L1 / L2 signaling for releasing cells configured for layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) inter-cell mobility

Abstract

A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving an indication of a mobility configuration cell set having a plurality of cells. The method also includes receiving signaling for releasing a selected cell from the set of mobility configuration cells. The method also includes releasing the selected cell from the set of mobility configuration cells in response to receiving the signaling. In some aspects, releasing the selected cell includes removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration. In other aspects, releasing the selected cell includes removing a mobility configuration for the selected cell.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 17 / 879,652, filed on August 2, 2022, entitled “LAYER ONE / LAYER TWO (L1 / L2) SIGNALING TO RELEASE CELLS CONFIGURED FOR L1 / L2 INTERCELL MOBILITY,” the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to layer one and / or layer two (L1 / L2) signaling for releasing a cell configured for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and long term evolution (LTE). LTE / LTE Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard issued by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Narrowband (NB) Internet of Things (IoT) and enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) are sets of enhancements to LTE for machine type communication.

[0005] A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations (BSs) that may support communications for multiple user equipments (UEs). User equipments (UEs) may communicate with base stations (BSs) via downlinks and uplinks. Downlinks (or forward links) refer to the communication link from a BS to a UE, while uplinks (or reverse links) refer to the communication link from a UE to a BS. As will be described in more detail, a BS may be referred to as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a gNB, an access point (AP), a radio head, a transmit and receive point (TRP), a new radio (NR) BS, a 5G Node B, etc.

[0006] The above multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different user equipment to communicate at city, country, region, and even global levels. New Radio (NR) (which may also be referred to as 5G) is an enhancement set of the LTE mobile standard released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is designed to better integrate with other open standards by improving spectrum efficiency, reducing costs, improving services, utilizing new spectrum, and using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) with cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL), using CP-OFDM and / or SC-FDM (e.g., also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)) on the uplink (UL), and supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation, so as to better support mobile broadband Internet access. Summary of the invention

[0007] In various aspects of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving an indication of a mobility configuration cell set. The mobility configuration cell set has a plurality of cells. The method also includes receiving signaling for releasing a selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set. The method also includes, in response to receiving the signaling, releasing the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set.

[0008] In other aspects of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication by a network entity includes sending an indication of a mobility configuration cell set. The mobility configuration cell set has a plurality of cells. The method also includes sending signaling for releasing a selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set. The method also includes releasing the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set in response to sending the signaling.

[0009] Other aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus. The apparatus has a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to receive an indication of a mobility configuration cell set. The mobility configuration cell set has a plurality of cells. The processor is also configured to receive a signaling for releasing a selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set. The processor is further configured to release the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set in response to receiving the signaling.

[0010] Other aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus. The apparatus has a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to send an indication of a mobility configuration cell set. The mobility configuration cell set has multiple cells. The processor is configured to send signaling for releasing a selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set. The processor is further configured to release the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set in response to sending the signaling.

[0011] Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices, and processing systems as generally described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings and description.

[0012] The features and technical advantages of examples according to the present disclosure have been outlined quite broadly above so that the following specific embodiments may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be easily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for achieving the same purpose of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the disclosed concepts, both in terms of their organization and method of operation, and the associated advantages will be better understood by considering the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the figures in the accompanying drawings is provided for the purpose of illustration and description and not as a definition of the limitations of the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] In order that the features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more specific description may be made with reference to various aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the accompanying drawings illustrate only certain aspects of the present disclosure and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope thereof, as the description may allow for other equally effective aspects. The same reference numerals in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0014] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a wireless communication network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a base station communicating with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station architecture in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a layer one / layer two (L1 / L2) mobility configuration cell set according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a carrier aggregation configuration cell set according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a carrier aggregation configuration including cells with L1 / L2 mobility configuration according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a carrier aggregation configuration and an L1 / L2 mobility exit configuration according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example L1 / L2 mobility exit configuration medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example process performed, for example, by a user equipment (UE) according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating an example process, for example, performed by a network device, according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The various aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms, and should not be interpreted as being limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout the present disclosure. Instead, these aspects are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and the scope of protection of the present disclosure will be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings, those skilled in the art should recognize that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the present disclosure, whether the aspect is implemented independently of any other aspect of the present disclosure or implemented in combination with any other aspect. For example, a device or a method can be implemented using any number of aspects described. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods that are practiced using other structures, functionality, or structures and functionality as a supplement to the various aspects of the present disclosure described or in addition. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed can be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0025] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various devices and techniques. These devices and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whether these elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0026] It should be noted that although various aspects may be described using terms commonly associated with 5G and later wireless technologies, various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied in communication systems based on other generations (such as and including 3G and / or 4G technologies).

[0027] Prior art techniques for updating a primary cell of a user equipment (UE) during inter-cell mobility of the UE require that a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration be performed by a network entity. However, RRC reconfiguration is an example of layer 3 signaling. Therefore, in situations where the UE is moving rapidly and / or in situations where the latency requirements of the UE require a constant control and data connection with the primary cell when the UE is moving, the latency of layer 3 signaling may prevent the UE from successfully updating to a new primary cell.

[0028] Therefore, the described technology reduces the latency of the UE updating to a new primary cell by using layer one / layer two (L1 / L2) signaling from a network entity to reduce mobility latency. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the L1 / L2 signaling is an L1 / L2 mobility configuration including at least a primary cell configuration for each secondary cell and at least a secondary cell configuration for each primary cell, and the L1 / L2 mobility configuration allows the UE to quickly switch from one primary cell to another primary cell (because the UE has stored these configurations). On the other hand, the L1 / L2 signaling is an L1 / L2 mobility configuration including both the primary cell configuration and the secondary cell configuration for all primary cells and secondary cells, and the L1 / L2 mobility configuration also allows the UE to quickly switch from one primary cell to another primary cell (because the UE already has these configurations).

[0029] Various aspects of the present disclosure specify mechanisms and procedures for inter-cell mobility based on layer one / layer two (L1 / L2) to reduce mobility latency. Various aspects relate to configuring and maintaining multiple candidate cells to improve the speed at which candidate cells can be configured. Various aspects also relate to dynamic switching mechanisms between candidate serving cells (including special cells (SpCells) and secondary cells (SCells)) for potential applicable scenarios based on L1 / L2 signaling. More specifically, the release of a cell configured with L1 / L2 mobility is considered.

[0030] In various aspects of the present disclosure, L1 / L2 signaling may remove a cell from a configured L1 / L2 mobility cell set, thereby releasing the cell from the configured mobility cell set. Other aspects include MAC-CE / downlink control information (DCI) format design and error handling techniques. Although carrier aggregation configuration is discussed, the present disclosure has applicability in other areas, such as scenarios involving adding and removing multiple transmit and receive points (mTRPs).

[0031] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating a network 100 in which various aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. The network 100 may be a 5G or NR network, or some other wireless network (such as an LTE network). The wireless network 100 may include a plurality of BSs 110 (shown as BSs 110a, BSs 110b, BSs 110c, and BSs 110d) and other network entities. A BS is an entity that communicates with a user equipment (UE), and may also be referred to as a base station, NRBS, Node B, gNB, 5G Node B, access point, transmit and receive point (TRP), network node, network entity, etc. A base station may be implemented as an aggregated base station, a decomposed base station, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, a side link node, etc. A base station may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a decomposed base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC.

[0032] Each BS can provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the coverage area of ​​a BS and / or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0033] A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and / or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In Figure 1 In the example shown in , BS 110a may be a macro BS for macro cell 102a, BS 110b may be a pico BS for pico cell 102b, and BS 110c may be a femto BS for femto cell 102c. A BS may support one or more (e.g., three) cells. The terms "eNB", "base station", "NR BS", "gNB", "AP", "Node B", "5G NB", "TRP", and "cell" may be used interchangeably.

[0034] In some aspects, the cell need not be stationary, and the geographic area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of the mobile BS. In some aspects, the BSs may be interconnected with each other and / or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces (such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, etc.) using any suitable transport network.

[0035] The wireless network 100 may also include a relay station. A relay station is an entity that can receive transmissions of data from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and transmit the transmissions of the data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be a UE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. Figure 1 In the example shown in FIG. 1 , a relay station 110 d may communicate with a macro BS 110 a and a UE 120 d to facilitate communication between the BS 110 a and the UE 120 d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, or the like.

[0036] The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network including different types of BSs (e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, etc.). These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different effects on interference in the wireless network 100. For example, a macro BS may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 watts to 40 watts), while a pico BS, a femto BS, and a relay BS may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 0.1 watt to 2 watts).

[0037] For example, BSs 110 (shown as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d) and core network 130 may exchange communications via backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1, etc.). Base stations 110 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through core network 130) through other backhaul links (e.g., X2, etc.).

[0038] The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobile management entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and at least one packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may be a control node that handles signaling between the UE 120 and the EPC. All user IP packets may be delivered through the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GW may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The P-GW may be connected to the IP services of the network operator. The operator's IP services may include the Internet, the intranet, the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), and the packet switched (PS) streaming media services.

[0039] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, IP connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. One or more of the base stations 110 or access node controllers (ANCs) may interface with the core network 130 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., S1, S2, etc.) and may perform radio configuration and scheduling for communications with the UE 120. In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity or base station 110 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers), or merged into a single network device (e.g., base station 110).

[0040] UE 120 (e.g., 120a, 120b, 120c) may be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. UE may also be referred to as an access terminal, terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. UE may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or equipment, a biometric sensor / device, a wearable device (smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device or a satellite radio), a component or sensor of a vehicle, a smart meter / sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

[0041] One or more UEs 120 may establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session for a network slice. In some cases, the UE 120 may select a network slice based on an application or subscription service. By enabling different network slices to serve different applications or subscriptions, the UE 120 may improve its resource utilization in the wireless network 100 while also meeting the performance specifications of the respective applications of the UE 120. In some cases, the AMF ( Figure 1 ), to serve the network slice used by UE 120. In addition, session management of the network slice can be performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF).

[0042] The UE 120 may include an L1 / L2 exit configuration module 140. For simplicity, only one UE 120d is shown as including the L1 / L2 exit configuration module 140. The L1 / L2 exit configuration module 140 may receive an indication of a mobility configuration cell set having a plurality of cells. The L1 / L2 exit configuration module 140 may also receive signaling for releasing a selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set. The L1 / L2 exit configuration module 140 may also release the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set in response to receiving the signaling.

[0043] The core network 130 or the base station 110 or any other network device (e.g., Figure 3 1 (as seen in FIG. 1 ) may include an L1 / L2 exit configuration module 138. For simplicity, only one base station 110a is shown as including an L1 / L2 exit configuration module 138. The L1 / L2 exit configuration module 138 may send an indication of a mobility configuration cell set having a plurality of cells. The L1 / L2 exit configuration module 138 may also send signaling for releasing a selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set. The L1 / L2 exit configuration module 138 may also release the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set in response to sending the signaling.

[0044] Some UEs may be considered as machine type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) UEs. For example, MTC and eMTC UEs include robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc. that can communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide connectivity to or to a network (e.g., a wide area network (such as the Internet) or a cellular network), for example, via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered as Internet of Things (IoT) devices and / or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) devices. Some UEs may be considered as user premises equipment (CPE). UE 120 may be included in a housing that houses components of UE 120 (e.g., processor components, memory components, etc.).

[0045] Generally speaking, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network can support a specific radio access technology (RAT) and can operate on one or more frequencies. RAT can also be referred to as radio technology, air interface, etc. Frequency can also be referred to as carrier, frequency channel, etc. In a given geographic area, each frequency can support a single RAT to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks can be deployed.

[0046] In some aspects, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly (e.g., without using base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate with each other) using one or more sidelink channels. For example, UE 120 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (e.g., which may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, etc.), mesh networks, etc. In this case, UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations described elsewhere herein performed by base station 110. For example, base station 110 may configure UE 120 via downlink control information (DCI), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or via system information (e.g., system information block (SIB)).

[0047] As pointed out above, Figure 1 This is provided as an example only. Other examples can be found in Figure 1 The examples described are different.

[0048] Figure 2 A block diagram of a design 200 of a base station 110 and a UE 120 is shown, where the base station and the UE may be Figure 1 A base station in the base station and Figure 1 Base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general T≧1 and R≧1.

[0049] At the base station 110, the transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from the data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for the UE based at least in part on the MCS selected for each UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Reducing the MCS lowers throughput but increases the reliability of transmission. The transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource allocation information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.), and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and reference symbols where applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MOD) 232a to 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or the like) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The T downlink signals from modulators 232a to 232t may be transmitted via T antennas 234a to 234t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, position coding may be used to generate synchronization signals to convey additional information.

[0050] At the UE 120, antennas 252a to 252r may receive downlink signals from the base station 110 and / or other base stations, and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a to 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. The MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 120 to the data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to the controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), etc. In some aspects, one or more components of UE 120 may be included in a housing.

[0051] On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from a controller / processor 280 and process the data and control information. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be pre-decoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 110. At the base station 110, uplink signals from the UE 120 and other UEs may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the demodulator 254, detected by the MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240. The base station 110 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate with the core network 130 via the communication unit 244. The core network 130 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292.

[0052] The controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2Any other components of the base station 110 may perform one or more techniques associated with L1 / L2 exit configuration, as described in more detail elsewhere. For example, the controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2 Any other component of may perform or direct e.g. Fig. 9 and Fig.10 The processes and / or operations of other processes as described. Memory 242 and memory 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. Scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0053] In some aspects, UE 120 and / or base station 110 may include means for receiving, means for releasing, means for sending, means for recording, and means for confirming. Such means may include combining Figure 2 One or more components of UE 120 or base station 110 are described.

[0054] As pointed out above, Figure 2 This is provided as an example only. Other examples can be found in the reference Figure 2 The examples described are different.

[0055] 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) performing 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 and 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.

[0056] 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 (e.g., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU)).

[0057] 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.

[0058] 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 120 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 120 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.

[0059] Each of these units (e.g., CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325, non-RTRIC 315, and SMO framework 305) may include one or more interfaces, or may 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 that is 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) that is configured to receive or send signals, or both, to one or more of the other units on a wireless transmission medium.

[0060] In some aspects, 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 configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 310. CU310 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (e.g., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (e.g., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, 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, CU310 may be implemented to communicate with DU 330 for network control and signaling.

[0061] 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.) depending at least in part on a functional partition such as that defined by the Third 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.

[0062] 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 120. 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 DU 330 and CU 310 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0063] 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) platform 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating 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 .

[0064] 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-RTRIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 may be coupled to or in communication with the near-RTRIC 325 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RTRIC 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 on 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 311 with the near-RTRIC 325.

[0065] In some specific implementations, to generate the AI / ML models 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 can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and can be received at the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315 from non-network data sources or from network functions. 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 of performance and employ an AI / ML model to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 305 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0066] Aspects of the present disclosure specify mechanisms and procedures for layer one / layer two (L1 / L2)-based inter-cell mobility to reduce mobility latency. Aspects relate to configuring and maintaining multiple candidate cells to improve the speed at which candidate cells can be configured. Aspects also relate to a dynamic handover mechanism between candidate serving cells (including special cells (SpCell) and secondary cells (SCell)) for potential applicable scenarios based on L1 / L2 signaling. More specifically, the release of a cell configured with L1 / L2 mobility is considered. Although carrier aggregation configurations are discussed, the present disclosure has applicability in other areas such as scenarios involving the addition and removal of multiple transmit and receive points (mTRP).

[0067] The procedures for L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility apply to many scenarios, including stand-alone deployments, carrier aggregation (CA) deployments, and new radio dual connectivity (NR-DC) cases with serving cell changes within one configuration grant (CG). The L1 / L2 procedures also apply to in-distributed unit (DU) cases, in-centralized unit (CU) cases, and inter-DU cases for stand-alone and carrier aggregation deployments. These procedures also apply to intra-frequency, inter-frequency, frequency range one (FR1), frequency range two (FR2), and other scenarios, regardless of whether the source cell and the target cell are synchronized.

[0068] The prior art requirements for updating the primary cell of a user equipment (UE) during inter-cell mobility of the UE are for a network entity to perform radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration. However, RRC reconfiguration is an example of layer three signaling. Therefore, in cases where the UE is moving rapidly and / or where the UE's latency requirements specify constant control and data connectivity with the primary cell while the UE is moving, the latency of layer three signaling may prevent the UE from successfully updating to a new primary cell.

[0069] Therefore, the described technology reduces the latency of the UE updating to a new primary cell and releasing the configured cell by using layer one / layer two (L1 / L2) signaling from a network entity. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the L1 / L2 signaling is an L1 / L2 mobility configuration including at least a primary cell configuration for each secondary cell and at least a secondary cell configuration for each primary cell, and the L1 / L2 mobility configuration allows the UE to quickly switch from one primary cell to another primary cell (because the UE is storing these configurations). On the other hand, the L1 / L2 signaling is an L1 / L2 mobility configuration including both the primary cell configuration and the secondary cell configuration for all primary cells and secondary cells, and the L1 / L2 mobility configuration also allows the UE to quickly switch from one primary cell to another primary cell (because the UE has stored these configurations). In some other aspects, the L1 / L2 signaling exits the configuration of the cell by releasing the cell from the configured cell set or removing the L1 / L2 mobility configuration from the cell.

[0070] Figure 4 400 is a diagram illustrating an example of an L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set. Currently, a network entity such as a base station 110 or a component of a D-RAN or O-RAN architecture may configure a layer one / layer two (L1 / L2) mobility configuration cell set 401 to a UE 120 via an RRC configuration 402. For example, the network entity 110 may configure an L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401 including cells 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, and 422 for the UE 120. The cell set should be large enough to cover a meaningful mobility area. Each of the cells 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, and 422 may operate on a different frequency. In some implementations, one or more cells in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401 may be a multiple transmit and receive point (mTRP) cell. For example, as Figure 4As shown, cells 412, 414, 416, and 418 are mTRP cells. Each TRP of the mTRP cell may operate at a different frequency. For example, for the mTRP cell 412, cell 2 is a TRP of the mTRP cell 412 operating at a first frequency, and cell 2' is another TRP of the mTRP 412 operating at a second frequency. Similarly, for the mTRP cell 414, cell 3 is a TRP operating at a third frequency, and cell 3' is another TRP operating at a fourth frequency. In some implementations, the first frequency and the third frequency may be the same frequency, and the second frequency and the fourth frequency may be the same frequency. For the mTRP cell 416, cell 4 and cell 4' are different TRPs operating at different frequencies, and for the mTRP cell 418, cell 5 and cell 5' are different TRPs operating at different frequencies. In some implementations, cell 4 and / or cell 5 may operate on the same frequency as cell 2 and / or cell 3, and cell 4' and / or cell 5' may operate on the same frequency as cell 2' and / or cell 3'. Only one frequency may be activated at a time for an mTRP cell, and the mTRP cell may operate using the TRP corresponding to that frequency.

[0071] Among the cells configured as part of the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401, the network entity 110 may configure cells 412 and 414 as activated cells in the activated cell set 403, and configure the remaining cells (e.g., cells 410, 416, 418, 420, and 422) as deactivated cells in the deactivated cell set 405. The network entity 110 may configure one of the activated cells as a primary cell (PCell) for the UE 120, and configure the other cells as secondary cells (SCells). The network entity 110 may send configurations for cells 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, and 422 to the UE 120 via an RRC message or RRC configuration 402. Each cell configuration may include only parameters for its current cell type. For example, if the cell 410 is currently an SCell, the configuration for the cell 410 will include parameters for the SCell, but not the PCell configuration or parameters for the PCell. Similarly, if the cell 412 is currently configured as a PCell, the configuration for the cell 412 will include parameters for the PCell but not SCell configuration or parameters for SCell configuration.

[0072] Thus, if the PCell for UE 120 needs to be updated to a new cell, network entity 110 will have to perform an RRC reconfiguration and may send a new or updated configuration for cells 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, and / or 422. The new or updated configuration for the new cell configured as the PCell will include parameters for the PCell configuration, but not for the SCell configuration. The configuration for the cell previously configured as the PCell will now include parameters for the SCell configuration, but not for the PCell configuration.

[0073] As discussed, RRC reconfiguration is an example of layer three (L3) configuration with L3 signaling, and when UE 120 is moving rapidly and / or when the latency requirements of UE 120 specify constant control and data connectivity with the PCell while UE 120 is moving, latency of L3 configuration or signaling may prevent UE 120 from successfully updating to a new PCell.

[0074] L1 / L2 signaling 407 may activate and deactivate cells in the set and select beams within the activated cells to achieve seamless mobility within the activated cells in the set. As UE 120 moves, cells from the set may be deactivated and activated via L1 / L2 signaling 407. For example, deactivation and / or activation may be based on signal quality (e.g., measurement reports) and cell load.

[0075] In the carrier aggregation framework, a cell may be signaled to remove the cell from the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set. As UE 120 moves, some cells may no longer be suitable for L1 / L2 mobility (such as when UE 120 moves too far from the cell). Therefore, it may not be necessary to keep these cells in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401. Unused cells may be stored in the deactivated cell set 405 in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401. However, UE 120 may still need to perform measurements on the deactivated cell set 405, resulting in unnecessary power consumption. Even if UE 120 is configured not to perform measurements on deactivated cells, UE 120 may also have a capability limit on the maximum number of cells supported in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401.

[0076] In various aspects of the present disclosure, L1 / L2 signaling 407 may remove a cell from L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401, thereby releasing the cell from L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401. These techniques are different from traditional cell deactivation of MAC-CE. Other aspects include MAC-CE / downlink control information (DCI) format design and error handling techniques.

[0077] For each cell, L1 / L2 signaling 407 can reduce the latency of updating UE 120 to a new PCell by using an activation update configuration in combination with configuring an alternative configuration to UE 120. For example, configuring the alternative configuration to UE 120 includes, for example, RRC configuration 402, and the RRC configuration additionally includes at least a primary cell configuration for each secondary cell and at least a secondary cell configuration for each primary cell. In addition, L1 / L2 signaling 407 including the activation update configuration can indicate at least one of the following: a first cell in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401 is changed from a primary cell to a secondary cell, or a second cell in the configuration cell set is changed from a secondary cell to a primary cell. According to the various aspects described: L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401 is a cell set configured by RRC for L1 / L2 mobility; activated cell set 403 is an L1 / L2 mobility activation cell set, which includes a group of cells that are activated in the configuration set and can be easily used for data and control transmission; and deactivated cell set 405 is an L1 / L2 mobility deactivated cell set, which includes a group of cells that are activated in the configuration set and can be easily activated by L1 / L2 signaling 407. Therefore, L1 / L2 signaling 407 activates / deactivates cells in the set and selects beams within the activated cells. For example, as UE 120 moves, cells from the set are deactivated and activated based on signal quality (e.g., measurement report) and / or cell load by L1 / L2 signaling 407.

[0078] In other words, all cells in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401 have valid primary cell configuration and secondary cell configuration, and L1 / L2 signaling 407 is used to set or select the primary cell from the pre-configured options within the activated cell set 403. For example, L1 / L2 signaling 407 switches from a secondary cell to a primary cell (and from a primary cell to a secondary cell), which is faster and more efficient than the current solution in which only L3 signaling can be used to change the primary cell. In addition, RRC signaling (e.g., L3) updates the cell set for L1 / L2 mobility. Therefore, the signaling of the individual cell configurations enables each secondary cell to have a primary cell configuration. In addition, the present disclosure relates to signaling of changes to cells in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401, including example signaling for removing cells from the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 401.

[0079] Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure specify mechanisms and procedures for L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for mobility delay reduction, which may include: configuration and maintenance for multiple candidate cells to allow rapid application of configurations for candidate cells; and / or dynamic switching mechanisms between candidate service cells (including special cells (SpCells) and secondary cells (SCells)) for potentially applicable switching scenarios based on L1 / L2 signaling.

[0080] Figure 5 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a carrier aggregation configured cell set according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Diagram 500 includes an example of a carrier aggregation (CA) configured cell set 502, which will be discussed in the context of L1 / L2 mobility, carrier aggregation configuration, and individual cell signaling. Figure 5 In the network entity (eg, BS110) (not in Figure 5 520, 522, 524, 526, 528, 530, and 532. Each of cells 520, 522, 524, 526, 528, 530, and 532 may operate on a different frequency. In some implementations, one or more cells in the CA configured cell set 502 may be mTRP cells. For example, in Figure 5 , cells 524 and 526 may be mTRP cells, wherein cell 3 may be one TRP of mTRP cell 524 operating at a frequency different from another TRP of mTRP cell 524 operating at a different frequency, and cell 4 may be one TRP of mTRP cell 526 operating at a frequency different from another TRP of mTRP cell 526 operating at a different frequency. Only one frequency may be activated at a time for an mTRP cell, and the mTRP cell may operate using the TRP corresponding to that frequency.

[0081] Within CA configured cell set 502, a network entity (eg, BS 110) may configure a first set of cells as part of CA activated cell set 504. For example, Figure 5 As shown, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may configure cells 520, 522, 524, and 526 as part of the CA activated cell set 504. The network entity (e.g., BS 110) may configure a second set of cells as part of the L1 / L2 mobility configured cell set 506. For example, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may configure cells 524, 526, 528, and 530 as part of the L1 / L2 mobility configured cell set 506. The network entity (e.g., BS 110) may configure one or more cells as activated cells and part of the L1 / L2 mobility activated cell set 508. For example, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may configure cells 524 and 526 as activated cells, and may include cells 524 and 526 as part of the L1 / L2 mobility activated cell set 508.

[0082] A network entity (eg, BS 110) may send a message to a UE (eg, UE 120) ( Figure 5The UE 120 may further include a UE 124 and a UE 125 (not separately shown in the figure) that sends one or more configurations for the CA-configured cell set 502. The configuration for the CA-configured cell set 502 may indicate all cells configured as part of the CA-configured cell set 502. For example, the configuration may indicate to the UE 120 that cells 520, 522, 524, 526, 528, 530, and 532 are part of the CA-configured cell set 502. In some implementations, the configuration for the CA-configured cell set 502 may indicate a special cell (SpCell) or a primary cell (PCell) for the UE 120 from the cells configured in the CA-configured cell set 502, and / or one or more secondary cells (SCells) in CA for the UE 120 from the cells configured in the CA-configured cell set 502. For example, if the cell 524 is configured as a SpCell or a PCell for the UE 120, the configuration for the CA-configured cell set 502 may indicate that the cell 524 is a SpCell or a PCell. Similarly, the configuration of the set of cells 502 configured for CA may indicate that cells 520, 522, 526, 528, 530, and 532 are SCells for UE 120. A network entity (e.g., BS 110) may send the configuration of the set of cells 502 configured for CA via a layer three (L3) message (e.g., an RRC message, an RRC configuration, etc.).

[0083] In some implementations, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may indicate to UE 120 the cells configured as part of CA activated cell set 504. In some implementations, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may indicate the cells in CA activated cell set 504 in CA configured cell set 502. In some implementations, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may indicate the cells in CA activated cell set 504 via one or more L3 messages.

[0084] The network entity (e.g., BS 110) may indicate to the UE 120 via an L3 message (e.g., via an RRC message, an RRC configuration, etc.) the cells configured as part of the L1 / L2 mobility configured cell set 506 and / or the cells configured as part of the L1 / L2 mobility activated cell set 508. In some implementations, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may indicate the L1 / L2 mobility configured cell set 506 and / or the L1 / L2 mobility activated cell set 508 in the configuration of the CA configured cell set 502. In this case, the network entity (e.g., BS 110) may utilize the carrier aggregation configuration with the additional information element to facilitate L1 / L2 mobility within the CA configured cell set 502. The L1 / L2 mobility configured cell set 506 may be a subset of the CA configured cell set 502, or may cover the entirety of the CA configured cell set.

[0085] For each cell in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 506, the network entity (e.g., BS110) may determine one or more special cells (SpCell) or primary cell (PCell) configurations and / or one or more secondary cell (SCell) configurations. The network entity (e.g., BS110) may indicate one or more SpCell or PCell configurations, or one or more SCell configurations, to each cell separately in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration (L1L2MobilityConfig). In some specific implementations, the network entity (e.g., BS110) may include the L1 / L2 mobility configuration in the CA configuration cell set 502 configuration for the cell. In some specific implementations, the network entity (e.g., BS110) may indicate or send the L1 / L2 mobility configuration in a separate configuration via an L3 message (e.g., via an RRC message, an RRC configuration, etc.).

[0086] In some specific implementations, for each cell in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration cell set 506, the L1 / L2 mobility configuration may include one or more complementary or alternative configurations of its existing cell type configuration (e.g., SpCell / PCell configuration for SCell, or SCell configuration for PCell / SpCell). For example, if cell 524 is configured as a PCell for a UE (e.g., UE 120), the network entity (e.g., BS110) may indicate one or more SCell configurations for cell 524 in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration to allow fast switching of configurations, such as when a currently configured secondary cell (e.g., cell 526) is switched to a primary cell. Similarly, if cell 526 is configured as an SCell for UE 120, the network entity (e.g., BS110) may indicate one or more SpCell or PCell configurations for cell 526 in the L1 / L2 mobility configuration to allow fast switching of configurations (e.g., when cell 526 is switched to a primary cell). As described, the L1 / L2 signaling for switching the configuration of the cell being used by the UE 120 may be referred to as activating an update configuration. It should be noted that the L1 / L2 mobility configuration may provide a plurality of different primary cell configurations and / or secondary cell configurations for each cell, wherein the actual configuration to be activated is specified in the L1 / L2 signaling. In addition, the L1 / L2 mobility configuration may include an L1 measurement configuration for each cell in a deactivated cell state.

[0087] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a carrier aggregation configuration including cells with L1 / L2 mobility configuration according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 6In the example of , the carrier aggregation configuration includes a PCell 602 and two SCells 604 and 606, although the present disclosure is not limited to any particular number of SCells. Each cell 602, 604, and 608 includes an L1 / L2 mobility configuration (L1L2MobilityConfig) 608. For ease of illustration, only the configuration of PCell 602 is discussed. Other configurations may be similar. In this example, the L1 / L2 mobility configuration (L1L2MobilityConfig) 608 includes a secondary cell group configuration (SCellConfig) 610 and a special cell configuration (SpCellConfig) 612. For each of the cells 602, 604, and 608, a network entity (e.g., BS110) may indicate multiple L1 / L2 mobility configurations 608, although only one L1 / L2 mobility configuration is depicted. The L1L2MobilityConfig 608 may include one or more L1 measurement configurations for measuring cells in a deactivated state, which may be reported in a measurement report for UE mobility (e.g., in the event that the UE 120 moves into a location where a deactivated cell should be activated). In some cases, more than one SpCell / SCell configuration 610, 612 may be provided for a cell (e.g., a list of configurations of each type may be provided), and the actual configuration to be activated may be specified through L1 / L2 signaling. For example, if a cell is updated from a PCell to a SCell through an L1 / L2 mobility procedure, the L1 / L2 signaling may indicate the SCell configuration 610 to be applied. In another example, if a cell is updated from a SCell to a PCell through an L1 / L2 mobility procedure, the L1 / L2 signaling may indicate the SpCell configuration 612 to be applied.

[0088] The technology for L1 / L2 mobility exit configuration will now be described. When a cell is added to an L1 / L2 mobility cell set, a position in a bitmap may be assigned, and then the position may be used by a network entity (e.g., BS110) to activate and deactivate the cell. The procedure may be extended to add another medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI) format to release a cell with the same position in the bitmap. The cell is not deactivated, but released and / or removed from the configuration set. Therefore, the cell is no longer available for L1 / L2 mobility. In some aspects, a separate new MAC-CE and / or DCI message may release one or more cells from the configuration cell set. In other aspects, the release of a cell is indicated by coupling with existing L1 / L2 signaling and utilizing a bit (such as a reserved bit).

[0089] Figure 7is a block diagram illustrating an example of a carrier aggregation configuration and an L1 / L2 mobility exit configuration according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 7 In the example of , the carrier aggregation configuration includes a PCell 602 and two SCells 604 and 606, but the present disclosure is not limited to this number of SCells. Each cell includes an L1 / L2 mobility configuration (L1L2MobilityConfig) 608. In this example, the L1 / L2 mobility configuration (L1L2MobilityConfig) 608 includes a secondary cell group configuration (SCellConfig) 610 and a special cell configuration (SpCellConfig) 612. The network entity (e.g., BS110) sends a message 702 to release the configured SCell606. In various aspects of the present disclosure, two levels of cell release are available. The first level includes the release of the L1 / L2 mobility configuration of the cell (e.g., removing the cell from the L1 / L2 mobility cell set). The second level is the release of the entire cell (e.g., removing the cell from the CA configuration set). Figure 7 In the example of , cell 606 is released from L1 / L2 mobility and is therefore no longer available for L1 / L2 mobility.

[0090] will be relative to Figure 8 An example L1 / L2 mobility exit configuration MAC-CE for releasing a cell is described. Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example L1 / L2 mobility exit configuration medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 8 In the example of 802, MAC-CE 802 includes eight octets (e.g., Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 3, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, and Oct 8). In the first four octets (Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 3, and Oct 4), each C field is a binary bit corresponding to each cell index configured in the L1 / L2 mobility cell set. For example, a value of Ci=1 indicates the release of the cell with index i. The R value in the first octet Oct 1 indicates that one bit is reserved for future use.

[0091] In some specific implementations (e.g., Figure 8), also includes up to four octets. These additional octets (Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, and Oct 8) indicate whether to remove the entire cell or remove the L1 / L2 mobility configuration for the cell. In these example implementations, each bit in the octet corresponds to a cell to be released (e.g., in ascending order). A value of 1 may indicate the removal of the entire cell. A value of 0 may indicate that only the L1 / L2 mobility configuration for the cell is removed. In the example 804 with two octets, the first octet 806 indicates that cells c1, c2, and c5 are released. The second octet 808 indicates the release of cell c1 from the carrier aggregation configuration. In this example, the second octet 808 indicates the release of the L1 / L2 mobility configuration for cells c2 and c5, but these cells remain in the carrier aggregation set.

[0092] Additional aspects relate to L1 / L2 mobility exit configuration error handling. Since the network entity (e.g., BS110) controls when to send messages, transmission errors related to L1 / L2 mobility will not have catastrophic consequences. An example of an error is when the UE 120 does not receive the L1 / L2 signaling and the network entity (e.g., BS110) is not aware of the fact that the signaling was not received. In this case, the network entity (e.g., BS110) may choose not to utilize the bit of the released cell. Most of the time, the signaling is expected to be received by the UE 120, and the UE 120 can release the memory occupied by the information linked to the released cell. When adding a new cell, the network entity (e.g., BS110) can utilize the position in the bitmap corresponding to the previously released cell. The network entity (e.g., BS110) and the UE 120 do not need to be synchronized with the released cell, but will always be synchronized with the configuration cell, which is signaled by more reliable RRC signaling.

[0093] Alternative solutions include enhanced cross-layer signaling for error handling. With this solution, a network entity (e.g., BS110) can indirectly determine whether L1 / L2 mobility signaling is received. In these aspects, cross-layer functionality at the network entity (e.g., BS110) can be used to interpret the successful reception of MAC-CE / DCI by UE 120. For example, when a network entity (e.g., BS110) transmits a cell release MAC-CE, the network entity (e.g., BS110) records the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transport block (TB) ID containing the cell release MAC-CE. When UE 120 transmits an acknowledgment (ACK) to the corresponding PDSCH TB, the network entity (e.g., BS110) extracts the content of the acknowledgment in the TB and determines that UE 120 successfully received the MAC-CE. If UE 120 does not receive the MAC-CE, the network entity (e.g., BS110) can resend the MAC-CE at a later time.

[0094] As shown above, Figures 4 to 8 Provided as an example. Other examples may be relevant to Figures 4 to 8 The examples described are different.

[0095] Fig. 9 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example process 900 performed, for example, by a user equipment (UE) in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example process 900 is an example of L1 / L2 signaling for releasing a cell configured for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. The operations of process 900 may be implemented by UE 120.

[0096] At block 902, a user equipment (UE) receives an indication of a mobility configuration cell set. The mobility configuration cell set has a plurality of cells. For example, the UE (e.g., using antenna 252, DEMOD / MOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may receive the indication. The indication may be a radio resource control (RRC) configuration. The mobility configuration cell set may have a configuration that identifies one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

[0097] At block 904, a user equipment (UE) receives signaling for releasing a selected cell from a plurality of cells from a mobility configuration cell set. For example, the UE (e.g., using antenna 252, DEMOD / MOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may receive the signaling. In some aspects, the signaling includes layer one (L1) signaling. In other aspects, the signaling includes layer two (L2) signaling. The signaling may be a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first octet indicating the release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second octet indicating the removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0098] At block 906, the user equipment (UE) releases the selected cell from the set of mobility configured cells in response to receiving the signaling. For example, the UE (e.g., using the controller / processor 280, the memory 282, etc.) may release the selected cell. In some aspects, releasing the selected cell includes removing the selected cell from the carrier aggregation configuration. In other aspects, releasing the selected cell includes removing the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0099] Fig.101 is a flow chart illustrating an example process 1000 performed, for example, by a network device, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The example process 1000 is an example of L1 / L2 signaling for releasing a cell configured for layer one and / or layer two (L1 / L2) inter-cell mobility. The operations of process 1000 may be implemented by base station 110.

[0100] At block 1002, a network entity sends an indication of a mobility configuration cell set. The mobility configuration cell set has a plurality of cells. For example, the network entity (e.g., using antenna 234, MOD / DEMOD 232, TX MIMO processor 230, transmit processor 220, controller / processor 240, memory 242, etc.) may send the indication. The indication may be a radio resource control (RRC) configuration. The mobility configuration cell set may have a configuration that identifies one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

[0101] At block 1004, the network entity sends signaling for releasing a selected cell from a plurality of cells from a mobility configuration cell set. For example, the network entity (e.g., using antenna 234, MOD / DEMOD 232, TX MIMO processor 230, transmit processor 220, controller / processor 240, memory 242, etc.) may send the signaling. In some aspects, the signaling includes layer one (L1) signaling. In other aspects, the signaling includes layer two (L2) signaling. The signaling may be a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first octet indicating release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second octet indicating removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0102] At block 1006, the network entity releases the selected cell from the set of mobility configured cells in response to the signaling. For example, the network entity (e.g., using the controller / processor 240, the memory 242, etc.) may release the selected cell. In some aspects, releasing the selected cell includes removing the selected cell from the carrier aggregation configuration. In other aspects, releasing the selected cell includes removing the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0103] Example aspects

[0104] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) comprises: receiving an indication of a mobility configuration cell set including multiple cells; receiving signaling for releasing a selected cell from the multiple cells from the mobility configuration cell set; and in response to receiving the signaling, releasing the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set.

[0105] Aspect 2: The method according to aspect 1, wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration.

[0106] Aspect 3: The method according to aspect 1, wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0107] Aspect 4: The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

[0108] Aspect 5: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 3, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

[0109] Aspect 6: The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, wherein the indication is a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.

[0110] Aspect 7: A method according to any one of the preceding aspects, wherein the mobility configuration cell set has a configuration that identifies one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

[0111] Aspect 8: A method according to any one of the preceding aspects, wherein the signaling includes a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), the medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first eight-bit group indicating the release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second eight-bit group indicating the removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0112] Aspect 9: A method for wireless communication by a network entity, the method comprising: sending an indication of a mobility configuration cell set including multiple cells; sending signaling for releasing a selected cell from the multiple cells from the mobility configuration cell set; and in response to sending the signaling, releasing the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set.

[0113] Aspect 10: The method according to aspect 9, wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration.

[0114] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 9, wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0115] Aspect 12: The method according to any one of aspects 9 to 11, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

[0116] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of aspects 9 to 11, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

[0117] Aspect 14: A method according to any one of aspects 9 to 13, wherein the indication is a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.

[0118] Aspect 15: A method according to any one of Aspects 9 to 14, wherein the mobility configuration cell set has a configuration that identifies one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

[0119] Aspect 16: A method according to any one of Aspects 9 to 14, wherein the signaling includes a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), the medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first octet indicating the release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second octet indicating the removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0120] Aspect 17: According to the method described in any one of Aspects 9 to 15, the method further includes: recording an identifier associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) containing the signaling for releasing the selected cell; receiving an acknowledgement of the PDSCH; and confirming that the content associated with the acknowledgement indicates successful reception of the signaling for releasing the selected cell.

[0121] Aspect 18: A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to: receive an indication of a mobility configuration cell set comprising multiple cells; receive signaling for releasing a selected cell from the multiple cells from the mobility configuration cell set; and in response to receiving the signaling, release the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set.

[0122] Aspect 19: The apparatus according to aspect 18, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration.

[0123] Aspect 20: The apparatus according to aspect 18, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing a mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0124] Aspect 21: The apparatus according to aspect 18, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

[0125] Aspect 22: An apparatus according to any one of aspects 18 to 21, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

[0126] Aspect 23: An apparatus according to any one of aspects 18 to 22, wherein the indication is a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.

[0127] Aspect 24: An apparatus according to any one of Aspects 18 to 23, wherein the mobility configuration cell set has a configuration that identifies one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

[0128] Aspect 25: An apparatus according to any one of Aspects 18 to 24, wherein the signaling includes a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), the medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first octet indicating the release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second octet indicating the removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0129] Aspect 26: A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to: send an indication of a mobility configuration cell set comprising multiple cells; send signaling for releasing a selected cell from the multiple cells from the mobility configuration cell set; and in response to sending the signaling, release the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set.

[0130] Aspect 27: The apparatus according to aspect 26, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration.

[0131] Aspect 28: The apparatus of aspect 26, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing a mobility configuration for the selected cell.

[0132] Aspect 29: An apparatus according to any one of aspects 26 to 28, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

[0133] Aspect 30: An apparatus according to any one of aspects 26 to 28, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

[0134] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of these aspects.

[0135] As used, the term "component" is intended to be broadly interpreted as hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. As used, a processor is implemented using hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software.

[0136] Some aspects are described in conjunction with thresholds. As used, satisfying a threshold may refer to a value being greater than a threshold, greater than or equal to a threshold, less than a threshold, less than or equal to a threshold, equal to a threshold, not equal to a threshold, etc., depending on the context.

[0137] It will be apparent that the described systems and / or methods can be implemented in various forms of hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods does not limit the aspects. Therefore, the operation and performance of these systems and / or methods are described without reference to specific software code, and it should be understood that software and hardware used to implement these systems and / or methods can be designed based at least in part on these descriptions.

[0138] Although the specific combination of features is set forth in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. In fact, many of these features can be combined in a manner that is not specifically set forth in the claims and / or is not disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below may directly rely only on one claim, the disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim and each other claim combination in the claim set. The phrase "at least one" mentioned in the list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. For example, "at least one of a, b or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc and abc, and any combination with multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc and ccc, or any other ordering of a, b and c).

[0139] The elements, actions or instructions used should not be interpreted as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. In addition, as used, the articles "a" and "an" are intended to include one or more items, and they can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In addition, as used, the terms "set" and "group" are intended to include one or more items (e.g., related items, unrelated items, combinations of related items and unrelated items, etc.), and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". If only one item is intended to be referred to, the phrase "only one" or similar terms are used. In addition, as used, the terms "having" and the like are intended to be open terms. In addition, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "based at least in part on", unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method include: receiving an indication of a mobility configuration cell set including a plurality of cells; receiving signaling for releasing a selected cell from the plurality of cells from the mobility configured cell set; as well as In response to receiving the signaling, the selected cell is released from the mobility configuration cell set. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing a mobility configuration for the selected cell.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication is a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobility configuration cell set has a configuration that identifies one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signaling comprises a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first octet indicating a release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second octet indicating a removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

9. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, the method include: sending an indication of a mobility configuration cell set including a plurality of cells; sending signaling for releasing a selected cell from the plurality of cells from the mobility configured cell set; as well as In response to sending the signaling, the selected cell is released from the mobility configuration cell set.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein releasing the selected cell comprises removing a mobility configuration for the selected cell.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the indication is a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the mobility configuration cell set has a configuration that identifies one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the signaling comprises a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first octet indicating a release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second octet indicating a removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

17. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: include: recording an identifier associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) containing the signaling for releasing the selected cell; Receiving an acknowledgement of the PDSCH; as well as Confirming that content associated with the acknowledgement indicates successful receipt of the signaling for releasing the selected cell.

18. A device for wireless communication, the device include: Memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to: receiving an indication of a mobility configuration cell set including a plurality of cells; receiving signaling for releasing a selected cell from the plurality of cells from the mobility configured cell set; as well as In response to receiving the signaling, the selected cell is released from the mobility configuration cell set.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing a mobility configuration for the selected cell.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the indication is a radio resource control (RRC) configuration.

24. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the mobility configuration cell set has a configuration identifying one or more primary cell configurations for each secondary cell in the configuration cell set, one or more secondary cell configurations for each primary cell in the configuration cell set, and a measurement configuration for each cell in the configuration cell set.

25. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the signaling comprises a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) having a first octet indicating a release of the selected cell from the mobility configuration cell set and a second octet indicating a removal of the mobility configuration for the selected cell.

26. A device for wireless communication, the device include: Memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to: sending an indication of a mobility configuration cell set including a plurality of cells; sending signaling for releasing a selected cell from the plurality of cells from the mobility configured cell set; as well as In response to sending the signaling, the selected cell is released from the mobility configuration cell set.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing the selected cell from a carrier aggregation configuration.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the at least one processor releases the selected cell by removing a mobility configuration for the selected cell.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the signaling comprises layer one (L1) signaling.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the signaling comprises layer two (L2) signaling.

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