Cell activation procedure

Abstract

Aspects relate to activating a cell (e.g., SCell) based on measurements made by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., as a secondary cell for the UE) when the cell is not activated relative to the UE (e.g., the cell is considered as an unknown cell for the UE by a network). In this case, when the network requests the UE to make measurements with respect to the cell (e.g., in conjunction with activation of the cell), the UE may report information based on the measurements made by the UE when the cell is not activated with respect to the UE.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims priority to pending non-provisional application No. 18 / 356,798 filed on July 21, 2023 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 411,474 filed on September 29, 2022, which applications have been assigned to the assignee of the present application and are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] The techniques discussed below relate generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to cell activation procedures. Background Art

[0004] A next generation wireless communication system (e.g., 5GS) may include a 5G core network and a 5G radio access network (RAN) (such as a new radio (NR)-RAN). NR-RAN supports communication via one or more cells. For example, a wireless communication device such as a user equipment (UE) may access a first cell of a first base station (BS) such as a gNB and / or access a second cell of a second base station. The base station may schedule access to the cell to support access by multiple UEs. For example, the base station may allocate different resources (e.g., time domain resources and frequency domain resources) for use by different UEs operating within the cell.

[0005] Different cells may serve the UE at different times. For example, the UE may initially be served by a first cell. Subsequently, additional cells may be selected to serve the UE (e.g., additional resources are provided to serve the UE). Alternatively or in addition, the cell serving the UE may be changed (switched out) so that a different cell will serve the UE. Summary of the invention

[0006] An overview of one or more aspects of the present disclosure is presented below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all expected features of the present disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to describe the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in a form as a preface to a more detailed description presented later.

[0007] In some examples, a user equipment may include a transceiver and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver. The at least one processor may be configured individually or collectively to receive a measurement report configuration. The at least one processor may also be configured individually or collectively to measure a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment. The at least one processor may also be configured individually or collectively to receive a first message indicating that the user equipment will report a measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration. The at least one processor may additionally be configured individually or collectively to send a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on a measurement of the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0008] In some examples, a method for wireless communication at a user equipment is disclosed. The method may include receiving a measurement report configuration. The method may also include measuring a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment. The method may also include receiving a first message indicating that the user equipment will report a measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration. The method may additionally include sending a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on measuring the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0009] In some examples, a user equipment may include a component for receiving a measurement report configuration. The user equipment may also include a component for measuring a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment. The user equipment may also include a component for receiving a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment will report the measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration. The user equipment may additionally include a component for sending a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on measuring the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0010] In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium has instructions stored therein, which can be executed by one or more processors of a user equipment to: receive a measurement report configuration. The computer-readable medium may also have instructions stored therein, which can be executed by one or more processors of the user equipment to: measure a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment. The computer-readable medium may also have instructions stored therein, which can be executed by one or more processors of the user equipment to: receive a first message indicating that the user equipment will report the measurement results of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration. The computer-readable medium may additionally have instructions stored therein, which can be executed by one or more processors of the user equipment to: send a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on a measurement of the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0011] In some examples, a network entity may include a transceiver and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver. The at least one processor may be configured individually or collectively to send a measurement report configuration to a user equipment. The at least one processor may also be configured individually or collectively to send a first message indicating that the user equipment will report a measurement result of a first cell based on the measurement report configuration. In some examples, the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message. The at least one processor may also be configured individually or collectively to receive a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on a measurement of a signal received from the first cell by the user equipment when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0012] In some examples, a method for wireless communication at a network entity is disclosed. The method may include sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment. The method may also include sending a first message indicating that the user equipment will report a measurement result of a first cell based on the measurement report configuration. In some examples, the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message. The method may also include receiving a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on a measurement by the user equipment of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0013] In some examples, a network entity may include a component for sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment. The network entity may also include a component for sending a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment will report a measurement result of a first cell based on the measurement report configuration. In some examples, the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message. The network entity may also include a component for receiving a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on a measurement by the user equipment of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0014] In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium has instructions stored therein, which can be executed by one or more processors of a network entity to: send a measurement report configuration to a user equipment. The computer-readable medium may also have instructions stored therein, which can be executed by one or more processors of the network entity to: send a first message indicating that the user equipment will report the measurement results of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration. In some examples, the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message. The computer-readable medium may also have instructions stored therein, which can be executed by one or more processors of the network entity to: receive a first measurement report in response to the first message. In some examples, the first measurement report is based on a measurement by the user equipment of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0015] After studying the specific embodiments below, these and other aspects of the present disclosure will become more fully understood. After studying the description of the specific example aspects of the present disclosure below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features and examples of the present disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Although the features of the present disclosure may be discussed below with respect to certain examples and drawings, all examples of the present disclosure may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more examples may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used according to the various examples of the present disclosure discussed herein. In a similar manner, although the example aspects may be discussed below as device, system or method examples, it should be understood that such example aspects may be implemented in various devices, systems and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a wireless communication system according to some aspects.

[0017] Figure 2 is a conceptual illustration of an example radio access network in accordance with some aspects.

[0018] Figure 3 is a diagram providing a high-level illustration of one example of a configuration of a decomposed base station in accordance with some aspects.

[0019] Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of wireless resources in an air interface utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in accordance with some aspects.

[0020] Figure 5A is a diagram illustrating an example of a frame structure of a synchronization signal for use in a wireless communication network in accordance with some aspects.

[0021] Figure 5B is a diagram illustrating an example of a portion of a frame or subframe structure having various channels and associated messages for use in a wireless communication network in accordance with some aspects.

[0022] Figure 6 is a conceptual illustration of wireless communications via multiple cells in accordance with some aspects.

[0023] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling associated with cell activation in accordance with some aspects.

[0024] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling associated with aperiodic tracking reference signal bursts in accordance with some aspects.

[0025] Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of messaging associated with cell activation and deactivation in accordance with some aspects.

[0026] Fig.10 is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling associated with triggering a tracking reference signal in accordance with some aspects.

[0027] Fig.11 is a diagram illustrating another example of signaling associated with cell activation in accordance with some aspects.

[0028] Fig.12 is a diagram illustrating another example of signaling associated with cell activation in accordance with some aspects.

[0029] Fig.13 is a diagram illustrating another example of signaling associated with cell activation in accordance with some aspects.

[0030] Fig.14 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for user equipment employing a processing system in accordance with some aspects.

[0031] Fig.15 is a flow chart illustrating an example wireless communication method associated with cell activation in accordance with some aspects.

[0032] Fig.16 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a network entity employing a processing system in accordance with some aspects.

[0033] Fig.17 is a flow chart illustrating an example wireless communication method associated with cell activation in accordance with some aspects. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The specific embodiments described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings are intended as descriptions of various configurations and are not intended to represent the only configurations with which the concepts described herein can be practiced. In order to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts, the specific embodiments include specific details. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0035] Although various aspects and examples are described in this application by illustrating some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional specific implementations and use cases can be generated in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovation described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, various aspects and / or use can be generated via integrated chip examples and other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication equipment, computing equipment, industrial equipment, retail / shopping equipment, medical equipment, artificial intelligence (AI) enabled devices, etc.). Although some examples may or may not specifically point to use cases or applications, the applicability of a wide range of described innovations may occur. Specific implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level specific implementations, and further to the range of aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems in conjunction with one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some actual settings, the device incorporating the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for the implementation and implementation of the claimed and described examples. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily include several components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components, including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The innovations described herein are intended to be practiced in a variety of devices of different sizes, shapes, and configurations, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, disaggregated arrangements (e.g., base stations and / or UEs), end-user devices, etc.

[0036] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to cell activation procedures. For a UE connected to a primary cell (PCell), the network may activate a secondary cell (SCell) for the UE in certain circumstances. For example, the network may activate the SCell for the UE to provide additional throughput, bandwidth, etc. for the UE. Subsequently, when the UE no longer requires the additional connectivity provided by the SCell, the network may deactivate the SCell for the UE.

[0037] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to activating a cell (e.g., an SCell) based on measurements made by a UE when the cell is not activated relative to the UE (e.g., as a secondary cell for the UE) (e.g., the cell is considered by the network to be an unknown cell for the UE). In this case, when the network requests the UE to make measurements relative to the cell (e.g., in conjunction with activation of the cell), the UE may report information based on the measurements made by the UE when the cell was not activated relative to the UE. In some aspects, this procedure may result in a shorter cell activation time.

[0038] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented across a wide variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Figure 1 , various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated with reference to a wireless communication system 100 as an illustrative example and not as a limitation. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interacting domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. By means of the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 may be enabled to perform data communications with an external data network 110, such as (but not limited to) the Internet.

[0039] The RAN 104 may implement any suitable one or more wireless communication technologies to provide radio access to the UE 106. As an example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specification, commonly referred to as 5G. As another example, the RAN 104 may operate under a mix of 5G NR and an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (eUTRAN) standard, commonly referred to as long term evolution (LTE). 3GPP refers to such a hybrid RAN as the next generation RAN or NG-RAN. In another example, the RAN 104 may operate in accordance with both the LTE and 5G NR standards. Of course, many other examples may be utilized within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0040] As illustrated, RAN 104 includes multiple base stations 108. In a broad sense, a base station is a network element in a radio access network that is responsible for radio transmission and reception to or from a UE in one or more cells. In different technologies, standards or contexts, a base station may be referred to as a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), a Node B (NB), an eNode B (eNB), a gNode B (gNB), a transmission and reception point (TRP) or some other suitable terminology by those skilled in the art. In some examples, a base station may include two or more TRPs that may be co-located or non-co-located. Each TRP may communicate on the same or different carrier frequencies in the same or different frequency bands. In an example where RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, one of the base stations in base station 108 may be an LTE base station, and another base station may be a 5G NR base station.

[0041] The radio access network 104 is also illustrated as supporting wireless communications for multiple mobile devices. The mobile device may be referred to as a user equipment (UE) 106 in the 3GPP standard, but may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology by those skilled in the art. UE 106 may be a device that provides access to network services to a user. In an example where RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, UE 106 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network-new radio dual connectivity (EN-DC) UE that is capable of simultaneously connecting to an LTE base station and an NR base station to receive data packets from both the LTE base station and the NR base station.

[0042] In this document, a mobile device does not necessarily have the ability to move and can be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile equipment refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. A UE may include multiple hardware structural components whose size, shape, and arrangement facilitate communication; such components may include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc. that are electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile devices, cellular (cell) phones, smart phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smart books, tablet devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of embedded systems, for example, corresponding to the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0043] The mobile device may additionally be a car or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotic device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-rotor aircraft, a quadcopter, a remote control device, a consumer and / or wearable device (such as glasses, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, etc. The mobile device may additionally be a digital home or smart home device (such as home audio, video and / or multimedia equipment), an appliance, a vending machine, a smart lighting device, a home security system, a smart meter, or the like. Table, etc. The mobile device can additionally be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a municipal infrastructure device that controls electrical power (e.g., a smart grid), lighting, water supply, etc., an industrial automation and enterprise device, a logistics controller and / or agricultural equipment, etc. In addition, the mobile device can provide connected medical or telemedicine support, such as health care at a distance. Telemedicine devices may include telemedicine monitoring devices and telemedicine management devices, whose communications can be given priority or priority access over other types of information, for example, in terms of priority access for the transmission of critical service data and / or related QoS for the transmission of critical service data.

[0044] The wireless communication between RAN 104 and UE 106 can be described as utilizing an air interface. The transmission from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) on the air interface can be referred to as a downlink (DL) transmission. In some examples, the term downlink can refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission originating at a base station (e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this point-to-multipoint transmission scheme can be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. The transmission from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) can be referred to as an uplink (UL) transmission. In some examples, the term uplink can refer to a point-to-point transmission originating at a UE (e.g., UE 106).

[0045] In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, where a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station 108) of some other type of network entity allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, a scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs). That is, for scheduled communications, multiple UEs 106 (which may be scheduled entities) may utilize resources allocated by a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station 108).

[0046] Base station 108 is not the only entity that can act as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can act as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). For example, a UE can communicate with other UEs in a peer-to-peer or device-to-device manner and / or in a relay configuration.

[0047] like Figure 1 As illustrated, a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108) may broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UE 106). Broadly speaking, a scheduling entity is a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic in a wireless communication network, including downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 and / or uplink control information 118 from one or more scheduled entities to the scheduling entity. On the other hand, a scheduled entity is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114, which includes, but is not limited to, scheduling information (e.g., grants), synchronization or timing information, or other control information from another entity in the wireless communication network, such as a scheduling entity.

[0048] In addition, uplink control information 118, downlink control information 114, downlink traffic 112 and / or uplink traffic 116 may be divided into frames, subframes, time slots and / or symbols by time. As used herein, a symbol may refer to a time unit in which one resource element (RE) is carried per subcarrier in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform. In some examples, a time slot may carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe may refer to a duration of 1 millisecond (ms). Multiple subframes or time slots may be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. In the present disclosure, a frame may refer to a predetermined duration (e.g., 10ms) for wireless transmission, wherein each frame is composed of, for example, 10 subframes of 1ms each. Of course, these definitions are not required, and any suitable scheme for organizing waveforms may be utilized, and the various time divisions of waveforms may have any suitable duration.

[0049] Typically, base stations 108 may include a backhaul interface for communicating with a backhaul 120 of the wireless communication system. Backhaul 120 may provide a link between base stations 108 and core network 102. Additionally, in some examples, a backhaul network may provide interconnections between respective base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physical connection using any suitable transport network, a virtual network, or the like.

[0050] The core network 102 may be part of the wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the RAN 104. In some examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0051] Reference now Figure 2 , by way of example and not limitation, a schematic illustration of a radio access network (RAN) 200 is provided. In some examples, the RAN 200 may be similar to that described above and in Figure 1 is the same as the RAN 104 illustrated in .

[0052] The geographic area covered by the RAN 200 may be divided into cells that may be uniquely identified by user equipment (UE) based on an identity broadcast from an access point or base station. Figure 2 Cells 202, 204, 206, and 208 are illustrated, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of ​​a cell. All sectors within a cell are served by the same base station. A radio link within a sector may be identified by a single logical identifier belonging to the sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within a cell may be formed by multiple groups of antennas, each of which is responsible for communicating with a UE in a portion of the cell.

[0053] Various base station arrangements can be used. Figure 2 , two base stations 210 and 212 are shown in cells 202 and 204; and base station 214 is shown as controlling a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in cell 206. That is, the base station may have an integrated antenna, or may be connected to an antenna or RRH via a feeder cable. In the illustrated example, cells 202, 204, and 206 may be referred to as macro cells, because base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells with larger sizes. In addition, base station 218 is shown in cell 208, which may overlap with one or more macro cells. In this example, cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell (e.g., a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, a home base station, a home Node B, a home eNode B, etc.), because base station 218 supports a cell with a relatively small range. Cell size settings may be performed based on system design and component constraints.

[0054] It should be understood that the RAN 200 may include any number of wireless base stations and cells. In addition, relay nodes may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cell. Base stations 210, 212, 214, 218 provide wireless access points to the core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 may be similar to those described above and in Figure 1 The base station / scheduling entity illustrated in is the same.

[0055] Figure 2 Also included is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 220, which may be a drone or a quadcopter. UAV 220 may be configured to act as a base station, or more specifically, a mobile base station. That is, in some examples, the cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of a mobile base station (such as UAV 220).

[0056] Within the RAN 200, cells may include UEs that may communicate with one or more sectors of each cell. In addition, each base station 210, 212, 214, and 218 may be configured to provide a core network 102 (see FIG. 1 ) for all UEs in the corresponding cell. Figure 1 ) access point. For example, UEs 222 and 224 may communicate with base station 210; UEs 226 and 228 may communicate with base station 212; UEs 230 and 232 may communicate with base station 214 via RRH 216; and UE 234 may communicate with base station 218. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, and / or 242 may communicate with the base stations described above and in Figure 1 In some examples, UAV 220 (e.g., a quadcopter) may be a mobile network node and may be configured to act as a UE. For example, UAV 220 may operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0057] In another aspect of RAN 200, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without having to rely on scheduling or control information from a base station. Sidelink communications may be utilized in a device-to-device (D2D) network, a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) network, and / or other suitable sidelink networks. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 238, 240, and 242) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals 237 without relaying the communication through a base station. In some examples, UEs 238, 240, and 242 may each act as a scheduling entity or a sender sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or a receiver sidelink device to schedule resources and communicate sidelink signals 237 between them without relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. In other examples, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) within the coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., base station 212) may also communicate sidelink signals 227 via a direct link (sidelink) without routing the communication through base station 212. In this example, base station 212 may allocate resources to UEs 226 and 228 for sidelink communication.

[0058] In RAN 200, the ability for a UE to communicate while moving (independent of its location) is called mobility. This is usually done in an access and mobility management function (AMF, not shown). Figure 1 The AMF establishes, maintains and releases various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network under the control of the AMF (part of the core network 102 in the core network), where the AMF may include a security context management function (SCMF) that manages the security context of both control plane and user plane functionalities and a security anchor function (SEAF) that performs authentication.

[0059] RAN 200 may utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to implement mobility and handover (i.e., the transfer of a UE's connection from one radio channel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity or at any other time, a UE may monitor various parameters of a signal from its serving cell and various parameters of neighboring cells. Based on the quality of these parameters, the UE may maintain communication with one or more neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE may perform a handover or handover from the serving cell to a neighboring (target) cell. For example, UE 224 (illustrated as a vehicle, but any suitable form of UE may be used) may move from a geographic area corresponding to its serving cell (e.g., cell 202) to a geographic area corresponding to a neighboring cell (e.g., cell 206). When the signal strength or quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality of the serving cell for a given amount of time, UE 224 may send a report message indicating the condition to its serving base station (e.g., base station 210). In response, UE 224 may receive the handover command, and the UE may proceed with the handover to cell 206 .

[0060] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, the network may select a serving cell for each UE using a UL reference signal from each UE. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may broadcast a unified synchronization signal (e.g., a unified primary synchronization signal (PSS), a unified secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a unified physical broadcast channel (PBCH)). UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 may receive the unified synchronization signal, derive carrier frequency and slot timing based on the synchronization signal, and send an uplink pilot or reference signal in response to the derived timing. The uplink pilot signal sent by a UE (e.g., UE 224) may be received concurrently by two or more cells (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216) within RAN 200. Each of the cells may measure the strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of the base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or a central node within the core network) may determine a serving cell for the UE 224. As the UE 224 moves through the RAN 200, the network may continue to monitor the uplink pilot signal sent by the UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by the neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, the RAN 200 may hand over the UE 224 from the serving cell to the neighboring cell with or without notifying the UE 224.

[0061] Although the synchronization signals transmitted by base stations 210, 212 and 214 / 216 may be uniform, the synchronization signal may not identify a specific cell, but may identify a zone of multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or using the same timing. Using zones in a 5G network or other next generation communication network implements an uplink-based mobility framework and improves the efficiency of both the UE and the network, because the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network can be reduced.

[0062] In various specific implementations, the air interface in the RAN 200 may utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum generally provides exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum with the help of a mobile network operator purchasing a license from a government regulator. Unlicensed spectrum provides shared use of a portion of the spectrum without the need for a government-granted license. Although it is still generally necessary to comply with some technical rules to access the unlicensed spectrum, generally any operator or device can obtain access. Shared spectrum may fall between licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum, where access to the spectrum may require technical rules or restrictions, but the spectrum can still be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple radio access technologies (RATs). For example, a license holder of a portion of a licensed spectrum may provide licensed shared access (LSA) to share the spectrum with other parties (e.g., with appropriate licensee-determined conditions to obtain access).

[0063] The air interface in the RAN 200 may utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of various devices. For example, the 5G NR specification provides multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to the base station 210, and multiplexing of DL transmissions from the base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224 using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP). In addition, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR specification provides support for discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP (also known as single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of the present disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes, and may be provided using time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource extension multiple access (RSMA) or other suitable multiple access schemes. In addition, multiplexing of DL transmissions from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 may be provided using time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes.

[0064] In addition, the air interface in the RAN 200 may utilize one or more duplex algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link in which two endpoints can communicate with each other in two directions. Full-duplex means that two endpoints can communicate with each other at the same time. Half-duplex means that only one endpoint can transmit information to the other endpoint at a time. Half-duplex emulation is often implemented for wireless links using time division duplex (TDD). In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using time division multiplexing. That is, at certain times, the channel is dedicated to transmissions in one direction, and at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmissions in another direction, where the direction can change very quickly, for example, several times per time slot. In wireless links, full-duplex channels generally rely on physical isolation of transmitters and receivers, and suitable interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex emulation is often implemented for wireless links by utilizing frequency division duplex (FDD) or space division duplex (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate at different carrier frequencies. In SDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using space division multiplexing (SDM). In other examples, full-duplex communication can be implemented in an unpaired spectrum (e.g., in a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur in different sub-bands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication may be referred to as sub-band full-duplex (SBFD), cross duplex (xDD), or flexible duplex.

[0065] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G New Radio (NR) system) can be arranged with various components or constituent parts in a variety of ways. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a radio access network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element or a network equipment (such as a base station (BS), or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality can be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a BS (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR BS, a 5G NB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP) or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as an independent BS or a monolithic BS) or a decomposed base station.

[0066] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of a CU, a DU, and a RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0067] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (network configurations such as those initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Decomposition may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Individual units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0068] Figure 3 A diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station 300 architecture is shown. The decomposed base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310 that may communicate directly with a core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 through one or more decomposed base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both. The CU 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via respective fronthaul links. The RU 340 may communicate with respective UEs 350 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 350 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.

[0069] Each of these units (i.e., CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325, non-RT RIC 315, and SMO framework 305) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of these units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals, or both, to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0070] In some aspects, the CU 310 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The CU 310 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, the CU 310 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, the CU 310 may be implemented to communicate with a distributed unit (DU) 330 for network control and signaling.

[0071] DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 340. In some aspects, DU 330 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) at least in part according to a functional split such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 330 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 330 or with control functions hosted by CU 310.

[0072] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 340. In some deployments, a RU 340 controlled by a DU 330 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 340 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 350. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 340 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 330 and the CU 310 in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0073] The SMO framework 305 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 311) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 may also include a non-RT RIC 315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305 .

[0074] The non-RT RIC 315 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 may be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 325 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface (such as via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 310, one or more DUs 330, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 325.

[0075] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 325, the non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 315 or the near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 305 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0076] Reference will be made to the OFDM waveform (an example of which is given in Figure 4 Various aspects of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to Figure 1 (illustrated schematically in Figure 2). It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various aspects of the present disclosure can be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described herein below. That is, while some examples of the present disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles can also be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms.

[0077] Reference now Figure 4 , illustrates an expanded view of an example subframe 402 showing an OFDM resource grid. However, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the physical (PHY) layer transmission structure for any particular application may differ from the examples described herein, depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in units of OFDM symbols in the horizontal direction; and frequency is in units of subcarriers of a carrier in the vertical direction.

[0078] Resource grid 404 can be used to schematically represent the time-frequency resources for a given antenna port. In some examples, an antenna port is a logical entity for mapping a data stream to one or more antennas. Each antenna port can be associated with a reference signal (e.g., this allows the receiver to distinguish data streams associated with different antenna ports in the received transmission). The antenna port can be defined so that the channel on which the symbol on the antenna port is transmitted can be inferred from the channel on which another symbol on the same antenna port is transmitted. Therefore, a given antenna port can represent a specific channel model associated with a specific reference signal. In some examples, a given antenna port and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) can be associated with a corresponding resource grid (including REs as discussed above). Here, the modulated data symbols from the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) layer can be combined and redistributed to each antenna port in the antenna port, and then pre-decoding is applied, and the pre-decoded data symbols are applied to the corresponding RE for generating and sending OFDM signals via one or more physical antenna elements. In some examples, the mapping of antenna ports to physical antennas can be based on beamforming (e.g., signals can be sent on certain antenna ports to form a desired beam). Thus, a given antenna port may correspond to a particular set of beamforming parameters (eg, signal phase and / or amplitude).

[0079] In a MIMO implementation with multiple available antenna ports, a corresponding number of resource grids 404 may be available for communication. Resource grid 404 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 406. RE (which is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol) is the smallest discrete portion of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation utilized in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more bits of information. In some examples, a block of REs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB), or more simply a resource block (RB) 408, which includes any suitable number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers (a number independent of the parameter set used). In some examples, depending on the parameter set, an RB may include any suitable number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within the present disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB (such as RB 408) corresponds entirely to communication in a single direction (transmission or reception for a given device).

[0080] A collection of contiguous or discontinuous resource blocks may be referred to herein as a resource block group (RBG), a subband, or a bandwidth part (BWP). A collection of subbands or BWPs may span the entire bandwidth. Scheduling a scheduled entity (e.g., a UE) for downlink transmission, uplink transmission, or sidelink transmission typically involves scheduling one or more resource elements 406 within one or more subbands or bandwidth parts (BWPs). Therefore, a UE typically utilizes only a subset of a resource grid 404. In some examples, an RB may be the smallest resource unit that may be allocated to a UE. Therefore, the more RBs scheduled for a UE, and the higher the modulation scheme selected for the air interface, the higher the data rate for the UE. The RB may be scheduled by a scheduling entity such as a base station (e.g., a gNB, an eNB, etc.), or may be self-scheduled by a UE implementing D2D sidelink communication.

[0081] In this illustration, RB 408 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of subframe 402, with some subcarriers illustrated above and below RB 408. In a given implementation, subframe 402 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 408. Furthermore, in this illustration, RB 408 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of subframe 402, although this is only one possible example.

[0082] Each 1 ms subframe 402 may consist of one or more adjacent time slots. Figure 4 In the example shown in , as an illustrative example, a subframe 402 includes four time slots 410. In some examples, a time slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a time slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Additional examples may include micro-slots (sometimes referred to as shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs)) with shorter durations (e.g., one to three OFDM symbols). These micro-slots or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) may be transmitted in some cases by occupying resources that are scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same UE or different UEs. Any number of resource blocks may be utilized within a subframe or time slot.

[0083] An expanded view of one of the time slots 410 illustrates that the time slot 410 includes a control region 412 and a data region 414. In general, the control region 412 may carry a control channel and the data region 414 may carry a data channel. Of course, a time slot may contain full DL, full UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. Figure 4 The structure illustrated in is merely an example, and different slot structures may be utilized, and may include one or more of each of a control region and a data region.

[0084] Although in Figure 4Although not illustrated in the figure, each RE 406 within the RB 408 may be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 406 within the RB 408 may also carry pilot signals or reference signals. These pilot signals or reference signals may be provided to a receiving device to perform channel estimation of the corresponding channel, which may enable coherent demodulation / detection of control channels and / or data channels within the RB 408.

[0085] In some examples, time slot 410 may be utilized for broadcast, multicast, groupcast, or unicast communications. For example, broadcast, multicast, or groupcast communications may refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions from one device (e.g., a base station, UE, or other similar device) to other devices. Here, broadcast communications are delivered to all devices, while multicast or groupcast communications are delivered to multiple intended receiving devices. Unicast communications may refer to point-to-point transmissions from one device to a single other device.

[0086] In an example of cellular communication over a cellular carrier via a Uu interface, for DL ​​transmissions, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) may allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., within a control region 412) to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs) to carry DL control information including one or more DL control channels, such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI), including, but not limited to, power control commands (e.g., one or more open-loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed-loop power control parameters), scheduling information, grants, and / or assignments of REs for DL ​​transmissions and UL transmissions. The PDCCH may further carry hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback transmissions, such as acknowledgements (ACKs) or negative acknowledgements (NACKs). HARQ is a technique well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, wherein the integrity of packet transmissions may be checked for accuracy at the receiving side, for example, using any suitable integrity check mechanism, such as a checksum or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). If the integrity of the transmission is confirmed, an ACK may be sent, and if it is not confirmed, a NACK may be sent. In response to the NACK, the sending device may transmit a HARQ retransmission, which may implement trace combining, incremental redundancy, and the like.

[0087] The base station may also allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., in the control region 412 or the data region 414) to carry other DL signals, such as a demodulation reference signal (DMRS); a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS); a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS); and a synchronization signal block (SSB). The SSB may be broadcast at regular intervals based on a periodicity (e.g., 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 30ms, 80ms, or 130ms). The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast control channel (PBCH). The UE may use the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, time slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell.

[0088] The PBCH in the SSB may also include a master information block (MIB) containing various system information and parameters for decoding a system information block (SIB). The SIB may be, for example, SystemInformationType 1 (SIB1), which may include various additional (remaining) system information. The MIB and SIB1 together provide minimum system information (SI) for initial access. Examples of system information sent in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, subcarrier spacing (e.g., default downlink parameter set), system frame number, configuration of the PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), cell barring indicator, cell reselection indicator, grid offset, and search space for SIB1. Examples of remaining minimum system information (RMSI) sent in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, paging search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. The base station may also send other system information (OSI).

[0089] In UL transmission, the UE may utilize one or more REs 406 to carry UL control information (UCI) to the scheduling entity, and the UL control information (UCI) includes one or more UL control channels, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). The UCI may include various packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmission. Examples of uplink reference signals may include sounding reference signals (SRS) and uplink DMRS. In some examples, the UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., requesting the scheduling entity to schedule uplink transmission. In this article, in response to the SR sent on the UCI, the scheduling entity may send downlink control information (DCI), which may schedule resources for uplink packet transmission. The UCI may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF) (such as CSI report), or any other suitable UCI.

[0090] In addition to control information, one or more REs 406 (e.g., within the data region 414) may also be allocated for data traffic. Such data traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as for DL ​​transmissions, on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); or for UL transmissions, on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In some examples, one or more REs 406 within the data region 414 may be configured to carry other signals, such as one or more SIBs and DMRS.

[0091] In an example of sidelink communication on a sidelink carrier via a proximity service (ProSe) PC5 interface, a control region 412 of a time slot 410 may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) including sidelink control information (SCI) sent by an initiating (transmitting) sidelink device (e.g., a transmitting (Tx) side V2X device or other Tx UE) toward a set of one or more other receiving sidelink devices (e.g., a receiving (Rx) side V2X device or some other Rx UE). A data region 414 of the time slot 410 may include a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) including sidelink data traffic sent by the initiating (transmitting) sidelink device within resources reserved by the transmitting sidelink device via the SCI on the sidelink carrier. Other information may also be sent via various REs 406 within the time slot 410. For example, the HARQ feedback information may be sent from the receiving side link device to the transmitting side link device in a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) within time slot 410. In addition, one or more reference signals may be sent within time slot 410, such as a sidelink SSB, a sidelink CSI-RS, a sidelink SRS, and / or a sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS).

[0092] These physical channels described above are typically multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for handling at the medium access control (MAC) layer. The transport channels carry blocks of information called transport blocks (TBs). Based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of RBs in a given transmission, the transport block size (TBS), which may correspond to the number of information bits, may be a controlled parameter.

[0093] References Figures 1 to 4 The channels or carriers described are not necessarily all channels or carriers that may be utilized between a scheduling entity and a scheduled entity, and one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized in addition to those illustrated, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels.

[0094] Figure 5A An example 500 of various downlink channels within a subframe of a frame including channels used for initial access and synchronization is illustrated. Figure 5A As shown in , a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 502 is transmitted in at least two symbols (e.g., symbol 0 and symbol 1) and may carry DCI in at least one control channel element (CCE), wherein each CCE includes nine RE groups (REGs), and each RE group (REG) includes four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. Additionally, Figure 5A An exemplary synchronization signal block (SSB) 504 that may be periodically transmitted by a base station or gNB is illustrated. The SSB 504 carries synchronization signals PSS 506 and SSS 508 and a broadcast channel (PBCH) 510. In this example, the SSB 504 includes one PSS symbol (shown as symbol 2), one SSS symbol (shown as symbol 4), and two PBCH symbols (shown as symbols 3 and 5). The combination of the PSS and the SSS may be used to identify a physical cell identity. The UE uses the PSS to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE may determine a physical cell identifier (PCI). In addition, based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the DMRS described above. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) is logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal; i.e., the SSB 504. The MIB provides the system frame number (SFN) and the number of RBs in the system bandwidth.

[0095] Figure 5B is a diagram illustrating various broadcast information 550 related to initial cell access according to some examples. The broadcast information 550 may be sent by a RAN node (e.g., a base station such as an eNB or a gNB) on resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) allocated for sending the broadcast information 550 in a cell. The broadcast information 550 includes Figure 5A552. It should be noted that the PBCH in the SSB 504 includes a MIB that carries various system information (SI), including, for example, cell barring indication, subcarrier spacing, system frame number, and scheduling information for CORESET0 552. For example, the PBCH in the SSB 504 may include scheduling information indicating the time-frequency resources allocated for CORESET0 552. In some examples, CORESET0 552 may be sent within the first four symbols of the time slot (e.g., within the control region). In addition, CORESET0 552 carries a PDCCH with a DCI that includes scheduling information for scheduling SIB1 554. SIB1 554 is carried within a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) within the data region of the time slot. In addition, SIB1 554 may be referred to as RMSI and includes, for example, a set of radio resource parameters that provide network identification and configuration. For example, the set of radio resource parameters may include a bandwidth (e.g., number of BWPs) over which a UE can communicate with a base station.

[0096] The MIB in the PBCH may include system information (SI) and parameters for decoding the SIB (e.g., SIB1). Examples of SI sent in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, subcarrier spacing, system frame number, configuration of a PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), and search space for SIB1. Examples of SI sent in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. The MIB and SIB1 together provide the minimum SI for initial access.

[0097] The following is a brief discussion of the initial access procedure for a UE using the above information. As discussed above, a base station (BS) may send synchronization signals (e.g., including PSS and SSS) in the network to enable the UE to synchronize with the BS, and send SI (e.g., including MIB, RMSI, and OSI) to facilitate initial network access. The BS may send PSS, SSS, and / or MIB via SSB on the PBCH, and may broadcast RMSI and / or OSI on the PDSCH.

[0098] Try to access the RAN (for example, Figure 2A UE of a RAN 200 (e.g., a RAN 200 of the RAN) may perform an initial cell search by detecting a PSS of a BS of the RAN (e.g., a PSS of a cell of the BS). The PSS may enable the UE to synchronize to the period timing of the BS and may indicate a physical layer identification value assigned to the cell. The UE may also receive an SSS from the BS, which enables the UE to synchronize with the cell at the radio frame level. The SSS may also provide a cell identification value, which the UE may combine with a physical layer identification value to identify the cell.

[0099] After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE may receive the SI from the BS. The system information may take the form of the MIB and SIB discussed above. The system information may include information that the UE can use to access the network, such as downlink (DL) channel configuration information, uplink (UL) channel configuration information, access level information, and cell barring information, as well as other information. The MIB may include SI for initial network access and scheduling information for RMSI and / or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE may receive the RMSI and / or OSI.

[0100] The SI includes information that enables the UE to determine how to make initial access to the RAN. In some examples, SIB2 includes random access configuration information (e.g., random access channel (RACH) configuration), which indicates the resources that the UE will use to communicate with the RAN during initial access. The random access configuration information may indicate, for example, resources allocated by the RAN for a RACH procedure. For example, the RACH configuration may indicate resources allocated by the network for the UE to send a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble and receive a random access response. In some examples, the RACH configuration identifier specifies the monitoring opportunity (MO) of a set of symbols (e.g., in a PRACH time slot) scheduled by the base station for the PRACH procedure. The RACH configuration may also indicate the size of the random access response window during which the UE is to monitor a response to the PRACH preamble. In some examples, the RACH configuration may also specify that the random access response window starts at a specific number of subframes after the end of the PRACH preamble. After obtaining the MIB, RMSI, and / or OSI, the UE may therefore perform a random access procedure for initial access to the RAN.

[0101] The 5G-NR network may further support carrier aggregation (CA) of component carriers transmitted from different cells and / or different transmit reception points (TRPs) in a multi-cell transmission environment. Different TRPs may be associated with a single serving cell or multiple serving cells. In some aspects, the term component carrier may refer to a carrier frequency (or frequency band) used for communication within a cell.

[0102] Figure 6The present invention is a conceptual illustration of a wireless communication system of a base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) communicating via multiple carriers according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Specifically, Figure 6 An example of a wireless communication system 600 is shown, which includes a primary serving cell (PCell) 602 and one or more secondary serving cells (SCells) 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d. PCell 602 may be referred to as an anchor cell, which provides a radio resource control (RRC) connection with UE 610. In some examples, PCell and SCell may be co-located (e.g., different TRPs in the same location). UE 610 may correspond to Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Fig.14 Any of the UEs or scheduled entities shown in any of the figures.

[0103] One or more of the SCells 606a-606d may be activated or added to the PCell 602 to form a serving cell serving the UE 610. Each serving cell corresponds to a component carrier (CC). The CC of the PCell 602 may be referred to as a primary CC, and the CC of the SCells 606a-606d may be referred to as a secondary CC. The PCell 602 and one or more of the SCells 606 may be controlled by the corresponding base stations 604 and 608a-608c or with the SCells 608a-608c. Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 4 and Fig.16 The scheduling entities are similar to those illustrated in any of the figures. Figure 6 In the example shown in , SCells 606a-606c are each served by a corresponding base station 608a-608c. SCell 606d is co-located with PCell 602. For example, base station 604 may include multiple TRPs that each support a different carrier. The coverage of PCell 602 and SCell 606d may be different because component carriers in different frequency bands may experience different path losses.

[0104] In some examples, PCell 602 may add or remove one or more of SCells 606a-606d to improve the reliability of the connection with UE 610 and / or increase the data rate. For example, if one or more cells currently serving a given UE do not provide the desired level of service (e.g., the new SCell provides greater throughput, higher reliability, etc.), the SCell may be activated for the UE. On the other hand, once the UE no longer requires the higher-level services provided by the SCell (e.g., in a situation where the PCell can adequately serve the current business requirements for the UE), the network may temporarily deactivate the SCell relative to the UE (e.g., disabling data transmission to and from the SCell). In some examples, a SCell deactivated relative to a particular UE may be referred to as being considered by the network as an unknown cell for the UE. In addition, PCell 602 may be changed when handed over to another PCell.

[0105] In some examples, PCell 602 may utilize a first radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE, and one or more SCells in SCell 606 may utilize a second RAT, such as 5G or 6G-NR. In this example, the multi-cell transmission environment may be referred to as a multi-RAT-dual connectivity (MR-DC) environment. An example of MR-DC is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)-New Radio (NR) Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) mode, which enables a UE to simultaneously connect to an LTE base station and an NR base station to receive data packets from both the LTE base station and the NR base station and transmit data packets to both the LTE base station and the NR base station.

[0106] In some examples, PCell 602 may be a low-band cell and SCell 606 may be a high-band cell. A low-band (LB) cell uses CCs in a frequency band lower than that of a high-band cell. For example, a high-band cell may use a millimeter wave (mmW) CC, while a low-band cell may use CCs in a frequency band lower than mmW (e.g., a band below 6 GHz). Generally speaking, a cell using mmW CCs may provide a larger bandwidth than a cell using low-band CCs. In addition, when using a frequency carrier higher than 6 GHz (e.g., mmW), in some examples, beamforming may be used to send and receive signals.

[0107] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to techniques for TRS-based fast SCell activation. Figure 7702 illustrates signaling that may be used in a first scenario (e.g., for SCell activation based on legacy SSB). A second diagram 704 illustrates signaling that may be used in a second scenario (e.g., for SCell activation based on aperiodic TRS (A-TRS)). In each scenario, a UE is connected to a PCell and the network is activating an SCell for the UE.

[0108] In the first diagram 702, a network entity (e.g., a gNB, not shown) transmits a MAC-CE 706 to a UE via a PCell (e.g., as indicated by a corresponding downward arrow). The MAC-CE 706 includes a Transmit Configuration Indication (TCI) activation command indicating that a particular SCell is to be activated. In response to the MAC-CE 706, the UE transmits a HARQ-Ack 708 to the network entity (e.g., as indicated by a corresponding upward arrow). The associated HARQ-Ack delay 710 is determined by Figure 7 The starting point of the interruption window 712 associated with SCell activation is indicated by the corresponding double arrow line in FIG. Figure 7 . The UE performs fine automatic gain control (AGC) measurements 714 on a periodic SSB signal 716 transmitted by the SCell (in this example, at SSB opportunity 716a) (e.g., the SSB ID of the SSB signal 716 is associated with the activated TCI). The CSI-RS resources 718 used for acquisition are also indicated. The UE then performs fine timing and frequency (T / F) measurements 720 on a periodic SSB signal 716 transmitted by the SCell (in this example, at SSB opportunity 716b). Once the UE obtains the T / F information, the UE can determine the SSB ID of the SCell. Due to processing time constraints (e.g., by Figure 7 724 ), and the UE cannot transmit a valid CSI report at time 722. However, the UE is able to transmit a valid CSI report at time 724. In some examples, such as Figure 7 As indicated in , the MAC processing time, SMTC, and SSB processing time 726 may correspond to a MAC processing time of 3 milliseconds (ms), 2 SMTCs, and an SSB processing time of 2 ms.

[0109] In the second diagram 704, a network entity (e.g., a gNB, not shown) transmits a MAC-CE 730 to a UE via a PCell. The MAC-CE 730 includes a TCI activation command indicating an A-TRS trigger. In response to the MAC-CE 730, the UE transmits a HARQ-Ack 732 to the network entity. The starting point of the interruption window 734 associated with the SCell activation is determined by Figure 7 . The UE performs fine automatic gain control (AGC) measurements 736 on a non-periodic temporary TRS burst 744a sent by the SCell (e.g., as indicated by the TCI activation command). The UE then performs fine timing and frequency (T / F) measurements 738 on another non-periodic temporary TRS burst 744b sent by the SCell (e.g., as indicated by the activation command). In some examples, the temporary TRS burst 744a and the temporary TRS burst 744b may be 5 milliseconds apart. Therefore, compared to the scenario of the first diagram 702, the UE does need to wait for the SSB burst (e.g., which may be 40 milliseconds apart) to perform AGC and fine T / F operations. Since the processing time constraints are much shorter in this scenario, the UE is able to transmit a valid CSI report at time 740. As shown Figure 7 As shown in , a latency reduction 742 can be achieved compared to the legacy activation (e.g., the example of the first diagram 702). In the example of the second diagram 704, the network will know which SSB is associated with the temporary TRS because the temporary TRS will replace the SSB for AGC and fine T / F operation (e.g., the TRS is associated with a quasi-co-located SSB).

[0110] Figure 8 800 is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling associated with an A-TRS for fast SCell activation and a physical layer structure of the A-TRS according to some aspects. The network entity sends a PDCCH 802 including a MAC-CE to activate the SCell to the UE via the currently active serving cell. In response, the UE sends an ACK (e.g., HARQ-Ack) 804. The A-TRS burst from the SCell may then start at a defined time period 806 (e.g., at least 3ms in some examples) after the ACK 804. In this example, the SCell sends a first A-TRS burst 808 and a second A-TRS burst 810 separated by a gap 812. In some examples, one TRS burst = 4 CSI-RS resources in 2 consecutive time slots (e.g., as in legacy TRS).

[0111] In some implementations, the A-TRS for fast SCell activation may include 1 TRS burst or 2 TRS bursts. In some examples, the number of TRS bursts is identified by the gap between the bursts provided in the parameter ScellActivationRS-Config (e.g., provided by RRC signaling). For the case of two TRS bursts, in some examples, for 15kHz or 30kHz, the minimum gap is 2 slots, and for 60kHz, the minimum gap is 3 slots, and the second TRS burst has the same AP and T / F resources as the first TRS burst. The starting slot of the A-TRS burst may be based on an offset from the ACK transmission. In some examples, the offset is provided in the ScellActivationRS-Config parameter and indicated by the MAC-CE (e.g., the MAC-CE indicates which ScellActivationRS-Config parameter is applicable to a given SCell). In some examples, the starting slot is the earliest slot at which the UE applies actions related to SCell activation, as specified by Section 4.3 of 3GPP TS 38.213 (e.g., Version 17.3.0).

[0112] In some examples, RRC signaling may be used to configure the SCells, and MAC-CE may be used to activate or deactivate any of the configured SCells.

[0113] RRC signaling can be used to indicate resources associated with different TRS IDs. The RRC parameter CSI-MeasConfig (of the SCell to be activated) may indicate a list of sCellActivationRS-Config and a list of sCellActivationRS-Config-Ids. The RRC parameter sCellActivationRS-Config may indicate an ID, NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet (for one TRS burst), a gap between two TRS bursts, and QCL-Info. Here, resources may be associated with the SSB ID of a quasi-co-located SSB.

[0114] Fig. 9 FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a MAC-CE for cell activation and / or deactivation. Field C i (ie, C1, ..., C7) indicates activation / deactivation of SCell with index = i. TRS ID j Fields (ie, TRS ID1, ..., TRSID n ) is composed of C iThe index of the triggered A-TRS of the jth SCell among the activated SCells. In some examples, the zero value of TRS ID does not correspond to the TRS of the SCell. Therefore, based on the MAC-CE information, the UE can determine which CSI-RS resources will be monitored for T / F tracking.

[0115] Fig.10 1000 is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling 1000 associated with triggering a tracking reference signal according to some aspects. A network entity (not shown) sends a DL DCI 1002 to a UE (not shown) via a PCell (not shown), wherein the DCI 1002 indicates a scheduled PDSCH transmission 1004. The PDSCH transmission 1004 carries a MAC-CE including a SCell activation command (e.g., to activate A-TRS). The UE sends an ACK 1006 in response to the PDSCH transmission 1004. After a defined period of time (at least 3 ms in this example) after the ACK 1006, the network entity sends a UL DCI 1008 associated with an A-TRS trigger (e.g., for triggering the transmission of a TRS) via the PCell. The SCell then sends a TRS 1010 at the scheduled time.

[0116] Fig.11 1100 is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling associated with cell activation that may be used in a FR2 scenario in accordance with some aspects. A network entity (e.g., a gNB, not shown) transmits RRC SCell addition signaling 1102 to a UE via a PCell. The network entity then transmits a MAC-CE 1104 to the UE. The MAC-CE 1104 includes an SCell activation indication for a specific SCell to be activated. In response to the MAC-CE 1104, the UE transmits a HARQ-Ack 1106 to the network entity. The UE performs coarse AGC measurements 1108, fine AGC measurements 1110, and acquires an SSB ID 1112 based on a periodic SSB signal sent by the SCell. The UE transmits a measurement report 1114 to the network entity (e.g., on a periodic reporting resource scheduled on a PUCCH). In response, the network entity transmits a TCI activation command 1116 to the UE. The UE transmits an ACK 1118 to the network entity and then performs a fine T / F measurement 1120 on the TRS transmitted by the SCell. The network entity transmits a periodic CSI-RS (PCSI-RS) resource set activation indication 1122 to the UE, and in response, the UE transmits an ACK 1124. The UE then transmits a valid CSI report 1126 to the network entity. Fig.11As indicated in , the total activation delay 1128 may include the processing time of several SSBs. Thus, a significant delay may be associated with SCell activation. In some examples, the total activation delay 1128 may correspond to T HARQ +3ms+T FirstSSB_MAX +15T SMTC_MAX +8T rs +T L1-RSRP,measure +T L1-RSRP,report +max(T uncertainty_MAC +T HARQ +3ms+T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP +T HARQ +3ms)+T CSI_Reporting ,like Fig.11 as shown in .

[0117] In conventional scenarios (e.g., 3GPP Release 17), A-TRS-based fast SCell activation is not applicable to FR2 for unknown SCells. For example, the UE needs to perform beam scanning in FR2 to identify the best beam among multiple beams. However, A-TRS cannot be configured until the UE reports the SSB ID for the best beam. Therefore, the unknown SCell technology used for single beam scenarios (e.g., 3GPP Release 17 FR1 scenarios) may not be applicable to FR2 scenarios, where the A-TRS associated with the beam is known. In some examples, characterizing the SCell as unknown may depend on the power class of the UE (e.g., as defined in 3GPP TS 38.133 8.3.2, Scell ​​activation delay requirements for deactivated Scells). For example, for UEs supporting power class 1 and / or power class 5, the SCell state may be defined as unknown when there is no measurement report within 4 seconds. As another example, for a UE supporting power class 2 and / or power class 3 and / or power class 4, when there is no measurement report within 3 seconds, the SCell state may be defined as unknown. In addition, for a UE that has measured the SCell but has not reported the measurement, the SCell may also be defined as unknown.

[0118] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to delay reduction methods applicable to different scenarios based on previous reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement history. Even though the SCell may be in an unknown state, the SCell can be considered known because the UE has previously measured the SCell. In this case, a fast SCell activation method can be defined accordingly (e.g., utilizing an earlier TCI activation command).

[0119] Fig.121202 is a diagram illustrating another example of signaling associated with cell activation according to some aspects. The UE receives RRC signaling including RSRP reporting configuration 1202. In the example scenario, the UE has RSRP reporting configuration, but the UE has not triggered a report for a deactivated SCell (e.g., a SCell that was previously activated and then deactivated) for more than 4 seconds for UEs supporting power class 1 and / or power class 5, or for more than 3 seconds for UEs supporting power class 2 and / or power class 3 and / or power class 4. Therefore, the SCell is considered unknown even though the UE may have recently measured SSBs sent by the SCell. The UE then receives an RRC SCell addition indication 1204 and a MAC-CE 1206 (SCell activation) that triggers RSRP reporting according to the RSRP reporting configuration. The trigger command may be placed in the same MAC-CE as the SCell activation or in a separate MAC-CE. The UE performs coarse AGC measurements 1210, fine AGC measurements 1212, and acquires the SSB ID 1214 based on the periodic SSB bursts sent by the SCell.

[0120] RSRP report configuration can configure periodic reporting or aperiodic reporting. Fig.12 The dashed arrows in FIG. 1208 (e.g., arrow 1208) illustrate examples of configured periodic reporting times. The reporting may occur anywhere within a defined time period (e.g., before a TCI activation command is sent). For example, the legacy measurement requirement may specify that the maximum duration of a periodic RSRP report is [x] seconds or [x] ms after SSB_ID detection. Compared to the conventional cell activation procedure of reporting RSRP after acquiring the SSB ID, the maximum duration of a periodic RSRP report may be [x] seconds or [x] ms after SSB_ID detection. Fig.12 In the example of , the UE may report RSRP faster (e.g., because the SSB of the SCell was previously measured when the SCell was considered unknown). Here, the parameter T RSRP,report Corresponds to the delay from receiving the MAC-CE for SCell activation (triggered RSRP report) to sending the RSRP report by the UE. In some examples, the UE may remeasure the previously measured SSB, thereby quickly providing the latest RSRP value. Therefore, the UE may receive the TCI activation command 1218 faster than the legacy activation. In some examples, the RSRP report may include the measured RSRP value (e.g., the highest measured RSRP value) together with the ID of the corresponding SSB measured.

[0121] For aperiodic reporting, the time used to transmit the report may be based on an offset from the time of MAC-CE 1206 or some other signaling ( Fig.12(not shown in FIG. 1 ). Likewise, the UE may remeasure the previously measured SSBs, thereby quickly providing the network with the latest RSRP value. Therefore, the UE may receive the TCI activation command 1218 more quickly than the legacy activation.

[0122] In some examples, the RSRP value may be a 7-bit value (e.g., defined by a table that may be used to map measured values ​​to reported values), where values ​​0 and 127 represent out-of-range values ​​(e.g., the out-of-range values ​​may be used to indicate that the UE has not successfully measured the SSB). When the network entity receives RSRP_0 or RSRP_127, the network entity expects the UE to keep reporting RSRP (e.g., during the configured periodic reporting time). When the network receives an RSRP value different from RSRP_0 or RSRP_127 with an SSB_ID (e.g., indicating a valid RSRP measurement result), the network entity transmits a TCI activation command 1218 with an associated SSB_ID to the UE to trigger CSI-RS measurement, and the UE performs fine T / F 1220 based on the SSB sent by the SCell (associated with the received SSB ID). In some examples, the TCI activation command 1218 may indicate the ID of the CSI-RS that is quasi-co-located with the indicated SSB of the SCell. For example, the TCI activation command 1218 may include corresponding NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet and quasi co-location (QCL) information.

[0123] The network entity transmits a periodic CSI-RS resource set activation indication 1222 to the UE to enable the UE to measure the CSI-RS transmitted by the SCell (where the CSI-RS is quasi-co-located with the indicated SSB), and in response, the UE transmits an ACK. The UE then transmits a valid CSI report 1224 to the network entity, where the CSI report 1224 includes CSI based on the CSI-RSI measurement performed on the configured CSI-RS resources. Fig.12 As indicated in FIG. 12, the total activation delay 1228 may include the processing time of several SSBs. However, in a scenario where a valid RSRP report is transmitted before the SSB ID 1214 is acquired, the total activation delay 1228 may be comparable to Fig.11 In some examples, the total activation delay 1228 may correspond to T HARQ +3ms+T RSRP,report +max(T uncertainty_MAC +T HARQ +3ms+T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP +T HARQ +3ms)+T CSI_Reporting ,like Fig.12. For example, when the UE receives the TCI activation command based on the RSRP measurement results reported by the UE at 1208, the activation delay can be reduced. Here, once the UE sends the RSRP report after receiving the SCell activation command in the MAC CE 1206 (e.g., at arrow 1208), the network can send the TCI activation command 1218 based on the reported measurement results with SSB index from the UE. Fig.11 The activation delay is reduced compared to the example of

[0124] In some examples, the reporting is an optional process. For example, the UE may report RSRP while performing the legacy SCell activation process. As another example, if the UE does not have a valid measurement report, the UE may not report RSRP.

[0125] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to a MAC-CE that triggers a UE to report RSRP measurements configured via RRC. In some examples, the UE reports the RSRP value as a 7-bit value. In some examples, RSRP_0 or RSRP_127 is used as an indication of an out-of-range state for the UE measurement. In some examples, the process is applicable to RSRP reporting for FR2 for unknown SCell activation.

[0126] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to a MAC-CE that configures an offset to be used by a UE to report a previous RSRP (eg, to have the UE measure before reporting). In the case of an aperiodic RSRP reporting configuration, the MAC-CE may configure the offset to be reported.

[0127]

[0013] In some aspects, the disclosure relates to different enhancements that may be employed depending on the type of RSRP reporting from a UE.

[0128] The first case (Case 1) applies to situations where the RSRP measurement value is out of range. For periodic RSRP reporting, the network expects to keep receiving RSRP reports from the UE while the UE is performing the legacy SCell activation procedure. For aperiodic (one-shot) RSRP reporting, the network expects the UE to follow the legacy SCell activation requirements.

[0129] The second case (Case 2) applies to the case where the RSRP measurement value is within the range. Here, the network assumes that the UE has measured the SCell. Therefore, the network can send a TCI activation command with an associated SSB-ID.

[0130] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to the case where the UE measures an SCell (where the SCell is unknown), the UE may optionally transmit capability information 1226 to the network to indicate the number [X] of SSBs and / or TRSs (for A-TRS) that the UE can measure. This can improve measurement reliability for RSRP reporting. For example, for aperiodic RSRP reporting, the UE may indicate the number of reference signals that the UE needs to measure to obtain a good RSRP measurement result. In this case, the aperiodic reporting time (e.g., as defined by the offset) may be scheduled to occur at a time after the indicated number of reference signals are sent.

[0131] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to whether fine T / F is based on DCI-based A-TRS or SSB when the UE reports RSRP that is not out of range and the UE receives a TCI activation command with an associated SSB-ID. When the UE reports RSRP that is out of range, the UE may follow the legacy SCell activation delay requirement. In some examples, A-TRS cannot be configured before RSRP reporting because the network does not know the associated SSB-ID.

[0132]

[0013] In some aspects, the disclosure relates to DCI-based A-TRS triggering after the UE reports RSRP and specifies the number of TRSs.

[0133] Fig.13 1306. The UE may then receive an RSRP report configuration 1302 and an RRC SCell addition indication 1304, as well as a MAC-CE 1306 that triggers RSRP reporting according to the RSRP reporting configuration. The UE performs coarse / fine AGC measurements 1308 based on SSB bursts transmitted by the SCell and transmits an RSRP report 1310 to a network entity. The network entity transmits a TCI activation command 1312 with an associated SSB_ID to the UE. The UE may then receive an RSRP report configuration 1302 and an RSRP report configuration 1306. The UE may then receive an RSRP report configuration 1306 and an RRC SCell addition indication 1304, as well as a MAC-CE 1306 that triggers RSRP reporting according to the RSRP reporting configuration. The UE performs coarse / fine AGC measurements 1308 based on SSB bursts transmitted by the SCell and transmits an RSRP report 1310 to a network entity. The network entity transmits a TCI activation command 1312 with an associated SSB_ID to the UE. The UE may then receive an RSRP report configuration 1306 in response to a TRS transmitted by the SCell (e.g., an A-TRS triggered by a DCI, Fig.131314a on the SSB transmitted by the SCell (e.g., on the SSB associated with the SSB ID indicated by the TCI activation command 1312), or performs fine T / F 1314b on the SSB transmitted by the SCell (e.g., on the SSB associated with the SSB ID indicated by the TCI activation command 1312). The network entity transmits a periodic CSI-RS resource set activation indication 1316 to the UE, which activates the CSI-RS resources 1318 for UE CSI-RS measurement, and in response, the UE transmits an ACK. The UE then transmits a valid CSI report 1320 to the network entity, wherein the CSI report 1320 includes CSI based on the CSI-RS measurement result (e.g., which adopts the quasi co-location information indicated by the TCI activation command 1312).

[0134] As mentioned above, Fig.12 As mentioned in the discussion of capability information 1226, the UE may send capability information to a network entity, where the capability information may optionally indicate the number of reference signals 1322 (e.g., SSBs and / or TRSs) that the UE is configured to measure. Fig.13 As indicated in FIG. 1 , the total activation delay 1324 may include the processing time of one or more SSBs. However, the total activation delay 1324 may be comparable to Fig.11 In some examples, the total activation delay 1324 may correspond to T HARQ +3ms+[X]T SSB +T L1-RSRP,report +max(T uncertainty_MAC +T HARQ +3ms+T FineTiming +2ms,T uncertainty_SP +T HARQ +3ms)+T CSI_Reporting ,like Fig.13 as shown in .

[0135] Fig.14 14 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a UE 1400 employing a processing system 1414. For example, the UE 1400 may be a device configured to communicate wirelessly with a network entity, such as Figures 1 to 13 In some implementations, UE 1400 may correspond to Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 6 Any UE or scheduled entity shown in any of the figures.

[0136] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, any combination of elements or any part of elements or elements can be implemented using processing system 1414. Processing system 1414 may include one or more processors 1404 (hereinafter referred to as processor 1404, at least one processor 1404, or multiple processors 1404 for convenience). Examples of processor 1404 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout the present disclosure. In various examples, UE 1400 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, processor 1404 as used in UE 1400 may be used to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described herein. In various examples, at least one processor may be configured to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described herein individually or collectively. As an example, a single processor may perform all operations of a given process. As another example, a first processor may perform a set of operations of a process, a second processor may perform another set of operations of the process, and so on. As another example, multiple processors may collaborate to perform one or more operations of a process. Other combinations are also possible. In any of these examples, a given processor may execute a corresponding processor-readable code stored in a memory.

[0137] In some examples, the processor 1404 may be implemented via a baseband or modem chip, and in other implementations, the processor 1404 may include several devices distinct from the baseband or modem chip (e.g., which in such scenarios may work together to implement the examples discussed herein). And as mentioned above, various hardware arrangements and components outside of a baseband modem processor may be used in implementations, including RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.

[0138] In this example, the processing system 1414 may be implemented using a bus architecture (generally represented by bus 1402). The bus 1402 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application of the processing system 1414 and the overall design constraints. The bus 1402 communicatively couples various circuits including one or more processors (generally represented by processor 1404), memory 1405, and computer-readable media (generally represented by computer-readable media 1406). The bus 1402 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The bus interface 1408 provides an interface between the bus 1402, the transceiver 1410, and the antenna array 1420, and between the bus 1402 and the interface 1430. The transceiver 1410 provides a communication interface or component for communicating with various other devices through a wireless transmission medium. The interface 1430 provides a communication interface or component for communicating with various other devices and equipment (e.g., other devices contained in the same device as the UE 1400 or other external devices) through an internal bus or an external transmission medium (such as an Ethernet cable). Depending on the nature of the device, the interface 1430 may include a user interface (e.g., a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick). Of course, such a user interface is optional and may be omitted in some examples (such as IoT devices).

[0139] The processor 1404 is responsible for managing the bus 1402 and general processing, including executing software stored on the computer-readable medium 1406. The software, when executed by the processor 1404, causes the processing system 1414 to perform various functions described below for any particular device. The computer-readable medium 1406 and the memory 1405 can also be used to store data manipulated by the processor 1404 when executing the software. For example, the memory 1405 can store measurement information 1415 (e.g., cell activation information) used by the processor 1404 for communication operations described herein.

[0140] One or more processors 1404 in the processing system may execute software. Software should be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium 1406.

[0141] Computer readable medium 1406 can be a non-transient computer readable medium. Non-transient computer readable media include, for example, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks or key drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. Computer readable medium 1406 can reside in processing system 1414, be located outside processing system 1414, or be distributed across multiple entities including processing system 1414. Computer readable medium 1406 can be embodied in a computer program product. For example, a computer program product can include a computer readable medium in a packaging material. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0142] UE 1400 may be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 1 to 13 Described and combined as follows Fig.15 In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1404 as utilized in the UE 1400 may include circuits configured for various functions.

[0143] Processor 1404 may include communication and processing circuitry 1441. Communication and processing circuitry 1441 may be configured to communicate with a network entity, such as a gNB. Communication and processing circuitry 1441 may be configured to communicate with a network entity and one or more other wireless communication devices via a common carrier shared between a cellular (e.g., Uu) interface and a sidelink (e.g., PC5) interface. Communication and processing circuitry 1441 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure that performs various processes associated with wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. Communication and processing circuitry 1441 may also include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure that performs various processes associated with signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 may include two or more transmit / receive chains (e.g., one chain for communicating with a network entity and another chain for communicating with a sidelink device). The communication and processing circuit 1441 may also be configured to execute communication and processing software 1451 included on the computer-readable medium 1406 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0144] In some implementations where communication involves receiving information, the communication and processing circuitry 1441 may obtain information from a component of the UE 1400 (e.g., from a transceiver 1410 that receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for an applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1441 may output the information to another component of the processor 1404, to the memory 1405, or to the bus interface 1408. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1441 may receive one or more of a signal, a message, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1441 may receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1441 may receive one or more of a signal, a message, SCI, feedback, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 may receive information via one or more of a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSFCH, some other type of channel, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 may include functionality for components for receiving. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 may include functionality for components for decoding.

[0145] In some implementations where communication involves transmitting (e.g., sending) information, the communication and processing circuit 1441 may obtain information (e.g., from another component of the processor 1404, the memory 1405, or the bus interface 1408), process (e.g., encode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuit 1441 may output the information to the transceiver 1410 (e.g., it sends the information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium). In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1441 may transmit one or more of a signal, a message, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1441 may transmit information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1441 may transmit one or more of a signal, a message, SCI, feedback, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuit 1441 may transmit information via one or more of a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSFCH, some other type of channel, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 may include functionality for components for transmitting. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1441 may include functionality for components for encoding.

[0146] Processor 1404 may include measurement processing circuitry 1442 configured to perform measurement processing related operations as discussed herein (e.g., as described above in connection with Figures 7 to 13 The measurement processing circuit 1442 may be configured to execute measurement processing software 1452 included on the computer readable medium 1406 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0147] The measurement processing circuit 1442 may include functionality for components for receiving (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 As described above). For example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to receive a measurement report configuration from a network entity (e.g., via RRC signaling). As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to receive a message from a network entity (e.g., via PDSCH or PDCCH). In some examples, the message may indicate that the user equipment will report the measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration. As yet another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to receive a TCI activation command from the network entity. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to receive a MAC-CE and / or DCI from the network entity. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to receive a CSI-RS resource set activation from the network entity.

[0148] The measurement processing circuit 1442 may include functionality for components for measuring signals (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 As described above). For example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to measure (e.g., aperiodically measure and / or periodically measure) a reference signal (e.g., SSB signal, TRS, CSI-RS, etc.) sent by a cell (e.g., SCell). In some examples, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to measure a signal received from a cell when the cell is not activated relative to the UE 1400 (e.g., the cell is not activated as an SCell for the UE 1400). As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to perform AGC measurements. As yet another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to obtain SSB ID information from an SSB signal. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to perform T / F measurements.

[0149] The measurement processing circuit 1442 may include functionality for components for generating measurement reports (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 For example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may generate a measurement report based on the RSRP measurement result and / or the CSI-RS measurement result.

[0150] The measurement processing circuit 1442 may include functionality for components for setting parameters (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 For example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may set the RSRP parameter used for the measurement report to a specific value.

[0151] The measurement processing circuit 1442 may include functionality for components for transmitting (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 As described above). For example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to send (e.g., aperiodically and / or periodically) a measurement report to a network entity. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to send a message to the network entity (e.g., via a PUSCH or a PUCCH). As yet another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to send capability information to the network entity. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to send a measurement report in response to a received message indicating that the UE 1400 will report a measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration.

[0152] The measurement processing circuit 1442 may include functionality for components for performing time tracking (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 For example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to perform time tracking based on SSB transmissions performed by the cell.

[0153] The measurement processing circuit 1442 may include functionality for components for performing frequency tracking (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 For example, the measurement processing circuit 1442 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to perform frequency tracking based on SSB transmissions performed by the cell.

[0154] Processor 1404 may include activation processing circuitry 1443 configured to perform activation processing related operations as discussed herein (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 The activation processing circuit 1443 may be configured to execute the activation processing software 1453 included on the computer-readable medium 1406 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0155] The activation processing circuit 1443 may include functionality for components for receiving messages (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 For example, the activation processing circuit 1443 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to receive a message (e.g., for cell addition or cell activation) from a network entity on a specified resource. As another example, the activation processing circuit 1443 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to receive a TCI activation command from a network entity.

[0156] The activation processing circuit 1443 may include functionality for components for sending messages (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 For example, the activation processing circuit 1443 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1441 to send a message to a network entity on a designated resource.

[0157] Fig.15 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 1500 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the present disclosure, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for all example implementations. In some examples, method 1500 (a method for wireless communication) may be performed by Fig.14 In some examples, the method 1500 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0158] At block 1502, a user equipment may receive a measurement report configuration. In some examples, Fig.14 The measurement processing circuit 1442 shown and described in conjunction with the communication and processing circuit 1441 and the transceiver 1410 may provide components for receiving a measurement report configuration. In some examples, Fig.14 The communication and processing circuitry 1441 and transceiver 1410 shown and described in FIG. 14A may provide means for receiving a measurement report configuration.

[0159] At block 1504, the user equipment may measure a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment. Fig.14 The measurement processing circuit 1442 shown and described in the may provide a component for measuring a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment. In some examples, Fig.14 The measurement processing circuit 1442 together with the communication and processing circuit 1441 and the transceiver 1410 shown and described in the figure may provide means for measuring signals received from a first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for a user equipment.

[0160] At block 1506, the user equipment may receive a first message indicating that the user equipment will report measurement results of the first cell based on the measurement reporting configuration. Fig.14 The measurement processing circuit 1442 shown and described in the figure together with the communication and processing circuit 1441 and the transceiver 1410 can provide a component for receiving a first message indicating that the user equipment will report the measurement results of the first cell based on the measurement reporting configuration. In some examples, Fig.14 The communication and processing circuitry 1441 and the transceiver 1410 shown and described in the accompanying drawings may provide means for receiving a first message indicating that a user equipment is to report measurement results of a first cell based on a measurement reporting configuration.

[0161] At block 1508, the user equipment may send a first measurement report in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measurements of the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment. Fig.14 The measurement processing circuit 1442 shown and described in the accompanying communication and processing circuit 1441 and the transceiver 1410 may provide a means for sending a first measurement report in response to a first message, the first measurement report being based on a measurement of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as an SCell for a user equipment. In some examples, Fig.14 The communication and processing circuit 1441 and the transceiver 1410 shown and described in the figure may provide a component for sending a first measurement report in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measurements of signals received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as an SCell for the user equipment.

[0162] In some examples, the first cell communicates via frequency range 2 (FR2) signaling.

[0163] In some examples, the user equipment may receive a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report. In some examples, the TCI activation command may indicate quasi-co-location information of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may send a second measurement report based on a measurement of the CSI-RS sent by the first cell.

[0164] In some examples, the user equipment may receive a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report. In some examples, the TCI activation command may indicate a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the TCI activation command may also indicate a timing reference signal (TRS) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may measure the TRS sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may send a second measurement report based on measuring the TRS sent by the first cell.

[0165] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a 7-bit reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter. In some examples, the user equipment may set the RSRP parameter to a value of 0 or 127 to indicate that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the measurement report configuration may include an RSRP report configuration.

[0166] In some examples, the measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting. In some examples, the measurement reporting configuration specifies periodic reporting.

[0167] In some examples, receiving the measurement report configuration may include receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message including the measurement report configuration. In some examples, the first message may include a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE). In some examples, the MAC-CE indicates that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment. In some examples, the user equipment may receive another MAC-CE, the other MAC-CE indicating that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0168] In some examples, the measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting.In some examples, the first message specifies a time offset to be used by the user equipment when sending the aperiodic measurement report.

[0169] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the measurement report configuration specifies periodic reporting. In some examples, the user equipment may periodically measure a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may periodically send a second measurement report based on measuring the SSB signal.

[0170] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the measurement report configuration specifies a non-periodic report. In some examples, the user equipment may measure a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may send a second measurement report based on measuring the SSB signal.

[0171] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the user equipment may receive a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report. In some examples, the TCI activation command may indicate a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may perform at least one of time tracking or frequency tracking based on an SSB transmission performed by the first cell. In some examples, the SSB transmission is associated with the SSB identifier.

[0172] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the user equipment may receive a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report. In some examples, the TCI activation command may indicate a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the TCI activation command may also indicate a timing reference signal (TRS) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may measure the TRS sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may send a second measurement report based on measuring the TRS sent by the first cell.

[0173] In some examples, the user equipment may send a second message that may include an indication of a number of reference signals that the user equipment is configured to measure (e.g., for aperiodic measurement reporting or periodic measurement reporting). In some examples, the reference signal may include a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a timing reference signal (TRS).

[0174] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the user equipment may receive a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report. In some examples, the TCI activation command may indicate a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may measure a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may send a second measurement report based on measuring the SSB sent by the first cell.

[0175] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the user equipment may receive a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report. In some examples, the TCI activation command may indicate a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may receive downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least one timing reference signal (TRS) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may measure the at least one TRS sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may send a second measurement report based on measuring the at least one TRS sent by the first cell.

[0176] In some examples, the user equipment may receive downlink control information after sending the first measurement report. In some examples, the downlink control information may indicate at least one aperiodic tracking reference signal (A-TRS) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may perform at least one of time tracking or frequency tracking based on the at least one A-TRS sent by the first cell. In some examples, the user equipment may send a second message, which may include an indication of the number of timing reference signals (TRS) that the user equipment is configured to measure. In some examples, the at least one A-TRS sent indicated by the downlink control information corresponds to the number of TRSs that the user equipment is configured to measure.

[0177] Reference again Fig.14 In one configuration, the UE 1400 includes: a component for receiving a measurement report configuration; a component for measuring a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment; a component for receiving a first message indicating that the user equipment will report a measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration; and a component for sending a first measurement report in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measuring the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment. In one aspect, the aforementioned components may be Fig.14 The processor 1404 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned components (eg, as discussed above). On the other hand, the aforementioned components may be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned components.

[0178] Of course, in the above examples, the circuits included in the processor 1404 are provided only as examples, and other components for performing the described functions may be included in various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in the computer-readable medium 1406, or in Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 6 and Fig.14 any one or more of the figures described in and using, for example, Fig.15 Any other suitable means or components of the described methods and / or algorithms.

[0179] Fig.16 1614. Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 6 Any of the base stations, CUs, DUs, RUs or scheduling entities shown in any of the figures.

[0180] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the elements or any part of the elements or any combination of the elements may be implemented using the processing system 1614. The processing system may include one or more processors 1604 (hereinafter referred to as processor 1604, at least one processor 1604, or multiple processors 1604 for convenience). The processing system 1614 may be substantially connected to Fig.14 1600, including a bus interface 1608, a bus 1602, a memory 1605, a processor 1604, a computer-readable medium 1606, a transceiver 1610, and an antenna array 1620. The memory 1605 may store measurement information 1615 (e.g., cell activation information) used by the processor 1604 in cooperation with the transceiver 1610 to perform communication operations as described herein. In addition, the network entity 1600 may include an interface 1630 (e.g., a network interface) that provides a component for communicating with at least one other device within the core network and with at least one radio access network. The processor 1604 as utilized in the network entity 1600 may be used to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described herein. In various examples, at least one processor 1604 may be configured to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described herein, either individually or collectively.

[0181] The network entity 1600 may be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 1 to 13 Described and combined as follows Fig.17 In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1604 as utilized in the network entity 1600 may include circuits configured for various functions.

[0182] Processor 1604 may be configured to generate, schedule, and modify resource assignments or grants of time-frequency resources (e.g., a set of one or more resource elements). For example, processor 1604 may schedule time-frequency resources within multiple time division duplex (TDD) and / or frequency division duplex (FDD) subframes, time slots, and / or mini-slots to carry user data traffic and / or control information to and / or from multiple scheduled entities. Processor 1604 may be configured to schedule resources for transmission of downlink signals. Processor 1604 may also be configured to schedule resources for transmission of uplink signals.

[0183] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the processor 1604 may include a communication and processing circuit 1641. The communication and processing circuit 1641 may be configured to communicate with user equipment. The communication and processing circuit 1641 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure that performs various processes related to communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. The communication and processing circuit 1641 may also include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure that performs various processes related to signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. The communication and processing circuit 1641 may also be configured to execute the communication and processing software 1651 included on the computer-readable medium 1606 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0184] The communication and processing circuit 1641 may also be configured to receive an indication from the UE. For example, the indication may be included in a MAC-CE carried in a UuPUSCH or PSCCH, or in a Uu RRC message or SL RRC message, or in a dedicated Uu PUCCH or PUSCH. The communication and processing circuit 1641 may also be configured to receive a scheduling request for an uplink grant or a sidelink grant from the UE.

[0185] In some implementations where communication involves receiving information, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may obtain information from a component of the network entity 1600 (e.g., from a transceiver 1610 that receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for an applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may output the information to another component of the processor 1604, to the memory 1605, or to the bus interface 1608. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may receive one or more of a signal, a message, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may include functionality for components for receiving. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may include functionality for components for decoding.

[0186] In some implementations where communication involves transmitting (e.g., sending) information, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may obtain information (e.g., from another component of the processor 1604, the memory 1605, or the bus interface 1608), process (e.g., encode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may output the information to the transceiver 1610 (e.g., which transmits the information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium). In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may transmit one or more of a signal, a message, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may transmit information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may include functionality for components for transmitting. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1641 may include functionality for components for encoding.

[0187] Processor 1604 may include measurement processing circuitry 1642 configured to perform measurement processing related operations as discussed herein (e.g., as described above in connection with Figures 7 to 13 The measurement processing circuit 1642 may be configured to execute measurement processing software 1652 included on the computer readable medium 1606 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0188] The measurement processing circuit 1642 may include functionality for components for transmitting (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13As described). For example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send a measurement report configuration to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling). As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send a message to the UE (e.g., via PDSCH or PDCCH). In some examples, in the case where the cell is not activated relative to the UE before (and / or during) the sending of the message (e.g., the cell is not activated as an SCell for the UE before and / or during the sending of the message), the message may indicate that the UE will report the measurement result of the cell based on the measurement report configuration. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send a TCI activation command to the UE. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send a MAC-CE and / or DCI to the UE. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send a CSI-RS resource set activation to the UE.

[0189] The measurement processing circuit 1642 may include functionality for components for receiving (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 ). For example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to receive (e.g., aperiodically and / or periodically) at least one measurement report from the UE. For example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may receive a measurement report from the UE based on RSRP measurement and / or CSI-RS measurement. In some examples, the measurement report is in response to a message indicating that the UE will report the measurement result of the cell based on the measurement report configuration. In some examples, the measurement report is based on the UE measurement of a signal received from the cell when the cell is not activated relative to the UE. As another example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to receive a message from the UE (e.g., via PUSCH or PUCCH). As yet another example, the measurement processing circuit 1642 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to receive capability information from the UE.

[0190] Processor 1604 may include activation processing circuitry 1643 configured to perform activation processing related operations as discussed herein (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 The activation processing circuit 1643 may be configured to execute the activation processing software 1653 included on the computer-readable medium 1606 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0191] The activation processing circuit 1643 may include functionality for components for sending messages (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 131643). For example, the activation processing circuit 1643 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send a message to the UE on a designated resource (e.g., for cell addition or cell activation). As another example, the activation processing circuit 1643 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send a TCI activation command to the UE. In some examples, the activation processing circuit 1643 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to send the TCI activation command after receiving a measurement report from the UE (e.g., in response to the measurement report).

[0192] The activation processing circuit 1643 may include functionality for components for receiving messages (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figures 7 to 13 For example, the activation processing circuit 1643 may cooperate with the communication and processing circuit 1641 to receive a message from the UE on a designated resource.

[0193] In some examples, the above is combined with Fig.16 The network entity 1600 shown and described in the figure may be a decomposed base station. Fig.16 The network entity 1600 shown in the figure may include a CU and optionally one or more DU / RUs of a decomposed base station. Other DU / RUs associated with the network entity 1600 may be distributed throughout the network. In some examples, the DU / RU may correspond to a TRP associated with the network entity. In some examples, the CU and / or DU / RU of the decomposed base station (e.g., within the network entity 1600) may generate activation information and provide information to the user equipment, as well as receive messages from the user equipment and process the messages.

[0194] Fig.17 1700 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 1700 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described below, some or all of the illustrated features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of the present disclosure, and some of the illustrated features may not be required for all example implementations. In some examples, the method 1700 may be performed by Fig.16 In some examples, the method 1700 may be performed by any suitable device or component for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0195] At block 1702, the network entity may send a measurement report configuration to a user equipment. In some examples, Fig.16 The measurement processing circuit 1642 shown and described in conjunction with the communication and processing circuit 1641 and the transceiver 1610 may provide means for sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment. In some examples, Fig.16The communication and processing circuitry 1641 and transceiver 1610 shown and described in FIG. 1 may provide means for sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment.

[0196] At block 1704, the network entity may send a first message indicating that the user equipment will report measurement results of a first cell based on the measurement reporting configuration, the first cell not being activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment prior to sending the first message. Fig.16 The activation processing circuit 1643 shown and described in the figure together with the communication and processing circuit 1641 and the transceiver 1610 can provide a component for sending a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment will report the measurement results of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration, and the first cell was not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message. In some examples, Fig.16 The communication and processing circuit 1641 and the transceiver 1610 shown and described in the figure may provide a component for sending a first message indicating that the user equipment will report the measurement results of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration, and the first cell was not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message.

[0197] At block 1706, the network entity may receive a first measurement report in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measurements by the user equipment of signals received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment. Fig.16 The activation processing circuit 1643 shown and described in the accompanying drawings, together with the communication and processing circuit 1641 and the transceiver 1610, may provide means for receiving a first measurement report in response to a first message, the first measurement report being based on a measurement by a user equipment of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as an SCell for the user equipment. In some examples, Fig.16 The communication and processing circuit 1641 and the transceiver 1610 shown and described in the figure may provide a component for receiving a first measurement report in response to a first message, the first measurement report being based on a measurement by a user equipment of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as an SCell for the user equipment.

[0198] In some examples, the first cell communicates via frequency range 2 (FR2) signaling.

[0199] In some examples, the network entity may send a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report. In some examples, the TCI activation command may indicate a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the TCI activation command may also indicate a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the network entity may receive a second measurement report including channel quality information (CQI) based on a measurement by the user equipment of the CSI-RS sent by the first cell.

[0200] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a 7-bit reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter. In some examples, the RSRP parameter may include a value of 0 or 127 to indicate that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the measurement report configuration may include an RSRP report configuration.

[0201] In some examples, the measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting. In some examples, the measurement reporting configuration specifies periodic reporting.

[0202] In some examples, sending the measurement report configuration may include sending a radio resource control (RRC) message including the measurement report configuration. In some examples, the first message may include a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE). In some examples, the MAC-CE indicates that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment. In some examples, the network entity may send another MAC-CE, the other MAC-CE indicating that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0203] In some examples, the measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting.In some examples, the first message specifies a time offset to be used by the user equipment when sending the aperiodic measurement report.

[0204] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the measurement report configuration specifies periodic reporting.

[0205] In some examples, the network entity may periodically receive a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell.

[0206] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the measurement report configuration specifies aperiodic reporting. In some examples, the network entity may receive a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell.

[0207] In some examples, the network entity may receive a second message that may include an indication of a number of reference signals that the user equipment is configured to measure. In some examples, the reference signal may include a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a timing reference signal (TRS).

[0208] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the network entity may send a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the network entity may receive a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent by the first cell.

[0209] In some examples, the first measurement report may include a valid measurement value. In some examples, the network entity may send a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell. In some examples, the network entity may send downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least one timing reference signal (TRS) sent by the first cell. In some examples, the network entity may receive a second measurement report from the user equipment after sending the DCI, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of at least one channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell.

[0210] In some examples, the network entity may receive a second message that may include an indication of a number of timing reference signals (TRSs) that the user equipment is configured to measure. In some examples, the at least one TRS indicated by the DCI corresponds to the number of TRSs that the user equipment is configured to measure.

[0211] Reference again Fig.16In one configuration, the network entity 1600 includes: a component for sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment; a component for sending a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment will report a measurement result of a first cell based on the measurement report configuration, the first cell not being activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message; and a component for receiving a first measurement report in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on a measurement by the user equipment of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment. In one aspect, the aforementioned components may be Fig.16 The processor 1604 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned components (eg, as discussed above). On the other hand, the aforementioned components may be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned components.

[0212] Of course, in the above examples, the circuits included in the processor 1604 are provided only as examples, and other components for performing the described functions may be included in various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in the computer-readable medium 1606, or in Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 6 and Fig.16 any one or more of the figures described in and using, for example, Fig.17 Any other suitable means or components of the described methods and / or algorithms.

[0213] Fig.15 and Fig.17 The method shown in may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in combination with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. A summary of several aspects of the disclosure is provided below.

[0214] Aspect 1: A method for performing wireless communications at a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving a measurement report configuration; measuring a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment; receiving a first message indicating that the user equipment will report measurement results of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration; and sending a first measurement report in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measuring the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0215] Aspect 2: The method according to aspect 1, wherein the first cell communicates via frequency range 2 (FR2) signaling.

[0216] Aspect 3: According to the method described in any one of Aspects 1 to 2, the method further includes: receiving a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating quasi-co-location information of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell; and sending a second measurement report based on a measurement of the CSI-RS sent by the first cell.

[0217] Aspect 4: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the first measurement report includes a 7-bit reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter.

[0218] Aspect 5: The method according to aspect 4 further comprises: setting the RSRP parameter to a value of 0 or 127 to indicate that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value.

[0219] Aspect 6: The method according to any one of aspects 4 to 5, wherein the measurement report configuration comprises an RSRP report configuration.

[0220] Aspect 7: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 6, wherein the measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting.

[0221] Aspect 8: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 6, wherein the measurement reporting configuration specifies periodic reporting.

[0222] Aspect 9: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 8, wherein: receiving the measurement report configuration includes receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message including the measurement report configuration; and the first message includes a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE).

[0223] Aspect 10: The method according to aspect 9, wherein the MAC-CE indicates that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0224] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 9, the method further comprising: receiving another MAC-CE, the other MAC-CE indicating that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0225] Aspect 12: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 7 and 9 to 11, wherein: the measurement report configuration specifies non-periodic reporting; and the first message specifies a time offset to be used by the user equipment when sending non-periodic measurement reports.

[0226] Aspect 13: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 6 and 8 to 12, wherein: the first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; the measurement report configuration specifies periodic reporting; and the method further includes: periodically measuring a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell, and periodically sending a second measurement report based on measuring the SSB signal.

[0227] Aspect 14: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 7, 9 to 11 and 12, wherein: the first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; the measurement report configuration specifies a non-periodic report; and the method further includes: measuring a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell, and sending a second measurement report based on measuring the SSB signal.

[0228] Aspect 15: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 14, wherein the first measurement report includes a valid measurement value, the method further comprising: receiving a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; and performing at least one of time tracking or frequency tracking based on an SSB transmission performed by the first cell, the SSB transmission being associated with the SSB identifier.

[0229] Aspect 16: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 15, the method further comprising: sending a second message, the second message comprising an indication of the number of reference signals that the user equipment is configured to measure.

[0230] Aspect 17: The method according to aspect 16, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a timing reference signal (TRS).

[0231] Aspect 18: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 12 and 15 to 17, wherein the first measurement report includes a valid measurement value, and the method further includes: receiving a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; measuring the synchronization signal block (SSB) sent by the first cell; and sending a second measurement report based on measuring the SSB sent by the first cell.

[0232] Aspect 19: According to the method described in any one of Aspects 1 to 18, the method further includes: receiving downlink control information after sending the first measurement report, the downlink control information indicating at least one non-periodic tracking reference signal (A-TRS) sent by the first cell; and performing at least one of time tracking or frequency tracking based on the at least one A-TRS sent by the first cell.

[0233] Aspect 20: According to the method described in Aspect 19, the method also includes: sending a second message, the second message including an indication of the number of timing reference signals (TRS) that the user equipment is configured to measure, wherein the at least one A-TRS sent indicated by the downlink control information corresponds to the number of TRS that the user equipment is configured to measure.

[0234] Aspect 21: A method for performing wireless communications at a network entity, the method comprising: sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment; sending a first message indicating that the user equipment will report measurement results of a first cell based on the measurement report configuration, and the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message; and receiving a first measurement report in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measurement by the user equipment of a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0235] Aspect 22: The method according to aspect 21, wherein the first cell communicates via frequency range 2 (FR2) signaling.

[0236] Aspect 23: According to the method described in any one of Aspects 21 to 22, the method further includes: sending a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell, and the TCI activation command also indicates a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell.

[0237] Aspect 24: The method according to aspect 23, the method further comprising: receiving a second measurement report including channel quality information (CQI) based on measurement by the user equipment of the CSI-RS sent by the first cell.

[0238] Aspect 25: A method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 24, wherein the first measurement report includes a 7-bit reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter.

[0239] Aspect 26: The method according to aspect 25, wherein the RSRP parameter includes a value of 0 or 127 to indicate that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value.

[0240] Aspect 27: The method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 26, wherein the measurement reporting configuration comprises an RSRP reporting configuration.

[0241] Aspect 28: The method according to any one of aspects 21 to 27, wherein the measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting.

[0242] Aspect 29: The method according to any one of aspects 21 to 27, wherein the measurement reporting configuration specifies periodic reporting.

[0243] Aspect 30: A method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 29, wherein: sending the measurement report configuration includes sending a radio resource control (RRC) message including the measurement report configuration; and the first message includes a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE).

[0244] Aspect 31: The method according to aspect 30, wherein the MAC-CE indicates that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0245] Aspect 32: The method according to aspect 30, the method further comprising: sending another MAC-CE, the other MAC-CE indicating that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

[0246] Aspect 33: A method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 28 and 30 to 32, wherein: the measurement report configuration specifies non-periodic reporting; and the first message specifies a time offset to be used by the user equipment when sending non-periodic measurement reports.

[0247] Aspect 34: A method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 27 and 29 to 32, wherein: the first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; the measurement report configuration specifies periodic reporting; and the method also includes periodically receiving a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell.

[0248] Aspect 35: A method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 28 and 30 to 32, wherein: the first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; the measurement report configuration specifies non-periodic reporting; and the method also includes receiving a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal sent by the first cell.

[0249] Aspect 36: The method according to any one of aspects 21 to 35, the method further comprising: receiving a second message, the second message comprising an indication of the number of reference signals that the user equipment is configured to measure.

[0250] Aspect 37: The method according to aspect 36, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a timing reference signal (TRS).

[0251] Aspect 38: A method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 37, wherein the first measurement report includes a valid measurement value, the method further comprising: sending a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; and receiving a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent by the first cell.

[0252] Aspect 39: A method according to any one of Aspects 21 to 37, wherein the first measurement report includes a valid measurement value, the method further comprising: sending a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; sending downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least one timing reference signal (TRS) sent by the first cell; and receiving a second measurement report from the user equipment after sending the DCI, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of at least one channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell.

[0253] Aspect 40: According to the method according to Aspect 39, the method also includes: receiving a second message, the second message including an indication of the number of timing reference signals (TRS) that the user equipment is configured to measure, wherein the at least one TRS indicated by the DCI corresponds to the number of TRS that the user equipment is configured to measure.

[0254] Aspect 41: A user equipment comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a radio access network; a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured individually or collectively to perform any one or more aspects of Aspects 1 to 20.

[0255] Aspect 42: An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising at least one component for performing any one or more of aspects 1 to 20.

[0256] Aspect 43: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code for causing an apparatus to perform any one or more of aspects 1 to 20.

[0257] Aspect 44: A network entity, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured individually or collectively to perform any one or more aspects of aspects 21 to 40.

[0258] Aspect 45: An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising at least one component for performing any one or more of aspects 21 to 40.

[0259] Aspect 46: A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable code, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code for causing an apparatus to perform any one or more of aspects 21 to 40.

[0260] Several aspects of wireless communication networks have been presented with reference to example implementations. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0261] For example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile (GSM). Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples may be implemented within systems employing Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and / or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0262] Within the present disclosure, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any specific implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as superior or superior to other aspects of the present disclosure. Likewise, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed features, advantages, or modes of operation. The term "coupled" is used herein to refer to a direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts object C, objects A and C may still be considered to be coupled to each other, even if they are not in direct physical contact with each other. For example, a first object may be coupled to a second object, even if the first object has never been in direct physical contact with the second object. The terms "circuit" are used broadly, and they are intended to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors (where these electronic devices and conductors, when connected and configured, implement the execution of the functions described in the present disclosure, without limitation on the type of electronic circuits) and software implementations of information and instructions (where these information and instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the execution of the functions described in the present disclosure). As used herein, the term "determining" may include, for example, ascertaining, solving, selecting, choosing, establishing, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, database or other data structure), etc. In addition, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc.

[0263] Figures 1 to 17 One or more of the components, steps, features, and / or functions illustrated in the present invention may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function, or may be embodied in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may also be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 6 , Fig.14 and Fig.16 The apparatus, device and / or component illustrated in the embodiment may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0264] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein is illustrative of example processes. It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in these methods may be rearranged based on design preferences. The attached method claims present elements of various steps in an example order, but are not intended to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless explicitly stated herein.

[0265] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects shown herein, but to conform to the full scope consistent with the text of the claims, wherein unless explicitly stated otherwise, reference to an element in the singular form is not intended to mean "one and only one", but "one or more". Unless otherwise specified, the term "some" refers to one or more. A phrase referring to "at least one" in a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are currently or hereafter known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly stated in the claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment, comprising: Transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is individually or collectively configured to: receiving measurement report configuration; measuring a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment; receiving a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment is to report a measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration; as well as A first measurement report is sent in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measurements of the signals received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment. 2 . The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the first cell communicates via frequency range 2 (FR2) signaling.

3. The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: receiving a transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating quasi co-location information of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell; and A second measurement report is sent based on measurement of the CSI-RS sent by the first cell.

4. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the first measurement report comprises a 7-bit reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter.

5. The user equipment of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: The RSRP parameter is set to a value of 0 or 127 to indicate that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value. The user equipment of claim 4 , wherein the measurement report configuration comprises an RSRP report configuration.

7. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting.

8. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the measurement reporting configuration specifies periodic reporting.

9. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein: The at least one processor is further individually or collectively configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message including the measurement report configuration; and The first message includes a Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE). 10 . The user equipment of claim 9 , wherein the MAC-CE indicates that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

11. The user equipment of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: Another MAC-CE is received, the other MAC-CE indicating that the first cell is being activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

12. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein: The measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting; and The first message specifies a time offset to be used by the user equipment when sending aperiodic measurement reports.

13. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein: The first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; The measurement reporting configuration specifies periodic reporting; and The at least one processor is also individually or collectively configured to periodically measure a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal transmitted by the first cell and periodically transmit a second measurement report based on the periodic measurement of the SSB signal.

14. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein: The first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; The measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting; and The at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to measure a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal transmitted by the first cell and to transmit a second measurement report based on the measurement of the SSB signal.

15. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the first measurement report comprises a valid measurement value, and the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: receiving a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; and At least one of time tracking or frequency tracking is performed based on SSB transmissions by the first cell, the SSB transmissions being associated with the SSB identifier.

16. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: A second message is sent, the second message comprising an indication of a number of reference signals that the user equipment is configured to measure.

17. The user equipment of claim 16, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a timing reference signal (TRS).

18. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the first measurement report comprises a valid measurement value, and the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: receiving a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after sending the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; measuring a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent by the first cell; as well as A second measurement report is sent based on the measurement of the SSB sent by the first cell.

19. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: receiving downlink control information after sending the first measurement report, the downlink control information indicating at least one aperiodic tracking reference signal (A-TRS) transmission by the first cell; and At least one of time tracking or frequency tracking is performed based on the at least one A-TRS transmission by the first cell.

20. The user equipment of claim 19, wherein: The at least one processor is further individually or collectively configured to send a second message comprising an indication of a number of timing reference signals (TRS) that the user equipment is configured to measure; and The at least one A-TRS transmission indicated by the downlink control information corresponds to the number of TRSs that the user equipment is configured to measure.

21. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving measurement report configuration; measuring a signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment; receiving a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment is to report a measurement result of the first cell based on the measurement report configuration; as well as A first measurement report is sent in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measuring the signal received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

22. A network entity, comprising: Transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is individually or collectively configured to: Sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment; Sending a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment is to report a measurement result of a first cell based on the measurement report configuration, the first cell not being activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message; as well as A first measurement report is received in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measurements by the user equipment of signals received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

23. The network entity of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: A transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command is sent after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell, and the TCI activation command also indicates a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell.

24. The network entity of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: A second measurement report including channel quality information (CQI) is received based on measurement by the user equipment of the CSI-RS transmitted by the first cell.

25. The network entity according to claim 22, wherein: The measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting; and The first message specifies a time offset to be used by the user equipment when sending aperiodic measurement reports.

26. The network entity according to claim 22, wherein: The first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; The measurement reporting configuration specifies periodic reporting; and The at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to periodically receive a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal transmitted by the first cell.

27. The network entity of claim 22, wherein: The first measurement report includes a parameter indicating that the first measurement report does not include a valid measurement value; The measurement reporting configuration specifies aperiodic reporting; and The at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to receive a second measurement report from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on a measurement of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal transmitted by the first cell.

28. The network entity of claim 22, wherein the first measurement report comprises a valid measurement value, and the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: sending a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; and A second measurement report is received from the user equipment, the second measurement report being based on measurements of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) sent by the first cell.

29. The network entity of claim 22, wherein the first measurement report comprises a valid measurement value, and the at least one processor is further configured, individually or collectively, to: sending a transmit configuration indication (TCI) activation command after receiving the first measurement report, the TCI activation command indicating a synchronization signal block (SSB) identifier associated with the first cell; sending downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least one timing reference signal (TRS) sent by the first cell; as well as A second measurement report is received from the user equipment after sending the DCI, the second measurement report being based on measurement of at least one channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by the first cell.

30. A method for wireless communication at a network entity, the method comprising: Sending a measurement report configuration to a user equipment; Sending a first message, the first message indicating that the user equipment is to report a measurement result of a first cell based on the measurement report configuration, the first cell not being activated as a secondary cell (SCell) for the user equipment before sending the first message; as well as A first measurement report is received in response to the first message, the first measurement report being based on measurements by the user equipment of signals received from the first cell when the first cell is not activated as the SCell for the user equipment.

Images