam, wherein the UE switches from the first beam to the second beam based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0252] In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 1340 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam. In some examples, to support receiving an indication of one or more physical layer parameters, the physical layer parameter indication manager 1340 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam to the UE.

[0253] In some examples, the indication of one or more physical layer parameters is sent via an RRC message, a DCI, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

[0254] In some examples, the delay time manager 1350 may be configured as or otherwise support components for identifying a delay time between the UE receiving an indication and using a second beam to communicate with a network entity, wherein an indication of one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

[0255] In some examples, inter-aircraft coordination manager 1355 may be configured or otherwise support components for sending positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof for the UE to a second relay device of a second aircraft via a network entity or directly via an inter-aircraft link.

[0256] In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for receiving an indication of positioning information for the UE from the UE. In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for sending positioning information of the UE to a network entity, wherein the second beam is based on the positioning information of the UE.

[0257] In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for determining that positioning information for the UE is unknown. In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for sending an indication of aircraft positioning information, a first beam configuration and an identifier for a first beam, or both, to a network entity, wherein the second beam is based on the aircraft positioning information, the first beam configuration and the identifier, or both.

[0258] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1320 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. The region manager 1335 may be configured to or otherwise support components for determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. In some examples, the region manager 1335 may be configured to or otherwise support components for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft. In some examples, the region manager 1335 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0259] In some examples, cell identifier manager 1365 may be configured or otherwise support components for receiving, from a network entity within a first geographic region, an indication of a set of cell identifiers corresponding to a set of geographic regions. In some examples, cell identifier manager 1365 may be configured or otherwise support components for selecting, from the set of cell identifiers, a first cell identifier to be used for communications with the UE based on the positioning of the aircraft.

[0260] In some examples, cell identifier manager 1365 may be configured or otherwise support components for receiving an indication of a first cell identifier from a network entity associated with a first geographic region, wherein the first cell identifier is used to communicate with the UE based on reception.

[0261] In some examples, the region switch manager 1370 may be configured or otherwise support components for determining that the aircraft has moved from the first geographic region to a second geographic region from the set of geographic regions. In some examples, the region switch manager 1370 may be configured or otherwise support components for selecting a second cell identifier corresponding to the second geographic region for communication with UEs within the second geographic region based on the aircraft moving to the second geographic region.

[0262] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1320 may support wireless communications at a network entity. In some examples, the relay manager 1325 may be configured to or otherwise support components for performing relay communications with a UE via a first relay device based on a first beam for relaying communications between the UE and a first relay device of a first aircraft. In some examples, the physical layer parameter manager 1330 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The physical layer parameter indication manager 1340 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating an indication of one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0263] In some examples, the delay time manager 1350 may be configured as or otherwise support components for identifying a delay time between the UE receiving an indication and the UE using a second beam to communicate with a network entity, wherein an indication of one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

[0264] In some examples, the inter-aircraft coordination manager 1355 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof of a UE from a first aircraft to a second relay device of a second aircraft, wherein the second beam is based on the positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof.

[0265] In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for receiving an indication of positioning information for the UE. In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for identifying a second beam based on the positioning information of the UE.

[0266] In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for determining that positioning information of the UE is unknown. In some examples, positioning manager 1360 may be configured or otherwise support components for identifying a second beam based on aircraft positioning information of the first aircraft, a first beam configuration for the first beam, or both.

[0267] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1320 can support wireless communications at a network entity. In some examples, the region manager 1335 can be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier. In some examples, the region manager 1335 can be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0268] In some examples, to support sending an indication of a first cell identifier, the cell identifier manager 1365 may be configured as or otherwise support components for sending an indication of a set of identifiers corresponding to a set of geographic regions, where the first cell identifier is used for communication between the UE and an aircraft based on the positioning of the aircraft within the first geographic region.

[0269] In some examples, cell identifier manager 1365 may be configured or otherwise support components for determining that an aircraft is within a first geographic region. In some examples, cell identifier manager 1365 may be configured or otherwise support components for sending an indication of a first cell identifier to an aircraft based at least in part on the aircraft being within the first geographic region.

[0270] Fig.14 A diagram of a system 1400 including a device 1405 supporting enhancements for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1405 may be an example of a device 1105, a device 1205, or a network entity 105 as described herein, or include components thereof. The device 1405 may communicate with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof, which communication may include communication through one or more wired interfaces, through one or more wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. The device 1405 may include components that support output and acquisition of communications, such as a communication manager 1420, a transceiver 1410, an antenna 1415, a memory 1425, a code 1430, and a processor 1435. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1440).

[0271] As described herein, the transceiver 1410 may support bidirectional communication via a wired link, a wireless link, or both. In some examples, the transceiver 1410 may include a wired transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wired transceiver. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the transceiver 1410 may include a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. In some examples, the device 1405 may include one or more antennas 1415, which may be capable of sending or receiving wireless transmissions (e.g., concurrently). The transceiver 1410 may also include a modem for modulating a signal, thereby providing a modulated signal for transmission (e.g., through one or more antennas 1415, through a wired transmitter), for receiving a modulated signal (e.g., from one or more antennas 1415, from a wired receiver), and for demodulating a signal. In some implementations, the transceiver 1410 may include one or more interfaces, such as one or more interfaces coupled to one or more antennas 1415 configured to support various receiving or obtaining operations, or one or more interfaces coupled to one or more antennas 1415 configured to support various transmitting operations or output operations, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1410 may include or be configured to be coupled to one or more processors or memory components that are operable to: perform or support operations based on received or obtained information or signals; or generate information or other signals for transmission or other output, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1410, or the transceiver 1410 and one or more antennas 1415, or the transceiver 1410 and one or more antennas 1415 and one or more processors or memory components (e.g., processor 1435, or memory 1425, or both) may be included in a chip or chip assembly installed in the device 1405. In some examples, the transceiver may be operable to support communications via one or more communication links (eg, communication link 125, backhaul communication link 120, midhaul communication link 162, fronthaul communication link 168).

[0272] Memory 1425 may include RAM and ROM. Memory 1425 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1430 including instructions that, when executed by processor 1435, cause device 1405 to perform various functions described herein. Code 1430 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, code 1430 may not be directly executable by processor 1435, but may (e.g., when compiled and executed) cause a computer to perform the functions described herein. In some cases, memory 1425 may also include, among other things, a BIOS that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0273] Processor 1435 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, a GPU, an FPGA, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, processor 1435 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into processor 1435. Processor 1435 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1425) to enable device 1405 to perform various functions (e.g., supporting various functions or tasks for enhancement of aircraft relay continuity). For example, device 1405 or a component of device 1405 may include processor 1435 and memory 1425 coupled to processor 1435, and the processor 1435 and memory 1425 are configured to perform various functions described herein. Processor 1435 may be an example of a cloud computing platform (e.g., one or more physical nodes and supporting software such as an operating system, a virtual machine, or a container instance) that may host functions for performing functions of device 1405 (e.g., by executing code 1430). Processor 1435 may be any one or more suitable processors capable of executing scripts or instructions of one or more software programs stored in device 1405 (such as within memory 1425). In some specific implementations, processor 1435 may be a component of a processing system. A processing system may generally refer to a system or a series of machines or components that receive inputs and process these inputs to produce a set of outputs (which may be passed to other systems or components (e.g., device 1405)). For example, a processing system of device 1405 may refer to a system including various other components or subcomponents of device 1405, such as processor 1435, or transceiver 1410, or communication manager 1420, or other components or combinations of components of device 1405. The processing system of device 1405 may interface with other components of device 1405 and may process information (such as input or signals) received from other components or output information to other components. For example, a chip or modem of device 1405 may include a processing system and one or more interfaces for outputting information or for obtaining information or both. The one or more interfaces may be implemented as or otherwise include a first interface configured to output information and a second interface configured to obtain information, or the same interface configured to output information and obtain information, as well as other specific implementations. In some specific implementations, the one or more interfaces may refer to an interface between the processing system of the chip or modem and a transmitter, so that device 1405 can send information output from the chip or modem.Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, the one or more interfaces may refer to an interface between a processing system of a chip or modem and a receiver, such that the device 1405 may obtain information or signal input, and the information may be passed to the processing system. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the first interface may also obtain information or signal input, and the second interface may also output information or signal output.

[0274] In some examples, bus 1440 may support communications of a protocol layer (e.g., within a protocol layer) of a protocol stack. In some examples, bus 1440 may support communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack), which may include communications performed within a component of device 1405, or communications performed between different components of device 1405 that may be co-located or may be located in different locations (e.g., where device 1405 may refer to a system in which one or more of communication manager 1420, transceiver 1410, memory 1425, code 1430, and processor 1435 may be located in one of the different components or divided between the different components).

[0275] In some examples, the communication manager 1420 may manage aspects of communications with the core network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links). For example, the communication manager 1420 may manage the delivery of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115. In some examples, the communication manager 1420 may manage communications with other network entities 105 and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with the UEs 115 in coordination with the other network entities 105. In some examples, the communication manager 1420 may support an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between network entities 105.

[0276] According to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1420 may support wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft. For example, the communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for relaying communications between a UE and a network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of the aircraft and the UE. The communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0277] Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1420 may support wireless communications at a wireless device of the aircraft according to examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. The communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft. The communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating with a UE located within the first geographic region using the first cell identifier when the location of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0278] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1420 may support wireless communications at a network entity. For example, the communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for performing relay communications with a UE via a first relay device based on a first beam for relaying communications between the UE and a first relay device of a first aircraft. The communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft. The communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for communicating an indication of one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0279] Additionally or alternatively, according to examples as disclosed herein, the communication manager 1420 may support wireless communications at a network entity. For example, the communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for identifying a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located within a first geographic region from the set of geographic regions corresponding to a first cell identifier. The communication manager 1420 may be configured to or otherwise support components for sending an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communications between the UE and the aircraft use the first cell identifier.

[0280] By including or configuring the communication manager 1420 according to examples as described herein, the device 1405 may support techniques for signaling physical layer parameters for a next beam to a UE to improve communications between the UE and an aircraft.

[0281] In some examples, the communication manager 1420 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, transmit) using or otherwise cooperating with the transceiver 1410, one or more antennas 1415 (e.g., where applicable), or any combination thereof. Although the communication manager 1420 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communication manager 1420 may be supported or performed by the transceiver 1410, the processor 1435, the memory 1425, the code 1430, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 1430 may include instructions executable by the processor 1435 to cause the device 1405 to perform various aspects of the enhancement for aircraft relay continuity as described herein, or the processor 1435 and the memory 1425 may be otherwise configured to perform or support such operations.

[0282] Fig.15 A flow chart illustrating a method 1500 for supporting enhanced techniques for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a UE or a component thereof as described in reference to Figures 1 to 10 The UE 115 described herein may be executed. In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0283] At 1505, the method may include communicating with a network entity via a first relay device using a first beam associated with a first relay device of a first aircraft. The operations of 1505 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 The described beam manager 925 is performed.

[0284] At 1510, the method may include receiving, via a first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communications with a network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. The operations of 1510 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 The physical layer parameter manager 930 is used to execute.

[0285] At 1515, the method may include switching from the first beam to the second beam according to one or more physical layer parameters. The operations of 1515 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 The beam 935 is used to perform the above operation.

[0286] At 1520, the method may include communicating with the network entity using the second beam based on the switching. The operations of 1520 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1520 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 The described beam manager 925 is performed.

[0287] Fig.16 A flow chart illustrating a method 1600 of supporting enhanced techniques for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a UE or a network entity or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a UE or a network entity or components thereof as described herein. Figures 1 to 10 The UE 115 or as referenced Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 11 to 14 In some examples, the UE or network entity may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE or network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the UE or network entity may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0288] At 1605, the method may include relaying communications between the UE and the network entity using a first beam associated with a relay device of the aircraft and the UE. The operations of 1605 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 and Fig.13 The relay manager 940 or the relay manager 1325 is used for execution.

[0289] At 1610, the method may include identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used to relay communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a relay device of the aircraft or associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. The operations of 1610 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 and Fig.13 The physical layer parameter manager 930 or the physical layer parameter manager 1330 is used for execution.

[0290] At 1615, the method may include sending an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE. The operations of 1615 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 and Fig.13The physical layer parameter manager 930 or the physical layer parameter manager 1330 is used for execution.

[0291] Fig.17 A flow chart illustrating a method 1700 of supporting enhanced techniques for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1700 may be implemented by a UE or a network entity or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1700 may be implemented by a UE or a network entity or components thereof as described herein. Figures 1 to 10 The UE 115 or as referenced Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 11 to 14 In some examples, the UE or network entity may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE or network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the UE or network entity may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0292] At 1705, the method may include determining that the location of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communications within the geographic region. The operations of 1705 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1705 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 and Fig.13 The regional manager 945 or the regional manager 1335 is used to execute.

[0293] At 1710, the method may include selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to a first geographic region based on the location of the aircraft. The operations of 1710 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 and Fig.13 The regional manager 945 or the regional manager 1335 is used to execute.

[0294] At 1715, the method may include using the first cell identifier to communicate with a UE located within the first geographic region when the position of the aircraft is within the first geographic region. The operations of 1715 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1715 may be performed as described in reference to Fig. 9 and Fig.13 The regional manager 945 or the regional manager 1335 is used to execute.

[0295] Fig.18 A flow chart illustrating a method 1800 of supporting enhanced techniques for aircraft relay continuity according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1800 may be implemented by a network entity or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1800 may be implemented by a network entity or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 1 to 6 as well as Figures 11 to 14 In some examples, the network entity may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0296] At 1805, the method may include performing relay communication with the UE via the first relay device based on a first beam for relaying communication between the UE and the first aircraft. The operations of 1805 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1805 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.13 The relay manager 1325 is used to execute.

[0297] At 1810, the method may include identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of the second aircraft. The operations of 1810 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1810 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.13 The physical layer parameter manager 1330 is used to execute.

[0298] At 1815, the method may include communicating, via a first relay device of the first aircraft, to the UE an indication of one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam. The operations of 1815 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1815 may be performed as described in reference to Fig.13 The physical layer parameter instructions manager 1340 is executed.

[0299] The following provides an overview of various aspects of the disclosure:

[0300] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication at a UE, comprising: using a first beam associated with a first relay device of a first aircraft to communicate with a network entity via the first relay device; receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communication with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; switching from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters; and using the second beam to communicate with the network entity based at least in part on the switching.

[0301] Aspect 2: A method according to Aspect 1, wherein receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters includes: receiving an indication of a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam; and switching to the second beam based at least in part on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0302] Aspect 3: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 2, wherein receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters includes: receiving an indication of a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based at least in part on the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both; and switching to the second beam based at least in part on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0303] Aspect 4: A method according to any one of aspects 1 to 3, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters is received via an RRC message, a DCI, a MAC-CE, a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

[0304] Aspect 5: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 4 further includes: identifying a delay time between receiving the indication and using the second beam to communicate with the network entity based at least in part on the indication of one or more physical layer parameters, wherein the switching is based at least in part on the delay time.

[0305] Aspect 6: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 5, wherein communicating with the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft includes: sending an indication of positioning information of the UE to the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft, wherein the second beam is at least partially based on the positioning information of the UE relative to the first aircraft or relative to the second aircraft.

[0306] Aspect 7: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 6 also includes: determining an identifier associated with the communication between the UE and the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft; and maintaining the identifier when the second relay device via the second aircraft uses the second beam to communicate with the network entity.

[0307] Aspect 8: A method for performing wireless communications at a relay device of an aircraft, comprising: relaying communications between the UE and the network entity using a first beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft and the UE; identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and sending an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam to the UE.

[0308] Aspect 9: The method according to Aspect 8 further includes: at the relay device of the aircraft, switching from the first beam to the second beam according to the one or more physical layer parameters; and relaying communication between the UE and the network entity using the second beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft.

[0309] Aspect 10: A method according to any one of Aspects 8 to 9, wherein sending the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters includes: identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based at least in part on a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; and sending an indication of the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam, wherein the UE switches from the first beam to the second beam at least in part based on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

[0310] Aspect 11: A method according to any one of Aspects 8 to 10, wherein receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters includes: identifying a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; and sending an indication of the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam to the UE.

[0311] Aspect 12: A method according to any one of aspects 8 to 11, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters is sent via an RRC message, a DCI, a MAC-CE, a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

[0312] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of Aspects 8 to 12 further includes: identifying a delay time between the UE receiving the indication and using the second beam to communicate with the network entity, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

[0313] Aspect 14: The method according to any one of Aspects 8 to 13 further includes: sending positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof of the UE to the second relay device of the second aircraft via the network entity or directly via an inter-aircraft link.

[0314] Aspect 15: The method according to any one of Aspects 8 to 14 further includes: receiving an indication of positioning information of the UE from the UE; and sending the positioning information of the UE to the network entity, wherein the second beam is at least partially based on the positioning information of the UE.

[0315] Aspect 16: The method according to any one of Aspects 8 to 15 further includes: determining that the positioning information of the UE is unknown; and sending an indication of aircraft positioning information, a first beam configuration and identifier for the first beam, or both, to the network entity, wherein the second beam is at least partially based on the aircraft position information, the first beam configuration and identifier, or both.

[0316] Aspect 17: A method for wireless communication at a wireless device of an aircraft, comprising: determining that the position of the aircraft is within a first geographic region from a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region; selecting a first cell identifier corresponding to the first geographic region based at least in part on the position of the aircraft; and using the first cell identifier to communicate with a UE located in the first geographic region when the position of the aircraft is within the first geographic region.

[0317] Aspect 18: The method according to Aspect 17 also includes: receiving an indication of a set of cell identifiers corresponding to the set of geographic regions from a network entity within the first geographic region; and selecting the first cell identifier to be used for the communication with the UE from the set of cell identifiers based at least in part on the positioning of the aircraft.

[0318] Aspect 19: The method according to any one of Aspects 17 to 18 further includes: receiving an indication of the first cell identifier from a network entity associated with the first geographical area, wherein the first cell identifier is used for communication with the UE based at least in part on the reception.

[0319] Aspect 20: The method according to any one of Aspects 17 to 19 further includes: determining that the aircraft has moved from the first geographical area to a second geographical area from the set of geographical areas; and selecting a second cell identifier corresponding to the second geographical area for communication with a UE within the second geographical area based at least in part on the movement of the aircraft to the second geographical area.

[0320] Aspect 21: A method for performing wireless communications at a network entity, comprising: performing relay communications with a UE via a first relay device of a first aircraft based at least in part on a first beam used to relay communications between the UE and the first aircraft; identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used to relay communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; and communicating an indication of the one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

[0321] Aspect 22: The method according to Aspect 21 also includes: identifying a delay time between the UE receiving the indication and the UE using the second beam to communicate with the network entity, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

[0322] Aspect 23: The method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 22 further includes: relaying positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof of the UE from the first aircraft to the second relay device of the second aircraft, wherein the second beam is at least partially based on the positioning information, the configuration information, the context information, or the combination thereof.

[0323] Aspect 24: The method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 23 also includes: receiving an indication of positioning information of the UE; and identifying the second beam based at least in part on the positioning information of the UE.

[0324] Aspect 25: The method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 24 also includes: determining that the positioning information of the UE is unknown; and identifying the second beam based at least in part on the aircraft positioning information of the first aircraft, the first beam configuration for the first beam, or both.

[0325] Aspect 26: A method for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: identifying a set of geographic regions, each geographic region in the set of geographic regions corresponding to a unique cell identifier for communication within the geographic region, wherein the network entity is located in a first geographic region corresponding to a first cell identifier from the set of geographic regions; and sending an indication of the first cell identifier to an aircraft within the first geographic region, wherein communication between the UE and the aircraft uses the first cell identifier.

[0326] Aspect 27: A method according to Aspect 26, wherein sending the indication of the first cell identifier includes: sending an indication of an identifier set corresponding to the set of geographic regions, wherein the first cell identifier is used for communication between the UE and the aircraft based at least in part on the positioning of the aircraft within the first geographic region.

[0327] Aspect 28: The method according to any one of Aspects 26 to 27 further includes: determining that the aircraft is within the first geographical area; and sending an indication of the first cell identifier to the aircraft based at least in part on the aircraft being within the first geographical area.

[0328] Aspect 29: An apparatus for performing wireless communications at a UE, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 7.

[0329] Aspect 30: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising at least one component for performing a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 7.

[0330] Aspect 31: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a code for wireless communication at a UE, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 7.

[0331] Aspect 32: An apparatus for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 8 to 16.

[0332] Aspect 33: An apparatus for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft, comprising at least one component for performing a method according to any one of aspects 8 to 16.

[0333] Aspect 34: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to any one of aspects 8 to 16.

[0334] Aspect 35: An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device of an aircraft, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 17 to 20.

[0335] Aspect 36: An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device in an aircraft, comprising at least one component for performing the method according to any one of aspects 17 to 20.

[0336] Aspect 37: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a wireless device of an aircraft, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to any one of aspects 17 to 20.

[0337] Aspect 38: An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 25.

[0338] Aspect 39: An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising at least one component for performing a method according to any one of aspects 21 to 25.

[0339] Aspect 40: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a network entity, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to any one of aspects 21 to 25.

[0340] Aspect 41: An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 26 to 28.

[0341] Aspect 42: An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising at least one component for performing a method according to any one of aspects 26 to 28.

[0342] Aspect 43: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a network entity, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to any one of aspects 26 to 28.

[0343] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the various operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more methods may be combined.

[0344] Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR systems may be described for example purposes, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein may also be applicable to networks other than LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communication systems, such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0345] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips referred to throughout the specification may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof. Components within a wireless communication system may be coupled to each other (e.g., operatively coupled, communicatively coupled, functionally coupled, electronically coupled, and / or electrically coupled).

[0346] The various illustrative blocks and components described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, CPU, GPU, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0347] The functions described herein can be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or codes of a computer-readable medium or sent using one or more instructions or codes of a computer-readable medium. Other examples and specific implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described herein can be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or any combination of these items executed by a processor. The features of the implementation functions can also be physically located at different locations, including being distributed so that the various parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations. Software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, processes or functions, etc., whether it is described in software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terms.

[0348] Computer-readable media include both non-transient computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one location to another.Non-transient storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer.As an example and not limitation, non-transient computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, phase change memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transient medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code components in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer or a general or special-purpose processor.Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as computer-readable media.For example, if software is sent from a website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable media. Disks and optical disks as used herein include CDs, laser optical disks, optical optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray disks. Disks can reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks can reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0349] As used herein (including in the claims), "or" used in a listing of items (e.g., a listing of items with a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates an inclusive listing, so that, for example, a listing of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Moreover, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step described as "based on condition A" can be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on". As used herein, when the term "and / or" is used in a list of two or more items, it means that any one of the listed items can be adopted individually, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be adopted. For example, if a composition is described as comprising components A, B, and / or C, the composition can comprise A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination.

[0350] The term "determining" encompasses a variety of actions, and thus, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, database or other data structure), or ascertaining. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information) or accessing (e.g., accessing data stored in a memory). Furthermore, "determining" may include parsing, obtaining, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.

[0351] In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference label. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a dash and a second label to distinguish between the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description may apply to any of the similar components having the same first reference label, regardless of the second or other subsequent reference labels.

[0352] The descriptions set forth herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describe example configurations and do not represent all examples that may be implemented or within the scope of the claims. The term "example" as used herein means "used as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "having advantages over other examples." The specific implementation includes specific details to provide an understanding of the described techniques. However, these techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0353] The description herein is provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to implement or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; as well as a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to: communicating with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft using a first beam associated with the first relay device; receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communications with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; switching from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters; as well as Communicating with the network entity using the second beam based at least in part on the switching.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions for receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters are executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to: receiving an indication of a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam; and Switching to the second beam is based at least in part on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions for receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters are executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to: receiving an indication of a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based at least in part on the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both; and Switching to the second beam is based at least in part on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message, a downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to: A delay time between receiving the indication and communicating with the network entity using the second beam is identified based at least in part on the indication of one or more physical layer parameters, wherein the switching is based at least in part on the delay time.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions for communicating with the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft are executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to: An indication of positioning information for the UE is sent to the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft, wherein the second beam is based at least in part on the positioning information of the UE relative to the first aircraft or relative to the second aircraft.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to: determining an identifier associated with the communication between the UE and the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft; and The identifier is maintained while the second relay device communicates with the network entity using the second beam via the second aircraft.

8. An apparatus for wireless communication at a relay device of an aircraft, comprising: at least one processor; as well as A memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions, the instructions being executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: relaying communications between a user equipment (UE) and a network entity using a first beam associated with the relay device and the UE of the aircraft; identifying one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with the relay device of the aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; as well as An indication of the one or more physical layer parameters associated with the second beam is sent to the UE.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: At the relay device of the aircraft, switching from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters; and Relaying communications between the UE and the network entity using the second beam associated with the relay device of the aircraft.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions for sending the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters are executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based at least in part on the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; and An indication of the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam is sent, wherein the UE switches from the first beam to the second beam based at least in part on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions for receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters are executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: identifying a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; and An indication of the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam is sent to the UE.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters is sent via a radio resource control (RRC) message, a downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: Identify a delay time between the UE receiving the indication and using the second beam to communicate with the network entity, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: The positioning information, the configuration information, the context information, or a combination thereof of the UE is sent to the second relay device of the second aircraft via the network entity or directly via an inter-aircraft link.

15. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: receiving, from the UE, an indication of positioning information of the UE; and The positioning information of the UE is sent to the network entity, wherein the second beam is based at least in part on the positioning information of the UE.

16. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the relay device to: Determining that the positioning information of the UE is unknown; and An indication of aircraft positioning information, a first beam configuration and an identifier for the first beam, or both, is sent to the network entity, wherein the second beam is based at least in part on the aircraft positioning information, the first beam configuration and the identifier, or both.

17. An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: at least one processor; as well as a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the network entity to: performing relayed communications with a user equipment (UE) via a first relay device of a first aircraft based at least in part on a first beam for relaying communications between the UE and the first relay device; identifying one or more physical layer parameters of a second beam to be used for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity, the second beam being associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; as well as An indication of the one or more physical layer parameters of the second beam is communicated to the UE via the first relay device of the first aircraft.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the network entity to: Identify a delay time between the UE receiving the indication and the UE using the second beam to communicate with the network entity, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters identifies the delay time.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the network entity to: The second relay device relays positioning information, configuration information, context information, or a combination thereof of the UE from the first aircraft to the second aircraft, wherein the second beam is based at least in part on the positioning information, the configuration information, the context information, or the combination thereof.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the network entity to: receiving an indication of positioning information for the UE; and The second beam is identified based at least in part on the positioning information of the UE.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the network entity to: Determining that the positioning information of the UE is unknown; and The second beam is identified based at least in part on aircraft position information for the first aircraft, a first beam configuration for the first beam, or both.

22. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: communicating with a network entity via a first relay device of a first aircraft using a first beam associated with the first relay device; receiving, via the first relay device of the first aircraft, an indication of one or more physical layer parameters associated with a second beam to be used for communications with the network entity, the second beam being associated with the first relay device of the first aircraft or associated with a second relay device of a second aircraft; switching from the first beam to the second beam based on the one or more physical layer parameters; as well as Communicating with the network entity using the second beam based at least in part on the switching.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters comprises: receiving an indication of a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam; as well as Switching to the second beam is based at least in part on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters comprises: receiving an indication of a delay value, a Doppler shift value, or both for the second beam; identifying a timing advance value, a frequency compensation value, or both for the second beam based at least in part on the delay value, the Doppler shift value, or both; and Switching to the second beam is based at least in part on the timing advance value, the frequency compensation value, or both.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the indication of the one or more physical layer parameters is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message, downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a broadcast transmission, a paging message, or any combination thereof.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising: A delay time between receiving the indication and communicating with the network entity using the second beam is identified based at least in part on the indication of one or more physical layer parameters, wherein the switching is based at least in part on the delay time.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein communicating with the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft comprises: An indication of positioning information for the UE is sent to the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft, wherein the second beam is based at least in part on the positioning information of the UE relative to the first aircraft or relative to the second aircraft.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising: determining an identifier associated with the communication between the UE and the network entity via the first relay device of the first aircraft; as well as The identifier is maintained while the second relay device communicates with the network entity using the second beam via the second aircraft.

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