Coverage extension for random access channels

Abstract

A radio access network node generates a physical random access channel configuration and sends the configuration to a user equipment. The user equipment may use the plurality of different uplink resources indicated in the configuration to transmit the plurality of preamble portions to the radio access network node based on signal strengths corresponding to the available downlink beams. The preamble portion may be the same preamble, a different preamble allocated to a beam ranking index in the configuration and to be transmitted in a different uplink resource associated with a downlink beam ranked by the user equipment according to signal strength, or a different portion of a long spread preamble. The radio access network node may combine the preamble portions to obtain a single preamble, or may request a strongest beam indication from the user equipment if the preamble portions are received in a signal corresponding to a weaker than strongest downlink beam available to the user equipment.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. non-provisional patent application No. 17 / 959,944, filed on October 4, 2022, entitled “COVERAGE EXTENSION OF RANDOM ACCESS CHANNELS,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Background Art

[0003] The term 'New Radio' (NR) associated with fifth generation (5G) mobile wireless communication systems refers to technical aspects used in the wireless radio access network (RAN) and its nodes, including several quality of service (QoS) categories, including ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and massive machine type communications (mMTC). The URLLC QoS class is associated with strict latency requirements (e.g., low latency or low signal / message latency) and high reliability of radio performance, while traditional eMBB use cases may be associated with high capacity wireless communications, which may allow for less stringent latency requirements (e.g., higher latency than URLLC) and lower radio performance than URLLC. The performance requirements of mMTC may be lower than those of the eMBB use case. Some use case applications involving mobile devices or mobile user equipment (such as smartphones, wireless tablets, smart watches, etc.) may impose variations on a given RAN resource load or demand.

[0004] Coverage extension optimization is desirable for 5G NR deployments, particularly in cellular deployments where there is ambiguity between downlink signal coverage and uplink signal coverage due to the difference between the power of downlink beam signals sent from the RAN and the power of corresponding uplink beam signals sent from user equipment. As a result, the lower power typically used to send uplink signals from user equipment (UE) results in the geographic coverage of the uplink being less than the corresponding downlink geographic coverage associated with the downlink beam corresponding to a given uplink beam, thereby resulting in a reduction in achievable uplink performance relative to the achievable downlink performance of the corresponding uplink beam and downlink beam, respectively. As a result, uplink performance targets (e.g., key performance indicators (KPIs)) in wireless communication systems (such as fourth generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE) systems) have been 'relaxed' or less demanding relative to corresponding downlink performance KPIs. However, for 5G deployments, where more stringent quality of service targets than 4G LTE are required in both downlink and uplink directions, or are specifically needed in some cases, uplink coverage enhancement is desirable for uplink latency and reliability resilience performance. Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble transmission is used for connection establishment, handover, and beam failure recovery procedures. Procedures to increase, enhance, or optimize PRACH preamble coverage or range, extension are desirable. Summary of the invention

[0005] A simplified overview of the disclosed subject matter is given below in order to provide a basic understanding of some of the various embodiments. This content is not an extensive overview of the various embodiments. It is neither intended to identify the key or important elements of the various embodiments nor to define the scope of the various embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the present disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description presented later.

[0006] In one embodiment, a method may include: receiving, by a user equipment including a processor, a physical random access channel configuration or a random access channel configuration from a radio access node (RAN), wherein the random access channel configuration includes: a coverage criterion for coverage applicable to the user equipment. The coverage criterion may be a configuration value corresponding to a signal strength of a downlink beam available to the user equipment, the downlink beam may support sending a PRACH preamble from the user equipment to the RAN to establish sufficient, acceptable, satisfactory, or other desired performance of a wireless communication service between the user equipment and the RAN. The configuration may include: a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource.

[0007] The embodiment method may include: determining, by the user equipment, a first coverage indication of a first coverage corresponding to a first downlink beam based on a downlink burst signal received from a radio access node (such as a burst signal that may correspond to a synchronization signal block transmission); determining, by the user equipment, based on the first coverage indication, that the first coverage fails to meet a coverage criterion (e.g., the signal strength of the strongest downlink beam among the available downlink beams does not correspond to a signal strength value that is high enough to provide an expected performance level when sending a PRACH preamble). The embodiment method may include: sending, by the user equipment, a first random access channel preamble portion using a first random access channel resource corresponding to the first indication; and sending, by the user equipment, a second random access channel preamble portion using a second random access channel resource corresponding to the second indication.

[0008] In one embodiment, the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource may be associated with a first downlink beam. In one embodiment, the first random access channel preamble portion and the second random access channel preamble portion represent the same preamble portion.

[0009] The first downlink beam may be or may have the strongest beam signal strength or the strongest measured or determined downlink signal strength value among the available downlink beams, where 'available' may refer to a downlink beam transmitted from the RAN, which the user equipment may detect or may use for potential communication with the RAN.

[0010] The random access channel configuration may include: at least one random access channel preamble code element group, the at least one random access channel preamble code element group including: a preamble code associated with a corresponding beam strength ranking of an available downlink beam, wherein a first random access channel preamble code portion of the element group is associated with a first beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking (determined by a user device based on a beam strength signal measurement or value), and wherein a second random access channel preamble code portion is associated with a second beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking (also determined by the user device). The method may also include: determining, by the user equipment, based on the first coverage indication, that the first downlink beam has the strongest beam strength among the available downlink beams, and determining, based on the second coverage indication corresponding to the second downlink beam, that the second downlink beam has the second strongest beam strength among the available downlink beams; and determining, by the user equipment, that the first beam strength ranking corresponds to the first downlink beam and the second beam strength ranking corresponds to the second downlink beam, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is sent via or corresponds to the first random access channel resource corresponding to the first downlink beam, or wherein the second random access channel preamble portion is sent via or corresponds to the second random access channel resource corresponding to the second downlink beam. In one embodiment, the first random access channel preamble portion and the second random access channel preamble portion are different preamble portions.

[0011] In one embodiment, the random access channel configuration includes a random access channel long sequence preamble indication indicating a spread spectrum preamble, and wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is the first portion of the spread spectrum preamble, and the second random access channel preamble portion is the second portion of the spread spectrum preamble. The first random access channel preamble portion is orthogonal to the random access channel preamble that is not a spread spectrum preamble. The first downlink beam may be a beam with the strongest beam strength among available downlink beams. In one embodiment, the first random access channel preamble portion and the second random access channel preamble portion are sent via a first random access channel resource and a second random access channel resource, respectively, and the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource may correspond to the first downlink beam and the second downlink beam, respectively. The first resource indication may indicate: at least one first timing index, at least one first timing resource indication, or at least one first frequency resource indication, and wherein the second resource indication may indicate: at least one second timing index, at least one second timing resource indication, or at least one second frequency resource indication.

[0012] Another example embodiment method includes: generating a random access channel configuration by a radio access node (e.g., RAN) including a processor, the random access channel configuration including: a coverage criterion applicable to coverage of a user equipment, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource; sending the random access channel configuration by the radio access node to the user equipment; receiving a first random access channel preamble code portion from the user equipment via a first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication; receiving a second random access channel preamble code portion from the user equipment via a second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication; and sending a connection establishment message signal by the radio access node to the user equipment via a first downlink beam corresponding to the first random access channel resource.

[0013] In one embodiment, the coverage criterion may include a value corresponding to a signal strength parameter, which is used by the user equipment to determine whether the measured signal strength value corresponding to the signal strength parameter meets the minimum beam performance. In the random access channel configuration, the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource may be associated with the first downlink beam, and the embodiment method may also include: the radio access node determines based on the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource being associated with the first downlink beam: using the first downlink beam results in a stronger downlink beam strength signal measured by the user equipment compared to using other downlink beams corresponding to the radio access node available to the user equipment. The first random access channel preamble code part and the second random access channel preamble code part represent the same preamble code part. The RAN may combine an incomplete or scrambled version of the first random access channel preamble code part and an incomplete or scrambled version of the second random access channel preamble code part (which version may include a scrambled part different from the scrambled part of the first preamble code part) to obtain a complete unscrambled version of the same preamble code part.

[0014] In one embodiment, the random access channel configuration may also include at least one random access channel preamble code element group, which includes a preamble code associated with a corresponding beam strength ranking of an available downlink beam, wherein a first random access channel preamble code part is associated with a first beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking, and wherein a second random access channel preamble code part is associated with a second beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking, and the example method also includes: detecting, by the radio access node, the first random access channel preamble code part from a first random access channel resource; and determining, by the radio access node: using the first downlink beam results in the strongest measured signal strength at the user equipment.

[0015] In another embodiment, the random access channel configuration may also include at least one random access channel preamble code element group, the at least one random access channel preamble code element group including a preamble code associated with a corresponding beam strength ranking of an available downlink beam, wherein a first random access channel preamble code part is associated with a first beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking, and wherein a second random access channel preamble code part is associated with a second beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking, and the embodiment method also includes: the radio access node detects the second random access channel preamble code part from a second random access channel resource without detecting the first random access channel preamble code part; the radio access node determines, based on the detection of the second random access channel preamble code part: use the second random access channel preamble code part in the available downlink beam associated with the second random access channel preamble code part The RAN may determine that the second downlink beam is not the strongest downlink beam available to the UE because the second random access channel preamble portion corresponds to the second ranking in the tuple, and therefore the RAN requests the UE to send an indication of the strongest downlink beam available to the UE.

[0016] In another embodiment of the example method, the random access channel configuration may include a random access channel long sequence preamble indication indicating a spread spectrum preamble, and wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is a first portion of the spread spectrum preamble, and the second random access channel preamble portion is a second portion of the spread spectrum preamble. The first random access channel preamble portion may be orthogonal to a random access channel preamble that is not a spread spectrum preamble.

[0017] The random access channel configuration may also include: a group of configured non-spread preamble code first preamble code parts, a group of configured spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code parts, and a group of configured spread spectrum preamble code second preamble code parts, and the method may also include: determining, by the radio access node, that the first random access channel preamble code part received via the first random access channel resource corresponds to the spread spectrum preamble code, wherein the determination includes: analyzing the first random access channel preamble code part relative to the group of configured spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code parts, and analyzing the first random access channel preamble code part relative to the group of configured non-spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code parts; and decoding the second random access channel preamble code part by the radio access node, wherein the decoding includes: analyzing the second random access channel preamble code part relative to the group of configured spread spectrum preamble code second preamble code parts, and not analyzing the second random access channel preamble code part relative to the group of configured non-spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code parts. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 A wireless communication system environment is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 2A Illustrated are downlink beams in an example multi-beam wireless user equipment environment.

[0020] Figure 2B Illustrated are uplink beams in an example multi-beam wireless user equipment environment.

[0021] Figure 3 An example embodiment of PRACH resources for transmission of repeated PRACH preambles is illustrated.

[0022] Figure 4 A timing diagram of an example embodiment for transmission of repeated PRACH preambles is illustrated.

[0023] Figure 5 An example configuration table of different PRACH preamble codes corresponding to different wireless signal strength coverages is illustrated.

[0024] Figure 6 A timing diagram for an example embodiment of using different PRACH preambles corresponding to different wireless signal strength coverages is illustrated.

[0025] Figure 7 A diagram illustrating example PRACH resources for using a spread spectrum PRACH preamble is shown.

[0026] Figure 8 A timing diagram of an example method for using a spread spectrum PRACH preamble is illustrated.

[0027] Fig. 9A flow chart illustrating an example methodology for repeated transmission using a PRACH preamble is shown.

[0028] Fig.10 A flow chart illustrating an example methodology for using different PRACH preambles corresponding to different wireless signal strength coverages is illustrated.

[0029] Fig.11 A flow chart of an example method for using a spread spectrum PRACH preamble is illustrated.

[0030] Fig.12 A block diagram of an example wireless UE is illustrated.

[0031] Fig.13 An example computer environment is illustrated.

[0032] Fig.14 A block diagram of an example method is illustrated.

[0033] Fig.15 A block diagram of an example system is illustrated.

[0034] Fig.16 A block diagram of an example non-transitory machine-readable medium embodiment is illustrated.

[0035] Fig.17 A block diagram of an example method is illustrated.

[0036] Fig.18 A block diagram of an example system is illustrated.

[0037] Fig.19A A block diagram of an example non-transitory machine-readable medium embodiment is illustrated.

[0038] Fig.19B Picture shows Fig.19A A continuation block diagram of an example non-transitory machine-readable medium embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] First, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the present embodiment has wide practicability and applicability. In addition to those described herein, many methods, embodiments and adaptations of the present application and many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements will be clearly or reasonably suggested from the essence or scope of the various embodiments of the present application.

[0040] Therefore, although the present application has been described in detail with respect to various embodiments herein, it should be understood that the present disclosure is an illustration of one or more concepts expressed by various exemplary embodiments, and is made only to provide a complete and enabling disclosure. The following disclosure is not intended and should not be interpreted as limiting the present application or otherwise excluding any such other embodiments, adaptations, changes, modifications and equivalent arrangements, and the present embodiments described herein are limited only by the attached claims and their equivalents.

[0041] As used in this disclosure, in some embodiments, the terms "component", "system", etc. are intended to refer to or include a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operating device having one or more specific functions, where the entity can be hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a computer-executable instruction, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration and not limitation, both an application running on a server and a server can be a component.

[0042] One or more components may reside in a process and / or execution thread, and a component may be located on a computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components may be executed from various computer-readable media on which various data structures are stored. Components may communicate via local and / or remote processes, such as according to signals with one or more data packets (e.g., data from a component, which interacts with another component in a local system, a distributed system, and / or interacts with other systems via the signal through a network such as the Internet). As another example, a component may be a device having a specific function provided by a mechanical component operated by an electric or electronic circuit system, which is operated by a software application or firmware application executed by a processor, wherein the processor may be inside or outside the device, and executes at least a portion of the software or firmware application. As another example, a component may be a device providing a specific function by an electronic component without a mechanical component, and the electronic component may include a processor therein to execute software or firmware that at least partially assigns the function of the electronic component. Although various components have been shown as separate components, it should be understood that, without departing from the exemplary embodiments, multiple components may be implemented as a single component, or a single component may be implemented as multiple components.

[0043] The term "facilitate" as used herein refers to a system, device, or component "facilitating" one or more actions or operations, and is related to the nature of a complex computing environment in which multiple components and / or multiple devices may participate in some computing operations. Non-limiting examples of actions that may or may not involve multiple components and / or multiple devices include transmitting or receiving data, establishing a connection between devices, determining intermediate results for obtaining results, etc. In this regard, a computing device or component may facilitate an operation by playing any role in completing the operation. When the operation of a component is described herein, it should be understood that, where an operation is described as being facilitated by a component, the operation may optionally be completed in cooperation with one or more other computing devices or components, such as, but not limited to, sensors, antennas, audio and / or visual output devices, other devices, etc.

[0044] In addition, various embodiments can be implemented as methods, devices, or articles using standard programming and / or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosed subject matter. The term "article" as used herein is intended to cover a computer program accessible from any computer-readable (or machine-readable) device or computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage / communication media. For example, a computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, a magnetic storage device (e.g., a hard disk, a floppy disk, a magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, and a flash memory device (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

[0045] Now go to Figure 1, which illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 may include: one or more base stations 105, one or more user equipment (UE) devices 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a long-range wireless communication network, the network including: for example, a long-term evolution (LTE) network, an advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a new radio (NR) network. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communications, low-latency communications, communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices, or any combination thereof. As shown, examples of UE 115 may include: a smartphone, a car or other vehicle, or a drone, or other aircraft. Another example of a UE may be a virtual reality device 117, such as smart glasses, a virtual reality headset, an augmented reality headset, and other similar devices that can provide images, videos, audio, touch, taste, or smell to the wearer. A UE (such as VR device 117) may send or receive wireless signals with a RAN base station 105 via a long-range wireless link 125, or a UE / VR device may receive or send wireless signals via a short-range wireless link 137, which may include a wireless link with a UE device 115, such as a Bluetooth link, a Wi-Fi link, etc. A UE (such as device 117) may communicate via multiple wireless links simultaneously, such as via link 125 with a base station 105 and via a short-range wireless link. VR device 117 may also communicate with a wireless UE via a cable or other wired connection. The RAN or its components may be referred to as Fig.12 The described one or more computer components are implemented.

[0046] Continue the discussion Figure 1 , base stations 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communication system 100, and may be devices of different forms or with different capabilities. The base stations 105 and UEs 115 may communicate wirelessly via one or more communication links 125. Each base station 105 may provide a coverage area 110 over which the UEs 115 and the base stations 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which the base stations 105 and UEs 115 may support communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies.

[0047] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the coverage area 110 of the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile, or both, at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices of different forms or with different capabilities. Figure 1Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, base stations 105, or network devices (e.g., core network nodes, relay devices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other network devices), such as Figure 1 as shown in .

[0048] The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or with each other, or both. For example, the base stations 105 may interface with the core network 130 via one or more backhaul links 120 (e.g., via S1, N2, N3, or other interfaces). The base stations 105 may communicate with each other directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130), or both, via the backhaul links 120 (e.g., via X2, Xn, or other interfaces). In some examples, the backhaul links 120 may include one or more wireless links.

[0049] One or more base stations 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by a person of ordinary skill in the art as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next generation NodeB or a giga NodeB (any of which may be referred to as a bNodeB or gNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology.

[0050] UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where a "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, etc. UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a personal computer, or a router. In some examples, UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communication (MTC) device, etc., which may be implemented in various objects, such as appliances, vehicles, or smart meters, etc.

[0051] UE 115 may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, which may sometimes act as relays, as well as base stations 105 and network devices, including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, etc. Figure 1 as shown in .

[0052] The UE 115 and the base station 105 can communicate with each other wirelessly via one or more communication links 125 on one or more carriers. The term "carrier" may refer to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication link 125. For example, a carrier for the communication link 125 may include a portion (e.g., bandwidth portion (BWP)) of a radio frequency spectrum band that operates according to one or more physical layer channels of a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling for coordinating carrier operations, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communication system 100 may use carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation to support communication with the UE 115. Depending on the carrier aggregation configuration, the UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation may be used with frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers.

[0053] In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates the operation of other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be located based on a channel raster for discovery by a UE 115. A carrier may be operated in a standalone mode, where a UE 115 may perform initial acquisition and connection via a carrier, or a carrier may be operated in a non-standalone mode, where a different carrier (e.g., of the same or different radio access technology) is used to anchor a connection.

[0054] The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include an uplink transmission from the UE 115 to the base station 105, or a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115. A carrier may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in FDD mode), or may be configured to carry both downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode).

[0055] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of a radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a plurality of determined bandwidths of a carrier of a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHz)). The devices of the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., a base station 105, a UE 115, or both) may have a hardware configuration that supports communications on a particular carrier bandwidth, or may be configured to support communications on one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a base station 105 or a UE 115 that supports simultaneous communications via carriers associated with a plurality of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured to operate on a portion of the carrier bandwidth (e.g., a subband, a BWP) or the entire carrier bandwidth.

[0056] The signal waveform sent on the carrier may be composed of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system using MCM technology, a resource element may be composed of a symbol period (e.g., the duration of a modulation symbol) and a subcarrier, where the symbol period and the subcarrier spacing are inversely proportional. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both). Therefore, the more resource elements received by UE 115 and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate of the UE. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum resources, time resources (e.g., search space), or spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may also improve the data rate or data integrity of communications with UE 115.

[0057] One or more digital technologies of a carrier may be supported, where the digital technology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same or different digital technologies. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP of a carrier may be active at a given time, and communications of a UE 115 may be limited to one or more active BWPs.

[0058] The time interval of the base station 105 or the UE 115 may be expressed as a multiple of a basic time unit. For example, the basic time unit may refer to T s =1 / (Δf max ·N f ) seconds sampling period, where Δf maxIt can indicate the maximum subcarrier spacing supported, N f The maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size may be indicated. The time intervals of the communication resources may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0059] Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes or time slots, and each subframe or time slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided into subframes (e.g., in the time domain), and each subframe may be further divided into multiple time slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of time slots, and the number of time slots may depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include multiple symbol periods, for example, depending on the length of a cyclic prefix appended to each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, a time slot may also be divided into multiple mini-time slots containing one or more symbols. In addition to the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may include one or more (e.g., N f ) sampling period. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or the operating frequency band.

[0060] A subframe, slot, mini-slot, or symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in a burst of a shortened TTI (sTTI)).

[0061] According to various techniques, physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier. Physical control channels and physical data channels may be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of a time division multiplexing (TDM) technique, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique, or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) of a physical control channel may be defined by a plurality of symbol periods and may extend to a system bandwidth or a subset of a system bandwidth of a carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 may monitor or search a control region or space according to one or more search space sets to obtain control information, and each search space set may include one or more control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. The aggregation level of a control channel candidate may refer to a plurality of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with coded information of a control information format having a given payload size. A search space set may include: a common search space set configured for sending control information to a plurality of UEs 115, and a UE-specific search space set for sending control information to a particular UE 115. Other search spaces and configurations for monitoring and decoding them are disclosed herein that are novel rather than conventional.

[0062] The base station 105 may provide communication coverage via one or more cells, such as macro cells, small cells, hot spots, or other types of cells, or any combination thereof. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with the base station 105 (e.g., via a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or other identifier) ​​used to distinguish adjacent cells. In some examples, a cell may also refer to a geographic coverage area 110 or a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area 110 on which a logical communication entity operates. Depending on various factors such as the capabilities of the base station 105, such a cell may range from a smaller area (e.g., a structure, a subset of a structure) to a larger area. For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subset of a building, or an external space between or overlapping a geographic coverage area 110, etc.

[0063] A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by a UE 115 through a service subscription with a network provider that supports the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a base station 105 with lower power than a macro cell, and the small cell may operate in a frequency band that is the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) from the macro cell. A small cell may provide unrestricted access to a UE 115 that has a service subscription with a network provider, or may provide restricted access to a UE 115 associated with a small cell (e.g., a UE 115 in a closed user group (CSG), a UE 115 associated with a user in a home or office). A base station 105 may support one or more cells, and may also use one or more component carriers to support communications on one or more cells.

[0064] In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)), which may provide access to different types of devices.

[0065] In some examples, base stations 105 may be mobile and, therefore, provide communication coverage for mobile geographic coverage areas 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same base station 105. In other examples, overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0066] The wireless communication system 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105 may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations 105 may have different frame timing, and in some examples, transmissions from different base stations 105 may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for synchronous or asynchronous operation.

[0067] Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automatic communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or with a base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay such information to a central server or application that uses the information or presents the information to a person interacting with the application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automatic behavior of machines or other devices. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, medical monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

[0068] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ a reduced power consumption mode of operation, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception but does not support transmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power saving techniques for UE 115 include entering a power saving deep sleep mode when not engaged in active communications, operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrowband protocol type that is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., a subcarrier or resource block set (RB)) within a carrier, within a guard band of a carrier, or outside a carrier.

[0069] The wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable communication or low-delay communication or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable low-delay communication (URLLC) or mission-critical communication. UE115 can be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-delay, or critical functions (e.g., mission-critical functions). Ultra-reliable communication can include dedicated communication or group communication, and can be supported by one or more mission-critical services, such as mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission-critical video (MCVideo), or mission-critical data (MCData). Support for mission-critical functions can include service prioritization, and mission-critical services can be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-delay, mission-critical, and ultra-reliable low-delay can be used interchangeably herein.

[0070] In some examples, UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). The communication link 135 may include a sidelink communication link. One or more UEs 115 utilizing D2D communication (such as sidelink communication) may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be located outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105 or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station 105. In some examples, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which a UE transmits to each other UE in the group. In some examples, the base station 105 facilitates resource scheduling for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication is performed between UEs 115 without involving the base station 105.

[0071] In some systems, the D2D communication link 135 can be an example of a communication channel between vehicles (e.g., UE 115), such as a sidelink communication channel. In some examples, vehicles can communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, or some combination thereof. Vehicles can signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergencies, or any other information related to the V2X system. In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system can communicate with roadside infrastructure (such as roadside units) using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communications, or communicate with the network via one or more RAN network nodes (e.g., base station 105), or both. Figure 1 In FIG. 1 , vehicle UE 116 is shown within the RAN coverage area, and vehicle UE 118 is shown outside the coverage area of ​​the same RAN. Vehicle UE 115 wirelessly connected to the RAN may be a sidelink relay to vehicle UE 116 within the RAN coverage or vehicle UE 118 outside the RAN coverage.

[0072] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connection and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC), which may include at least one control plane entity (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) for managing access and mobility, and at least one user plane entity (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) or a user plane function (UPF)) for routing packets or interconnections to an external network. The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication and bearer management of UE 115 served by a base station 105 associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transmitted through a user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services 150 of one or more network operators. IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, (multiple) intranets, IP multimedia subsystems (IMS), or packet-switched streaming services.

[0073] Some network devices (such as base stations 105) may include subcomponents, such as access network entities 140, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity 140 may communicate with UE 115 through one or more other access network transport entities 145, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission / reception points (TRPs). Each access network transport entity 145 may include one or more antenna panels. In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs), or merged into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0074] The wireless communication system 100 can operate using one or more frequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Typically, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from about one decimeter to one meter long. UHF waves can be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, but these waves can penetrate structures sufficiently so that macro cells can serve UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves can be associated with smaller antennas and shorter distances (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to transmission of smaller frequencies and longer waves using the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0075] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in a super high frequency (SHF) region using a frequency band from 3 GHz to 30 GHz (also referred to as a centimeter band), or in an extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz) (also referred to as a millimeter band). In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of the corresponding devices may be smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In some examples, this may facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the device. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be subject to greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter distances than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein may be used in transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the designated use of frequency bands in these frequency regions may vary from country to country or regulatory agency.

[0076] The wireless communication system 100 can utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can adopt license assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in unlicensed bands such as the 5GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. When operating in an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, devices such as base stations 105 and UEs 115 can use carrier sensing for conflict detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations in unlicensed bands can be based on carrier aggregation configurations and combined with component carriers operating in licensed bands (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum can include: downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, etc.

[0077] The base station 105 or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas that may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of the base station 105 or UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels that may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with the base station 105 may be located at different geographic locations. The base station 105 may have an antenna array having multiple rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming for communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna panel may support radio frequency beamforming of signals sent via the antenna ports.

[0078] The base station 105 or UE 115 can use MIMO communication to exploit multipath signal propagation and improve spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. This technology can be referred to as spatial multiplexing. For example, multiple signals can be sent by a transmitting device via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Similarly, multiple signals can be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Each of the multiple signals can be referred to as a separate spatial stream and can carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers can be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technology includes single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) (where multiple spatial layers are sent to the same receiving device) and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) (where multiple spatial layers are sent to multiple devices).

[0079] Beamforming (also known as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals transmitted via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating at a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals transmitted via antenna elements can include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to signals carried via antenna elements associated with the device. Adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements can be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or relative to some other orientation).

[0080] The base station 105 or the UE 115 may use beam scanning techniques as part of a beamforming operation. For example, the base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with the UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be sent multiple times by the base station 105 in different directions. For example, the base station 105 may send signals according to different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmission directions. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by a transmitting device such as the base station 105, or by a receiving device such as the UE 115) the beam direction for later transmission or reception by the base station 105.

[0081] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device such as UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based on signals transmitted in one or more beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more signals transmitted by base station 105 in different directions and may report to the base station an indication of the signal received by UE 115 with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality.

[0082] In some examples, transmission by a device (e.g., by a base station 105 or a UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from a base station 105 to a UE 115) using a combination of digital precoding or radio frequency beamforming. The UE 115 may report feedback indicating precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across a system bandwidth or one or more subbands. The base station 105 may send a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which may be precoded or not precoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel codebook, a linear combination codebook, or a port selection codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals sent by base station 105 in one or more directions, UE 115 may employ similar techniques to send signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., to identify a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115) or to send signals in a single direction (e.g., to send data to a receiving device).

[0083] When receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from the base station 105, the receiving device (e.g., UE 115) can try multiple reception configurations (e.g., directional listening). For example, the receiving device can try multiple reception directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, processing the received signal according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different reception beamforming weight sets (e.g., different directional listening weight sets) applied to the signal received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array, or processing the received signal according to different reception beamforming weight sets applied to the signal received at different antenna elements of the antenna array, any of which can be referred to as "listening" according to different reception configurations or reception directions. In some examples, the receiving device can use a single reception configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single reception configuration can be aligned in a beam direction determined based on listening according to different reception configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or other acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0084] The wireless communication system 100 may be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, the communication of the bearer or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. The radio link control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate through logical channels. The media access control (MAC) layer may perform priority processing and multiplex logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use error detection techniques, error correction techniques, or both to support retransmission of the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer may provide the establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a base station 105 or a core network 130 that supports a radio bearer of user plane data. At the physical layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

[0085] UE 115 and base station 105 can support retransmission of data to increase the likelihood of successfully receiving the data. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is a technique for increasing the likelihood of correctly receiving data through communication link 125. HARQ can include a combination of error detection (e.g., using cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ can improve the throughput of the MAC layer under poor radio conditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise ratio conditions). In some examples, the device can support same-slot HARQ feedback, where the device can provide HARQ feedback in a specific time slot for data received in a previous symbol in the time slot. In other cases, the device can provide HARQ feedback in subsequent time slots or according to some other time intervals.

[0086] For cellular networks, expanding the range of satisfactory uplink geographic coverage is important to improving uplink coverage relative to downlink signal coverage. (The term coverage may be used to refer to signal strength, or signal strength at a level that satisfies the requirements to provide satisfactory wireless communication performance between a UE and a RAN node.) Due to the significant difference between the transmit power of an eNodeB, or gNodeB (gNB) in 5G NR terminology, and the transmit power of a UE, uplink coverage, or performance in the uplink direction from a UE to a RAN, has traditionally been poor or limited compared to the corresponding downlink coverage. The result is that uplink performance is poor relative to downlink performance; therefore, wireless communication uplink performance specification requirements have been relaxed relative to the specifications for downlink performance, e.g., longer or more uplink delays or lower reliability are considered acceptable.

[0087] However, for 5G deployments, strict quality of service is specified for both downlink and uplink directions (even if it is different for the two directions), and therefore uplink performance optimization is desirable.

[0088] Several uplink processes may be severely impacted by less uplink coverage or performance than downlink performance, which may have a significant negative impact on achievable uplink latency and reliability performance. Such negatively impacted processes may include transmission processes for initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment for a device transitioning from an idle or inactive mode or state to a connected mode or state, uplink control channel transmissions of channel state information and HARQ feedback, and uplink data channel transmissions of actual uplink payload.

[0089] For 5G NR systems, and potentially next generation systems, where stringent quality of service in both downlink and uplink directions is required or specified, uplink coverage extension techniques are needed to bring uplink performance closer to the same level or standard as the corresponding downlink performance. The early (during the process of UE connecting to the RAN) uplink procedure for establishing a connection to a RAN node is to use the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). To date, uplink coverage optimization has been used to send uplink preambles using defined or configured PRACH resource opportunities. Therefore, several techniques for extending and optimizing uplink coverage are disclosed herein, which aim to transmit preambles via the Physical Random Access Channel.

[0090] Now go to Figure 2A , which illustrates an example multi-beam wireless user equipment environment 200 with uplink beams corresponding to corresponding downlink beams. Environment 200 shows RAN node 105 and UE 115A and UE 115B. UE 115A and UE 115B may be located within the signal coverage of downlink beam 235A, downlink beams 225A, 230A, 235A, and 240A. Downlink beams 225A, 230A, 235A, and 240A are shown as having downlink energy 205A, 210A, 215A, and 220A, which may extend beyond the lobes of the downlink beams shown in solid lines. Downlink energy 205A, 210A, 215A and 220A may extend beyond the main lobe of downlink beams 225A, 230A, 235A and 240A to downlink energy 245A, 250A, 255A and 260A as shown by dashed lines extending the downlink coverage of the illustrated downlink beam lobes.

[0091] Now go to Figure 2B , which illustrates uplink beams 225B, 230B, 235B, and 240B, which correspond to Figure 2ADownlink beams 225A, 230A, 235A, and 240A are shown. (For example, if the UE determines that the best or strongest downlink beam from the RAN 105 is downlink beam 215A, beam 215B may be the best uplink beam for the UE to use for uplink transmissions.) The UE 115 can receive one or more synchronization signals, or one or more synchronization signal bursts (SSBs), and classify the SSBs based on measurements of signal strength parameters corresponding to the SSBs (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, or SINR). The UE 115 can determine the signal strength of a detected or received SSB based on a configured criterion in the random access channel configuration (e.g., a coverage criterion or a coverage threshold). The signal strength can be based on measurements of, for example, RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc., and the coverage criterion can correspond to a signal strength measurement. If the signal strength is equal to or greater than a threshold, the signal strength or signal strength value can satisfy the configured coverage. If the signal strength is less than a threshold, the signal strength may not satisfy the threshold. In Figure 2A , uplink energies 205B, 210B, 215B, and 220B correspond to uplink beams 225B, 230B, 235B, and 240B. Figure 2B The uplink energies 205B, 210B, 215B, and 220B shown represent the sensitivity of the RAN 105 to a weaker or lower power (relative to the lower power of the downlink transmission from the RAN) uplink transmission from a UE, such as UE 115A or 115B, that satisfies a coverage criterion, such as an uplink transmission coverage criterion, which may correspond to a location, range, or distance of the UE to the RAN where the RAN has satisfactory sensitivity to the uplink transmission from the UE relative to noise. Because the UE typically does not transmit an uplink signal at the same power as the RAN transmits a downlink signal, the RAN 105 may have a lower power than the UE 115A or 115B. Figure 2A different, Figure 2A Depicted are extended downlink energies 245A, 250A, 255A, and 260A corresponding to downlink beams 225A, 230A, 235A, and 240A, Figure 2B The extended energies corresponding to uplink beams 225B, 230B, 235B, and 240B are not depicted. Figure 2A , or based on information included in the signal received via downlink beam 235A, determining that the UE is outside the 'good coverage' range of the RAN 105 (e.g., the UE has poor coverage or a poor coverage value that does not meet a coverage criterion, such as a threshold), as shown in FIG. Figure 2B UE 115A and UE 115B in the image are outside the coverage of uplink beam 235B (e.g., the coverage depicted by the solid lines of the lobes of uplink beam 235B).

[0092] Dynamic physical random access preamble repetition.

[0093] PRACH preamble transmission may be affected by poor or low-performance uplink coverage and / or collisions from other devices, which may cause a delay in the UE device transitioning from an idle or inactive mode / state to an active mode / state due to incomplete reception of the PRACH preamble at the RAN, or due to the RAN's inability to determine which of multiple UEs sent the same PRACH preamble (e.g., collision). Therefore, the embodiments disclosed herein use multiple uplink resource opportunities associated with downlink beams for the UE to use in the random access process of sending preambles to the RAN. An idle or inactive UE device determines the strongest downlink beam it detects (e.g., the downlink beam with the highest downlink signal strength among multiple available downlink beams based on the UE's measurement of the downlink signal strength metric). The UE can replicate the transmission of its selected PRACH preamble via one or more uplink resource opportunities associated with the selected downlink beam determined by the UE as the strongest downlink beam among the available (to IE) downlink beams, rather than sending the preamble only once at the PRACH opportunity. Repeating the PRACH preamble in multiple transmissions may improve detectability at the gNB / RAN. Sending the preamble multiple times may increase detectability of the preamble because the receiving RAN may analyze different portions of each transmission of the same preamble and combine them together to derive a complete or correct version of the preamble. Not only is the speed of preamble detection increased because the UE and RAN do not have to wait for the next of a single periodically occurring PRACH opportunity to occur, but the speed with which the RAN can determine a collision is also increased because the RAN does not have to wait until the period of a single PRACH resource opportunity to receive another transmission of the preamble. Thus, coverage of uplink PRACH transmissions is extended, extended, or otherwise improved.

[0094] The RAN node may configure a minimum coverage threshold for idle and / or inactive UE devices. When the UE determines that the minimum coverage threshold is not met, the UE may employ a PRACH preamble repetition procedure. The PRACH configuration may be carried using broadcast system information signaling. Idle / inactive UE devices may calculate or determine their received RAN coverage level based on the reception of 'always on' synchronization signal blocks (SSBs).

[0095] If the first coverage indication fails to meet the coverage criteria, or when the first coverage indication fails to meet the coverage criteria (e.g., the downlink beam available to the idle or inactive UE does not contain sufficient signal energy or signal strength to meet or exceed a threshold value that has been determined or configured to correspond to a determined uplink signal sensitivity of the RAN to the uplink signal from the UE), then a PRACH preamble repetition procedure may be initiated at the UE. The PRACH preamble procedure may include transmitting a PRACH preamble selected by the UE from the configured or determined preambles via a plurality of periodically occurring resource opportunities of the uplink beam or uplink resource corresponding to the determined strongest downlink beam, the preamble may be associated with the downlink beam determined by the UE as the strongest available beam, such as Figure 3 Therefore, the effective uplink PRACH coverage can be effectively extended because the PRACH preamble uplink transmission performance can be improved, although the UE consumes more battery power to implement multiple transmissions of the same preamble due to the increase in the number of transmissions of the same preamble compared to sending the preamble only once per single uplink resource that occurs periodically.

[0096] The RAN node may dynamically allocate the number of beam-specific resource opportunities in the configuration sent to the UE devices, thereby optimizing the overall PRACH performance. For example, the RAN node may dynamically configure more PRACH duplication resource opportunities for congested beams, where more idle or inactive devices are 'camped' on them, and fewer PRACH duplication resource opportunities for beams with less congestion. The term 'camped' may refer to one or more devices that are waiting to connect to the RAN but are not yet connected and the network is not yet aware of the upcoming connection of one or more UEs. Since a given downlink beam of the RAN covers many closely located resident devices, many preambles may be sent on a small portion of the available uplink beams, which may result in collisions (e.g., more than one UE sending the same PRACH preamble to the same RAN); collisions may effectively reduce uplink coverage due to the time taken by the collision resolution process.

[0097] Therefore, the RAN node may send a new information element, such as the following information element, to the idle and / or inactive devices in the random access channel configuration. One information element of the random access channel configuration may include a reference signal received power (RSRP) coverage minimum threshold for PRACH repetitions, i.e., an explicit or quantized coverage level below which the idle and / or inactive devices use PRACH preamble transmission repetitions at the corresponding multiple resource opportunities.

[0098] Another information element of the random access channel configuration may include a format indication of PRACH repetitions, which may include an indication for idle / inactive devices to determine supported PRACH repetition types for each cell. The information object may include two information elements, which may include an indication of repetitions or an indication of preamble spreading. When the indication indicates PRACH repetitions, the configured UE may blindly select a regular PRACH preamble and replicate its corresponding transmission on a plurality of configured indicated PRACH resource opportunities associated with a detected downlink beam, which the UE determines has its highest detected signal strength among the signal strengths corresponding to a plurality of downlink beams available to the UE. If the configuration includes an indication of PRACH spread preamble transmission, the UE may adopt a predefined long PRACH preamble from a specially designed and preconfigured set of long preambles, and spread the transmission of the selected long PRACH preamble on a plurality of configured PRACH resource opportunities associated with the detected strongest downlink beam among the downlink beams determined by the UE to be available to the UE.

[0099] Another resource information element of the random access channel configuration may include the timing of each downlink beam. The information element may include information on one or more channel resource timings, pattern indications and / or resources (e.g., in the time and frequency domains) associated with the downlink beam, including the periodicity of each timing.

[0100] Now go to Figure 3, which illustrates a schematic diagram of PRACH resources that may be indicated in an information element of a random access channel configuration that a UE may use to send a physical random access channel preamble in the uplink direction. If the UE determines that the UE is outside of good or satisfactory coverage (e.g., a signal strength corresponding to the strongest detected downlink beam that meets a configured threshold), the UE may send the preamble multiple times via different resources 305A, 305B, ..., 305n. Repeated transmissions of the same PRACH preamble by a UE that is outside of a range where satisfactory uplink service may be provided may reduce the likelihood that the RAN 105 receives an undecodable or uninterpretable PRACH preamble from the UE. By sending the same preamble in preamble resources 305A to 305n using an uplink beam or uplink resource corresponding to downlink beam 1, or for sending preamble resources 306A, 306B, ..., 306n using an uplink beam corresponding to downlink beam 2, the RAN 105 may be able to combine each of the multiple transmissions of the same preamble for the corresponding beam it receives, and determine the corresponding undamaged preamble from the composite preamble formed by the multiple preamble transmissions it receives, even if each transmission is partially damaged, interrupted, or otherwise distorted. The first transmission of the PRACH preamble via the first configured resources may be referred to as the first random access channel preamble portion, and the second transmission of the same PRACH preamble via the second configured resources may be referred to as the second random access channel preamble portion. In other words, the first random access channel preamble portion and the second random access channel preamble portion may include the same preamble.

[0101] Now go to Figure 4 , which illustrates a timing diagram of an example method 400 for transmitting a PRACH preamble using multiple PRACH resources. At act 405, the RAN 105 generates a physical random access channel configuration and transmits the configuration to the UE 115 at act 410. The physical random access channel configuration may include one or more PRACH resource opportunities (opportunity index and / or opportunity timing and frequency resources) associated with each downlink beam, a coverage threshold (e.g., a signal strength threshold or similar criterion), or an indication of activation of PRACH preamble transmission repetitions, and a format indication of PRACH transmission repetitions (spread PRACH and / or repeated PRACH).

[0102] The physical random access channel configuration (which may be a random access channel configuration) may include one or more PRACH resource opportunities or indications thereof, which may include one or more indices associated with the one or more resources, opportunity timing information (e.g., one or more times when an opportunity or multiple opportunities may be available for the UE 115 to send a PRACH preamble to the RAN 105), and opportunity frequency resources (e.g., one or more frequencies used during the configured opportunities). The PRACH resources or indications thereof in the configuration may be associated with a downlink beam, a coverage threshold for reception, or an indication of activation of a PRACH repetition procedure (e.g., sending a preamble by the UE 115 in more than one configured opportunity) or a format indication of a PRACH transmission repetition type (as referred to herein). Figure 7 , Figure 8 and Fig.11 The UE 115 receives the transmitted random access channel configuration and determines the strongest downlink beam based on the SSB coverage information corresponding to the multiple downlink beams available to the UE received from the RAN 105 in action 415. In action 420, the UE 115 determines whether the signal strength measurement of the strongest downlink beam (e.g., a downlink beam with a stronger signal or a higher signal strength value than other downlink beams among the multiple downlink beams available to the UE) meets the configured threshold (e.g., the signal strength of the strongest beam reaches or exceeds the signal strength threshold). For example, in the case of determining that the signal strength of the strongest downlink beam available to the UE 115 is less than the configured threshold, the UE determines the PRACH preamble repetition format indication according to the random access channel configuration and transmits the selected preamble via the resource opportunity associated with its strongest downlink beam in action 425. The random access channel configuration may include an association of preamble resource opportunities with downlink beams (including the strongest downlink beam). At act 430 , the RAN 105 may receive the preamble sent at act 425 and perform 'soft combining' of the PRACH preambles received via multiple resource opportunities associated with the strongest downlink beam determined by the UE 115 .

[0103] Now go to Fig. 9, which illustrates a flow chart of an example method 900 for sending a PRACH preamble in the strongest uplink beam using multiple PRACH resources, or using uplink resources corresponding to the strongest downlink beam, which is determined by the UE as required for sending the PRACH preamble based on the signal strength of the available downlink beams available to the UE. The method 900 begins at action 905. At action 910, the RAN generates a physical random access channel configuration and sends the physical random access channel configuration to the user equipment, which may include an indication of multiple random access channel resources. At action 915, the user equipment receives the random access channel configuration. At action 920, the user equipment may determine the coverage or coverage value of one or more downlink beams corresponding to the RAN based on the measured signal strength value. At action 925, the user equipment determines whether the coverage determined at action 920 meets one or more criteria, such as a threshold. The criteria may be included in the configuration received at action 915. The criterion or threshold may include a value below which the determined coverage or determined signal strength value of the downlink beam corresponding to the RAN does not correspond to an acceptable wireless communication performance level between the user equipment and the RAN via the downlink beam to which the signal strength value corresponds. If it is determined at act 925 that the determined coverage meets or exceeds the threshold, method 900 proceeds to act 950 and ends.

[0104] However, if it is determined at act 925 that the coverage determined at act 920 does not meet or exceed or otherwise satisfy one or more coverage criteria, the method 900 proceeds to act 930. At act 930, the user equipment determines a downlink beam available to the user equipment and used for communicating with the RAN as the strongest downlink beam from the plurality of downlink beams. When the user equipment may have determined at act 925 whether at least one downlink beam available to the user equipment exceeds or otherwise satisfies a threshold, the determination of act 930 may use the value determined at act 920.

[0105] After determining the strongest downlink beam based on the signal strength values ​​corresponding to the downlink beams, the user equipment sends a first physical random access channel preamble or a preamble portion via a first configured physical random access channel resource in action 935. The physical random access channel preamble portion sent in action 935 may be one of a plurality of preambles included in a configuration, such as the configuration received in action 915. The configured physical random access channel resource used in 935 may be a resource indicated in the configuration received in action 915. The configured physical random access channel resource used in action 935 may include a first opportunity, a first frequency, or a first other type of resource.

[0106] In action 940, the same physical random access channel preamble sent in action 935 may be sent again in a second configured physical random access channel resource. The retransmitted same preamble portion may be referred to as a second preamble portion. The physical random access channel preamble portion sent in action 940 may be one of a plurality of preambles included in a configuration, such as the configuration received in action 915. The configured physical random access channel resources used in 940 may be resources indicated in the configuration received in action 915. The configured physical random access channel resources used in action 940 may include a second opportunity, a second frequency, or a second other type of resource. The first preamble portion and the second preamble portion may be the same preamble portion or the same preamble.

[0107] At act 945, the RAN combines the first preamble portion sent at act 935 and the second preamble portion sent at act 940 to obtain a composite, combined, or complete version of the preamble portion sent at acts 935 and 940, either of which may not have been fully delivered to the RAN due to the coverage determined at act 920 being sufficiently poor that the coverage did not meet the criteria of act 925. Thus, even if the coverage of the user equipment is less than the threshold used at act 925, sending the same preamble portion multiple times increases the likelihood that the preamble or preamble portion will reach the RAN, possibly only a portion of the preamble (if not the entire preamble portion) due to the transmission of act 935, and possibly a different portion of the preamble portion (if not the entire preamble portion) due to the transmission of act 940, without having to wait for the periodicity associated with the uplink PRACH resources configured in the configuration received at 915 to send the preamble or preamble portion again. Method 900 proceeds to act 950 and ends.

[0108] Transmission and configuration of a tuple of multiple PRACH preambles.

[0109] PRACH preamble collisions are most likely to occur in uplink transmissions corresponding to downlink beams that serve a large number of UEs simultaneously, such as when the UEs are geographically close. In this case, the closely located UEs may select the same PRACH preamble (from the preambles that the UEs have configured) for transmission, which increases the probability of a PRACH preamble collision. Figure 3 and Figure 4 As described above, multiple UE devices selecting the same preamble on a congested beam may cause PRACH preamble collisions by repeating or duplicating the transmission of the PRACH preamble at multiple resource opportunities associated with the strongest beam.

[0110] To mitigate PRACH preamble collisions, including for uplink transmissions corresponding to congested downlink beams, a set of PRACH preamble tuples may be configured in a random access channel configuration sent from the RAN to the UE, wherein each PRACH tuple includes one or more unique PRACH preambles, each of which is associated with a ranking of available downlink beams determined by the UE. In addition, different sets of tuples may be associated with one or more different coverage criteria. Thus, a device that first covers indications that one or more coverage criteria are not met may send each PRACH preamble from a PRACH tuple that may be determined based on an analysis of signal strength or coverage of one or more downlink beams at resource opportunities respectively associated with beam rankings relative to one or more coverage criteria: the rankings may be determined by the UE. Thus, several PRACH preambles may be sent on different beams or resources corresponding thereto, thereby reducing the probability of PRACH preamble collisions in the event that one or more downlink beams are congested.

[0111] The RAN / gNB to which multiple preambles are transmitted detects the transmitted PRACH preambles of the various configured tuples accordingly. In the event that a PRACH preamble corresponding to a first order or first rank (e.g., corresponding to a downlink beam with the strongest signal or highest rank determined by the UE transmitting the preamble) is detected within the configured tuple, the RAN may transmit RRC connection establishment signaling using the same downlink beam corresponding to the received PRACH preamble, since that beam should be the strongest detected beam determined by the UE transmitting the preamble. However, if the gNB detects a PRACH preamble corresponding to a beam rank that is not the first order (e.g., rank 1) for any configured tuple in the configured tuple, the gNB transmits a strongest beam report request to the UE transmitting the preamble via resources corresponding to a non-highest ranked beam simultaneously with the RRC connection establishment signaling, since the preamble and resources will be transmitted by the UE in a beam that is evaluated by the RAN as not being the best beam or having the strongest signal strength, as detected and determined by the UE.

[0112] In certain cellular deployments, when the number of devices is high (e.g., dense urban areas), the PRACH performance of each downlink beam may vary depending on the number of resident devices. For example, for a high device capacity beam, more than one device may randomly select the same PRACH preamble from the configured preambles for initial network access, resulting in PRACH conflicts, which further degrades uplink coverage and corresponding performance. Therefore, for low coverage (e.g., as determined by the UE based on signal strength measurements) and / or uplink critical devices, it is beneficial to diversify PRACH preamble transmissions on resources associated with multiple downlink beams that the UE can reasonably detect (e.g., reasonable detection means that even if the signal strength of the downlink beam does not meet the coverage criteria, the beam can still be satisfactorily used for communication between the UE and the RAN). Therefore, when there is a collision of PRACH preambles on one or more resource occasions, since there is a low probability that two (or more) different UE devices will select the same first preamble to transmit via the resources corresponding to their corresponding first-ranked beams, and both will select the second preamble to transmit via the resources corresponding to their corresponding second-ranked beams, another PRACH preamble transmission on another beam can still be detected at the gNB and there is a low probability of a collision occurring again (and so on if the random access channel configuration includes a tuple including more than two preambles corresponding to more than two different beam ranks).

[0113] Now go to Figure 5 , the figure illustrates configuration information 500 of an example configuration, which can facilitate the use of multiple PRACH resources to send different PRACH preambles via corresponding different uplink beams based on the ranking of uplink beams determined by the UE that need to be used to send PRACH preambles relative to the signal strength of the beams, wherein the ranking is based on the signal strength of the downlink beam corresponding to the uplink beam.

[0114] In one example, since the UE devices transmitting the PRACH preambles are not yet connected to the gNB / RAN when their corresponding PRACH preambles are transmitted, the gNB is not aware of the best or strongest detected downlink beam for each UE device. Therefore, using a configuration of PRACH preamble tuples, where each tuple consists of multiple PRACH preambles, which are sequentially transmitted on the strongest downlink beam, the next strongest beam, the next strongest beam, etc., can reduce preamble collisions at the RAN. Therefore, the RAN node preconfigures the device with a list or codebook of multiple PRACH preamble tuples, such as Figure 5For example, the tuple of two PRACH preambles 515 in row A of configuration 500 indicates that a UE device having a beam that satisfies the determined coverage / signal strength of x1 in column 505 should transmit the first PRACH preamble portion ( ) via a resource opportunity associated with the beam determined by the UE to be its strongest beam (e.g., the highest ranked beam). Figure 5 The UE shall transmit a second PRACH preamble portion (shown as PRACH_preamble_1) via a configured resource opportunity associated with the second strongest beam also determined and ranked by the UE. (It should be understood that in one embodiment, the strongest beam available to the UE may be used only if it does not meet another criterion, such as a minimum coverage criterion or threshold.) Figure 5 The example configuration tuple shown in . Figure 5 As shown in , the coverage measurement of the strongest beam can be analyzed according to different criteria shown in columns 505 rows B and n of the example configuration 500. For example, if the UE determines that the coverage of its strongest downlink beam is between criteria x1 and x2 (after having determined that the coverage does not meet or exceed the configured minimum coverage criteria), the UE can send a first preamble code part PRACH_preamble_1, a second PRACH preamble code part PRACH_preamble_2, and a third PRACH preamble code part PRACH_preamble_3 via uplink PRACH resources associated with downlink beams i, j and k, respectively.

[0115] Therefore, by configuring the UE device as follows Figure 5 , the RAN node may be able to determine the strongest beam serving the UE by determining the PRACH preamble received from the device at the resource opportunity specifically associated with the highest downlink beam strength and thus the highest ranking determined by the UE. Using the configuration tuple as described above may provide higher performance than the UE sending a single preamble via multiple PRACH uplink resources, as described above with reference to Figure 3 and Figure 4 As described, because the possibility of collision of the same preamble code from different UE devices is reduced, and therefore the need for conflict resolution procedures between the RAN and the UE is reduced, the cost is that the UE needs to perform more processing when determining the ranking of available beams based on the measured signal strength and determining different preamble codes for transmission in multiple configured uplink PRACH resources.

[0116] Thus, at the RAN node, when a first PRACH preamble portion in any defined PRACH preamble tuple group is detected (e.g., corresponding to the strongest and highest ranked beam determined by the UE sending the first PRACH preamble portion), the RAN may send RRC connection establishment signaling on the same beam corresponding to the configured PRACH resource via which the first PRACH preamble portion is sent. However, in the event that the RAN detects a PRACH preamble of a predefined PRACH tuple group corresponding to a beam other than the first ranked beam, the RAN node may send a reporting indication to the interested (multiple) UE devices via the downlink beam to instruct the UE devices to further report their corresponding strongest downlink beams. When the PRACH preamble is sent according to configuration information such as configuration information 500, the first PRACH preamble portion, the second PRACH preamble portion, and the third PRACH preamble portion may include different corresponding PRACH preambles.

[0117] Now go to Figure 6 , which illustrates a timing diagram of an example method 600 for sending different PRACH preambles in different uplink beams using multiple PRACH resources based on a ranking of the uplink beams, the ranking being based on the signal strength of the downlink beams corresponding to the uplink beams. At act 605, the RAN 105 generates a physical random access channel configuration, which may be a random access channel, and sends the configuration to the UE 115 at act 610. The UE 115 receives the random access channel configuration at act 615. The random access channel configuration may include a PRACH repetition pattern (which may correspond to an index to correspond to a ranking of the beams by the UE based on a signal strength value). The configuration may also include PRACH preambles or preamble portions corresponding to the indexes, respectively. For example, the configuration may include an index value of 1 (or Figure 5 'i' shown in ) and a first preamble or a first preamble portion corresponding to index 1, and the configuration may also include index 2 (or Figure 5 'j' shown in ) and a second preamble or a second preamble portion corresponding to index 2. In action 515, the UE 115 ranks the downlink beams that it can detect based on the corresponding measured signal strength values, and associates the strongest beam with index 1 and thus with the first preamble or the first preamble portion; associates the next strongest beam (e.g., the second strongest beam) with index 2 and thus with the second preamble or the second preamble portion of other beams that the UE can detect, and so on. The configuration may include preambles or preamble portions as tuples (e.g., Figure 5The first preamble 515 in column 515 row A in is associated with beam index 1, or i (column 510 row A) is associated with beam index 2. Thus, in the configuration, a particular downlink beam is associated with Figure 5 5. In the embodiment of the present invention, the RAN 105 may be configured to transmit a preamble 515 associated with a beam index 1 in the configuration of the UE 115, rather than a preamble associated with a beam index 1. If the RAN 105 receives a transmission of preamble 1 from the UE 115 via a specific uplink beam or resource corresponding to a downlink beam, the RAN may determine that the specific downlink beam is the strongest beam available to the UE because the UE transmits the preamble associated with beam index 1 in the configuration via the resources associated with the specific beam. If the RAN 105 does not receive the preamble associated with beam index 1, but instead receives a second preamble associated with beam index 2, the RAN may determine that the preamble was not received via the resources associated with the strongest beam of the UE, and therefore, instead of or in addition to initiating an RRC connection procedure with the UE, the RAN may send a request to request the UE to report its strongest beam to the RAN so that the RAN may initiate an RRC connection procedure with the UE via the UE's strongest beam rather than via the beam to which the UE transmits the preamble associated with a beam index other than 1. This may occur if there is a collision of the same preamble (e.g., more than one UE transmits a preamble that is associated with beam index 1 in the configuration at UE 115). It should be appreciated that, in one embodiment, a given preamble of a tuple may be transmitted multiple times via multiple resources associated with a beam that corresponds to the beam index associated with the preamble in the configuration. In other words, reference Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Fig. 9 The actions described can be compared with the reference Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Fig.10 Thus, in action 620, based on the received PRACH repetition configuration and the determined beams ranked according to their respective signal strengths, UE 115 transmits PRACH_preamble_1 (e.g., Figure 5 As shown), and the remaining PRACH_preamble_N are sent on corresponding resources or corresponding beams ranked according to signal strength.

[0118] At act 625, the RAN 105 receives PRACH transmissions from one or more UEs (including UE 115) according to the configured PRACH elements. Upon detecting a first PRACH sequence of an available preconfigured PRACH element (e.g., Figure 51 or i associated with the beam ranking index 1 or i shown in ), the RAN node 105 may send connection establishment signaling to the UE 115 on the same downlink beam of the detected PRACH preamble in action 630. Upon detecting a non-first PRACH sequence of available preconfigured PRACH tuples, the RAN node 105 may send connection establishment signaling to the WTRU in action 630 and send a request indication for a downlink beam change report.

[0119] Now go to Fig.10 , which illustrates a flow chart of an example method 1000 for ranking uplink beams based on the signal strength of the uplink beams, using multiple PRACH resources to send different PRACH preambles in different uplink beams. In action 1010, the RAN generates a physical random access channel configuration and sends the physical random access channel configuration to the user equipment, the configuration may include one or more tuples, the tuples associating different random access channel preambles or different preamble parts with corresponding ranking index values ​​and corresponding corresponding signal strength criteria. In action 1015, the user equipment receives the random access channel configuration. In action 1120, the user equipment may determine one or more coverages or one or more coverage values ​​of one or more downlink beams corresponding to the RAN based on the measured signal strength values. In action 1025, the user equipment determines the ranking of available downlink beams based on the corresponding signal strength value measurements of the downlink beams available to the user equipment. The user equipment may associate the determined ranking with the beam index value in the configuration received at action 10150. At act 1030, the user equipment determines whether the coverage of one of the available downlink beams meets a coverage criterion, such as a threshold. If so, the method 1000 proceeds to act 1055 and ends.

[0120] However, if it is determined at act 1030 that the downlink beam ranked as having the highest rank at act 1025 (e.g., the downlink beam available to the user equipment has a determined signal strength value that is higher than the signal strength values ​​of the other available downlink beams) does not meet the coverage criterion, then method 1000 proceeds to act 1035. The coverage criterion may be included in the configuration received at act 1015. The criterion or threshold may include a value below which the determined coverage or determined signal strength value of the downlink beam corresponding to the RAN does not correspond to an acceptable wireless communication performance level between the user equipment and the RAN via the downlink beam to which the signal strength value corresponds.

[0121] In action 1035, the user equipment transmits a preamble via a resource corresponding to a downlink beam according to the ranking determined in action 1025. As described elsewhere herein, Figure 5Configuration information 500 is illustrated, which depicts the preamble in tuple 515 associated with beam ranking index tuple 510. Thus, based on having a beam that meets a given criterion (e.g., Figure 5 The configuration information 500 shown in FIG. 5 shows the strongest beam covering different standards corresponding to different rows. For example, in action 1040, the user equipment sends a signal from the same beam resource to the user equipment via the beam resource. Figure 5 The standard row shown corresponds to the preamble of the tuple, and the beam resource corresponds to the beam ranking associated with the preamble, such as Figure 5 It should be understood that Fig.10 In action 1040 shown in , a first preamble or first preamble portion associated with the highest or strongest ranking beam may be sent via resources corresponding to the determined strongest beam, followed by a second preamble or second preamble portion associated with the next strongest ranking beam index being sent via resources corresponding to the second strongest beam, followed by a third preamble or third preamble portion being sent via resources corresponding to the third strongest beam, and so on. When determining at the user equipment Figure 5 When the preamble of the preamble tuple 515 shown in has been sent, the method 1000 proceeds to action 1040. It should be understood that Figure 5 The uplink resources corresponding to a given downlink of the preamble of tuple 515 shown in may be part of the configuration received in action 1015 or may be part of a different configuration received from the RAN.

[0122] continue Fig.10 , after the RAN has received the preamble or preamble portion sent in the iteration of action 1035, the RAN analyzes the preamble to determine the signal beam ranking determined by the user equipment. If the RAN receives a first preamble associated with beam ranking index 1 in the configuration it sent in action 1010, the RAN determines or 'knows' that the beam corresponding to the resource receiving the first preamble or the first preamble portion is the downlink beam determined by the user equipment as the strongest downlink beam available to the user equipment, and the RAN determines in action 1050 that no collision has occurred between the first preamble portion and the same preamble portion sent by another user equipment. The method 900 proceeds to action 1060, and the RAN sends a response to the user equipment that sent the first preamble portion, which response may include RRC signaling information to establish a session connection between the user equipment and the RAN before proceeding to action 1065 and ending.

[0123] If the RAN does not detect the first preamble associated with the highest beam ranking index in the configuration sent in action 1010 in action 1045, but receives the second, third, ... n preambles in resources corresponding to one or more downlink beams, the RAN may determine in action 1050 that a collision occurred between the first preamble or the first preamble portion and the same preamble sent by another user equipment. The RAN may proceed to action 1055 and continue to monitor other preambles or preamble portions from the user equipment until it decodes or otherwise determines the preamble from the preamble tuple of the configuration sent in action 1010. If the RAN determines that it has received a preamble from the user equipment from the tuple in the configuration sent in action 10101, but the received preamble is not the preamble associated with the highest beam ranking index in the configuration, the RAN may send a response to the user equipment in action 1060, the response including RRC signaling and a request to report the strongest downlink beam it determined, so that even if the RRC signaling sent in action 1060 can be used to establish a connection with the user equipment, the RAN may send further signaling to the user equipment to later establish a connection via the strongest downlink beam available to the user equipment. Method 1010 proceeds to action 1065 and ends.

[0124] Dynamic PRACH preamble spreading.

[0125] The PRACH preamble repetition technique configuration described above may use multiple available resource opportunities or a large number of orthogonal PRACH preambles, both of which may not always be satisfied in certain cellular deployment scenarios or situations, for example, when multiple UE devices are located in an area served by a RAN and the UEs have similar coverage determinations (e.g., satisfying Figure 5 The criteria 505 shown, causes the UE to attempt to use the same tuple 515 corresponding to the same row of the configuration table information 500) and similar downlink beam ranking, causing the UE to attempt to send the same PRACH preamble via the same uplink beam resource. This situation may result in a PRACH preamble collision, which, as described above, may result in increased latency and performance degradation when establishing a connection session between the UE and the RAN.

[0126] PRACH preamble spreading technique embodiments use a configuration list or codebook of long PRACH spreading preambles for use by devices with determined low uplink coverage (e.g., determined by the UE, as described elsewhere herein, by analyzing measured downlink beam signal strength values ​​or parameters and determining that the determined coverage does not satisfy one or more criteria, such as a minimum signal strength threshold, if which threshold is satisfied, the UE generally does not use the example embodiment techniques disclosed herein). UE devices determined to have low coverage may spread transmissions of a selected long preamble (e.g., selected by the UE from a plurality of preambles configured in the UE) over multiple resource opportunities of the determined strongest downlink beam. Thus, the RAN / gNB may collect more energy over a longer transmission duration of the PRACH preamble, thereby expanding or extending the effective uplink coverage for sending the PRACH preamble. In order to optimize resource utilization for initial access (e.g., establishing an RRC connection between the UE and the RAN), the long PRACH spread preamble code can be designed so that the spread preamble code or the first part of the spread preamble code can coexist with high coverage devices (e.g., devices with a determined signal strength for the strongest available downlink beam that meets the minimum signal strength threshold) on some resource opportunities, and these resource opportunities can be shared between low coverage devices and high coverage devices (e.g., devices that determine the strongest downlink beam among the available downlink beams that do not meet the minimum signal strength threshold and devices that determine the strongest downlink beam among the available downlink beams that meet the minimum signal strength threshold, respectively).

[0127] In a PRACH preamble spreading technique embodiment, the transmission of a PRACH preamble or a preamble portion may be spread over a longer transmission duration than that used to transmit a conventional PRACH preamble. This allows the RAN node to have more time to 'harvest' or detect the energy of the transmitted PRACH preamble, thereby expanding or extending the effective uplink coverage of the PRACH transmission. This may be useful when there are not many available PRACH preambles and / or PRACH resource opportunities due to high device density (e.g., a given downlink beam from the RAN is serving a large number of devices). Therefore, the RAN node may configure a specially designed long PRACH format for low coverage devices (e.g., a device with a measured signal strength of the strongest downlink beam that does not meet a signal strength threshold), wherein the preamble generated according to the long PRACH format will be transmitted and spread over multiple resource opportunities. Some of these resource opportunities may be shared between low coverage devices and high coverage devices to maximize the PRACH channel capacity. Therefore, the long PRACH spread preamble may be designed to consist of two parts. The first long PRACH sequence portion may be designed to be orthogonal to other PRACH preambles, including legacy non-spread preambles that may be generated according to a legacy non-spread preamble PRACH format, while the second preamble sequence portion is not necessarily generated to maintain orthogonality with the legacy PRACH preamble. Not maintaining orthogonality of the second portion of the spread preamble may increase the number of available preamble possibilities, thereby facilitating an increase in configured PRACH preambles, which may reduce the likelihood of collisions of the same preamble being sent by different UE devices in the same uplink resource.

[0128] Now go to Figure 7, which illustrates a diagram of (multiple) configured first uplink resource opportunities 702 (which may be one opportunity or multiple opportunities at respective different frequencies but simultaneously) and (multiple) configured second uplink resources 704 associated with a first downlink beam 706 shown in the figure, the first downlink beam being used to transmit a long PRACH spread preamble including a first preamble portion 710 and a second preamble portion 712. The first resource opportunity 702 may be used to transmit a non-spread PRACH preamble. If the first spread preamble portion 710 is orthogonal to the non-spread preamble, the non-spread preamble 708 may coexist with the first spread preamble portion 710, such that the first resource 702 may be used for uplink transmission of a non-spread PRACH preamble as well as for a spread preamble. The opportunities of resources 702 and 704 may be referred to as sub-opportunities. On a shared resource sub-opportunity, a first portion of a long PRACH spread preamble orthogonal to a conventional non-spread PRACH preamble facilitates coexistence of the PRACH preamble, while a second portion (such as second portion 712 and possible subsequent third, fourth, ... n portions) is not necessarily orthogonal on a non-shared resource sub-opportunity, such as resource 704 (shared means that resource opportunity 702 can be used for the spread preamble disclosed herein as well as conventional non-spread PRACH preambles). Therefore, a UE device that does not meet the low coverage threshold (and is therefore determined to be a low coverage device as described elsewhere herein) can select a long PRACH spread preamble from the spread preambles configured by the RAN in the random access channel configuration, and can spread the transmission of the selected PRACH spread preamble on multiple sub-opportunities associated with the strongest downlink beam determined by the UE.

[0129] The RAN node may apply a process such as decorrelation to a received PRACH preamble that may be selected by a transmitting UE from among many configured preamble possibilities on a sub-opportunity of a shared PRACH resource, such as resource 702. For example, the RAN / gNB may attempt to decorrelate the preamble portion received via an opportunity of shared resource 702 from all possible spread and non-spread PRACH preambles to identify which preambles are being transmitted. On sub-opportunities of non-shared spreading resources 704, the RAN node may apply decorrelation only to the possible PRACH spreading preamble formats configured in the random access channel configuration.

[0130] Now go to Figure 8, which illustrates a timing diagram of an example method 800 for transmitting a PRACH spread preamble using multiple PRACH resources. At act 805, the RAN node 105 may compile and define long format PRACH spreading sequences for the spread preamble, wherein each spreading sequence may include multiple subsequences that are orthogonal to each other and to a conventional non-spread PRACH preamble format. At act 810, the RAN node 105 may generate a physical random access channel configuration UE, such as UE 115. The random access channel configuration may include an indication of one or more PRACH resource opportunities associated with a downlink beam corresponding to the RAN (possibly including an indication of an opportunity index and / or opportunity timing and frequency resource), an indication of a coverage threshold or when a PRACH invokes repetition or transmission or preamble, an indication of a long PRACH sequence or sequences (wherein a sequence is generated for spreading a PRACH preamble on one or more resource opportunities), and an indication of the format of the PRACH transmission repetition (e.g., the format is a PRACH spread preamble or repeated PRACH, such as reference 1). Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Fig. 9 In action 815 , a physical random access channel configuration or a random access channel configuration may be sent to the UE 115 .

[0131] After receiving the configuration sent in action 815, the UE 115 may determine the strongest downlink beam based on the received SSB information corresponding to one or more downlink beams corresponding to the RAN 105 in action 820. When the minimum coverage criterion (such as a coverage threshold) is not met and a PRACH preamble spreading indication is detected, the UE 115 may select a corresponding long PRACH preamble format from the configured long preamble formats in action 825 for spreading the preamble selected in action 830 on the determined uplink opportunity. The number of uplink PRACH opportunities for sending the spread preamble may be determined based on the signal strength of the strongest determined beam - for weaker beams, more sub-opportunities may be used, such as reference beams. Figure 7 The sub-opportunities are such that more energy is used to send the spread preamble portion inversely proportional to the determined strength of the strongest downlink beam of the UE. The UE 115 transmits the selected long PRACH sequence (e.g., portion of the PRACH spread preamble) at action 935 via the PRACH resource opportunity that may be determined at action 825. The RAN node 105 may receive one or more PRACH sequences or preamble portions, which may be spread preamble portions or non-spread preamble portions, and detects subsequent PRACH spread preamble portions at action 840 using a process such as decorrelation.

[0132] Now go to Fig.11, which illustrates a flow chart of an example method 1100 for transmitting a spread preamble using multiple PRACH resources. The method 1100 begins at act 1105. At act 1110, the RAN generates a physical random access channel configuration, which may include one or more PRACH resource opportunities associated with a downlink beam (e.g., opportunity index, opportunity timing, or opportunity frequency resource). The configuration may include an indication of a coverage threshold or PRACH repetition, and an indication of a long PRACH sequence that may be spread over one or more resource opportunities. The configuration may include a format indication of a PRACH transmission repetition type (e.g., as referenced Figure 7 , Figure 8 and Fig.11 The spread spectrum PRACH, or as referenced Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Fig. 9 In action 1115, the user equipment receives the configuration. In action 1120, the user equipment determines the coverage of the strongest downlink signal, and in action 1125 determines whether the determined coverage meets the coverage threshold. If the determined coverage meets the criterion or threshold, the method 1100 proceeds to action 1160 and ends.

[0133] However, if the user equipment determines in act 1125 that the determined coverage does not meet the threshold (e.g., the determined strongest available downlink beam does not have a signal strength that meets the criteria that may be part of the configuration received in act 1115), the user equipment determines in act 1130 a physical random access channel spreading preamble according to the configuration received in act 1115. In act 1135, the user equipment sends the spreading preamble selected in act 1130 to the RAN via resources configured by the configuration, which may include the configuration received in act 1115.

[0134] At act 1140, the RAN receives the preamble sent at act 1135. At act 1145, the RAN determines whether the first portion of the preamble received at 1140 indicates a spread spectrum preamble that may be followed by second and subsequent preamble portions. If the determination at act 1145 is no, i.e., the preamble portion received at act 1140 does not correspond to a spread spectrum preamble, then the method 1100 proceeds to act 1165. At act 1165, the RAN decodes the preamble received at act 1140 according to a PRACH non-spread spectrum preamble procedure (e.g., the RAN evaluates the preamble portion received at act 1140 according to a legacy PRACH preamble procedure).

[0135] However, if it is determined in act 1145 that the first preamble portion received in act 1140 corresponds to a physical random access channel spread preamble, the method 1100 proceeds to act 1150. In act 1150, the RAN monitors subsequent preamble portions in act 1155, which may be preamble portions determined or selected by the user equipment in act 1130. The RAN decodes or combines multiple spread preamble portions transmitted or spread in multiple physical random access channel uplink opportunities. Therefore, by spreading the preamble determined by the user equipment in act 1140 over multiple uplink opportunities, more uplink energy can be used to transmit the preamble determined in act 1040, thereby improving the RAN's decoding of preambles transmitted by user equipment that do not meet the coverage criteria in act 1125. Therefore, even if the user equipment does not have an available downlink beam with a signal strength value that meets the coverage criteria at action 1125, the user equipment can still send a physical random access channel preamble and be successfully decoded by the RAN without waiting for a time equal to the cycle of another opportunity for sending a physical random access channel preamble. Method 1100 proceeds to action 1160 and ends.

[0136] Now go to Fig.12 , which illustrates a block diagram of an example UE 1260. UE 1260 may include a smartphone, a wireless tablet, a laptop with wireless capabilities, a wearable device, a machine device that can facilitate vehicle telematics, etc. UE 1260 includes a first processor 1230, a second processor 1232, and a shared memory 1234. UE 1260 includes a radio front-end circuit system 1262, which may be referred to as a transceiver in this article, but should be understood to generally include a transceiver circuit system, a separate filter, and a separate antenna for facilitating communication via a wireless link (such as Figure 1 In addition, transceiver 1262 may include multiple sets of circuit systems or may be tunable to accommodate different frequency ranges, different modulation schemes, or different communication protocols to facilitate long-range wireless links (such as link 125), device-to-device links (such as link 135), and short-range wireless links (such as link 137).

[0137] continue Fig.12 1260 may also include a SIM 1264 or SIM profile, which may include information stored in a memory (memory 1234 or a separate memory portion) for facilitating communication with Figure 1 Wireless communications with the RAN 105 or core network 130 shown in FIG. Fig.12SIM 1264 is shown as a single component in the shape of a traditional SIM card, but it should be understood that SIM 1264 can represent multiple SIM cards, multiple SIM profiles, or multiple eSIMs, some or all of which can be implemented in hardware or software. It should be understood that a SIM profile can include information such as security credentials (e.g., encryption keys, values ​​that can be used to generate encryption keys, or shared values ​​shared between SIM 1264 and another device, which can be Figure 1 The SIM profile 1264 may also include identification information unique to the SIM or SIM profile, such as an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or information that may constitute an IMSI.

[0138] SIM 1264 is shown coupled to first processor portion 1230 and second processor portion 1232. Such an implementation may provide the advantage that first processor portion 1230 may not need to request or receive information or data from SIM 1264 that second processor 1232 may request, thereby eliminating the situation where the first processor acts as a 'middle man' when the second processor uses information from the SIM in performing its functions and executing applications. First processor 1230 (which may be a modem processor or baseband processor) is shown as being smaller than processor 1232, which may be a more complex application processor, to intuitively indicate the relative complexity (i.e., processing power and performance) and corresponding relative operating power consumption levels between the two processor portions. Keeping the second processor portion 1232 in a sleep / inactive / low power state when the UE 1260 does not need it to execute applications and process application-related data provides an advantage, namely, power consumption can be reduced when the UE only needs to use the first processor portion 1230 to monitor routine configured bearer management and mobility management / maintenance processes in listening mode, or when the second processor portion is kept inactive / sleeping for monitoring the search space that the UE is configured to monitor.

[0139] The UE 1260 may also include sensors 1266, such as temperature sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, humidity sensors, global positioning satellite circuitry, etc., which may provide signals to the first processor 1230 or the second processor 1232. The output device 1268 may include, for example, one or more visual displays (e.g., computer displays, VR devices, etc.), acoustic transducers (such as speakers or microphones), vibration components, etc. The output device 1268 may include software that interfaces with output devices external to the UE 1260 (e.g., visual displays, speakers, microphones, tactile devices, olfactory or taste devices, etc.).

[0140] To provide additional context for the various embodiments described herein, Fig.13 The following discussion is intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment 1300 in which various of the embodiments described herein may be implemented. Although the embodiments have been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions that may be executed on one or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments may also be implemented in conjunction with other program modules and / or as a combination of hardware and software.

[0141] Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these methods can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including single-processor or multi-processor computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, IoT devices, distributed computing systems, as well as personal computers, handheld computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, etc., each of which can be operatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

[0142] The embodiments described herein may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

[0143] Computing devices typically include various media, which may include computer-readable storage media, machine-readable storage media, and / or communication media, which terms are used in different ways as follows in this article. Computer-readable storage media or machine-readable storage media can be any available storage media that can be accessed by a computer, and include both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable storage media or machine-readable storage media can be implemented in combination with any method or technology for storing information such as computer-readable or machine-readable instructions, program modules, structured data, or unstructured data.

[0144] Computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disk read-only memory (CDROM), digital versatile disk (DVD), Blu-ray disk (BD) or other optical disk storage, cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, solid-state drives or other solid-state storage devices, or other tangible and / or non-transitory media that may be used to store the desired information. In this regard, the terms "tangible" or "non-transitory" as applied to storage, memory, or computer-readable media herein should be understood as excluding only the propagation of transient signals themselves as a modifier, and not as a disclaimer of all standard storage, memory, or computer-readable media (which themselves do not only propagate transient signals).

[0145] Computer-readable storage media may be accessed by one or more local or remote computing devices, such as via access requests, queries, or other data retrieval protocols, to perform various operations on the information stored by the media.

[0146] Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other structured or unstructured data in a data signal (such as a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism), and includes any information delivery or transmission media. The term "modulated data signal" or signal refers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media (such as a wired network or direct-wired connection) and wireless media (such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media).

[0147] Reference again Fig.13 , an example environment 1300 for implementing various embodiments described herein includes a computer 1302, which includes a processing unit 1304, a system memory 1306, and a system bus 1308. The system bus 1308 couples system components (including but not limited to the system memory 1306) to the processing unit 1304. The processing unit 1304 can be any of a variety of commercially available processors and can include a cache memory. Dual microprocessors and other multi-processor architectures can also be used as the processing unit 1304.

[0148] The system bus 1308 may be any of several types of bus structures that may also interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1306 includes ROM 1310 and RAM 1312. A basic input / output system (BIOS) containing the basic routines that facilitate the transfer of information between elements within the computer 1302, such as during startup, may be stored in a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or an EEPROM. RAM 1312 may also include high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

[0149] The computer 1302 also includes: an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 1314 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), one or more external storage devices 1316 (e.g., a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1316, a memory stick or flash drive reader, a memory card reader, etc.), and an optical drive 1320 (e.g., which can read or write from a CD-ROM disk, a DVD, a BD, etc.). Although the internal HDD 1314 is shown as being located within the computer 1302, the internal HDD 1314 can also be configured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown). In addition, although not shown in the environment 1300, a solid state drive (SSD) can be used in addition to or instead of the HDD 1314. The HDD 1314, (multiple) external storage devices 1316, and the optical drive 1320 can be connected to the system bus 1308 via a HDD interface 1324, an external storage interface 1326, and an optical drive interface 1328, respectively. The interface 1324 for external drive implementations may include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies.Other external drive connection technologies are within the contemplated scope of the embodiments described herein.

[0150] The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media provide non-volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, etc. For the computer 1302, the drives and storage media are adapted to store any data in a suitable digital format. Although the above description of computer-readable storage media relates to corresponding types of storage devices, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that other types of computer-readable storage media (whether currently existing or developed in the future) can also be used in the example operating environment, and further, any such storage media can contain computer-executable instructions for performing the methods described herein.

[0151] A number of program modules may be stored in the drives and RAM 1312, including an operating system 1330, one or more application programs 1332, other program modules 1334, and program data 1336. All or portions of the operating system, applications, modules, and / or data may also be cached in RAM 1312. The systems and methods described herein may be implemented using various commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0152] Computer 1302 may optionally include emulation technology. For example, a hypervisor (not shown) or other intermediary may emulate the hardware environment of operating system 1330, and the emulated hardware may optionally be different from the hardware of the operating system 1330. Fig.13 The hardware shown. In such an embodiment, the operating system 1330 may include one of a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) hosted at the computer 1302. In addition, the operating system 1330 may provide a runtime environment, such as a Java runtime environment or a .NET framework, for the application 1332. The runtime environment is a consistent execution environment that allows the application 1332 to run on any operating system that includes a runtime environment. Similarly, the operating system 1330 may support containers, and the application 1332 may be in the form of a container, which is a lightweight, independent, executable software package that includes, for example, code, runtime, system tools, system libraries, and settings for the application.

[0153] In addition, the computer 1302 may include a security module, such as a trusted processing module (TPM). For example, for a TPM, the boot component hashes the next real-time boot component and waits for the result to match the security value before loading the next boot component. This process can occur at any layer in the code execution stack of the computer 1302, for example, applied at the application execution level or the operating system (OS) kernel level, thereby enabling security at any level of code execution.

[0154] A user may enter commands and information into the computer 1302 through one or more wired / wireless input devices, such as a keyboard 1338, a touch screen 1340, and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1342. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a radio frequency (RF) remote control, or other remote control, a joystick, a virtual reality controller and / or a virtual reality headset, a game pad, a stylus, an image input device (e.g., camera(s)), a gesture sensor input device, a visual motion sensor input device, an emotion or facial detection device, a biometric input device (e.g., a fingerprint or iris scanner), and the like. These and other input devices are typically connected to the processing unit 1304 through an input device interface 1344 (which may be coupled to the system bus 1308), but may be connected through other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR port, a fingerprint scanner, or the like. Interfaces, etc.

[0155] A display 1346 or other type of display device may also be connected to the system bus 1308 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1348. In addition to the display 1346, computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, and the like.

[0156] The computer 1302 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s) 1350, via wired and / or wireless communications. The remote computer(s) 1350 can be a workstation, server computer, router, personal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment device, peer device, or other public network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described with respect to the computer 1302, although only a memory / storage device 1352 is illustrated for simplicity. The depicted logical connections include wired / wireless connections to a local area network (LAN) 1354 and / or a larger network, such as a wide area network (WAN) 1356. Such LAN and WAN networking environments are common in offices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which can be connected to a global communications network, such as the Internet.

[0157] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1302 can be connected to the local network 1354 through a wired and / or wireless communication network interface or adapter 1358. The adapter 1358 can facilitate wired or wireless communication with the LAN 1354, which can also include a wireless access point (AP) disposed thereon for communicating with the adapter 1358 in a wireless mode.

[0158] When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1302 may include a modem 1360 or may be connected by other means to a communication server on the WAN 1356 to establish communications over the WAN 1356, such as over the Internet. The modem 1360, which may be internal or external and a wired or wireless device, may be connected to the system bus 1308 via the input device interface 1344. In a networking environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1302, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory / storage device 1352. It should be appreciated that the network connections shown are examples and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.

[0159] When used in a LAN or WAN networking environment, the computer 1302 can access a cloud storage system or other network-based storage system in addition to or in place of the external storage device 1316 described above. Typically, the connection between the computer 1302 and the cloud storage system can be established through the LAN 1354 or WAN 1356, such as through an adapter 1358 or a modem 1360, respectively. When the computer 1302 is connected to the associated cloud storage system, the external storage interface 1326 can manage the storage provided by the cloud storage system with the help of the adapter 1358 and / or the modem 1360, just as it manages other types of external storage. For example, the external storage interface 1326 can be configured to provide access to cloud storage sources as if those sources were physically connected to the computer 1302.

[0160] The computer 1302 may be operable to communicate with any wireless device or entity operably arranged in wireless communication, such as a printer, scanner, desktop and / or portable computer, portable data assistant, communication satellite, any device or location associated with a wireless detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, newsstand, shelf, etc.), and telephone. This may include Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Wireless technology. Therefore, the communication can be a predefined structure like traditional networks, or just an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

[0161] Now go to Fig.14, which illustrates an example embodiment method 1400, the method comprising: at box 1405, receiving, by a user equipment including a processor, a random access channel configuration from a radio access node, wherein the random access channel configuration comprises: a coverage criterion applicable to a coverage of the user equipment, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource; at box 1410, determining, by the user equipment, a first coverage indication of a first coverage corresponding to a first downlink beam; at box 1415, determining, by the user equipment based on the first coverage indication, that the first coverage fails to meet the coverage criterion; at box 1420, sending, by the user equipment, a first random access channel preamble portion using a first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication; at box 1425, sending, by the user equipment, a second random access channel preamble portion using a second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication; at box 1430, wherein the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource are associated with the first downlink beam; at box 1435, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion and the second random access channel preamble portion represent the same preamble portion.

[0162] Now go to Fig.15, the figure illustrates an example system embodiment 1500, which includes a user equipment at box 1505, the user equipment including a processor, the processor configured to: receive a physical random access channel (PRACH) configuration from a radio access node, wherein the PRACH configuration includes: a coverage criterion, a first PRACH resource indication, and a second PRACH resource indication; at box 1510, monitor a synchronization signal block corresponding to a first downlink beam received from the radio access node; at box 1515, determine a coverage indication of coverage corresponding to the first downlink beam based on information in the synchronization signal block; at box 1520, determine that the coverage fails to meet the coverage criterion based on the coverage indication; at box 1525, use a first PRACH resource corresponding to the first PRACH resource indication to send a first PRACH preamble code portion directed to the radio access node; at box 1530, use a second PRACH resource corresponding to the second PRACH resource indication to send a second PRACH preamble code portion directed to the radio access node RACH preamble portion; in box 1535, wherein the PRACH configuration further includes at least one PRACH preamble element group, the at least one PRACH preamble element group including a preamble associated with a corresponding beam strength ranking, wherein the first PRACH preamble portion is associated with a first beam strength ranking of the corresponding beam strength, and wherein the second PRACH preamble portion is associated with a second beam strength ranking of the corresponding beam strength, the processor is further configured to: determine that the first downlink beam has a highest signal strength value of a set of downlink beams corresponding to the radio access node measured by the user equipment, and determine that the second downlink beam has a second highest signal strength of the multiple downlink beams measured by the user equipment; in box 1540, determine that the first beam strength ranking corresponds to a first PRACH resource indication and the second beam strength ranking corresponds to a second PRACH resource indication; in box 1545, the first PRACH preamble portion and the second PRACH preamble portion are different preamble portions.

[0163] Now go to Fig.16, the figure illustrates a non-transitory machine-readable medium 1600, which includes executable instructions at box 1605, which, when executed by a processor of a user equipment, facilitates the performance of operations, the operations comprising: receiving a physical random access channel (PRACH) configuration from a radio access node, wherein the PRACH configuration includes: a signal strength threshold, a first PRACH resource indication, and a second PRACH resource indication; at box 1610, determining a signal strength indication of a signal strength corresponding to a first downlink beam; at box 1615, determining based on the signal strength indication that the signal strength is less than the signal strength threshold; 1620, using a first PRACH resource corresponding to the first PRACH resource indication to send a first PRACH preamble portion directed to the radio access node; at box 1625, using a second PRACH resource indication to send a first PRACH preamble portion directed to the radio access node; The source indicates a corresponding second PRACH resource to send a second PRACH preamble code part directed to the radio access node; at box 1630, wherein the PRACH configuration includes a PRACH long sequence preamble code indication indicating a spread spectrum preamble code, wherein the first PRACH preamble code part is a first part of the spread spectrum preamble code, and the second PRACH preamble code part is a second part of the spread spectrum preamble code, wherein the first downlink beam is the strongest downlink beam among the downlink beams corresponding to the radio access node, wherein the first PRACH preamble code part is orthogonal to the PRACH preamble code that is not a spread spectrum preamble code, and wherein the first PRACH resource and the second PRACH resource are associated with the first downlink beam; at box 1635, wherein the second PRACH preamble code part is not orthogonal to the PRACH preamble code that is not a spread spectrum preamble code.

[0164] Now go to Fig.17, which illustrates an example embodiment method 1700, the method 1700 comprising: at block 1705, generating, by a radio access node comprising a processor, a random access channel configuration, the random access channel configuration comprising: a coverage criterion applicable to coverage of a user equipment, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource; at block 1710, sending, by the radio access node, the random access channel configuration to the user equipment; at block 1715, receiving, from the user equipment, via a first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication, a first random access channel preamble portion; at block 1720, receiving, from the user equipment, via a second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication, a second random access channel preamble portion; at block 172 5. A connection establishment message signal is sent by a radio access node to a user equipment via a first downlink beam corresponding to a first random access channel resource; in box 1730, wherein the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource are associated with the first downlink beam in the random access channel configuration, the method further includes: determining by the radio access node based on the association of the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource with the first downlink beam: using the first downlink beam results in a stronger downlink beam strength signal measured by the user equipment compared to using other downlink beams corresponding to the radio access node available to the user equipment; wherein the first random access channel preamble code portion and the second random access channel preamble code portion represent the same preamble code portion.

[0165] Now go to Fig.18, the figure illustrates an example system embodiment 1800, the system comprising, at box 1805: a computer executable component of a wireless communication network node including a processor, the processor being configured to: send a synchronization signal; at box 1810, generate a random access channel configuration, the random access channel configuration including a signal coverage criterion, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource, the signal coverage criterion to be used by a user equipment to determine a signal coverage value corresponding to the user equipment based on a signal strength of the synchronization signal; at box 1815, send the random access channel configuration to the user equipment; at box 1820, receive a first random access channel preamble portion from the user equipment via a first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication; at box 1825, receive a second random access channel preamble portion from the user equipment via a second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication; at box 1830, by the wireless The communication network node sends a connection establishment message signal to a user equipment via a first downlink beam corresponding to a first random access channel resource; in box 1835, wherein the random access channel configuration also includes at least one random access channel preamble code element group, and the at least one random access channel preamble code element group includes a preamble code associated with a corresponding beam strength ranking of an available downlink beam, wherein the first random access channel preamble code part is associated with a first beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking, and wherein the second random access channel preamble code part is associated with a second beam strength ranking in the corresponding beam strength ranking, and the processor is also configured to: detect the first random access channel preamble code part from the first random access channel resource via the first downlink beam; in box 1840, determine, based on the first random access channel preamble code part, that the first downlink beam among the available downlink beams corresponds to the strongest measured signal strength of the available downlink beams at the user equipment.

[0166] Now go to Fig.19A, the figure illustrates a non-transitory machine-readable medium 1900, which includes executable instructions at box 1905, which when executed by a processor of a node of a communication network, facilitates the performance of operations, the operations including: sending a synchronization signal block burst; at box 1910, generating a random access channel configuration including a coverage criterion to be used by a user equipment to determine a coverage value corresponding to the user equipment based on a signal strength of the synchronization signal block burst, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource; at box 1915, sending the random access channel configuration to the user equipment; at box 1920, receiving a first random access channel preamble portion from the user equipment via a first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication; at box 1925, receiving a second random access channel preamble portion from the user equipment via a second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication; and at box 1930, sending a radio resource control connection establishment message signal to the user equipment via a first downlink beam corresponding to the first random access channel resource. The illustration of the non-transitory machine-readable medium 1900 is shown in Fig.19BThe method continues with block 1935, wherein the random access channel configuration includes: a random access channel long sequence preamble indication indicating a spread spectrum preamble format and a spread spectrum preamble generated according to the spread spectrum preamble format, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion corresponds to the first portion of the first spread spectrum preamble, and the second random access channel preamble portion corresponds to the second portion of the first spread spectrum preamble, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is orthogonal to the random access channel preamble that is not generated according to the spread spectrum preamble format, and wherein the random access channel configuration further includes: configuring a non-spread spectrum preamble first preamble portion set, configuring a spread spectrum preamble first preamble portion set, and configuring a spread spectrum preamble second preamble portion set, wherein the operation further includes: analyzing the first random access channel preamble portion relative to configuring the spread spectrum preamble first preamble portion set and configuring the non-spread spectrum preamble first preamble portion set to obtain the analyzed first random access channel preamble portion. channel preamble part and determining that the first random access channel preamble part corresponds to a spread spectrum preamble; in box 1940, analyzing the second random access channel preamble part relative to the second preamble part set configured with the spread spectrum preamble, but not analyzing the second random access channel preamble part relative to the first preamble part set configured with the non-spread spectrum preamble, to obtain an analyzed second random access channel preamble part; in box 1945, combining the analyzed first random access channel preamble part and the analyzed second random access channel preamble part to obtain a composite random access channel preamble including one of the spread spectrum preambles; in box 1950, wherein the first random access channel preamble part and the second random access channel preamble part are received via a first random access channel resource and a second random access channel resource, respectively, and wherein the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource correspond to a first downlink beam.

[0167] The following glossary of terms, given in Table 1, may be applicable to one or more descriptions of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0168]

[0169]

[0170]

[0171] Table 1

[0172] The above description includes non-limiting examples of various embodiments. Of course, it is not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methods for the purpose of describing the disclosed subject matter, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other combinations and arrangements of various embodiments are possible. The disclosed subject matter is intended to encompass all such changes, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[0173] With respect to the various functions performed by the above-described components, devices, circuits, systems, etc., unless otherwise specified, the terms used to describe such components (including references to "components") shall also include any (multiple) structures (e.g., functional equivalents) that perform the specified functions of the above-described components, even if not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structures. In addition, although specific features of the disclosed subject matter may be disclosed for only one of several implementations, such features may be combined with one or more other features of other implementations, which may be desirable and advantageous for any given or specific application.

[0174] The terms "exemplary" and / or "exemplary" or variations thereof that may be used herein are intended to mean used as examples, instances, or illustrations. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited to these examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" and / or "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other aspects or designs, nor is it intended to exclude equivalent structures and techniques known to those skilled in the art. In addition, to the extent that the terms "include," "have," "comprises," and other similar words are used in the specific embodiments or claims, these terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprises" as an open transition word, without excluding any additional or other elements.

[0175] As used herein, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or." For example, the phrase "A or B" is intended to include instances of A, B, and A and B. In addition, the articles "a," "an," and "should" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be interpreted as "one or more" unless the context dictates otherwise or clearly directs to a singular form.

[0176] The term "set" as used herein does not include an empty set, i.e., a set with no elements in it. Thus, a "set" in the subject disclosure includes one or more elements or entities. Likewise, the term "group" as used herein refers to a set of one or more entities.

[0177] Unless the context clearly states otherwise, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. used in the claims are for clarity only and do not otherwise indicate or imply any temporal order. For example, "a first determination", "a second determination", and "a third determination" do not indicate or imply that the first determination will be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

[0178] The description of the illustrated embodiments of the subject disclosure provided herein (including the contents described in the abstract) is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Although specific embodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications considered within the scope of these embodiments and examples are possible, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. In this regard, although the subject matter is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments and corresponding drawings, it should be understood that other similar embodiments may be used, or the described embodiments may be modified and added to perform the same, similar, alternative or replacement functions of the disclosed subject matter, without departing from the disclosed contents. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single embodiment described herein, but should be interpreted in breadth and scope according to the following appended claims.

Claims

1. A method comprising: generating, by a radio access node comprising a processor, a random access channel configuration, the random access channel configuration comprising: a coverage criterion applicable to coverage of a user equipment, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource; sending, by the radio access node, the random access channel configuration to the user equipment; receiving a first random access channel preamble part from the user equipment via the first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication; receiving a second random access channel preamble part from the user equipment via the second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication; and A connection establishment message signal is sent by the radio access node to the user equipment via a first downlink beam corresponding to the first random access channel resource.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coverage criterion comprises a value corresponding to a signal strength parameter, and the value corresponding to the signal strength parameter is used by the user equipment to determine whether the measured signal strength value corresponding to the signal strength parameter satisfies the minimum beam performance.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource are associated with the first downlink beam in the random access channel configuration, the method further comprising: The radio access node determines, based on the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource being associated with the first downlink beam, that use of the first downlink beam results in a stronger downlink beam strength signal measured by the user equipment compared to use of other downlink beams corresponding to the radio access node available to the user equipment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion and the second random access channel preamble portion represent the same preamble portion.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises at least one random access channel preamble symbol group, the at least one random access channel preamble symbol group comprising a preamble associated with a respective beam strength ranking of available downlink beams, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is associated with a first beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, and wherein the second random access channel preamble portion is associated with a second beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, the method further comprising: detecting, by the radio access node, the first random access channel preamble portion from the first random access channel resource; as well as It is determined, by the radio access node, that use of the first downlink beam results in a strongest measured signal strength at the user equipment.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises at least one random access channel preamble symbol group, the at least one random access channel preamble symbol group comprising a preamble associated with a respective beam strength ranking of available downlink beams, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is associated with a first beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, and wherein the second random access channel preamble portion is associated with a second beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, the method further comprising: detecting, by the radio access node, the second random access channel preamble part from the second random access channel resource without detecting the first random access channel preamble part; determining, by the radio access node based on the detection of the second random access channel preamble portion, that using a second downlink beam of the available downlink beams corresponding to the second random access channel preamble portion results in a second strongest measured signal strength of the available downlink beams at the user equipment; sending, by the radio access node, a connection establishment message to the user equipment via the second downlink beam; sending, by the radio access node via the second downlink beam to the user equipment, a downlink beam strength report request requesting an indication of the strongest downlink beam among the available downlink beams, use of the strongest downlink beam resulting in the strongest measured signal strength of the available downlink beams at the user equipment; receiving, by the radio access node in response to the downlink beam strength report request, the indication of the strongest downlink beam among the available downlink beams at the user equipment; as well as Based on the indication of the strongest downlink beam among the available downlink beams, the strongest downlink beam is allocated, by the radio access node, as the first downlink beam.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access channel configuration comprises a random access channel long sequence preamble indication indicating a spread spectrum preamble, and wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is a first portion of the spread spectrum preamble, and the second random access channel preamble portion is a second portion of the spread spectrum preamble.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is orthogonal to a random access channel preamble that is not a spreading preamble.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises: A group of non-spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code parts are configured, a group of spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code parts are configured, and a group of spread spectrum preamble code second preamble code parts are configured, and the method further includes: determining, by the radio access node, that the first random access channel preamble portion received via the first random access channel resource corresponds to a spread spectrum preamble, wherein the determining comprises: analyzing the first random access channel preamble portion relative to the set of configured spread spectrum preamble first preamble portions, and analyzing the first random access channel preamble portion relative to the set of configured non-spread spectrum preamble first preamble portions; and The second random access channel preamble portion is decoded by the radio access node, wherein the decoding comprises analyzing the second random access channel preamble portion relative to the set of configured spread spectrum preamble second preamble portions, and not analyzing the second random access channel preamble portion relative to the set of configured non-spread spectrum preamble first preamble portions.

10. A system comprising: Computer executable components of a wireless communication network node comprising a processor, the processor being configured to: Sending a synchronization signal; generating a random access channel configuration, the random access channel configuration comprising a signal coverage criterion, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource, the signal coverage criterion being used by a user equipment to determine a signal coverage value corresponding to the user equipment based on a signal strength of the synchronization signal; Sending the random access channel configuration to the user equipment; receiving a first random access channel preamble part from the user equipment via the first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication; receiving a second random access channel preamble part from the user equipment via the second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication; as well as A connection establishment message signal is sent by the wireless communication network node to the user equipment via a first downlink beam corresponding to the first random access channel resource.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein in the random access channel configuration the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource are associated with the first downlink beam, the processor is further configured to: Based on the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource being associated with the first downlink beam, it is determined that the first downlink beam corresponds to a stronger downlink beam strength signal measured by the user equipment compared to other downlink beams other than the first downlink beam available to the user equipment and corresponding to the radio access node.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises at least one random access channel preamble symbol group, the at least one random access channel preamble symbol group comprising a preamble associated with a corresponding beam strength ranking of available downlink beams, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is associated with a first beam strength ranking of the corresponding beam strength rankings, and wherein the second random access channel preamble portion is associated with a second beam strength ranking of the corresponding beam strength rankings, the processor being further configured to: detecting the first random access channel preamble portion from the first random access channel resource via the first downlink beam; and It is determined based on the first random access channel preamble portion that the first of the available downlink beams corresponds to a strongest measured signal strength of the available downlink beams at the user equipment.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises at least one random access channel preamble symbol group, the at least one random access channel preamble symbol group comprising a preamble associated with a respective beam strength ranking of available downlink beams, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is associated with a first beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, and wherein the second random access channel preamble portion is associated with a second beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, the processor being further configured to: detecting the second random access channel preamble portion from the second random access channel resource via a second downlink beam of the available downlink beams associated with the second random access channel resource in the random access channel configuration without detecting the first random access channel preamble portion; determining, based on the second random access channel preamble portion, that the second downlink beam provides a second strongest measured signal strength of the available downlink beams at the user equipment; sending, by the radio access node, a connection establishment message to the user equipment via the second downlink beam; sending a downlink beam reporting indication to the user equipment via the second downlink beam, the downlink beam reporting indication comprising a request for the user equipment to indicate an available downlink beam and a corresponding measured signal strength; In response to the downlink beam report indication, receiving a downlink beam signal strength report from the user equipment, the downlink beam signal strength report comprising: an indication of a downlink beam available at the user equipment, and a corresponding signal strength corresponding to the downlink beam; as well as A downlink beam having a corresponding strongest signal strength among the downlink beams indicated in the downlink beam signal strength report is identified for use as the first downlink beam.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the random access channel configuration comprises a random access channel long sequence preamble indication indicating a spread spectrum preamble format and a spread spectrum preamble generated according to the spread spectrum preamble format, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion corresponds to a first portion of a first spread spectrum preamble, and the second random access channel preamble portion corresponds to a second portion of the first spread spectrum preamble, and wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is orthogonal to a random access channel preamble that does not correspond to the spread spectrum preamble format.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises: A plurality of first preamble code parts configured with non-spread spectrum preamble codes, a plurality of first preamble code parts configured with spread spectrum preamble codes, and a plurality of second preamble code parts configured with spread spectrum preamble codes, the processor being further configured to: analyzing the first random access channel preamble portion relative to the plurality of configured spread spectrum preamble first preamble portions and the plurality of configured non-spread spectrum preamble first preamble portions to determine that the first random access channel preamble portion corresponds to a spread spectrum preamble; as well as analyzing the second random access channel preamble portion relative to the plurality of configured spread spectrum preamble second preamble portions, and not analyzing the second random access channel preamble portion relative to the plurality of configured non-spread spectrum preamble first preamble portions; The first random access channel preamble code part and the second random access channel preamble code part are received via the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource corresponding to the first downlink beam, respectively.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a node of a communication network, facilitate performance of operations comprising: Sending a sync signal block burst; generating a random access channel configuration, the random access channel configuration comprising a coverage criterion, a first resource indication of a first random access channel resource, and a second resource indication of a second random access channel resource, the coverage criterion to be used by a user equipment to determine a coverage value corresponding to the user equipment based on a signal strength of the synchronization signal block burst; Sending the random access channel configuration to the user equipment; receiving a first random access channel preamble part from the user equipment via the first random access channel resource corresponding to the first resource indication; receiving a second random access channel preamble part from the user equipment via the second random access channel resource corresponding to the second resource indication; as well as A radio resource control connection establishment message signal is transmitted to the user equipment via a first downlink beam corresponding to the first random access channel resource.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource are associated with the first downlink beam in the random access channel configuration, the operations further comprising: determining, based on the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource being associated with the first downlink beam, that the first downlink beam enables a signal having a stronger downlink beam strength measured by the user equipment than a second downlink beam other than the first downlink beam available to the user equipment and corresponding to the radio access node; Decoding the first random access channel preamble code part and the second random access channel preamble code part respectively to obtain a decoded first random access channel preamble code part and a decoded second random access channel preamble code part; as well as combining the decoded first random access channel preamble part and the decoded second random access channel preamble part to obtain a composite random access channel preamble, The composite random access channel preamble includes: the first random access channel preamble part or the second random access channel preamble part.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises at least one random access channel preamble symbol group, the at least one random access channel preamble symbol group comprising a preamble associated with a respective beam strength ranking of available downlink beams, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is associated with a first beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, and wherein the second random access channel preamble portion is associated with a second beam strength ranking of the respective beam strength rankings, the operations further comprising: detecting the second random access channel preamble portion from the second random access channel resource via a second downlink beam of the available downlink beams associated with the second random access channel resource in the random access channel configuration without detecting the first random access channel preamble portion; determining, based on the detection of the preamble portion of the second random access channel, that the second downlink beam provides a second strongest measured signal strength of the available downlink beams at the user equipment; Sending a radio resource control connection establishment message signal to the user equipment via the second downlink beam; sending a downlink beam reporting indication to the user equipment via the second downlink beam, the downlink beam reporting indication comprising a request for the user equipment to indicate a downlink beam available at the user equipment; receiving, in response to the downlink beam reporting indication, from the user equipment, downlink beam signal strength reports of the downlink beams available at the user equipment ranked according to signal strength; as well as A highest ranked downlink beam from the downlink beam signal strength reports is deployed as the first downlink beam.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the random access channel configuration comprises a random access channel long sequence preamble indication indicating a spread spectrum preamble format and a spread spectrum preamble generated according to the spread spectrum preamble format, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion corresponds to a first portion of a first spread spectrum preamble, and the second random access channel preamble portion corresponds to a second portion of the first spread spectrum preamble, wherein the first random access channel preamble portion is orthogonal to a random access channel preamble that is not generated according to the spread spectrum preamble format, and wherein the random access channel configuration further comprises: configuring a first preamble part set of a non-spread preamble code, configuring a first preamble part set of a spread preamble code, and configuring a second preamble part set of a spread preamble code, wherein the operation further comprises: analyzing the first random access channel preamble part relative to the configured spread spectrum preamble first preamble part set and the configured non-spread spectrum preamble first preamble part set to obtain an analyzed first random access channel preamble part and determining that the first random access channel preamble part corresponds to a spread spectrum preamble; analyzing the second random access channel preamble part relative to the second set of configured spread spectrum preamble parts, without analyzing the second random access channel preamble part relative to the first set of configured non-spread spectrum preamble parts, to obtain an analyzed second random access channel preamble part; and combining the analyzed first random access channel preamble part and the analyzed second random access channel preamble part to obtain a composite random access channel preamble including one of the spread spectrum preambles, The first random access channel preamble part and the second random access channel preamble part are received via the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource, respectively, and the first random access channel resource and the second random access channel resource correspond to the first downlink beam.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the analyzing of the first random access channel preamble portion comprises: Decorrelation is performed relative to the configured non-spread preamble code first preamble code portion set and the configured spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code portion set, wherein the analysis of the received second random access channel preamble code portion includes: performing decorrelation relative to the configured spread spectrum preamble code second preamble code portion set, and wherein the analysis of the second random access channel preamble code portion does not include: performing decorrelation relative to the configured spread spectrum preamble code first preamble code portion set.

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