Method and apparatus for PRACH repetition

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to a method and equipment for physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE can: transmit a plurality of PRACH repetitions for a random access procedure, a BFR procedure, or a link recovery procedure to a network entity at a plurality of ROs; and monitoring the PDCCH according to a PRACH repetition of the plurality of PRACH repetitions or an RO of the plurality of ROs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications techniques, and more particularly to physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely used to provide various telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, etc. Wireless communication systems may employ a variety of access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of wireless communication systems may include fourth generation (4G) systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may also be referred to as new radio (NR) systems.

[0003] In a wireless communication system, a random access procedure may be used for various purposes. For example, it may be used by a user equipment (UE) to find a cell to camp on when making an initial access. Or it may be used by a UE in an idle or inactive state (e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state specified in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) specification) to switch to a connected state (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED state specified in the 3GPP specification) to start data transmission or reception. Or it may be used by a UE in a connected state to reestablish lost uplink (UL) synchronization, etc. The UE may start a random access procedure by transmitting a preamble in a PRACH (also referred to as a PRACH transmission). PRACH transmission may also occur in a link recovery process or (in other words) a beam failure recovery (BFR) process.

[0004] However, in some cases, PRACH may be a bottleneck channel. In view of this, it is necessary to solve the problem of how to improve the coverage of PRACH. Summary of the invention

[0005] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a user equipment (UE). The UE may include a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may be configured to cause the UE to perform the following operations: transmit multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) repetitions for a random access procedure or a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure at multiple random access channel (RACH) opportunities (ROs); and monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to the PRACH repetitions in the multiple PRACH repetitions or the ROs in the multiple ROs.

[0006] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDCCH is monitored in a PDCCH monitoring window determined according to the PRACH repetition or the RO.

[0007] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where the multiple PRACH repetitions are used for the BFR process, the multiple ROs or the multiple PRACH repetitions are in the same time slot. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window is determined according to a predefined RO in the multiple ROs or according to a predefined PRACH repetition in the multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0008] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to: in response to a failure to monitor the PDCCH, retransmit a set of PRACH repetitions at a first time offset no later than after the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window or after the end symbol received by the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to cancel a PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions in response to successfully monitoring the PDCCH, wherein a start symbol of the canceled PRACH repetition occurs after a second time offset relative to an end symbol of a control resource set (CORESET) in which the PDCCH is detected or an end symbol of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDCCH monitoring window is determined based on a first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, and the starting symbol of each of the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows is determined according to a corresponding RO group among a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs or a corresponding PRACH group among a plurality of PRACH groups including the plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to: in response to a failure to monitor the PDCCH, retransmit a set of PRACH repetitions at a first time offset no later than after the end symbol of the last window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows or after the end symbol received by the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to cancel a PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions in response to successfully monitoring the PDCCH, wherein a start symbol of the canceled PRACH repetition occurs after a second time offset relative to an end symbol of a control resource set (CORESET) in which the PDCCH is detected or an end symbol of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in the group of PRACH repetitions is greater than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions in the plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a difference between the number of PRACH repetitions in the set of PRACH repetitions and the number of PRACH repetitions in the plurality of PRACH repetitions is configured or predefined by a network entity.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where the predefined RO is not the last RO or the predefined PRACH repetition is not the latest PRACH repetition, the length of the PDCCH monitoring window is based on at least one of the following: a configurable window duration, a repetition period of the multiple PRACH repetitions, or a time difference between the predefined PRACH repetition and the last PRACH repetition in the multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0016] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDCCH monitoring window is a single PDCCH monitoring window formed by combining the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the start symbol of the earliest window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows and the end symbol of the last window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows are respectively determined as the start symbol and the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0017] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of ROs in the RO groups in the multiple RO groups, the number of RO groups in the multiple RO groups, or both are configured or predefined by a network entity. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in the PRACH groups in the multiple PRACH groups, the number of PRACH groups in the multiple PRACH groups, or both are configured or predefined by the network entity.

[0018] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a start symbol of a corresponding PDCCH monitoring window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows is determined according to a predefined RO in the corresponding RO group or a predefined PRACH repetition in the corresponding PRACH group.

[0019] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, monitoring the PDCCH includes: detecting a downlink control information (DCI) format having a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by a random access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI) in a PDCCH monitoring window according to the RO.

[0020] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the RA-RNTI is determined according to a predefined RO in the plurality of ROs. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the RA-RNTI includes a plurality of RA-RNTIs, each of the plurality of RA-RNTIs being determined according to a corresponding RO group in a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs.

[0021] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in order to detect the DCI format having the CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI in the PDCCH monitoring window, the processor is configured to: detect each of the multiple RA-RNTIs in the PDCCH monitoring window; or detect a corresponding RA-RNTI among the multiple RA-RNTIs in a corresponding subwindow among a plurality of subwindows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of subwindows; or detect a corresponding RA-RNTI among the multiple RA-RNTIs in a corresponding window among a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0022] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in a case where at least two of the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows overlap in the time domain, detecting the DCI format having the CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI in the PDCCH monitoring window includes: detecting the corresponding RA-RNTI corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in the overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows; or detecting a single RA-RNTI among the corresponding RA-RNTIs corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in the overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0023] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the single RA-RNTI is determined based on the priorities of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0024] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted using multiple beams, and the beam used for performing the PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window is determined from the multiple beams according to the PRACH repetitions or the RO.

[0025] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used for performing the PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window corresponds to a beam of a predefined PRACH repetition in the multiple PRACH repetitions or a beam of a predefined RO in the multiple ROs. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used for performing the PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window includes a group of beams, each beam in the group of beams corresponds to a corresponding PRACH repetition group in a plurality of PRACH repetition groups including the plurality of PRACH repetitions or a corresponding RO in a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs.

[0026] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the predefined RO is the earliest or the last RO. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the predefined PRACH repetition is the earliest or the last PRACH repetition.

[0027] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to: use each beam in the set of beams in the PDCCH monitoring window; or use the corresponding beam in the set of beams in a corresponding subwindow in a plurality of subwindows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of subwindows; or use the corresponding beam in the set of beams in a corresponding window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0028] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in a case where at least two of the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows overlap in the time domain, using the corresponding beam from the group of beams in the corresponding window includes: using the corresponding beam corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in the overlapping part of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows; or using a single beam among the corresponding beams corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in the overlapping part of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0029] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the single beam is determined based on the priorities of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0030] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the priority of the PDCCH monitoring window is determined based on at least one of the following: the starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window; the starting symbol of the RO associated with the PDCCH monitoring window; or the index of the synchronization signal block (SSB) or reference signal (CS) associated with the RO.

[0031] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to indicate the PRACH repetition using a specific PRACH preamble or a specific PRACH opportunity.

[0032] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in the multiple PRACH repetitions is configured in a PRACH configuration table, or configured per PRACH format, or associated with a corresponding PRACH preamble or a corresponding RO.

[0033] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to determine a beam for subsequent process steps of the transmission of the plurality of PRACH repetitions based on the beam used for the PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0034] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the subsequent process steps include at least one of the following: physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception scheduled by the PDCCH, message 3 transmission, message 4 reception, or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission after the PDCCH monitoring.

[0035] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used for the subsequent process steps of the transmission of the plurality of PRACH repetitions is the same as the beam used for receiving the PDCCH in response to the PDCCH monitoring.

[0036] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network entity. The network entity may include a transceiver and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may be configured to cause the network entity to perform the following operations: receiving a plurality of physical random access channel (PRACH) repetitions for a random access procedure or a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure from a user equipment (UE) at a plurality of random access channel (RACH) opportunities (RO); and transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to the UE according to the PRACH repetitions in the plurality of PRACH repetitions or the RO in the plurality of ROs.

[0037] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDCCH is transmitted in a PDCCH monitoring window determined according to the PRACH repetition or the RO.

[0038] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where the multiple PRACH repetitions are used for the BFR, the multiple ROs or the multiple PRACH repetitions are in the same time slot. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the start symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window is determined according to a predefined RO in the multiple ROs or according to a predefined PRACH repetition in the multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0039] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to: receive a set of PRACH repetitions for the random access process or the BFR process from the UE at a first time offset no later than after the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window or after the end symbol of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) received by the PDCCH scheduled.

[0040] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDCCH monitoring window is determined based on a first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, and the starting symbol of each of the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows is determined according to a corresponding RO group among a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs or a corresponding PRACH group among a plurality of PRACH groups including the plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0041] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to: receive a set of PRACH repetitions for the random access process or the BFR process from the UE at a first time offset no later than after the end symbol of the last window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows or after the end symbol of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) received by the PDCCH scheduled.

[0042] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in the group of PRACH repetitions is greater than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions in the plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0043] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to transmit to the UE a difference between the number of PRACH repetitions in the set of PRACH repetitions and the number of PRACH repetitions in the plurality of PRACH repetitions; or wherein the difference is predefined.

[0044] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where the predefined RO is not the last RO or the predefined PRACH repetition is not the latest PRACH repetition, the length of the PDCCH monitoring window is based on at least one of the following: a configurable window duration, a repetition period of the multiple PRACH repetitions, or a time difference between the predefined PRACH repetition and the last PRACH repetition in the multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0045] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDCCH monitoring window is a single PDCCH monitoring window formed by combining the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the start symbol of the earliest window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows and the end symbol of the last window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows are respectively determined as the start symbol and the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0046] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of ROs in the RO groups in the multiple RO groups, the number of RO groups in the multiple RO groups, or both are configurable or predefined by the network entity. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in the PRACH groups in the multiple PRACH groups, the number of PRACH groups in the multiple PRACH groups, or both are configurable or predefined by the network entity.

[0047] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a start symbol of a corresponding PDCCH monitoring window in the first plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows is determined according to a predefined RO in the corresponding RO group or a predefined PRACH repetition in the corresponding PRACH group.

[0048] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, transmitting the PDCCH includes: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) having a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by a random access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI) in a PDCCH monitoring window, wherein the RA-RNTI is determined based on the RO.

[0049] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the RA-RNTI is determined according to a predefined RO in the plurality of ROs. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the RA-RNTI is determined according to a plurality of RA-RNTIs, each of the plurality of RA-RNTIs is determined according to a corresponding RO group in a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs.

[0050] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the multiple RA-RNTIs corresponds to a sub-window in a plurality of sub-windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of sub-windows. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the multiple RA-RNTIs corresponds to a window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0051] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in a situation where at least two of the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows overlap in the time domain, a single RA-RNTI among the corresponding RA-RNTIs corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows corresponds to the overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0052] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the single RA-RNTI is determined based on the priorities of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0053] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted using multiple beams, and the beam used to transmit the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window is determined from the multiple beams according to the PRACH repetitions or the RO.

[0054] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used to transmit the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window corresponds to a beam of a predefined PRACH repetition in the multiple PRACH repetitions or a beam of a predefined RO in the multiple ROs. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used to transmit the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window is determined from a group of beams among the multiple beams, each beam in the group of beams corresponds to a corresponding PRACH repetition group in a plurality of PRACH repetition groups including the plurality of PRACH repetitions or a corresponding RO in a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs.

[0055] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the predefined RO is the earliest or the last RO. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the predefined PRACH repetition is the earliest or the last PRACH repetition.

[0056] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each beam in the set of beams corresponds to a subwindow in a plurality of subwindows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of subwindows. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each beam in the set of beams corresponds to a window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0057] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in a situation where at least two of the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows overlap in the time domain, a single beam among the corresponding beams corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows corresponds to the overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0058] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the single beam is determined based on the priorities of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0059] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the priority of the PDCCH monitoring window is determined based on at least one of the following: the starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window; the starting symbol of the RO associated with the PDCCH monitoring window; or the index of the synchronization signal block (SSB) or reference signal (CS) associated with the RO.

[0060] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is further configured to determine to receive the plurality of PRACH repetitions in response to receiving a specific PRACH preamble or in response to receiving a PRACH preamble at a specific PRACH opportunity.

[0061] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in the multiple PRACH repetitions is configured in a PRACH configuration table, or configured per PRACH format, or associated with a corresponding PRACH preamble or a corresponding RO.

[0062] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the plurality of PRACH repetitions are transmitted using a plurality of beams, and the processor is further configured to determine a beam for a subsequent process step of the reception of the plurality of PRACH repetitions according to the beam used to transmit the PDCCH.

[0063] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the subsequent process steps include at least one of the following: physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission scheduled by the PDCCH, message 3 reception, message 4 transmission, or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) reception after the PDCCH transmission.

[0064] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used for the subsequent process steps of the reception of the plurality of PRACH repetitions is the same as the beam used for transmitting the PDCCH.

[0065] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a UE. The method may include: transmitting a plurality of physical random access channel (PRACH) repetitions for a random access procedure or a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure at a plurality of random access channel (RACH) opportunities (ROs); and monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to a PRACH repetition in the plurality of PRACH repetitions or a RO in the plurality of ROs.

[0066] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a network entity. The method may include: receiving a plurality of physical random access channel (PRACH) repetitions for a random access procedure or a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure from a user equipment (UE) at a plurality of random access channel (RACH) occasions (ROs); and transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to the UE according to the PRACH repetitions in the plurality of PRACH repetitions or the ROs in the plurality of ROs.

[0067] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a device. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the device may include: at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon; at least one receiving circuit system; at least one transmitting circuit system; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the at least one receiving circuit system, and the at least one transmitting circuit system, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and the computer-executable instructions may be configured to cause the device to perform the method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure using the at least one processor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0068] In order to describe the manner in which the advantages and features of the present disclosure can be obtained, the description of the present disclosure is presented by reference to specific embodiments of the present disclosure illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0069] Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0070] Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0071] Figures 3A to 3C illustrates an exemplary association between a synchronization signal block (SSB) and a RO according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0072] Figure 4 A flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for transmitting PRACH repetitions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0073] Figures 5A to 9 An exemplary schematic diagram illustrating PRACH transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0074] Fig.10 A flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for receiving PRACH repetitions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0075] Fig.11 A block diagram illustrating an exemplary apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0076] The detailed description of the accompanying drawings is intended to illustrate the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present disclosure can be practiced. It should be understood that the same or equivalent functions can be achieved by different embodiments, which are intended to be included in the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0077] Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. To facilitate understanding, the embodiments are provided under specific network architectures and new service scenarios (e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G (NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) Release 8, etc.). Please consider that, as network architectures and new service scenarios evolve, all embodiments in the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical issues; and in addition, the terms recorded in the present disclosure may be changed, which should not affect the principles of the present disclosure.

[0078] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0079] like Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , wireless communication system 100 may include some UEs 101 (eg, UE 101a and UE 101b) and a base station (eg, BS 102). Figure 1 A specific number of UEs 101 and BSs 102 are depicted in FIG. 1 , but please consider that the wireless communication system 100 may include any number of UEs and BSs.

[0080] UE 101 may include a computing device, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a smart TV (e.g., a TV connected to the Internet), a set-top box, a game console, a security system (including a security camera), a car computer, a network device (e.g., a router, a switch, and a modem), etc. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, UE 101 may include a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a flip phone, a device with a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, or any other device capable of sending and receiving communication signals on a wireless network. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, UE 101 includes a wearable device, such as a smart watch, a fitness bracelet, an optical head-mounted display, etc. In addition, UE 101 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile device, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal or a device, or described using other terms used in the art. UE 101 may communicate with BS 102 via an uplink (UL) communication signal.

[0081] BS 102 may be distributed throughout a geographic area. In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, BS 102 may also be referred to as an access point, access terminal, base, base unit, macro cell, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), gNB, Home Node B, relay node or device, or described using other terms used in the art. BS 102 is typically part of a radio access network, which may include one or more controllers capable of being communicatively coupled to one or more corresponding BS 102. BS 102 may communicate with UE 101 via downlink (DL) communication signals.

[0082] The wireless communication system 100 may be compatible with any type of network capable of sending and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may be compatible with a wireless communication network, a cellular telephone network, a time division multiple access (TDMA)-based network, a code division multiple access (CDMA)-based network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-based network, an LTE network, a 3GPP-based network, a 3GPP 5G network, a satellite communication network, a high altitude platform network, and / or other communication networks.

[0083] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with 5G NR of the 3GPP protocol. For example, the BS 102 may transmit data on the DL using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme, and the UE 101 may transmit data on the UL using a discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) or cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) scheme. However, more generally, the wireless communication system 100 may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocols, such as WiMAX and other protocols.

[0084] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 101 may communicate using other communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 series wireless communication protocols). In addition, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 101 may communicate via a licensed spectrum, while in some other embodiments, BS 102 and UE 101 may communicate via an unlicensed spectrum. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to implementations of any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol.

[0085] As mentioned above, the random access procedure may be used for various purposes. Figure 2 An exemplary random access process 200 is illustrated according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 2 In the random access procedure, the random access procedure may be a 4-step random access channel (RACH) procedure.

[0086] refer to Figure 2 , the UE may start a random access procedure by transmitting a message 1 (also referred to as Msg1) to the BS at a RACH opportunity (RO) (eg, a valid RO) in operation 201. Msg1 may include a preamble determined by the UE and may also be referred to as a PRACH transmission or a preamble transmission.

[0087] In response to receiving Msg1, the BS may transmit a random access response (RAR, also referred to as Msg2) to the UE in operation 202. The RAR may indicate that a preamble is received and provide information necessary for transmitting subsequent messages (e.g., message 3 (Msg3) and message 4 (Msg4)). For example, the RAR may include PDCCH (or named RAR UL grant) scheduling information for Msg3. In some embodiments, Msg3 may be transmitted using the same beam as Msg1.

[0088] The RAR UL grant may be carried by the PDSCH, which is scheduled by a downlink control information (DCI) format (e.g., DCI format 1_0) carried by the PDCCH. The DCI format may be identified (e.g., scrambled) by a specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) (e.g., a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI)), which may be determined by at least one of the time position or frequency position of the RO in which the preamble is transmitted. That is, for different ROs, the corresponding RA-RNTI may be different.

[0089] The PDCCH for RAR may be transmitted in the RAR window, which may start after a time gap (i.e., at least one symbol) after the UE transmits Msg1. This window may also be referred to as a "PDCCH monitoring window". From the perspective of the BS, the BS may need to transmit the PDCCH and RAR in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0090] From the UE's perspective, after PRACH transmission, the UE may monitor PDCCH for RAR within a PDCCH monitoring window. For example, the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI during the PDCCH monitoring window. In some examples, the UE may receive PDCCH (i.e., DCI format) and scheduled RAR within the PDCCH monitoring window. In a certain example, a PDCCH monitoring failure may occur, and the UE may retransmit the PRACH.

[0091] In some instances, the UE may determine that PDCCH monitoring has failed when one of the following situations occurs: the UE does not detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI within the window; or the UE detects a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI within the window, but the least significant bit (LSB) of the system frame number (SFN) field in the DCI format (if included and applicable) is not the same as the corresponding LSB of the SFN when the UE transmits PRACH; or the UE does not correctly receive the transport block in the corresponding PDSCH within the window; or when the higher layer does not recognize the random access preamble code identifier (RAPID) associated with the PRACH transmission from the UE.

[0092] Still refer to Figure 2 After receiving the RAR, the UE may transmit Msg3 to the BS in operation 203. In response to receiving Msg3, the BS may transmit Msg4 to the UE in operation 204. Msg3 and Msg4 may be used to resolve potential conflicts caused by simultaneous transmission of the same preamble from different UEs.

[0093] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a preamble or PRACH transmission may occur in a configurable subset of slots configured in a PRACH configuration period. Within these slots, there may be one or more frequency domain resources (eg, RO) covering multiple consecutive resource blocks.

[0094] An RO may be associated with one or more SSBs. An SSB may be associated with a beam. An SSB may include a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and may be used for UE synchronization to a downlink (DL), obtaining a cell ID, acquiring system information, etc.

[0095] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may indicate multiple SSBs to the UE. For example, the UE may obtain the index of the available SSBs in the system information. The UE may measure the channel state of each SSB in the multiple SSBs, select one SSB with relatively good channel quality, and transmit the preamble in the RO associated with the selected SSB.

[0096] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the association between the SSB (or beam) and the RO may be configured by the network (eg, BS) to the UE. For example, the BS may transmit configuration information to the UE to indicate the association between the SSB and the RO.

[0097] For example, the association between an SSB (beam) and a RO may be that one SSB is associated with one corresponding RO (hereinafter referred to as a 1-to-1 association). For example, the association between an SSB (beam) and a RO may be that more than one SSB is associated with one corresponding RO (hereinafter referred to as an N-to-1 association). For example, the association between an SSB (beam) and a RO may be that one SSB is associated with more than one corresponding RO (hereinafter referred to as a 1-to-N association).

[0098] Figures 3A to 3C The diagram illustrates an exemplary association between SSB and RO according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0099] Figure 3A Shows a 1-to-1 association between SSB and RO. Figure 3A In , it is assumed that there are 8 SSBs indexed from SSB#0 to SSB#7, there is one RO in the frequency domain, and the associated period contains 8 ROs indexed from RO#0 to RO#7. Figure 3A , SSB#0 to SSB#7 can be mapped to RO#0 to RO#7 respectively.

[0100] Figure 3B Shows an N-to-1 association between SSB and RO. Figure 3BIn , it is assumed that there are 8 SSBs indexed from SSB#0 to SSB#7, the value of N is 2, there is one RO in the frequency domain, and the associated period contains 8 ROs indexed from RO#0 to RO#7. Figure 3B , SSB#0 and SSB#1 can be associated with RO#0, SSB#2 and SSB#3 can be associated with RO#1, SSB#4 and SSB#5 can be associated with RO#2, SSB#6 and SSB#7 can be associated with RO#3, SSB#0 and SSB#1 can be associated with RO#4, SSB#2 and SSB#3 can be associated with RO#5, SSB#4 and SSB#5 can be associated with RO#6, and SSB#6 and SSB#7 can be associated with RO#7.

[0101] Figure 3C Shows a 1-to-N association between SSB and RO. Figure 3C In , it is assumed that there are 8 SSBs indexed from SSB#0 to SSB#7, the value of N is 2, there are two ROs in the frequency domain, and the associated period contains 16 ROs indexed from RO#0 to RO#15. Figure 3C , SSB#0 can be associated with RO#0 and RO#1, SSB#1 can be associated with RO#2 and RO#3, SSB#2 can be associated with RO#4 and RO#5, SSB#3 can be associated with RO#6 and RO#7, SSB#4 can be associated with RO#8 and RO#9, SSB#5 can be associated with RO#10 and RO#11, SSB#6 can be associated with RO#12 and RO#13, and SSB#7 can be associated with RO#14 and RO#15.

[0102] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the association between the SSB and the RO may be performed periodically in each SSB and RO association period. The association period may be X (for example, X is a positive integer) times the PRACH configuration period and contain one or more SSB to RO mapping cycles. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the duration of the SSB and RO association period may be a minimum period, so that within the SSB and RO association period, each SSB is associated with at least one RO.

[0103] In addition to the random access procedure described above, PRACH transmission may also occur in a link recovery procedure or (in other words) a BFR procedure.

[0104] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may be provided with a configuration for PRACH transmission for link recovery or BFR (e.g., via "PRACH-ResourceDedicatedBFR" specified in the 3GPP specification). For PRACH transmission in a specific time slot and according to a periodic CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resource configuration or associated with a specific index provided by a higher layer (e.g., q specified in the 3GPP specification), the UE may be provided with a configuration for PRACH transmission for link recovery or BFR (e.g., via "PRACH-ResourceDedicatedBFR" specified in the 3GPP specification). new ), the UE may monitor the PDCCH in the search space set within the PDCCH monitoring window after a time gap after the PRACH transmission to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by a specific RNTI (e.g., a cell RNTI (C-RNTI) or a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) C-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI)).

[0105] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for PDCCH monitoring and corresponding PDSCH reception, the UE may assume that the PDCCH is associated with a specific index (e.g., q new ) until, for example, the UE receives activation for a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may transmit a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) using the same spatial filter as used for the last PRACH transmission.

[0106] Some communication technologies may support non-repeated preamble or PRACH transmissions. However, in some cases, such as when using a short PRACH format (e.g., PRACH format B4 specified in 3GPP specification TS 38.211), PRACH may be a bottleneck channel with poor coverage performance. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for improving the coverage of PRACH.

[0107] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, PRACH repetition is introduced for PRACH coverage enhancement. In some embodiments, PRACH may be repeated in multiple ROs in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) manner, or both (each may be referred to as a "PRACH repetition"). In some instances, there may be multiple time domain units (e.g., time slots or symbols) occupied by multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0108] Various problems may arise when PRACH repetitions are introduced. For example, in the case of the initial access process, since there are multiple ROs corresponding to multiple PRACH repetitions, consideration should be given to how to determine the PDCCH monitoring window and how to determine the RA-RNTI to be detected in the PDCCH monitoring window. In addition, in the case of multiple PRACH repetitions transmitted using different beams, consideration should be given to how to determine the beam used for PDSCH reception. For example, in the case of link recovery or BFR, since there are multiple ROs corresponding to multiple PRACH repetitions, consideration should be given to how to determine the PDCCH monitoring window. In addition, in the case of multiple PRACH repetitions transmitted using different beams, consideration should be given to which beam the UE assumes for the same antenna port quasi-co-location parameters for PDCCH monitoring and PUCCH transmission.

[0109] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions that can at least solve the above problems caused when supporting PRACH repetition. More details about the embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated in the following text in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0110] Figure 4 A flow chart illustrating an exemplary process 400 for transmitting PRACH repetitions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 400 may be performed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 The details described in all the above embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to Figure 4 The embodiments shown in .

[0111] refer to Figure 4 In operation 411, the UE may send a request to a network entity (eg, Figure 1 BS102 shown in FIG. 1 transmits multiple PRACH repetitions for a random access procedure, a BFR procedure, or a link recovery procedure.

[0112] In some embodiments, the plurality of ROs may be a plurality of valid ROs. The definition of a valid RO may be found in a 3GPP specification (e.g., 3GPP specification TS 38.213). In some embodiments, at least two of the plurality of ROs may have different time domain resources or be in different time units (e.g., different time slots, symbols, subframes, mini-time slots, sub-time slots, or frames).

[0113] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may need to indicate to the network (e.g., a network entity, such as a BS) whether to repeat the transmission of PRACH. In some instances, a specific PRACH preamble or a specific PRACH opportunity may be used to indicate PRACH repetition. For example, when the network entity receives a specific PRACH preamble from the UE, the network entity will know that the PRACH or preamble will be repeatedly transmitted. For example, when the network entity receives a PRACH or preamble from the UE at a specific PRACH opportunity (e.g., a specific RO), the network entity will know that the PRACH or preamble will be repeatedly transmitted.

[0114] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in multiple PRACH repetitions may be configured in a PRACH configuration table; and when the network entity indicates the PRACH configuration by an index (e.g., 8 bits) in the system information block 1 (SIB1), the number of repetitions may be indicated. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, multiple PRACH repetition numbers may be configured separately by the network entity; and when the network entity indicates the PRACH configuration by an index (e.g., 8 bits) in SIB1, the number of repetitions may be indicated. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of repetitions may be configured per PRACH format; and then if the format is indicated, the number of repetitions is determined. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of repetitions may be associated with a corresponding PRACH preamble or a corresponding RO. For example, different PRACH preambles or ROs may correspond to different numbers of PRACH repetitions.

[0115] In operation 413, the UE may monitor the PDCCH according to a PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions or a RO among the multiple ROs. For example, the UE may monitor the PDCCH according to at least one PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the UE may monitor the PDCCH according to at least one RO among the multiple ROs.

[0116] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may monitor the PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring window. The PDCCH monitoring window may be determined according to PRACH repetition or RO (eg, at least one PRACH repetition or at least one RO).

[0117] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where multiple PRACH repetitions are used for a BFR process or a link recovery process, multiple ROs or multiple PRACH repetitions may be in the same time slot. The PDCCH monitoring window for the BFR process or the link recovery process may be determined according to any RO in the multiple ROs or any PRACH in the multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0118] For example, assuming that multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted in time slot A (i.e., multiple ROs are in time slot #A), the PDCCH monitoring window can be determined to start from time slot A+K1, where K1 represents the time slot level offset. For example, K1 can be equal to 4+2 μ ·k mac , where μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration for PRACH transmission and k mac is the number of time slots representing the scheduling offset. For example, k mac May be provided by K-Mac, or if K-Mac is not provided, then k mac =0. k mac The definition of K-Mac and K-Mac is specified in the 3GPP specification. The duration of the PDCCH monitoring window may be configured by a network entity (eg, BS) (eg, via BeamFailureRecoveryConfig specified in the 3GPP specification).

[0119] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the start symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined according to a predefined RO among a plurality of ROs or according to a predefined PRACH repetition among a plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0120] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the last PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the last RO among the multiple ROs. The last RO may also be referred to as the RO of the last PRACH repetition.

[0121] In response to a PRACH transmission, the UE attempts to detect a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0) with a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI during a window controlled by higher layers. The window starts at the first symbol of the earliest control resource set (CORESET) of the PDCCH of the Type1-PDCCH common search space (CSS) set that the UE is configured to receive, i.e., at least one symbol after the last symbol of the last PRACH opportunity corresponding to the PRACH transmission (or the last symbol of the PRACH opportunity corresponding to the last PRACH repetition), wherein the (symbol) duration of the window corresponds to the SCS of the Type1-PDCCH CSS set.

[0122] refer to Figure 5A , the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (e.g., PRACH 1 to 4) to the BS at multiple ROs (e.g., RO 1 to 4) during the random access procedure. The multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted in time slot #n-1 and time slot #n, where PRACH 1 and PRACH 2 are transmitted in time slot #n-1 and PRACH 3 and PRACH 4 are transmitted in time slot #n.

[0123] The UE may attempt to detect the DCI format within the PDCCH monitoring window, such as Figure 5A . The starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on the last PRACH repetition (i.e., PRACH 4) in PRACHs 1 to 4. For example, the PDCCH monitoring window may start from the first symbol of the earliest control resource set (CORESET) of the PDCCH of the Type1-PDCCH common search space (CSS) set that the UE is configured to receive, i.e., at least one symbol after the last symbol of RO 4 (or RO corresponding to PRACH 4). The (symbol) duration of the PDCCH monitoring window may correspond to the SCS of the Type1-PDCCH CSS set.

[0124] refer to Figure 5B , the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (e.g., PRACH 1 to 4) to the BS at multiple ROs (e.g., RO 1 to 4) during the BFR process or the link recovery process. The multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted in time slot #n-1 and time slot #n, where PRACH 1 and PRACH 2 are transmitted in time slot #n-1 and PRACH 3 and PRACH 4 are transmitted in time slot #n.

[0125] For the last PRACH repetition in slot n (e.g., PRACH 4), the UE monitors the PDCCH in the search space set (e.g., provided by recoverySearchSpaceId specified in the 3GPP specification) starting from slot #n=k1 to detect DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI.

[0126] The UE may attempt to detect the DCI format within the PDCCH monitoring window, such as Figure 5B For example, since the last PRACH repetition (e.g., PRACH 4) or since the last RO (e.g., RO 4) is in slot #n, the UE may monitor the PDCCH in a search space set (e.g., provided by recoverySearchSpaceId specified in the 3GPP specification) starting from slot #n+K1 to detect the DCI format of.

[0127] In response to a failure to monitor the PDCCH, the UE may retransmit the PRACH. For example, a higher layer of the UE may instruct the physical layer to retransmit the PRACH. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PRACH may be retransmitted repeatedly. For example, the UE should be ready to transmit the PRACH (e.g., a set of PRACH repetitions) at a time offset (denoted as offset #1) no later than the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window or the end symbol of the PDSCH reception scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0128] In some examples, offset #1 may be equal to N T，1 +0.75 ms, where N is specified in the 3GPP specification T，1 is the duration of N_1 symbols corresponding to the PDSCH processing time of UE processing capability 1.

[0129] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions is greater than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions in the plurality of PRACH repetitions. In other words, the number of retransmitted PRACH repetitions may be equal to or greater than the initial PRACH transmission.

[0130] For example, refer to Figure 5A In case of a PDCCH monitoring failure, the UE may prepare to transmit PRACH (eg, retransmit a set of PRACH repetitions (eg, PRACH 1' to 5')) after a time offset relative to the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0131] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the difference between the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions and the number of PRACH repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions is configured by the BS or predefined in a standard, for example. In other words, the increased number of repetitions may be a default value or configured by the BS.

[0132] For example, in Figure 5A In the example shown in , the difference "1" may be configured or predefined by the BS, so that in case of PDCCH monitoring failure, the UE may retransmit 4+1 PRACH repetitions (ie, PRACH 1' to 5').

[0133] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the earliest (first) PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the earliest (first) RO among multiple ROs. The earliest RO may also be referred to as the RO of the earliest PRACH repetition.

[0134] In response to a PRACH transmission, the UE attempts to detect a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0) with a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI during a window controlled by higher layers. The window starts at the first symbol of the earliest CORESET of the PDCCH of the Type1-PDCCH CSS set for which the UE is configured to receive, i.e., at least one symbol after the last symbol of the PRACH opportunity corresponding to the first PRACH repetition, wherein the (symbol) duration of the window corresponds to the SCS of the Type1-PDCCH CSS set.

[0135] refer to Figure 5C, the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (e.g., PRACH 1 to 4) to the BS at multiple ROs (e.g., RO 1 to 4) during the random access procedure. The multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted in time slot #n-1 and time slot #n, where PRACH 1 and PRACH 2 are transmitted in time slot #n-1 and PRACH 3 and PRACH 4 are transmitted in time slot #n.

[0136] The UE may attempt to detect the DCI format within the PDCCH monitoring window, such as Figure 5C . The starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on the first PRACH repetition (i.e., PRACH 1) in PRACHs 1 to 4. For example, the PDCCH monitoring window may start from the first symbol of the earliest CORESET of the PDCCH of the Type1-PDCCH CSS set that the UE is configured to receive, i.e., at least one symbol after the last symbol of RO 1 (or RO corresponding to PRACH 1). The (symbol) duration of the PDCCH monitoring window may correspond to the SCS of the Type1-PDCCH CSS set.

[0137] For the first PRACH repetition in time slot #n-1 (e.g., PRACH 1), the UE monitors the PDCCH in the search space set (e.g., provided by recoverySearchSpaceId specified in the 3GPP specification) starting from time slot (#n-1)+K1 to detect DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI or MCS-C-RNTI.

[0138] refer to Figure 5D , the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (e.g., PRACH 1 to 4) to the BS at multiple ROs (e.g., RO 1 to 4) during the BFR process or the link recovery process. The multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted in time slot #n and time slot #n+1, where PRACH 1 and PRACH 2 are transmitted in time slot #n and PRACH 3 and PRACH 4 are transmitted in time slot #n+1.

[0139] The UE may attempt to detect the DCI format within the PDCCH monitoring window, such as Figure 5D For example, since the first PRACH repetition (e.g., PRACH 1) or since the first RO (e.g., RO 1) is in time slot #n, the UE may monitor the PDCCH in the search space set (e.g., provided by recoverySearchSpaceId specified in the 3GPP specification) starting from time slot #n+K1 to detect the DCI format.

[0140] In response to a failure to monitor the PDCCH, the UE may retransmit the PRACH. For example, a higher layer of the UE may instruct the physical layer to retransmit the PRACH. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PRACH may be retransmitted repeatedly. For example, the UE should be ready to transmit a set of PRACH repetitions at a time offset (e.g., offset #1 described above) no later than the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window or the end symbol of the PDSCH reception scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0141] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions is greater than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions in multiple PRACH repetitions. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the difference between the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions and the number of PRACH repetitions in multiple PRACH repetitions is configured by a network entity (e.g., BS) or predefined in a standard, for example.

[0142] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the length of the PDCCH monitoring window may be based on at least one of the following: (A) a configurable window duration; (B) a repetition period of multiple PRACH repetitions (or a repetition period of multiple ROs); or (C) a time difference between a predefined PRACH repetition and the last PRACH repetition in multiple PRACH repetitions (a time difference between a predefined RO and the last RO in multiple ROs).

[0143] For example, the configurable window duration may be the duration of a PRACH transmission without repetitions. For example, the configurable window duration may be for a PRACH transmission with repetitions. For example, in the case where the predefined RO is not the last RO or the predefined PRACH repetition is not the last PRACH repetition, the length of the window may be equal to (A) or (A)+(B) or (A)+(C). For example, return to reference Figure 5C , the length of the PDCCH monitoring window can be equal to (A) + (B#1) or (A) + (C#1).

[0144] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to successfully monitoring the PDCCH, the UE may cancel a PRACH repetition in a plurality of PRACH repetitions, wherein a start symbol of the canceled PRACH repetition occurs after a time offset (denoted as offset #2) relative to an end symbol of a CORESET in which the PDCCH is detected or an end symbol of a PDSCH received scheduled by the PDCCH. In some examples, offset #2 may be equal to T proc，2 , or T proc，2 +d, or Ngap. The definitions of the parameters or variables in the preceding formula for determining offset #2 can be found in the 3GPP specifications.

[0145] In some embodiments, successfully monitoring the PDCCH may mean that: the UE detects a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI within the window, the LSB of the SFN field in the DCI format (if included and applicable) is the same as the corresponding LSB of the SFN when the UE transmits the PRACH, the UE receives a transport block in the corresponding PDSCH within the window, the UE passes the transport block to a higher layer (e.g., a layer higher than the physical layer), and the higher layer parses the transport block to obtain the RAPID associated with the PRACH transmission.

[0146] refer to Figure 6 , the UE will transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (e.g., PRACH 1 to 8) at multiple ROs (e.g., RO1 to 8) during a random access procedure, a BFR procedure, or a link recovery procedure. The multiple PRACH repetitions may be transmitted in slot #n to slot #n+3. The PDCCH monitoring window may be determined according to the various methods described above. For example, the PRACH 1 may be determined as follows: Figure 6 . In some examples, the UE can successfully receive and decode the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window. Since the distance between the start symbol of PRACH 8 and the end symbol of the CORESET in which the PDCCH is detected is greater than offset #2, the UE can cancel PRACH 8.

[0147] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on multiple PDCCH monitoring windows. A starting symbol of each of the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be determined according to a corresponding RO group in a plurality of RO groups including a plurality of ROs or a corresponding PRACH group in a plurality of PRACH groups including a plurality of PRACH repetitions. The number of ROs in an RO group or the number of PRACH repetitions in a PRACH group may be equal to or greater than 1.

[0148] The start symbol of a corresponding PDCCH monitoring window in the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows may be determined according to a predefined RO in a corresponding RO group or a predefined PRACH repetition in a corresponding PRACH group.

[0149] For example, in the case where there is only one member in the RO group or the PRACH group, the starting symbol of each of the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows may be determined according to each of the plurality of ROs or each of the plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0150] For example, in the case where there are multiple members in an RO group or a PRACH group, the starting symbol of each of the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be determined according to the last or first RO among the multiple ROs in each RO group or according to the last or first PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions in each PRACH group. The ROs in each RO group may also be referred to as ROs of each PRACH group.

[0151] In some embodiments, the number of ROs in a RO group in a plurality of RO groups (denoted as Q), the number of RO groups in a plurality of RO groups (denoted as N), or both may be configured or predefined by a network entity (e.g., a BS). The plurality of ROs may be grouped into a plurality of RO groups based on, for example, the number of repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions (or the number of ROs in a plurality of ROs) and one of N and Q.

[0152] In some embodiments, the number of PRACH repetitions in a PRACH group in a plurality of PRACH groups (denoted as Q'), the number of PRACH groups in a plurality of PRACH groups (denoted as N'), or both may be configured or predefined by a network entity. The plurality of PRACH repetitions may be grouped into a plurality of PRACH groups based on, for example, the number of repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions (or the number of ROs in a plurality of ROs) and one of N' and Q'.

[0153] For example, multiple ROs may be divided into multiple RO groups, and a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on each RO group. For example, multiple PRACHs may be repeatedly divided into multiple PRACH groups, and a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on each PRACH group. In this way, multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be determined. Multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be continuous or discontinuous in the time domain.

[0154] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be combined to form a single PDCCH monitoring window. The UE may monitor the PDCCH in the single PDCCH monitoring window.

[0155] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the start symbol of the earliest (first) window in multiple PDCCH monitoring windows and the end (last) symbol of the last window in multiple PDCCH monitoring windows can be respectively determined as the start symbol and end symbol of the final PDCCH monitoring window. That is, the final PDCCH monitoring window can occupy the time from the start symbol of the earliest window in multiple PDCCH monitoring windows to the end symbol of the last window in multiple PDCCH monitoring windows. The UE can monitor the PDCCH in the final PDCCH monitoring window.

[0156] In other words, the final PDCCH monitoring opportunity may be a collection of all PDCCH monitoring opportunities in all PDCCH monitoring windows in the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0157] refer to Figure 7 , the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (e.g., PRACH 1 to 4) to the BS at multiple ROs (e.g., RO1 to 4) during a random access procedure, a BFR procedure, or a link recovery procedure. The multiple PRACH repetitions may be transmitted at slot #n to slot #n+1.

[0158] Assuming N=2, PRACHs 1 to 4 are divided into two groups, namely, group #1 including PRACHs 1 and 2 and group #2 including PRACHs 3 and 4. Or in other words, ROs 1 to 4 are divided into two groups, namely, group #1' including ROs 1 and 2 and group #2' including ROs 3 and 4.

[0159] For each group, a corresponding PDCCH monitoring window may be determined. Assume that the last group member is used as the basis for determining the corresponding PDCCH monitoring window. For example, Figure 7 As shown in FIG. 1 , window 1 may be determined according to RO 2 or PRACH 2. Window 2 may be determined according to RO 4 or PRACH 4. Figure 7 , window 1 and window 2 do not overlap in the time domain, but please consider that in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, window 1 and window 2 may overlap in the time domain.

[0160] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, window 1 and window 2 may be combined into a single window (e.g., window 3) for PDCCH monitoring. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, window 1 and window 2 may not be combined, and the UE may perform PDCCH monitoring in each of window 1 and window 2.

[0161] In response to a failure to monitor the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window, the UE may retransmit the PRACH. For example, a higher layer of the UE may instruct the physical layer to retransmit the PRACH. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PRACH may be retransmitted repeatedly. For example, the UE may be ready to retransmit a set of PRACH repetitions at a time offset (e.g., offset #1) no later than the end symbol of the last window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows or the end symbol of the PDSCH reception scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0162] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions is greater than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions. In other words, the number of PRACH repetitions may be equal to or greater than the initial PRACH transmission.

[0163] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the difference between the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions and the number of PRACH repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions is configured by the BS or predefined in a standard, for example. In other words, the increased number of repetitions may be a default value or configured by the BS.

[0164] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to successfully monitoring the PDCCH, the UE may cancel a PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions, where the start symbol of the canceled PRACH repetition occurs after a time offset (e.g., offset #2) relative to the end symbol of the CORESET in which the PDCCH is detected or the end symbol of the PDSCH received by the PDCCH scheduled by the PDCCH.

[0165] As mentioned above, the UE may monitor the PDCCH according to a PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions or an RO among multiple ROs in operation 413. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, monitoring the PDCCH may include detecting a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI in the PDCCH monitoring window according to the PRACH repetition or the RO. More specifically, the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI within each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the PDCCH monitoring window. For simplicity, in the context of the present disclosure, "detecting a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI" may also be referred to as "detecting the RA-RNTI".

[0166] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the RA-RNTI may be determined according to a predefined RO among a plurality of ROs or an RO of a predefined PRACH repetition among a plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0167] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the last (or first) PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the last (or first) RO among multiple ROs. The last (or first) RO may also be referred to as the RO of the last (or first) PRACH repetition.

[0168] For example, returning a reference Figure 5A , the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by a RA-RNTI determined by a RO (ie, RO 4) based on the last RO (ie, RO 4) or the last PRACH repetition (ie, PRACH 4) in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0169] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the RA-RNTI may include multiple RA-RNTIs, each of which may be determined according to a corresponding RO group among multiple RO groups including multiple ROs or a corresponding PRACH group among multiple PRACH groups including multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0170] The number of ROs in an RO group or the number of PRACH repetitions in a PRACH group may be equal to or greater than 1. The method for determining a plurality of RO groups and a plurality of PRACH groups described above may be applicable here.

[0171] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may detect each of the multiple RA-RNTIs in the PDCCH monitoring window. For example, the UE may attempt to detect all of the multiple RA-RNTIs in each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0172] For example, assume that the number of ROs in the RO group is 1. For example, refer to Figure 5A , for each RO of RO 1 to 4, the UE may determine the corresponding RA-RNTI, and the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format having a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI in the PDCCH monitoring window. For example, the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format having a CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI determined according to RO 1 in the PDCCH monitoring window, the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format having a CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI determined according to RO 2 in the PDCCH monitoring window, the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format having a CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI determined according to RO 3 in the PDCCH monitoring window, and the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format having a CRC scrambled by the RA-RNTI determined according to RO 4 in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0173] For example, assume that the number of ROs in the RO group is 2. Figure 7 , ROs 1 to 4 are divided into two groups, namely, group #1' including ROs 1 and 2 and group #2' including ROs 3 and 4. Assume Figure 7Window 3 in is the final window for PDCCH monitoring. For each of group #1' and group #2', the UE may determine the corresponding RA-RNTI, and the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA-RNTI in window 3. Since there are more than one RO in an RO group, the UE may determine the RA-RNTI corresponding to the corresponding RO group according to the predefined ROs in the corresponding RO group. For example, the UE may determine RA-RNTI#1 according to RO 2 (the last RO) in group #1', and determine RA-RNTI#2 according to RO 4 (the last RO) in group #2'. The UE may attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI#1 in window 3 and attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI#2 in window 3.

[0174] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may detect a corresponding RA-RNTI among a plurality of RA-RNTIs in a corresponding sub-window among a plurality of sub-windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of sub-windows.

[0175] For example, the PDCCH monitoring window may be divided into a plurality of sub-windows, a plurality of ROs may be divided into a plurality of RO groups, and each sub-window may correspond to an RO group. As mentioned above, the number of ROs in an RO group may be equal to or greater than 1. For each RO group, the UE may determine a corresponding RA-RNTI. The method described above for determining a plurality of RO groups and RA-RNTIs corresponding to the RO groups may be applicable here. The UE may attempt to detect a corresponding RA-RNTI in a corresponding sub-window in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0176] For example, refer to Figure 8 , the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (eg, PRACH 1 to 4) to the BS at multiple ROs (eg, RO 1 to 4) during a random access procedure. The multiple PRACH repetitions may be transmitted at slot #n-1 and slot #n.

[0177] The UE may determine the PDCCH monitoring window according to the various methods described above or other methods that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, such as Figure 8. For example, the starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on the last PRACH repetition (i.e., PRACH 4) in PRACH 1 to 4. The PDCCH monitoring window may be divided into a plurality of sub-windows (e.g., sub-windows #1 to #4), each of which corresponds to one of RO 1 to 4. The UE may determine the RA-RNTI corresponding to each sub-window according to the corresponding RO and may detect the RA-RNTI in the corresponding sub-window. For example, the UE may determine the RA-RNTI according to RO 1 and attempt to detect the RA-RNTI in sub-window #1. The UE may determine the RA-RNTI according to RO 2 and attempt to detect the RA-RNTI in sub-window #2. The UE may determine the RA-RNTI according to RO 3 and attempt to detect the RA-RNTI in sub-window #3. The UE may determine the RA-RNTI according to RO 4 and attempt to detect the RA-RNTI in sub-window #4.

[0178] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may detect a corresponding RA-RNTI in a plurality of RA-RNTIs in a corresponding window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows. The plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows may overlap or not overlap with each other.

[0179] For example, according to the method described above or other methods that can be conceived by technicians in the relevant field, the UE can determine multiple PDCCH monitoring windows and can monitor PDCCH in each of the PDCCH monitoring windows. For each PDCCH monitoring window, the UE can attempt to detect the corresponding RA-RNTI in the corresponding window.

[0180] For example, refer to Figure 7 , window 1 may be determined according to RO 2 or PRACH 2, and window 2 may be determined according to RO 4 or PRACH 4. It is assumed that the UE may determine window 1 and window 2 as multiple PDCCH monitoring windows. In each of window 1 and window 2, the UE may determine the corresponding RA-RNTI. For example, the UE may determine the RA-RNTI corresponding to window 1 according to RO 2 and may determine the RA-RNTI corresponding to window 2 according to RO 4. The UE may detect the RA-RNTI corresponding to window 1 in window 1 and the RA-RNTI corresponding to window 2 in window 2.

[0181] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least two PDCCH monitoring windows among the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may overlap in the time domain.

[0182] In this case, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may detect corresponding RA-RNTIs corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in an overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0183] For example, refer to Fig. 9 , the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions (eg, PRACH 1 to 4) to the BS at multiple ROs (eg, RO 1 to 4) during a random access procedure. The multiple PRACH repetitions may be transmitted at slot #n to slot #n+1.

[0184] For example, according to the method described above or other methods that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, the UE can determine multiple PDCCH monitoring windows (eg, Fig. 9 The UE may determine the corresponding RA-RNTI in the corresponding window. For example, the UE may determine RA-RNTI#A1 corresponding to window 1 and determine RA-RNTI#A2 corresponding to window 2. For example, window 1 may be determined according to RO 2 in the RO group including RO 1 and 2, and window 2 may be determined according to RO 4 in the RO group including RO 3 and 4. For example, RA-RNTI#A1 may be determined according to RO 2 and RA-RNTI#A2 may be determined according to RO 4.

[0185] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI#A1 in window 1, and attempt to detect a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI#A2 in window 2. More specifically, in the overlapping portion 913 of windows 1 and 2, the UE may attempt to detect both RA-RNTI#A1 and RA-RNTI#A2. In portion 911 of window 1 and portion 915 of window 2, the UE may attempt to detect RA-RNTI#A1 and RA-RNTI#A2, respectively.

[0186] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may detect a single RA-RNTI among the corresponding RA-RNTIs corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in the overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows. The single RA-RNTI may be determined based on the priority of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows. For example, the single RA-RNTI is a RA-RNTI corresponding to a higher priority. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the priority of the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on at least one of the following: the starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window; the starting symbol of the RO associated with the PDCCH monitoring window; or the index of the SSB or CS (e.g., CSI-RS) associated with the RO.

[0187] For example, a PDCCH monitoring window with an earlier or later start symbol has a higher priority. For example, a PDCCH monitoring window corresponding to a RO with an earlier or later start symbol has a higher priority. For example, a PDCCH monitoring window corresponding to a RO associated with a smaller or larger SSB index or CSI-RS index has a higher priority.

[0188] For example, it is assumed that the PDCCH monitoring window corresponding to the RO with an earlier start symbol has a higher priority. Fig. 9 , window 2 has a higher priority than window 1 because window 2 corresponds to RO 1 or RO 2, and window 2 corresponds to RO 3 or RO 4, and RO 1 and 2 are prior to RO 3 and 4. In the overlapping portion 913 of windows 1 and 2, the UE may attempt to detect only RA-RNTI#A1. More specifically, the UE may attempt to detect RA-RNTI#A1 in window 1 and may attempt to detect RA-RNTI#A2 in the portion 915 of window 2.

[0189] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may transmit multiple PRACH repetitions using multiple beams in operation 411. A beam for PDCCH monitoring in a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined from the multiple beams according to PRACH repetitions or ROs (e.g., at least one PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions or at least one RO among multiple ROs).

[0190] In the context of the present disclosure, “the beam for A is a beam of PRACH repetition” may mean that the DMRS for A has the same antenna port quasi-co-location parameters as the SSB or CSI-RS associated with the PRACH repetition.

[0191] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a beam used for PDCCH monitoring in a PDCCH monitoring window may correspond to a beam of a predefined PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions or a beam of a predefined RO among multiple ROs.

[0192] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the earliest (first) PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the earliest (first) RO among multiple ROs. The earliest RO may also be referred to as the RO of the earliest PRACH repetition.

[0193] For example, returning a reference Figures 5A to 5D 7 to 9, the UE may transmit PRACHs 1 to 4 using multiple beams at ROs 1 to 4. The beam used for PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window may correspond to the beam of the first PRACH repetition (ie, PRACH 1) among PRACHs 1 to 4.

[0194] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the last PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the last RO among the multiple ROs. The last RO may also be referred to as the RO of the last PRACH repetition.

[0195] For example, returning a reference Figures 5A to 5D 7 to 9, the UE may transmit PRACHs 1 to 4 using multiple beams at ROs 1 to 4. The beam used for PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window may correspond to the beam of the last PRACH repetition (ie, PRACH 4) among PRACHs 1 to 4.

[0196] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used for PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window may include a group of beams, each beam in the group of beams may correspond to a corresponding PRACH repetition group in multiple PRACH repetition groups including multiple PRACH repetitions or a corresponding RO in multiple RO groups including multiple ROs.

[0197] The number of ROs in an RO group or the number of PRACH repetitions in a PRACH group may be equal to or greater than 1. The method for determining a plurality of RO groups and a plurality of PRACH groups described above may be applicable here.

[0198] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may use each beam in a set of beams to perform PDCCH monitoring in a PDCCH monitoring window, which means that the UE may switch beams in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0199] For example, returning a reference Figures 5A to 5DIn some embodiments, the UE may transmit PRACH 1 to 4 using multiple beams at RO 1 to 4. The UE may monitor the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window using each of the multiple beams.

[0200] For example, refer to Figure 7 , assuming that window 3 is the final window for PDCCH monitoring, and the UE may transmit PRACH 1 to 4 using multiple beams at RO 1 to 4. The UE may monitor PDCCH in window 3 using each of the multiple beams.

[0201] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may use a corresponding beam from a group of beams in a corresponding subwindow from among a plurality of subwindows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of subwindows.

[0202] For example, multiple PRACH repetitions (or multiple ROs) may be divided into multiple PRACH repetition groups (or multiple RO groups), a PDCCH monitoring window may be divided into multiple sub-windows, and each sub-window may correspond to a PRACH repetition group (or RO group). As mentioned above, the number of group members in a PRACH repetition group or RO group may be equal to or greater than 1. For each sub-window, the UE may use a corresponding beam in a set of beams, which may be determined based on the corresponding PRACH repetition group (or corresponding RO group). For example, a beam used for a predefined (e.g., last or first) PRACH repetition in a corresponding PRACH repetition group may be used as a beam for PDCCH monitoring in a corresponding sub-window. For example, in a case where the number of group members is equal to 1, a set of beams may refer to multiple beams used for PRACH repetition transmission.

[0203] For example, refer to Figure 8 In some embodiments, the UE may transmit PRACH 1 to 4 using multiple beams at multiple ROs (e.g., RO 1 to 4). The UE may determine the PDCCH monitoring window according to the various methods described above or other methods that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, such as Figure 8The PDCCH monitoring window is divided into 4 sub-windows (i.e., sub-windows #1 to #4), each of which corresponds to one of RO 1 to 4. Therefore, in this example, a set of beams refers to a plurality of beams used to transmit PRACH 1 to 4. The UE may use a corresponding beam of the plurality of beams in each of sub-windows #1 to #4. For example, the UE may use a beam for PRACH 1 or RO 1 in sub-window #1, a beam for PRACH 2 or RO 2 in sub-window #2, a beam for PRACH 3 or RO 3 in sub-window #3, and the UE may use a beam for PRACH 4 or RO 4 in sub-window #4.

[0204] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may use a corresponding beam in a group of beams in a corresponding window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window includes the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows. The plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows may overlap or not overlap with each other.

[0205] For example, according to the methods described above or other methods that can be conceived by technicians in the relevant field, the UE can determine multiple PDCCH monitoring windows and can monitor the PDCCH in each of the PDCCH monitoring windows. For each PDCCH monitoring window, the UE can use a corresponding beam in a set of beams in the corresponding window.

[0206] For example, refer to Figure 7 , windows 1 and 2 may be determined according to the last RO in the corresponding RO group or the last PRACH in the corresponding PRACH group. For example, window 1 may be determined according to RO 2 in group #1' or PRACH 2 in group #1, and window 2 may be determined according to RO 4 in group #2' or PRACH 4 in group #2. It is assumed that the UE may determine window 1 and window 2 as multiple PDCCH monitoring windows. That is, the UE may monitor the PDCCH in window 1 and monitor the PDCCH in window 2.

[0207] In window 1 and window 2, the UE may use corresponding beams in a set of beams that may correspond to group #1' and group #2', respectively, or to group #1 and group #2, respectively. For example, the set of beams may include a beam for a predefined (e.g., last or first) PRACH in group #1 and a beam for a predefined (e.g., last or first) PRACH in group #2. For example, assuming that the predefined PRACH is the last PRACH, the UE may use the beam for PRACH 2 for PDCCH monitoring in window 1 and use the beam for PRACH 4 for PDCCH monitoring in window 2.

[0208] In case that the number of group members in an RO group or a PRACH repetition group is equal to 1, a set of beams may refer to a plurality of beams used for PRACH repetition transmission.

[0209] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least two PDCCH monitoring windows among the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may overlap in the time domain.

[0210] In this case, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may use corresponding beams corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in an overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0211] For example, refer to Fig. 9 , according to the methods described above or other methods that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, the UE can determine window 1 and window 2 for PDCCH monitoring. For example, window 1 can be determined according to RO 2 in the RO group including RO 1 and 2, and window 2 can be determined according to RO 4 in the RO group including RO 3 and 4. In some examples, the UE can determine that a set of beams includes a beam for PRACH 2 and a beam for PRACH 4. The UE can perform PDCCH monitoring in window 1 using the beam for PRACH 2 and perform PDCCH monitoring in window 2 using the beam for PRACH 4. More specifically, in the overlapping portion 913 of windows 1 and 2, the UE can perform PDCCH monitoring using both the beam for PRACH 2 and the beam for PRACH 4. In part 911 of window 1 and part 915 of window 2, the UE can use the beam for PRACH 2 and the beam for PRACH 4, respectively.

[0212] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may use a single beam among corresponding beams corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows in an overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows. The single beam may be determined based on the priorities of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows. For example, the single beam is a beam corresponding to a higher priority.

[0213] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the priority of the PDCCH monitoring window can be determined based on at least one of the following: the starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window; the starting symbol of the RO associated with the PDCCH monitoring window; or the index of the SSB or CS (e.g., CSI-RS) associated with the RO.

[0214] For example, a PDCCH monitoring window with an earlier or later start symbol has a higher priority. For example, a PDCCH monitoring window corresponding to a RO with an earlier or later start symbol has a higher priority. For example, a PDCCH monitoring window corresponding to a RO associated with a smaller or larger SSB index or CSI-RS index has a higher priority.

[0215] For example, it is assumed that the PDCCH monitoring window corresponding to the RO with an earlier start symbol has a higher priority. Fig. 9 , window 2 has a higher priority than window 1 because window 2 corresponds to RO 1 or RO 2, and window 2 corresponds to RO 3 or RO 4, and RO 1 and 2 are prior to RO 3 and 4. In the overlapping portion 913 of windows 1 and 2, the UE can perform PDCCH monitoring using only the beam for PRACH 4. More specifically, the UE can perform PDCCH monitoring in window 1 using the beam for PRACH 2 and perform PDCCH monitoring in portion 915 of window 2 using the beam for PRACH 4.

[0216] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may determine a beam for subsequent process steps of transmission of multiple PRACH repetitions based on the beam used for PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0217] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the subsequent process steps may include at least one of the following: receiving a PDSCH (e.g., RAR or activation command for BFR) scheduled by a PDCCH, transmitting a message 3 (e.g., Figure 2 ), message 4 is received (e.g., in operation 203 of Figure 2 ), or PUCCH transmission after PDCCH monitoring.

[0218] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used for the subsequent process steps of transmission of multiple PRACH repetitions is the same as the beam used to receive the PDCCH in response to PDCCH monitoring. For example, in the case where the beam used for PDCCH monitoring includes more than one beam, the UE may receive the PDCCH only on a single beam or a subset of the more than one beams. The beam used for the subsequent process steps may be the same as the single beam or the beam subset.

[0219] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the order of operations in exemplary process 400 may be changed and some of the operations in exemplary process 400 may be eliminated or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0220] Fig.10A flow chart illustrating an exemplary process 1000 for receiving PRACH repetitions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Process 1000 may be performed by a network entity (e.g., Figure 1 The details described in all the above embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to BS102 shown in FIG. Fig.10 The embodiments shown in .

[0221] refer to Fig.10 In operation 1011, the network entity may receive multiple PRACH repetitions for a random access procedure, a BFR procedure, or a link recovery procedure from the UE at multiple ROs. Figure 4 )The definition of RO described in ) is applicable here.

[0222] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the network entity may need to know whether PRACH is repeatedly transmitted. For example, the network entity may determine to receive multiple PRACH repetitions in response to receiving a specific PRACH preamble or in response to receiving a PRACH preamble at a specific PRACH opportunity.

[0223] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in the multiple PRACH repetitions may be configured in a PRACH configuration table, or may be configured per PRACH format, or may be associated with a corresponding PRACH preamble or a corresponding RO. For example, different PRACH preambles may correspond to different numbers of PRACH repetitions.

[0224] In operation 1013, the network entity may transmit a PDCCH to the UE according to a PRACH repetition among a plurality of PRACH repetitions or a RO among a plurality of ROs.

[0225] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a PDCCH may be transmitted in a PDCCH monitoring window that may be determined based on a PRACH repetition or an RO. For example, the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on at least one PRACH repetition among a plurality of PRACH repetitions. For example, the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on at least one RO among a plurality of ROs.

[0226] The method for determining the PDCCH monitoring window described above may be applicable here.

[0227] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where multiple PRACH repetitions are used for a BFR process or a link recovery process, multiple ROs or multiple PRACH repetitions may be in the same time slot. The PDCCH monitoring window may be determined according to any RO in the multiple ROs or any PRACH in the multiple PRACH repetitions.

[0228] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the start symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined according to a predefined RO among a plurality of ROs or according to a predefined PRACH repetition among a plurality of PRACH repetitions.

[0229] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the last PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the last RO among the multiple ROs. The last RO may also be referred to as the RO of the last PRACH repetition.

[0230] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the earliest (first) PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the earliest (first) RO among multiple ROs. The earliest RO may also be referred to as the RO of the earliest PRACH repetition.

[0231] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the network entity may receive a set of PRACH repetitions for a random access procedure, a BFR procedure, or a link recovery procedure from the UE at a time offset (e.g., offset #1) no later than the end symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window or the end symbol of the PDSCH reception scheduled by the PDCCH. This may indicate that the PDCCH monitoring at the UE has failed.

[0232] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions is greater than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions. In other words, the number of PRACH repetitions may be equal to or greater than the initial PRACH transmission.

[0233] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the network entity may transmit to the UE a difference between the number of PRACH repetitions in a set of PRACH repetitions and the number of PRACH repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the difference may be predefined.

[0234] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where the predefined RO is not the last RO or the predefined PRACH repetition is not the last PRACH repetition, the length of the PDCCH monitoring window may be based on at least one of the following: (A) a configurable window duration; (B) a repetition period of multiple PRACH repetitions (or a repetition period of multiple ROs); or (C) a time difference between a predefined PRACH repetition and the last PRACH repetition in multiple PRACH repetitions (a time difference between a predefined RO and the last RO in multiple ROs). For example, the network entity may configure the window duration for the UE. The above-mentioned description on determining the length of the PDCCH monitoring window may be applicable here and is therefore omitted herein.

[0235] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on multiple PDCCH monitoring windows. A starting symbol of each of the multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be determined according to a corresponding RO group in a plurality of RO groups including a plurality of ROs or a corresponding PRACH group in a plurality of PRACH groups including a plurality of PRACH repetitions. The number of ROs in an RO group or the number of PRACH repetitions in a PRACH group may be equal to or greater than 1.

[0236] The above-mentioned description on determining multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be applicable here. The above-mentioned description on RO groups and PRACH groups may be applicable here.

[0237] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a network entity receives a set of PRACH repetitions for a random access procedure, a BFR procedure, or a link recovery procedure from a UE at a time offset (e.g., offset #1) no later than the end symbol of the last window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows or the end symbol of PDSCH reception scheduled by the PDCCH. This may indicate a PDCCH monitoring failure at the UE.

[0238] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in a group of PRACH repetitions is greater than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions. In other words, the number of PRACH repetitions may be equal to or greater than the initial PRACH transmission.

[0239] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the network entity may transmit to the UE a difference between the number of PRACH repetitions in a set of PRACH repetitions and the number of PRACH repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the difference may be predefined.

[0240] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PDCCH monitoring window may be a single PDCCH monitoring window formed by combining multiple PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0241] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the start symbol of the earliest window among multiple PDCCH monitoring windows and the end symbol of the last window among multiple PDCCH monitoring windows may be respectively determined as the start symbol and end symbol of the (final) PDCCH monitoring window.

[0242] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of ROs in a RO group in a plurality of RO groups (e.g., Q), the number of RO groups in a plurality of RO groups (e.g., N), or both are configurable or predefined by a network entity. A plurality of ROs may be grouped into a plurality of RO groups based on, for example, the number of repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions (or the number of ROs in a plurality of ROs) and one of N and Q.

[0243] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of PRACH repetitions in a PRACH group in a plurality of PRACH groups (e.g., Q'), the number of PRACH groups in a plurality of PRACH groups (e.g., N'), or both are configurable or predefined by a network entity. A plurality of PRACH repetitions may be grouped into a plurality of PRACH groups based on, for example, the number of repetitions in a plurality of PRACH repetitions (or the number of ROs in a plurality of ROs) and one of N' and Q'.

[0244] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a start symbol of a corresponding PDCCH monitoring window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows may be determined according to a predefined RO in a corresponding RO group or a predefined PRACH repetition in a corresponding PRACH group.

[0245] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the predefined RO may be the earliest (first) or the last RO. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the earliest (first) or the last PRACH repetition.

[0246] As described in detail above, from the perspective of the UE, after the PRACH transmission, it may need to detect one or more RA-RNTIs in the PDCCH monitoring window according to the various methods described above. Similarly, the network entity may also determine one or more RA-RNTIs in the PDCCH monitoring window. However, the network entity may only transmit a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by a specific RA-RNTI among the one or more RA-RNTIs in the corresponding PDCCH monitoring window. Therefore, the UE may receive a DCI format with a CRC scrambled by a specific RA-RNTI.

[0247] As mentioned above, the network entity may transmit the PDCCH according to a PRACH repetition among a plurality of PRACH repetitions or a RO among a plurality of ROs in operation 1013. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, transmitting the PDCCH may include transmitting a DCI format having a CRC scrambled by a RA-RNTI in a PDCCH monitoring window, wherein the RA-RNTI is determined according to the PRACH repetition or the RO.

[0248] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the RA-RNTI may be determined according to a predefined RO among multiple ROs or a RO of a predefined PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions. In this case, the UE may only need to detect one RA-RNTI in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0249] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the last (or first) PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the last (or first) RO among multiple ROs. The last (or first) RO may also be referred to as the RO of the last (or first) PRACH repetition.

[0250] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the RA-RNTI is determined according to a plurality of RA-RNTIs, each of which is determined according to a corresponding RO group in a plurality of RO groups including a plurality of ROs. The method for determining a plurality of RA-RNTIs described above may be applicable here. As for how to determine a RA-RNTI from a plurality of RA-RNTIs, it may be based on an implementation of a network entity, taking into account which RNTI is used by the network entity, and therefore the UE should monitor each RNTI in the corresponding PDCCH monitoring window.

[0251] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, each RA-RNTI in a plurality of RA-RNTIs may correspond to a sub-window in a plurality of sub-windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window may include the plurality of sub-windows. For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, each RA-RNTI in a plurality of RA-RNTIs may correspond to a window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window may include the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows. The network entity may transmit a PDCCH having an RNTI selected from the plurality of RA-RNTIs in the corresponding PDCCH monitoring window.

[0252] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, in a situation where at least two PDCCH monitoring windows among multiple PDCCH monitoring windows overlap in the time domain, a single RA-RNTI among the corresponding RA-RNTIs corresponding to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows may correspond to the overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0253] The method for determining a single RA-RNTI described above may be applicable here. For example, a single RA-RNTI may be determined based on the priority of at least two PDCCH monitoring windows. The method for determining the priority of a PDCCH monitoring window described above may be applicable here. For example, the priority of a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on at least one of the following: a start symbol of a PDCCH monitoring window; a start symbol of a RO associated with a PDCCH monitoring window; or an index of an SSB or CS (e.g., CSI-RS) associated with a RO.

[0254] As described in detail above, from the perspective of the UE, it can transmit multiple PRACH repetitions using multiple beams, and can use one or more beams from the multiple beams to perform PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window. Similarly, the network entity can determine one or more beams from the multiple beams corresponding to the PDCCH monitoring window. However, the network entity can select a specific beam from the one or more beams for actual PDCCH transmission. Therefore, the UE can receive the PDCCH using the specific beam.

[0255] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the plurality of PRACH repetitions received by the network entity in operation 1011 may be transmitted using a plurality of beams. A beam for transmitting the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window may be determined from the plurality of beams according to the PRACH repetitions or RO.

[0256] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a beam used to transmit a PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring window may correspond to a beam of a predefined PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions or a beam of a predefined RO among multiple ROs.

[0257] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the earliest (first) PRACH repetition among multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the earliest (first) RO among multiple ROs. The earliest RO may also be referred to as the RO of the earliest PRACH repetition.

[0258] For example, the predefined PRACH repetition may be the last PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions. For example, the predefined RO may be the last RO among the multiple ROs. The last RO may also be referred to as the RO of the last PRACH repetition.

[0259] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a beam used to transmit a PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined from a group of beams among a plurality of beams, and each beam in the group of beams may correspond to a corresponding PRACH repetition group in a plurality of PRACH repetition groups including a plurality of PRACH repetitions or a corresponding RO in a plurality of RO groups including a plurality of ROs. As for how to determine a beam from a plurality of beams, it may be based on an implementation scheme of a network entity, and considering that the UE does not know which beam is used by the network entity, the UE should switch beams in the PDCCH monitoring window.

[0260] The method for determining a set of beams among a plurality of beams described above may be applicable here.

[0261] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, each beam in a set of beams may correspond to a subwindow in a plurality of subwindows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window may include the plurality of subwindows. Therefore, the UE may use a corresponding beam in a corresponding subwindow.

[0262] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, each beam in a set of beams may correspond to a window in a plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows, wherein the PDCCH monitoring window may include the plurality of PDCCH monitoring windows. Therefore, the UE may use the corresponding beam in the corresponding PDCCH monitoring window.

[0263] For example, in a case where at least two PDCCH monitoring windows among multiple PDCCH monitoring windows overlap in the time domain, a single beam among the corresponding beams may correspond to the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows, corresponding to the overlapping portion of the at least two PDCCH monitoring windows.

[0264] The method for determining a single beam described above may be applicable here. For example, a single beam may be determined based on the priority of at least two PDCCH monitoring windows. The method for determining the priority of a PDCCH monitoring window described above may be applicable here. For example, the priority of a PDCCH monitoring window may be determined based on at least one of the following: a start symbol of a PDCCH monitoring window; a start symbol of a RO associated with the PDCCH monitoring window; or an index of an SSB or CS (e.g., CSI-RS) associated with a RO.

[0265] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted using multiple beams, the network entity may determine the beam for subsequent process steps of receiving the multiple PRACH repetitions according to the beam used to transmit the PDCCH.

[0266] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the subsequent process step may include at least one of the following: PDSCH transmission scheduled by PDCCH, message 3 reception, message 4 transmission, or PUCCH reception after PDCCH transmission.

[0267] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam used for subsequent process steps of reception of multiple PRACH repetitions may be the same as the beam used for transmission of the PDCCH.

[0268] Those skilled in the art should understand that the order of operations in exemplary process 1000 may be changed and some of the operations in exemplary process 1000 may be eliminated or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0269] Fig.11 A block diagram of an exemplary device 1100 is illustrated in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig.11 , the apparatus 1100 may include at least one processor 1106 and at least one transceiver 1102 coupled to the processor 1106. The apparatus 1100 may be a UE or a network entity, such as a BS.

[0270] Although in this figure, elements such as at least one transceiver 1102 and processor 1106 are described in the singular, please consider the plural unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular. In some embodiments of the present application, the transceiver 1102 can be divided into two devices, such as a receiving circuit system and a transmitting circuit system. In some embodiments of the present application, the device 1100 can further include an input device, a memory, and / or other components.

[0271] In some embodiments of the present application, the device 1100 may be a UE. The transceiver 1102 and the processor 1106 may interact with each other to perform Figures 1 to 10 In some embodiments of the present application, the device 1100 may be a BS. The transceiver 1102 and the processor 1106 may interact with each other to perform Figures 1 to 10 The operations of BS are described in .

[0272] In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 1100 may further include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0273] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store thereon computer-executable instructions useful for causing the processor 1106 to implement the method described above with respect to the UE. For example, when the computer-executable instructions are executed, the processor 1106 interacts with the transceiver 1102 to perform Figures 1 to 10 The operations of the UE are described in .

[0274] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store thereon computer-executable instructions useful for causing the processor 1106 to implement the method described above with respect to the BS. For example, when the computer-executable instructions are executed, the processor 1106 interacts with the transceiver 1102 to perform Figures 1 to 10 The operations of BS are described in .

[0275] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the operations or steps of the methods described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In addition, in some aspects, the operations or steps of the methods may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and / or instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0276] Although the present disclosure has been described with respect to specific embodiments of the present disclosure, it is apparent that many alternatives, modifications, and variations are apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added, or replaced in other embodiments. Moreover, all elements of each figure are unnecessary for the operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, a person of ordinary skill in the art of the disclosed embodiments will be able to make and use the teachings of the present disclosure by simply adopting elements of independent technical solutions. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0277] In this document, the term "includes", "including" or any other variation thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that the process steps, methods, articles or equipment containing a series of elements not only contain those elements, but also may contain other elements that are not explicitly listed or inherent to such process steps, methods, articles or equipment. Without more constraints, elements starting with "a, an" etc. do not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process steps, methods, articles or equipment containing the elements. And, the term "another" is defined as at least the second or more. As used herein, the term "having" etc. is defined as "including". For example, expressions such as "A and / or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include any and all combinations of words listed together with the expression. For example, the expression "A and / or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include A, B or both A and B. The words "first", "second", etc. are only used to clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application, but are not used to limit the essence of the present application.

Claims

1. A user equipment UE, comprising: Transceiver; and a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to: Transmitting multiple physical random access channel PRACH repetitions for a random access procedure or a beam failure recovery BFR procedure at multiple random access channel RACH occasions RO; and A physical downlink control channel PDCCH is monitored according to the PRACH repetition among the plurality of PRACH repetitions or the RO among the plurality of ROs. 2 . The UE according to claim 1 , wherein the PDCCH is monitored in a PDCCH monitoring window determined according to the PRACH repetition or the RO.

3. The UE according to claim 2, wherein in the case where the multiple PRACH repetitions are used for the BFR process, the multiple ROs or the multiple PRACH repetitions are in the same time slot; or The starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window is determined according to a predefined RO among the multiple ROs or according to a predefined PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions.

4. The UE according to claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to cancel a PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions in response to successfully monitoring the PDCCH, wherein a start symbol of the canceled PRACH repetition occurs after a second time offset relative to an end symbol of a control resource set CORESET in which the PDCCH is detected or an end symbol of a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH.

5. The UE of claim 1, wherein monitoring the PDCCH comprises: A downlink control information DCI format having a cyclic redundancy check CRC scrambled by a random access radio network temporary identifier RA-RNTI is detected in a PDCCH monitoring window according to the RO.

6. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the RA-RNTI is determined according to a predefined RO among the multiple ROs; or The RA-RNTI comprises a plurality of RA-RNTIs, each of the plurality of RA-RNTIs being determined according to a corresponding RO group in a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs.

7. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted using multiple beams, and wherein the beam used for the PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window is determined from the multiple beams according to the PRACH repetitions or the RO.

8. The UE according to claim 7, wherein the beam used for performing the PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window corresponds to a beam of a predefined PRACH repetition in the multiple PRACH repetitions or a beam of a predefined RO in the multiple ROs; or The beam used for performing the PDCCH monitoring in the PDCCH monitoring window includes a group of beams, each beam in the group of beams corresponds to a corresponding PRACH repetition group in a plurality of PRACH repetition groups including the plurality of PRACH repetitions or a corresponding RO in a plurality of RO groups including the plurality of ROs.

9. The UE according to any one of claims 3, 6 and 8, wherein the predefined RO is an earliest or a last RO; or The predefined PRACH repetition is the earliest or the last PRACH repetition.

10. A network entity, comprising: Transceiver; and a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to cause the network entity to: receiving a plurality of physical random access channel PRACH repetitions for a random access procedure or a beam failure recovery BFR procedure from a user equipment UE at a plurality of random access channel RACH occasions RO; and A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is transmitted to the UE according to the PRACH repetitions among the multiple PRACH repetitions or the RO among the multiple ROs.

11. The network entity of claim 10, wherein the PDCCH is transmitted in a PDCCH monitoring window determined according to the PRACH repetition or the RO.

12. The network entity according to claim 11, wherein in the case where the multiple PRACH repetitions are for the BFR, the multiple ROs or the multiple PRACH repetitions are in the same time slot; or The starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring window is determined according to a predefined RO among the multiple ROs or according to a predefined PRACH repetition among the multiple PRACH repetitions.

13. The network entity of claim 10, wherein transmitting the PDCCH comprises: Downlink control information DCI having a cyclic redundancy check CRC scrambled by a random access radio network temporary identifier RA-RNTI is transmitted in a PDCCH monitoring window, wherein the RA-RNTI is determined according to the RO.

14. The network entity according to claim 10, wherein the multiple PRACH repetitions are transmitted using multiple beams, and wherein the beam used to transmit the PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring window is determined from the multiple beams according to the PRACH repetitions or the RO.

15. A method performed by a user equipment UE, comprising: Transmitting multiple physical random access channel PRACH repetitions for random access procedure or beam failure recovery BFR procedure at multiple random access channel RACH opportunities RO; and A physical downlink control channel PDCCH is monitored according to the PRACH repetition among the plurality of PRACH repetitions or the RO among the plurality of ROs.

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