Techniques for facilitating SSB design for reduced capability devices in non-terrestrial networks
By configuring the first and second parts of the SSB in a non-terrestrial network to overlap resources associated with different beams, the ability to reduce power consumption and complexity of the device when receiving the SSB is solved, and more efficient communication is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202380085593.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-12-19
- Filing Date
- 2023-12-04
- Publication Date
- 2025-08-05
AI Technical Summary
Devices with reduced capabilities face high power consumption and complexity when receiving synchronous signal blocks (SSBs) in non-terrestrial networks, especially due to mutual interference caused by signal bandwidth limitations and resource overlap.
By overlapping the first and second portions of the SSB with resources associated with different beams in a non-terrestrial network, a reduced capability allows a reduced number of monitored symbols and decode assumptions when receiving the SSB, reducing power consumption and complexity.
Effectively reduce the power consumption and complexity of the reduced capabilities of the devices when receiving SSBs, and improve the communication efficiency of the devices in non-terrestrial networks.
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Figure CN120435828A_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. non-provisional patent application serial number 18 / 068,465, filed on December 19, 2022, entitled “TECHNIQUES TO FACILITATE SSB DESIGN FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY DEVICES IN A NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORK,” which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art
[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to wireless communications employing synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) for reduced capability devices.
[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. 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, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.
[0005] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continued mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., with the Internet of Things (IoT)), and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). Certain aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Further improvements to 5G NR technology are needed. In addition, these improvements may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunication standards that employ these technologies. Summary of the Invention
[0006] The following presents a simplified overview of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects. This summary does not identify key or critical elements of all aspects, nor does it delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that will be presented later.
[0007] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method may include monitoring a first resource for at least a portion of a first portion of a first synchronization signal block (SSB) of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB, the first resource being associated with a first beam. The example method may also include monitoring a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0008] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus may be a UE including a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to monitor at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource, the first resource being associated with a first beam. The memory and the at least one processor may also be configured to monitor a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0009] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is provided. The apparatus may include means for monitoring at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource associated with a first beam. The example apparatus may also include means for monitoring a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0010] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable code for wireless communication at a UE is provided. When executed, the code may cause a processor to monitor, in a first resource, at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB, the first resource being associated with a first beam. When executed, the example code may also cause the processor to monitor, in a second resource, on a second beam, a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0011] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication at a network node is provided. The method may include outputting a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB including a first portion and a second portion. The example method may also include outputting a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network in a second resource on a second beam, the second resource at least partially overlapping the second portion of the first SSB.
[0012] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus may be a network node including a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor being configured to output a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first portion and a second portion. The memory and the at least one processor may also be configured to output a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network in a second resource on a second beam, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0013] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node is provided. The apparatus may include means for outputting a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB including a first portion and a second portion. The example apparatus may also include means for outputting a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network in a second resource on a second beam, the second resource at least partially overlapping the second portion of the first SSB.
[0014] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable code for wireless communication at a network node is provided. When executed, the code may cause a processor to output a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first portion and a second portion. The example code, when executed, may also cause the processor to output a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network in a second resource on a second beam, the second resource at least partially overlapping the second portion of the first SSB.
[0015] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail some illustrative features of one or more aspects. However, these features are indicative of only some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be employed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.
[0017] Figure 2A diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station architecture is shown.
[0018] Figure 3A is a diagram illustrating an example of a first frame according to various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0019] Figure 3B is a diagram illustrating an example of downlink (DL) channels within a subframe according to various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0020] Figure 3C is a diagram illustrating an example of a second frame according to various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0021] Figure 3D is a diagram illustrating an example of uplink (UL) channels within a subframe according to various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0022] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station and a UE in an access network.
[0023] Figure 5A A first SSB and a second SSB according to various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.
[0024] Figure 5B A third SSB according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0025] Figure 5C A fourth SSB according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0026] Figure 6 A first mapping and a second mapping of SSBs to symbol indices according to various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.
[0027] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example environment that can support wireless communications, including aspects of a terrestrial network and a non-terrestrial network (NTN), according to various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0028] Figure 8 An example NTN cell supported by an over-the-air device according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0029] Figure 9 An example communication flow between a network entity and a UE 904 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0030] Figure 10 The mapping of the first SSB and the second SSB to time and frequency resources according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0031] Figure 11 The mapping of the first SSB and the second SSB to time and frequency resources according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0032] Figure 12 The mapping of the first SSB, the second SSB, and the third SSB to time and frequency resources according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0033] Figure 13 A diagram including over-the-air equipment providing service coverage to an NTN cell is illustrated according to various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0034] Figure 14 Depicted are diagrams illustrating examples of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0035] Figure 15 Depicted are diagrams illustrating examples of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0036] Figure 16 A diagram including over-the-air equipment providing service coverage to an NTN cell according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.
[0037] Figure 17 Depicted are diagrams illustrating examples of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0038] Figure 18 Depicted is a diagram illustrating another example of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0039] Figure 19 Depicted are diagrams illustrating examples of mapping SSBs to resources while minimizing UE monitoring time in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0040] Figure 20 Depicted is a diagram illustrating another example of mapping SSBs to resources while minimizing UE monitoring time in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.
[0041] Figure 21 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication at a UE according to the teachings disclosed herein.
[0042] Figure 22 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication at a UE according to the teachings disclosed herein.
[0043] Figure 23 are diagrams illustrating examples of hardware implementations for example apparatuses and / or network entities.
[0044] Figure 24 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication at a network entity according to the teachings disclosed herein.
[0045] Figure 25 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication at a network entity according to the teachings disclosed herein.
[0046] Figure 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an example network entity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0047] A network (e.g., a wireless communication network) may output one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to a UE, and the UE may process (e.g., decode) the SSBs in order to begin communication via the network. The SSBs may be used to synchronize system information between the network and the UE, and may include synchronization signals such as a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), which may be referred to as an acquisition signal. The SSBs may occupy resources in the time domain and / or frequency domain. The PSS, PBCH, and SSS may each occupy a different set of symbols and subcarriers of the SSB. As used herein, a set of symbols and subcarriers includes a non-zero number of symbols and subcarriers.
[0048] A wireless communication system (such as an NR communication system) can support both high-capability UEs and reduced-capability UEs. Examples of high-capability UEs include, among others, advanced smartphones, V2X devices, URLLC devices, and eMBB devices. Examples of reduced-capability (RedCap) UEs include, among others, wearable devices (e.g., such as smart watches, augmented reality glasses, virtual reality glasses, health and medical monitoring devices, etc.), industrial wireless sensor networks (IWSNs) (e.g., such as pressure sensors, humidity sensors, motion sensors, thermal sensors, accelerometers, actuators, etc.), surveillance cameras, low-end smartphones, etc. RedCap UEs may be referred to as NR light devices, low-layer devices, lower-layer devices, etc.
[0049] A RedCap UE may operate with one or more of reduced transmit power, a reduced number of transmit and / or receive antennas, a reduced transmit and / or receive bandwidth, or reduced computational complexity. An enhanced reduced capability (eRedCap) UE may have further reduced capabilities than a RedCap UE. For example, an eRedCap UE may be configured with a maximum radio frequency (RF) operating bandwidth of, for example, 5 MHz. However, SSB may occupy more than the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the eRedCap UE. For example, SSB may occupy a bandwidth greater than 5 MHz. In such a scenario, portions of the SSB may extend outside the operating bandwidth of the eRedCap UE, and therefore, the eRedCap UE may lack the ability to receive the entire content of the SSB. The maximum RF operating bandwidth may also be referred to as the "maximum bandwidth" or the "operating bandwidth."
[0050] In some examples, the network may copy a portion of the SSB into adjacent symbols so that the entire contents of the SSB can be received, for example, by a UE (such as an eRedCap UE). For example, the SSB may occupy four symbols in the time domain. The first symbol may span less than or equal to 12 resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain, and the remaining three symbols of the SSB may span 20 RBs in the frequency domain. In some examples, an eRedCap UE may be configured with a maximum RF operating bandwidth corresponding to 5 MHz and / or may be configured to receive the SSB within its maximum RF operating bandwidth. In one example, where subcarriers occupy 30 kHz, an eRedCap UE with a maximum RF operating bandwidth of 5 MHz may only receive the SSB that spans 12 RBs. For example, in a scenario where the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 30 kHz, the SSB that spans 12 RBs may occupy 4.32 MHz, which is within the operating bandwidth of an eRedCap UE with a maximum RF operating bandwidth of 5 MHz. In some such examples, the network may copy information beyond the 12 RBs of each of the three remaining symbols into adjacent symbols. For example, if the SSB occupies symbols 4 to 7 in the time domain, the network can copy part of the SSB into symbols 2 and 3 before the SSB. In other examples, the network can copy part of the SSB into symbols 8 and 9 after the SSB.
[0051] In the above examples, it can be understood that the first type of SSB can occupy four symbols, while the second type of SSB can occupy more than four symbols. In one example, the first type of SSB may also be referred to as a "legacy" SSB or a "Release 15" SSB. The first type of SSB may be configured for reception by a non-RedCap UE or a higher capability UE. In one example, the second type of SSB may also be referred to as a "RedCap" SSB. The second type of SSB may be configured and / or required for reception by a UE with reduced capability (such as a RedCap UE or an eRedCap UE). The RedCap SSB may include a first part and a second part. In one example, the first part of the RedCap SSB may correspond to four symbols of the first type of SSB and include a PSS, SSS, and PBCH. That is, the first part of the RedCap SSB may be the same as the legacy SSB that can be received by a legacy non-RedCap UE. The second part of the RedCap SSB may correspond to information of the first part that is copied to adjacent symbols. For example, the second part of the RedCap SSB may correspond to information of the first part that is outside the operating bandwidth of the UE (e.g., the maximum RF operating bandwidth).
[0052] It will be appreciated that a UE with reduced capability may lack the ability to receive the entire first part of a RedCap SSB, as a subset of the first part of a RedCap SSB may still extend outside the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the UE. That is, a RedCap UE or eRedCap UE may have the capability to receive only a subset of the first part of a RedCap SSB corresponding to four symbols of a legacy SSB, such as a portion of the first part that is within the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the UE.
[0053] In some examples, when a UE attempts to receive an SSB, the UE first monitors the PSS and SSS of the SSB. For example, a UE with reduced capability may monitor the first portion of a RedCap SSB including the PSS and SSS. However, a UE with reduced capability may only receive a portion of the PBCH of the RedCap SSB. For example, the operating bandwidth of the UE with reduced capability may enable the UE to receive a portion of the PBCH, the PSS, and the SSS. In order to receive the entire contents of the SSB (e.g., the complete PSS, the complete SSS, and the complete PBCH), the UE may try two hypotheses to receive the remaining information of the SSB (e.g., the portion of the SSB that is outside the UE's operating bandwidth). According to one example, the UE may try a first hypothesis corresponding to an adjacent symbol before the first portion of the RedCap SSB. According to another example, the UE may also try a second hypothesis corresponding to an adjacent symbol after (or after) the first portion of the RedCap SSB. Therefore, when a UE with reduced capability detects the PSS and SSS of the SSB, the UE may assume that the remaining contents of the SSB are located in the symbol before the first portion of the SSB or in the symbol after the first portion of the SSB. In such a scenario, the UE may perform blind decoding on each of these hypotheses. For example, the UE may attempt to decode the remaining contents of the SSB using trial and error. It will be appreciated that performing blind decoding to attempt to receive the remaining contents of the SSB under the assumption of a possible increase in UE complexity. Additionally, the portion of the SSB that is copied into adjacent symbols occupies additional time domain symbols, which may introduce additional UE power consumption and UE complexity as the UE monitors more symbols to receive the full contents of the SSB. For example, a UE with the capability to receive legacy SSBs may monitor four symbols, while a UE with reduced capability may monitor eight symbols to receive RedCap SSBs.
[0054] In a terrestrial network (TN), for example, due to signal reflections (e.g., when a signal reflects from an object before reaching its intended target), a UE may receive an SSB via any transmitter antenna beam of a network entity. Therefore, the transmission of SSBs in a TN may be configured such that the resources used to transmit a first SSB do not overlap with the resources used to transmit a second SSB. For example, with respect to SSBs, a first transmit antenna beam (e.g., beam m) of a first network entity may transmit a first RedCap SSB. Additionally, a second transmit antenna beam (e.g., beam n) of a second network entity may transmit a second RedCap SSB. In such a scenario, the first resources (e.g., time resources and / or frequency resources) used for the first RedCap SSB associated with the first transmit antenna beam may be different from the second resources used for the second RedCap SSB associated with the second transmit antenna beam (e.g., m≠n). That is, the first resources may not overlap with the second resources. Otherwise, if the corresponding resources used for the first RedCap SSB and the second RedCap SSB on different beams overlap, mutual interference (e.g., severe mutual interference) may result, which may affect the UE's ability to acquire SSBs. Therefore, terrestrial networks may be restricted in how different RedCap SSBs can be allocated to different beams so that resources do not overlap across beams.
[0055] In addition to terrestrial networks, wireless communication systems can also support non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). NTNs can provide service coverage to areas where terrestrial networks may not provide service coverage, such as rural areas. In NTNs, UEs can establish over-the-air (OTA) connections to base stations or components of base stations via air equipment.
[0056] Communication via an NTN wireless channel can be characterized by line-of-sight (LOS) propagation between a UE and an aerial device. In scenarios where a signal can travel directly between the UE and the aerial device (e.g., without reflection from an object), the NTN wireless channel can be characterized by strong LOS propagation. Even with LOS propagation, a signal may be reflected from an object before reaching its intended target (e.g., a UE or aerial device). As the number of reflections increases and / or the degree of signal reflection by an object increases, communication via an NTN wireless channel can be characterized by weak LOS propagation or non-LOS (NLOS) propagation. According to one example, a signal from an aerial device may be reflected into the sky, and therefore, a ground-based UE in an NTN may not receive and / or detect the NLOS signal. In contrast, a base station in a TN can direct a signal so that it reflects / travels on the ground, which enables a ground-based UE to receive a strong NLOS signal.
[0057] In addition, in NTN, the aerial device can radiate different beams. Each of these different beams can be associated with a corresponding coverage area with a clear boundary at ground level (e.g., on the ground). Therefore, the UE can usually receive a signal from one beam of the aerial device when it is located within the coverage area of the corresponding beam. However, in some scenarios, such as in edge cases near the boundary of two coverage areas associated with two beams, the UE can receive signals from both beams. Regardless of whether the UE is located within a single coverage area or near the boundary of two coverage areas, it is highly predictable which beam the UE can receive a signal from. That is, when the UE is located within the coverage area, it can be assumed which beam (or beams) the UE can receive a signal from.
[0058] As described above, NTN beams (e.g., one or more beams used for NTN communications between a UE and an airborne device) may be configured with different coverage areas on the ground. Such different coverage areas create an opportunity to reuse resources associated with different beams for transmitting the second portion of a RedCap SSB (e.g., information from the first portion copied into adjacent symbols). For example, a first coverage area associated with a first beam may overlap with a second coverage area associated with a second beam, and the first coverage area may also not overlap with a third coverage area associated with a third beam. Thus, the resources used for the first beam may include the first portion of the first RedCap SSB, and the resources used for the third beam may overlap with one or more resources associated with the second portion of the first RedCap SSB. In such a scenario, since the coverage areas associated with the respective beams are different, problems associated with mutual interference between the resources used for the first beam and the third beam may be reduced and / or negligible.
[0059] Various aspects disclosed herein provide techniques for utilizing characteristics associated with NTN to improve reception of SSBs by a UE with reduced NTN capabilities (e.g., a UE with reduced capabilities operating in an NTN). For example, one or more aspects disclosed herein provide techniques for reducing power consumption of a UE with reduced capabilities, for example, by reducing the number of symbols that the UE can monitor to receive RedCap SSBs. Additionally or alternatively, the techniques disclosed herein can reduce UE complexity, for example, by reducing the number of hypotheses that a UE with reduced capabilities can attempt when performing decoding of RedCap SSBs.
[0060] For the purposes of this disclosure, an SSB may be described as comprising a first part and a second part. The first part of an SSB (sometimes referred to as "SSB part 1," "main part," or variations thereof) may refer to a legacy SSB. The first part may be used by higher capability UEs and / or non-reduced capability UEs. The first part may include some information that may not be received by a reduced capability UE, for example, due to the limited operating bandwidth of the reduced capability UE.
[0061] The second part of the SSB (sometimes referred to as "SSB part 2," "secondary part," or variations thereof) may refer to a portion of the SSB that may not be received by a reduced-capability UE, for example, due to the reduced-capability UE's limited operating bandwidth. The second part may be repeated (e.g., duplicated) and placed in another time resource to enable the reduced-capability UE to receive the full content of the SSB. For example, the second part may include PBCH information duplicated into adjacent symbols.
[0062] Various aspects disclosed herein provide techniques for transmitting an SSB comprising a first portion and a second portion that can be received by a reduced-capability UE operating in an NTN. For example, resources used to transmit the second portion of a first SSB in beam m can at least partially overlap with resources used to transmit a second SSB in beam n, and wherein beam m and beam n are not the same beam. In one example, beam m and beam n are not the same beam for an airborne device, such as in an NTN. That is, various aspects disclosed herein facilitate removing restrictions on avoiding overlap of two SSBs in the same resources, as described in conjunction with terrestrial networks. It will be appreciated that removing such restrictions can reduce UE power consumption and / or reduce UE complexity. For example, the second portion of a first SSB can be placed close in time to the first portion transmitted on the same beam. By placing the first and second portions close in time, UE power consumption can be reduced, for example, by enabling the UE to enter a deep power saving state and remain in the deep power saving state for a longer period of time.
[0063] In some aspects, the distance between the first resource for the first portion and the second resource for the second portion, transmitted on the same beam, can be fixed in time. In such a scenario, a reduced-capability UE can be able to locate the second portion after finding the first portion, without having to try two hypotheses to locate the second portion. For example, after finding the first portion, the reduced-capability UE can use a fixed time distance to monitor the second portion, which can facilitate reduced UE complexity and reduced UE power consumption.
[0064] In some aspects, portions of SSBs from different beams may overlap with each other, which may enable a reduced-capability UE to monitor fewer symbols when searching for an SSB, which may facilitate reducing UE power consumption. For example, the second portion of a first SSB may be allocated to resources that overlap with the first portion of a second SSB. In such a scenario, the reduced-capability UE may find the second portion of the first SSB while already searching for the first portion of the second SSB, thereby reducing the number of symbols that the reduced-capability UE monitors when searching for the first and second SSBs.
[0065] Although the following description provides examples for 5G NR, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar areas where a UE may be configured with a reduced maximum RF operating bandwidth compared to other UEs, such as 6G, 5G-advanced, LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, xG (where "x" represents a number), and / or other wireless technologies.
[0066] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is a description of various configurations and does not represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring these concepts.
[0067] Several aspects of telecommunications systems are presented with reference to various apparatuses and methods. These apparatuses and methods are described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively, "elements"). These elements can be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.
[0068] As an example, an element or any part of an element or any combination of elements can be implemented as a "processing system", which includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on a chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic components, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system can execute software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terms, software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, or any combination thereof.
[0069] Thus, in one or more example aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of these types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.
[0070] Although various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases are described in this application by way of illustration of some examples, additional or different aspects, specific implementations and use cases may be generated in many different arrangements and scenarios. The various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases described herein may be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes and packaging arrangements. For example, various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases may be generated via integrated chip implementations and other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication equipment, computing equipment, industrial equipment, retail / purchase equipment, medical equipment, devices that enable artificial intelligence (AI), etc.). Although some examples may or may not be specifically for use cases or applications, the examples described may have a wide range of applicability. Various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases may be within the scope of chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level specific implementations, and further to the scope of aggregation, distribution or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) equipment or systems in conjunction with one or more technologies herein. In some actual settings, the equipment in conjunction with the various aspects and features described may also include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily include multiple components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The techniques described herein can be practiced in a wide variety of devices of various sizes, shapes, and configurations, including chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, aggregated or disaggregated components, end-user devices, and the like.
[0071] Figure 1 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, an evolved packet core (e.g., EPC 160), and another core network 190 (e.g., 5G core (5GC)). The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). A macro cell includes a base station. Small cells include femto cells, pico cells, and micro cells.
[0072] A base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). A base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with the core network 190 via a second backhaul link 184. Among other functions, the base station 102 may perform one or more of the following functions: delivery of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. Base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (eg, via EPC 160 or core network 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (eg, an X2 interface). First backhaul link 132, second backhaul link 184, and third backhaul link 134 can be wired or wireless.
[0073] In some aspects, a base station (e.g., one of base stations 102 or one of base stations 180) may be referred to as a RAN and may include aggregated components or disaggregated components. As an example of a disaggregated RAN, a base station may include a central unit (CU) (e.g., CU 106), one or more distributed units (DUs) (e.g., DU 105), and / or one or more remote units (RUs) (e.g., RU 109), as shown in FIG. Figure 1 As illustrated. The RAN can be decomposed by splitting between the RU 109 and the aggregated CU / DU. The RAN can be decomposed by splitting between the CU 106, DU 105, and RU 109. The RAN can be decomposed by splitting between the CU 106 and the aggregated DU / RU. The CU 106 and one or more DUs can be connected via an F1 interface. The DU 105 and RU 109 can be connected via a fronthaul interface. The connection between the CU 106 and the DU 105 can be referred to as midhaul, and the connection between the DU 105 and the RU 109 can be referred to as fronthaul. The connection between the CU 106 and the core network 190 can be referred to as backhaul.
[0074] The RAN may be based on a functional split between various components of the RAN (e.g., between the CU 106, DU 105, or RU 109). The CU 106 may be configured to perform one or more aspects of a wireless communication protocol, e.g., handle one or more layers of a protocol stack, and one or more DUs may be configured to handle other aspects of the wireless communication protocol, e.g., other layers of the protocol stack. In different implementations, the split between the layers handled by the CU and the layers handled by the DU may occur at different layers of the protocol stack. As a non-limiting example, the DU 105 may provide a logical node that hosts the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and at least a portion of the physical (PHY) layer based on the functional split. The RU may provide a logical node that is configured to host at least a portion of the PHY layer and radio frequency (RF) processing. The CU 106 may host, for example, higher layer functions above the RLC layer, such as the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and / or upper layers. In other implementations, the split between the layer functions provided by the CU, DU, or RU may vary.
[0075] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas. For example, small cell 103 can have a coverage area 111 that overlaps with the corresponding geographic coverage area 110 of one or more base stations (e.g., one or more macro base stations, such as base station 102). A network that includes both small cells and macro cells can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network can also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which can provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG). The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 can include uplink (UL) (also known as reverse link) transmissions from the UE to the base station and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmissions from the base station to the UE. The communication link 120 can use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link can be over one or more carriers. For each carrier allocated in the carrier aggregation for up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction, the base station 102 / UE 104 can use spectrum with a bandwidth of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 400 MHz, etc.). These carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell) and the secondary component carriers may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells).
[0076] Certain UEs may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links, such as D2D communication link 158. D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be accomplished through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.
[0077] The wireless communication system may also include a Wi-Fi access point (AP), such as AP 150, that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA), such as STA 152, via a communication link 154, e.g., in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum, etc. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) to determine whether the channel is available prior to communicating.
[0078] Small cell 103 can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell 103 can adopt NR and use the same unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz, etc.) as that used by Wi-Fi AP 150. Small cell 103 adopting NR in unlicensed spectrum can improve access network coverage and / or increase access network capacity.
[0079] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
[0080] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz-24.25GHz). The frequency bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and therefore the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation to more than 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR2-2 (52.6GHz-71GHz), FR4 (71GHz-114.25GHz) and FR5 (114.25GHz-300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.
[0081] With the above in mind, unless otherwise specified, if the term "sub-6 GHz" or the like is used herein, it may broadly refer to frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used herein, it may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR2-2, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.
[0082] A base station (whether a small cell 103 or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station)) may include and / or be referred to as an eNB, a gNodeB (gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations, such as gNBs, may operate in the traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave frequencies, and / or near millimeter wave frequencies to communicate with UE 104. When a gNB operates in millimeter wave frequencies or near millimeter wave frequencies, base station 180 may be referred to as a millimeter wave base station. A millimeter wave base station may utilize beamforming 181 with UE 104 to compensate for path loss and short range. Base station 180 and UE 104 may each include multiple antennas (such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays) to facilitate beamforming.
[0083] Base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals in one or more transmit directions 182 to UE 104. UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from base station 180 in one or more receive directions 183. UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to base station 180 in one or more transmit directions. Base station 180 may receive beamformed signals from UE 104 in one or more receive directions. Base station 180 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the optimal receive direction and transmit direction for each of base station 180 / UE 104. The transmit direction and receive direction of base station 180 may or may not be the same. The transmit direction and receive direction of UE 104 may or may not be the same.
[0084] The EPC 160 may include a mobility management entity (e.g., MME 162), other MMEs 164, a serving gateway 166, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 168, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 170, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (e.g., PDN gateway 172). The MME 162 may communicate with a home subscriber server (HSS) (e.g., HSS 174). The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Generally speaking, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are passed through the serving gateway 166, which is itself connected to the PDN gateway 172. The PDN gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to the IP services 176. The IP services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 provides functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. It serves as the entry point for content providers' MBMS delivery, authorizes and initiates MBMS bearer services within the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and schedules MBMS delivery. The MBMS Gateway 168 distributes MBMS services to base stations 102 within a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts specific services. It is also responsible for session management (start / stop) and for collecting eMBMS-related billing information.
[0085] The core network 190 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) (e.g., AMF 192), other AMFs 193, a session management function (SMF) 194, and a user plane function (UPF) (e.g., UPF 195). The AMF 192 may communicate with a unified data management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. Generally speaking, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are passed through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to the IP services 197. The IP services 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), packet switched (PS) streaming (PSS) services, and / or other IP services.
[0086] Base station 102 may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, Node B, eNB, access point, base transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmit receive point (TRP), network node, network entity, network equipment, or some other suitable terminology. Base station 102 may be implemented as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, a sidelink node, a converged (monolithic) base station having a baseband unit (BBU) (including a CU and DU) and a RU, or as a disaggregated base station including one or more of a CU, DU, and / or RU. A collection of base stations that may include disaggregated base stations and / or converged base stations may be referred to as a next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN). Base station 102 provides an access point for UE 104 to EPC 160 or core network 190.
[0087] Examples of UEs include cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electric meters, gas pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare equipment, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or any other similarly functional device. Some of the UEs may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, heart rate monitors, etc.). A UE may also be referred to as a station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable term. In some scenarios, the term "UE" may also apply to one or more supporting devices, such as in a device constellation arrangement. One or more of these devices may access a network collectively and / or individually.
[0088] Reference again Figure 1 In certain aspects, a wireless device, such as one of the UEs 104, may communicate with a network entity, such as one of the base stations 102 or components of the base station (e.g., the CU 106, the DU 105, and / or the RU 109), which may be configured to manage one or more aspects of wireless communications. For example, the UE 104 may include a UE SSB component 198 configured to facilitate receiving SSBs for at least UEs with reduced capabilities in the NTN.
[0089] In certain aspects, the example UE SSB component 198 can be configured to monitor at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource associated with a first beam. The example UE SSB component 198 can also be configured to monitor a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource that at least partially overlaps with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0090] In another configuration, a network entity, such as the air device 107, one of the base stations 102, or a component of the base station (e.g., the CU 106, the DU 105, and / or the RU 109), may be configured to manage one or more aspects of wireless communications. For example, the base station 102 or the air device 107 may include a network SSB component 199 configured to facilitate the transmission of SSBs for at least UEs with reduced capabilities in the NTN.
[0091] In certain aspects, the network SSB component 199 can be configured to output a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first portion and a second portion. The example network SSB component 199 can also be configured to output a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network in a second resource on a second beam, the second resource at least partially overlapping the second portion of the first SSB.
[0092] Various aspects presented herein may enable a UE to improve SSB reception, which may facilitate reduced UE complexity and / or reduced UE power consumption.
[0093] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be arranged in a variety of ways using various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of the network, a radio access network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element or 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 a converged 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 TRP, or a cell) can be implemented as a converged base station (also known as a standalone BS or a monolithic BS) or a decomposed base station.
[0094] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is 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 across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).
[0095] Base station operation or network design 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 (a network configuration such as that initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation 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. Various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.
[0096] As an example, Figure 2 A diagram illustrating the architecture of an example of a disaggregated base station 200 is shown. The architecture of disaggregated base station 200 may include one or more CUs (e.g., CU 210), which may communicate directly with core network 220 via backhaul links or indirectly through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) (e.g., near-RT RIC 225) via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 215 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework (e.g., SMO framework 205), or both. CU 210 may communicate with one or more DUs (e.g., DU 230) via corresponding midhaul links (e.g., F1 interfaces). DU 230 may communicate with one or more RUs (e.g., RU 240) via corresponding fronthaul links. RU 240 may communicate with corresponding UEs (e.g., UE 204) via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, UE 204 can be served by multiple RUs simultaneously.
[0097] Each of the units (i.e., CU (e.g., CU 210), DU (e.g., DU 230), RU (e.g., RU 240), and near-RT RIC (e.g., near-RT RIC 225), non-RT RIC (e.g., non-RT RIC 215), and SMO framework 205) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interfaces of these units, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via the wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as an RF transceiver) configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, to one or more of the other units via the wireless transmission medium.
[0098] In some aspects, the CU 210 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 210. The CU 210 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 210 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 210 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 230 for network control and signaling.
[0099] The DU 230 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs. In some aspects, the DU 230 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.) based at least in part on a functional split (such as those defined by 3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 230 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 the DU 230 or with control functions hosted by the CU 210.
[0100] Lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs. In some deployments, the RU 240 controlled by the DU 230 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 functional splitting (such as lower layer functional splitting). In this architecture, the RU 240 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs (e.g., UE 204). In some specific implementations, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 240 may be controlled by the corresponding DU. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU and CU 210 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).
[0101] The SMO framework 205 can 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 205 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 205 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 290) 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, CUs, DUs, RUs, and near-RT RICs. In some implementations, the SMO framework 205 can communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as Open eNB (O-eNB) 211) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 205 can communicate directly with one or more RUs via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 205 may also include a non-RT RIC 215 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 205 .
[0102] The non-RT RIC 215 may be configured to include logic that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 225. The non-RT RIC 215 may be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 225 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 225 may be configured to include logic that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data collection and actions via an interface (e.g., via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs, one or more DUs, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 225.
[0103] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 215 can receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 225. Such information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 225 and can be received from non-network data sources or from network functions at the SMO framework 205 or the non-RT RIC 215. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 215 or the near-RT RIC 225 can be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 215 can monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 205 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or by creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).
[0104] At least one of the CU 210, the DU 230, and the RU 240 may be referred to as a base station 202. Thus, the base station 202 may include one or more of the CU 210, the DU 230, and the RU 240 (each component is indicated by a dashed line to indicate that each component may or may not be included in the base station 202). The base station 202 provides an access point to the core network 220 for the UE 204. The communication link between the RU (e.g., the RU 240) and the UE (e.g., the UE 204) may include uplink (UL) (also known as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 204 to the RU 240 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as a forward link) transmissions from the RU 240 to the UE 204.
[0105] Certain UEs may communicate with each other using D2D communication (e.g., D2D communication link 258). D2D communication link 258 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. D2D communication link 258 may use one or more sidelink channels. D2D communication may be performed via various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi based on IEEE 802.11 standards, LTE, or NR.
[0106] The wireless communication system may also include a Wi-Fi AP 250 that communicates with a UE 204 (also referred to as a Wi-Fi STA) via a communication link 254, for example, in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the UE 204 / Wi-Fi AP 250 may perform a CCA prior to communication to determine whether the channel is available.
[0107] Base station 202 and UE 204 may each include multiple antennas (such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays) to facilitate beamforming. Base station 202 may transmit beamformed signals 282 to UE 204 in one or more transmit directions. UE 204 may receive beamformed signals from base station 202 in one or more receive directions. UE 204 may also transmit beamformed signals 284 to base station 202 in one or more transmit directions. Base station 202 may receive beamformed signals from UE 204 in one or more receive directions. Base station 202 / UE 204 may perform beam training to determine the optimal receive and transmit directions for each of base station 202 / UE 204. The transmit and receive directions of base station 202 may or may not be the same. The transmit and receive directions of UE 204 may or may not be the same.
[0108] The core network 220 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) (e.g., AMF 261), a session management function (SMF) (e.g., SMF 262), a user plane function (UPF) (e.g., UPF 263), a unified data management (UDM) (e.g., UDM 264), one or more location servers 268, and other functional entities. The AMF 261 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 204 and the core network 220. The AMF 261 supports registration management, connection management, mobility management, and other functions. The SMF 262 supports session management and other functions. The UPF 263 supports packet routing, packet forwarding, and other functions. The UDM 264 supports the generation of authentication and key agreement (AKA) credentials, user identity handling, access authorization, and subscription management. The one or more location servers 268 are exemplified as including a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) (e.g., GMLC 265) and a location management function (LMF) (e.g., LMF 266). However, in general, the one or more location servers 268 may include one or more location / positioning servers, which may include one or more of the GMLC 265, LMF 266, Position Determination Entity (PDE), Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC), Mobile Positioning Center (MPC), etc. The GMLC 265 and LMF 266 support UE location services. The GMLC 265 provides an interface for clients / applications (e.g., emergency services) to access UE positioning information. The LMF 266 receives measurements and assistance information from the NG-RAN and UE 204 via the AMF 261 to calculate the position of the UE 204. The NG-RAN may utilize one or more positioning methods to determine the position of the UE 204. Positioning the UE 204 may involve signal measurements, position estimates, and optional velocity calculations based on these measurements. Signal measurements may be performed by the UE 204 and / or the base station 202 serving the UE 204. The measured signals may be based on one or more of a satellite positioning system (SPS) 270 (e.g., a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), a global positioning system (GPS), a non-terrestrial network (NTN), or other satellite positioning / location systems), LTE signals, wireless local area network (WLAN) signals, Bluetooth signals, a terrestrial beacon system (TBS), sensor-based information (e.g., an atmospheric pressure sensor, a motion sensor), NR enhanced cell ID (NR E-CID) methods, NR signals (e.g., multi-round trip time (multi-RTT), DL angle of departure (DL-AoD), DL time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), UL time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), and UL angle of arrival (UL-AoA) positioning), and / or other systems / signals / sensors.
[0109] A wireless device, such as UE 204, may include a UE SSB component 198 configured to facilitate receiving SSB for a reduced capability UE in an NTN, such as in conjunction with Figure 1 The example described.
[0110] In certain aspects, a base station (such as the decomposed base station 200) or a component of a base station may include a network SSB component 199 configured to facilitate sending SSBs for reduced capability UEs in an NTN, such as in conjunction with Figure 1 The example described.
[0111] Figure 3A FIG300 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first subframe within a 5G NR frame structure. Figure 3B FIG330 is a diagram illustrating an example of DL channels within a 5G NR subframe. Figure 3C FIG350 is a diagram illustrating an example of a second subframe within a 5G NR frame structure. Figure 3D FIG38 is a diagram illustrating an example of UL channels within a 5G NR subframe. The 5G NR frame structure may be frequency division duplex (FDD) (wherein, for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that subcarrier set are dedicated to either DL or UL), or may be time division duplex (TDD) (wherein, for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that subcarrier set are dedicated to both DL and UL). Figure 3A 、 Figure 3C In the example provided, the 5G NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (most of which are DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and F is flexible between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 1 (all of which are UL). Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 1 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe can be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0 to 61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and all UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2 to 61 include a mix of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with the slot format via the received slot format indicator (SFI) (dynamically configured via DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G NR frame structure as TDD.
[0112] Figures 3A to 3DThe frame structure is illustrated, and aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other wireless communication technologies that may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10ms) can be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a mini-time slot, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. Each time slot may include 14 or 12 symbols, depending on whether the cyclic prefix (CP) is normal or extended. For a normal CP, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for an extended CP, each time slot may include 12 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be CP orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single-stream transmission). The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the CP and parameter set. The parameter set defines the subcarrier spacing (SCS) (see Table 1). The symbol length / duration can be scaled with 1 / SCS.
[0113]
[0114] Table 1: Parameter set, SCS and CP
[0115] For normal CP (14 symbols / slot), different parameter sets μ 0 to 4 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. For extended CP, parameter set 2 allows 4 slots per subframe. Therefore, for normal CP and parameter set μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2μ slots / subframe. As shown in Table 1, the subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2μ*15kHz, where μ is parameter set 0 to 4. Therefore, the subcarrier spacing for parameter set μ=0 is 15kHz, and the subcarrier spacing for parameter set μ=4 is 240kHz. Symbol length / duration is inversely correlated with subcarrier spacing. Figures 3A to 3D An example is provided for a normal CP with 14 symbols per slot and a parameter set μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs. Within a frame set, there may be one or more different bandwidth parts (BWPs) that are frequency-division multiplexed (see Figure 3B ). Each BWP may have a specific parameter set and CP (normal or extended).
[0116] The resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot includes a resource block (RB) (also known as a physical RB (PRB)) extending over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.
[0117] like Figure 3A As illustrated, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE. The RSs may include a demodulation RS (DM-RS) (indicated as R for a particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RSs may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).
[0118] Figure 3B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs) (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs), each CCE comprising six RE groups (REGs), each REG comprising 12 consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol of an RB. The PDCCH within a BWP may be referred to as a control resource set (CORESET). The UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., common search space, UE-specific search space) during a PDCCH monitoring opportunity on the CORESET, where the PDCCH candidates have different DCI formats and different aggregation levels. Additional BWPs may be located at higher and / or lower frequencies across the channel bandwidth. The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. 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 can determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block (also known as an SS block (SSB)). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent through the PBCH (such as the system information block (SIB)) and paging messages.
[0119] like Figure 3CAs illustrated, some of the REs carry DM-RS (indicated as R for a specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE may transmit the DM-RS of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and the DM-RS of the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the first or first two symbols of the PUSCH. Depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used, the PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of the subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the teeth of the comb. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to achieve frequency-dependent scheduling of the UL.
[0120] Figure 3D Examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH may be located at a position as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as a scheduling request, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback (i.e., one or more HARQ ACK bits indicating one or more ACKs and / or negative ACKs (NACKs)). The PUSCH carries data and may be used to carry, among other things, a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.
[0121] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a first wireless device configured to exchange wireless communications with a second wireless device. Figure 4 In the illustrated example of , the first wireless device may include a base station 410, the second wireless device may include a UE 450, and the base station 410 may communicate with the UE 450 in an access network. Figure 4 As shown, base station 410 includes a transmit processor (TX processor 416), a transmitter 418Tx, a receiver 418Rx, antennas 420, a receive processor (RX processor 470), a channel estimator 474, a controller / processor 475, and a memory 476. Example UE 450 includes antennas 452, a transmitter 454Tx, a receiver 454Rx, an RX processor 456, a channel estimator 458, a controller / processor 459, a memory 460, and a TX processor 468. In other examples, base station 410 and / or UE 450 may include additional or alternative components.
[0122] In the DL, Internet Protocol (IP) packets may be provided to the controller / processor 475. The controller / processor 475 implements layer 3 functionality and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 475 provides RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.
[0123] The TX processor 416 and the RX processor 470 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, which includes the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 416 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-order phase-shift keying (M-PSK), and M-order quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 474 may be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel state feedback transmitted by the UE 450. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different one of the antennas 420 via a separate transmitter (e.g., transmitter 418Tx). Each transmitter 418Tx may modulate a radio frequency (RF) carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.
[0124] At the UE 450, each receiver 454Rx receives a signal via its corresponding antenna in the antennas 452. Each receiver 454Rx recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the RX processor 456. The TX processor 468 and the RX processor 456 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 456 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 450. In the event that multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 450, two or more of the multiple spatial streams may be combined by the RX processor 456 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The RX processor 456 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 410. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator 458. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by base station 410. The data and control signals are then provided to a controller / processor 459, which implements layer 3 functionality and layer 2 functionality.
[0125] The controller / processor 459 may be associated with a memory 460 that stores program codes and data. The memory 460 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 459 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets. The controller / processor 459 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.
[0126] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 410, the controller / processor 459 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.
[0127] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 458 from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 410 may be used by the TX processor 468 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 468 may be provided to different ones of the antennas 452 via separate transmitters (e.g., transmitter 454Tx). Each transmitter 454Tx may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.
[0128] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 410 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 450. Each receiver 418Rx receives a signal through its corresponding one of the antennas 420. Each receiver 418Rx recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the RX processor 470.
[0129] The controller / processor 475 may be associated with a memory 476 that stores program codes and data. The memory 476 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 475 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets. The controller / processor 475 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.
[0130] At least one of the TX processor 468, the RX processor 456, and the controller / processor 459 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 and / or Figure 2 The UE SSB component 198 combines various aspects.
[0131] At least one of the TX processor 416, the RX processor 470, and the controller / processor 475 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 and / or Figure 2 The SSB component 199 combines various aspects of the network.
[0132] As described above, wireless communication systems (such as NR communication systems) can support devices with higher capabilities and devices with reduced capabilities. RedCap UEs can communicate based on various types of wireless communications. For example, smart wearable devices can transmit or receive communications based on low power wide area networks (LPWA) / mMTC, IoT devices can transmit or receive communications based on URLLC, sensors / cameras can transmit or receive communications based on eMBB, and so on. In some examples, a UE with reduced capabilities may have an uplink transmission power that is smaller than the uplink transmission power of a UE with higher capabilities. As another example, a UE with reduced capabilities may have a reduced transmission bandwidth or reception bandwidth compared to other UEs. For example, a UE with reduced capabilities may have an operating bandwidth between 5 MHz and 20 MHz for both transmission and reception compared to other UEs that may have a bandwidth of up to 100 MHz. As another example, a UE with reduced capabilities may have a reduced number of receive antennas compared to other UEs. A UE with reduced capabilities may additionally or alternatively have a reduced computational complexity than other UEs.
[0133] Enhanced RedCap (eRedCap) UEs may have further reduced capabilities than RedCap UEs. For example, an eRedCap UE may be configured with a maximum RF operating bandwidth of, for example, 5 MHz, compared to a RedCap UE, which may be configured with a maximum RF operating bandwidth of up to 20 MHz. It will be appreciated that the maximum RF operating bandwidth of 5 MHz for an eRedCap UE is merely illustrative, and other eRedCap UEs may have a maximum RF operating bandwidth different from 5 MHz. Compared to a RedCap UE, an eRedCap UE with a reduced maximum RF operating bandwidth may have reduced computational complexity, which may provide benefits such as reduced cost and reduced power consumption.
[0134] When an SSB occupies a bandwidth greater than 5 MHz, an eRedCap UE with a maximum RF operating bandwidth of 5 MHz may not be able to receive the entire content of the SSB. In some examples, a portion of the SSB may be replicated in additional symbols so that the eRedCap UE can receive the entire content of the SSB. For example, a subset of the PBCH of a first SSB may extend beyond the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the eRedCap UE (e.g., 5 MHz). In some such examples, the subset of the PBCH may be replicated in additional symbols within a bandwidth that satisfies the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the eRedCap UE (e.g., within a bandwidth of 5 MHz) so that the eRedCap UE can receive the entire content of the first SSB. For example, the network may replicate the subset of the PBCH in null symbols adjacent to the first SSB (e.g., one or more symbols not used to transmit a second SSB on another beam).
[0135] Figure 5A A first SSB 500 as presented herein is illustrated. Figure 5A In the illustrated example of , the first SSB 500 occupies four consecutive symbols (e.g., the first symbol 502, the second symbol 504, the third symbol 506, and the fourth symbol 508) in the time domain and 20 consecutive RBs in the frequency domain. Figure 5A In the example of , the first symbol 502 spans 12 RBs in the frequency domain, and the remaining three symbols span 20 RBs. Figure 5A As shown, the first symbol 502 carries the PSS, the second symbol 504 carries the PBCH, the third symbol 506 carries the SSS, and the fourth symbol 508 carries another PBCH. Figure 5A In the example of , the PBCH RBs also occupy the remaining RBs of the third symbol 506 carrying the SSS, minus some guard subcarriers, as shown by the gap between the PBCH RBs and the SSS in the third symbol 506. The PSS in the first symbol 502 and the SSS in the third symbol 506 each include 12 RBs, and there are 24 PBCH RBs in total.
[0136] In an example where the first SSB 500 is communicated in a frequency band with a 15 kHz SCS, the first SSB 500 may occupy a bandwidth that is less than the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the eRedCap UE (e.g., less than 5 MHz). However, if the first SSB 500 is communicated in a frequency band with a 30 kHz SCS (or higher), the first SSB 500 may occupy a bandwidth that is greater than the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the eRedCap UE, and therefore, the eRedCap UE may not be able to receive all information of the first SSB 500. For example, part of the PBCHRB may extend beyond the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the eRedCap UE.
[0137] Figure 5A An example of a second SSB 520 as presented herein is also illustrated. The second SSB 520 includes the information of the first SSB 500, including the PSS, SSS, and PBCH in the first four symbols. Figure 5A In the illustrated example of , the second SSB 520 is configured such that a portion of the PBCH of the SSB is copied in adjacent symbols. Figure 5A The first portion 522 and the second portion 524 of the PBCH RB each extend outside the maximum RF operating bandwidth 526 of the eRedCap UE. In order to enable the eRedCap UE to receive the entire content of the SSB (e.g., information contained in the PSS RB, SSS RB, and PBCH RB of the first SSB 500), the second SSB 520 is configured such that the first portion 522 is copied in the first adjacent symbol 510 adjacent to the second SSB 520 (e.g., in the fifth symbol). In addition, the second portion 524 is copied in the second adjacent symbol 512 following the first adjacent symbol 510 (e.g., in the sixth symbol). Figure 5A As shown, the first portion 522 and the second portion 524 each occupy less than a maximum RF operating bandwidth 526 .
[0138] As described above, the PSS and SSS may each occupy 12 RBs, and the PBCH may occupy 20 RBs. To support 30 kHz SCS, the 12 RBs associated with the PSS and SSS may occupy less than 5 MHz, which may be the maximum RF operating bandwidth of the eRedCap. In such an example, the first portion 522 and the second portion 524 of the PBCH RBs may each occupy four RBs outside the maximum RF operating bandwidth 526. Thus, the four RBs associated with the first portion 522 may be placed in the first symbol following the first SSB 500 (e.g., the first adjacent symbol 510). Additionally, the four RBs associated with the second portion 524 may be placed in the second symbol following the first SSB 500 (e.g., the second adjacent symbol 512).
[0139] It will be appreciated that the configuration of the second SSB 520 may have no effect on the information of the SSB received by a non-eRedCap UE compared to the configuration of the first SSB 500. For example, the first adjacent symbol 510 and the second adjacent symbol 512 contain copies of the first part 522 and the second part 524, respectively, and therefore, the non-eRedCap UE may obtain information of the second SSB 520 based on receiving the first four symbols and not receiving the first part 522 and the second part 524.
[0140] although Figure 5AThe example illustrates that the information of the first portion 522 is copied in the first adjacent symbol 510 and the information of the second portion 524 is copied in the second adjacent symbol 512, but in other examples, the information of the first portion 522 may be copied in the second adjacent symbol 512, and the information of the second portion 524 may be copied in the first adjacent symbol 510.
[0141] Figure 5B The third SSB 540 as presented herein is illustrated. Aspects of the third SSB 540 may be similar to Figure 5A For example, the third SSB 540 includes the same information as the first SSB 500, such as the PSS, SSS, and PBCH included in four consecutive symbols 502 to 508. Figure 5A Compared to the example, Figure 5B The third SSB 540 copies part of the PBCH RB to the previous symbol. Figure 5B As shown, the third SSB 540 is configured such that the first portion 522 is copied into the third adjacent symbol 514 preceding the first symbol 502. Additionally, the second portion 524 is copied into the fourth adjacent symbol 516 also preceding the first symbol 502. Figure 5B As shown in the example of , first portion 522 and second portion 524 each occupy less bandwidth than maximum RF operating bandwidth 526 .
[0142] although Figure 5B The example illustrates copying the information of the first portion 522 to the third adjacent symbol 514 and copying the information of the second portion 524 to the fourth adjacent symbol 516, but in other examples, the information of the first portion 522 may be copied in the fourth adjacent symbol 516 and the information of the second portion 524 may be copied in the third adjacent symbol 514.
[0143] exist Figure 5A and Figure 5B In the illustrated example of , the maximum RF operating bandwidth 526 is measured from the middle, and therefore, there is a first portion 522 that extends below the maximum RF operating bandwidth 526 and a second portion 524 that extends above the maximum RF operating bandwidth 526 . Figure 5C A fourth SSB 560 as presented herein is illustrated. Figure 5C In the example, the fourth SSB 560 includes Figure 5A The corresponding parts of the first SSB500 correspond to the PSS RB, SSS RB and PBCH RB. Figure 5C As shown, the maximum RF operating bandwidth 562 is measured from the bottom, and therefore, there is a third portion 564 that extends beyond the maximum RF operating bandwidth 562. In contrast, Figure 5A and Figure 5B Each example includes two portions, each portion extending outside the maximum RF operating bandwidth 526 of the second SSB 520 and the third SSB 540.
[0144] exist Figure 5C In the example of , third portion 564 occupies eight RBs. In some examples, fourth SSB 560 can be configured such that third portion 564 is copied to a first-neighboring symbol 510 adjacent to fourth symbol 508. Third portion 564 can occupy one symbol and also occupy less bandwidth than maximum RF operating bandwidth 562. In some examples, fourth SSB 560 can be configured such that a first subset of third portion 564 can be copied to a first-neighboring symbol 510, and a second subset of third portion 564 can be copied to a second-neighboring symbol 512 adjacent to first-neighboring symbol 510.
[0145] although Figure 5C The example of illustrates copying the additional portion to a subsequent symbol, but in other examples, the additional portion may be copied to a previous symbol, such as Figure 5B .
[0146] In some examples, adjacent null symbols may be before or after the first SSB. For example, in a frequency band with a 30kHz SCS, adjacent null symbols may be before or after the first SSB based on the SSB index. In some such scenarios, the UE may perform two hypotheses to determine the location of the additional PBCH symbols (e.g., the second part of the first SSB) during SSB detection. That is, when the UE is monitoring the first SSB, the UE may assume that there are two possible locations for the additional PBCH symbols (e.g., the second part) associated with the first SSB (e.g., a symbol before the first part of the first SSB or a symbol after the first part of the first SSB). Therefore, the UE may perform blind decoding on the previous symbol and the subsequent symbol. Performing blind decoding on two possible positions (e.g., two hypotheses) may increase the level of computational complexity at the UE.
[0147] Figure 6 A first mapping 600 and a second mapping 650 of SSBs to symbol indices as presented herein are illustrated. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 6 , four example SSBs are transmitted via four SSB beams (including a first SSB beam 610 , a second SSB beam 612 , a third SSB beam 614 , and a fourth SSB beam 616 ).
[0148] exist Figure 6In an example where the carrier frequency is less than or equal to 3 GHz, n is set to zero (e.g., n=0). In an example where the carrier frequency is within FR1 and greater than 3 GHz, n may be set to zero or one (e.g., n=0, 1).
[0149] exist Figure 6 In the illustrated example of FIG, the first mapping 600 maps the SSBs to corresponding symbol indices based on a 30 kHz SCS and at a carrier frequency less than or equal to 3 GHz (e.g., n=0). For example, the first symbol of the first SSB 602 is mapped to symbol 4, the first symbol of the second SSB 604 is mapped to symbol 8, the first symbol of the third SSB 606 is mapped to symbol 16, and the first symbol of the fourth SSB 608 is mapped to symbol 20.
[0150] The first mapping 600 illustrates the location of SSBs in a legacy system. For example, the SSBs are configured for non-eRedCap UEs (e.g., UEs with higher capabilities). That is, each of the SSBs in the first mapping 600 occupies four corresponding symbols, as shown in FIG. Figure 5A In addition, portions of the SSB are not copied in adjacent symbols, as shown in FIG. Figure 5A Second SSB 520, Figure 5B SSB 540 and Figure 5C The fourth is described in SSB 560.
[0151] exist Figure 6 In the illustrated example, the second mapping 650 maps the SSB to a corresponding symbol index based on a 30 kHz SCS at a carrier frequency less than or equal to 3 GHz (e.g., n=0) and configured for an eRedCap UE. For example, a portion of the corresponding SSB may be copied to an adjacent symbol to facilitate reception of the entire content of the SSB.
[0152] Similar to the example of the first mapping 600, the first symbol of the SSB of the second mapping 650 has an index {4, 8, 16, 20}. The second part of the SSB (e.g., "part 2") of each of the corresponding SSBs may be copied in adjacent symbols that precede or follow the first part (e.g., "part 1") of each of the SSBs. Figure 6In the illustrated example, the second portions of the first SSB 602 and the third SSB 606 are each copied to the adjacent symbols preceding the first portion of the respective SSB. For example, the first SSB portion 1620 ("SSB1 portion 1") (which may also be referred to as the first SSB 602) occupies symbols 4 to 7, and the first SSB portion 2630 ("SSB1 portion 2") of the first SSB occupies symbols 2 and 3 preceding the symbol of the first SSB portion 1620. Similarly, the third SSB portion 1624 ("SSB3 portion 1") (which may also be referred to as the third SSB 606) occupies symbols 16 to 19, and the third SSB portion 2634 ("SSB3 portion 2") of the third SSB occupies symbols 14 and 15 preceding the symbol of the third SSB portion 2634.
[0153] exist Figure 6 In the example of FIG, the second portion of the second SSB 604 and the fourth SSB 608 are each copied to the adjacent symbol following the first portion of the corresponding SSB. For example, the second SSB portion 1622 (“SSB2 portion 1”) (which may also be referred to as the second SSB 604) occupies symbols 8 to 11, and the second SSB portion 2632 (“SSB2 portion 2”) occupies symbols 12 and 13 following the symbol of the second SSB portion 1622. Similarly, the fourth SSB portion 1626 (“SSB4 portion 1”) (which may also be referred to as the fourth SSB 608) occupies symbols 8 to 11, and the fourth SSB portion 2636 (“SSB4 portion 2”) occupies symbols 24 and 25 following the symbol of the fourth SSB portion 1626.
[0154] In some examples, when the UE is performing an initial access procedure and / or an asynchronous neighbor cell search procedure, the UE may not know the SSB index of the cell in advance. For example, the UE may not know whether it is looking for the first SSB or the second SSB. In another example, the UE may not know the timing information of the cell. The UE may be configured to receive a first type of SSB (e.g., a legacy SSB such as Figure 5A First SSB 500 or based on Figure 6 A higher capability UE capable of the first mapping 600) may blindly monitor symbols to search for and / or detect SSB.
[0155] However, lacking the ability to receive the first type of SSB but being configured to receive the second type of SSB (e.g., RedCap SSB, such as Figure 5A Second SSB 520, Figure 5B The third of SSB540 and / or Figure 5CA UE with reduced capability for receiving the fourth SSB 560) may try two hypotheses to receive the second part of the corresponding SSB. Figure 5A For the first SSB 500, after detecting the PSS portion and the SSS portion of the first SSB (e.g., the first SSB portion 1620), the reduced capability UE may try a first hypothesis in which the first SSB portion 2630 may precede the first SSB portion 1620 (e.g., symbol 2 and symbol 3). In a second hypothesis, the first SSB portion 2630 may follow the first SSB portion 1620 (e.g., symbol 8 and symbol 9).
[0156] In addition to trying two hypotheses when monitoring SSBs, a reduced-capability UE monitoring RedCap SSBs also monitors additional symbols compared to a higher-capability UE, which results in an increase in UE monitoring time and, therefore, increased UE power consumption. Consequently, such techniques for receiving RedCap SSBs may increase UE complexity and / or may degrade performance. For example, instead of monitoring four symbols of an SSB, a reduced-capability UE may try two hypotheses and monitor six symbols. In one example, the aforementioned issues may occur when the UE has knowledge of timing information for the cell transmitting the SSB. For example, the UE may have knowledge of timing information corresponding to symbol 4 and associated with the first SSB 602.
[0157] As described above, the transmission of SSBs in the TN may be configured such that the resources used to transmit the first SSB do not overlap with the resources used to transmit the second SSB. For example, with respect to SSBs, a first transmit antenna beam (e.g., beam m) of a first network entity may transmit a first RedCap SSB. Additionally, a second transmit antenna beam (e.g., beam n) of a second network entity may transmit a second RedCap SSB. In such a scenario, the first resources used for the first RedCap SSB associated with the first transmit antenna beam may be different from the second resources used for the second RedCap SSB associated with the second transmit antenna beam (e.g., m≠n). For example, referring to Figure 6 The second mapping 650 indicates that each of the second parts of the SSBs of the copied PBCH information overlaps neither with the second part nor with the first part of another SSB. Furthermore, if the first SSB part 2630 of the first SSB moves from the previous symbol (e.g., symbol 2 and symbol 3) to the subsequent symbol (e.g., symbol 8 and symbol 9), the first SSB part 2630 will overlap with the resources of the second SSB part 1622, which will cause mutual interference.
[0158] Figure 7is a diagram illustrating an example environment 700 that can support wireless communications including aspects of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks as presented herein.To enable communications with a UE, a variety of methods can be utilized.
[0159] In some examples, the UE may communicate with a terrestrial network. Figure 7 In the illustrated example of FIG, a terrestrial network includes a base station 702 that provides coverage to UEs (such as example UE 704) located within a coverage area 710 of the terrestrial network. The base station 702 can facilitate communications between the UE 704 and a network node 706. Aspects of the network node 706 can be managed by a core network (such as a Figure 1 example core network 190) to achieve this.
[0160] In some examples, the UE may send or receive satellite-based communications (e.g., via a satellite communication system like Iridium or a satellite-based 3GPP NTN). For example, the air device 722 may provide coverage to UEs (such as the example UE 724) located within the coverage area 720 of the air device 722. In some examples, the air device 722 may communicate with the network node 706 via a feeder link 726 established between the air device 722 and a gateway 728 to provide services to the UE 724 within the coverage area 720 of the air device 722 via a service link 730. The feeder link 726 may include a wireless link between the air device 722 and the gateway 728. The service link 730 may include a wireless link between the air device 722 and the UE 724. In some examples, the gateway 728 may communicate directly with the network node 706. In some examples, the gateway 728 may communicate with the network node 706 via the base station 702.
[0161] In some aspects, the air device 722 can be configured to communicate directly with the gateway 728 via a feeder link 726. The feeder link 726 can include a radio link that provides wireless communication between the air device 722 and the gateway 728.
[0162] In other aspects, the air device 722 can communicate with the gateway 728 via one or more other air devices. For example, the air device 722 and the second air device 732 can be part of a satellite constellation (e.g., air devices) that communicate via an inter-satellite link (ISL). Figure 7 In the example of FIG, the air device 722 can establish an ISL 734 with a second air device 732. The ISL 734 can be a radio interface or an optical interface and operate in the RF frequency or optical frequency band, respectively. The second air device 732 can communicate with the gateway 728 via a second feeder link 736.
[0163] In some examples, the aerial device 722 and / or the second aerial device 732 may include an aerial device such as an unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAS), a balloon, a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), etc. Examples of UAS platforms that can be used for NTN communication include systems including tethered UAS (TUA), lighter-than-air UAS (LTA), heavier-than-air UAS (HTA), and high altitude platforms (HAP). In some examples, the aerial device 722 and / or the second aerial device 732 may include a satellite or space-borne vehicle placed in a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO), a geostationary orbit (GEO), or a highly elliptical orbit (HEO).
[0164] In some aspects, the air device 722 and / or the second air device 732 can implement a transparent payload (sometimes referred to as a "bent pipe" payload). For example, after receiving a signal, the transparent air device can have the ability to change the frequency carrier of the signal, perform RF filtering on the signal, and amplify the signal before outputting the signal. In such aspects, the signal output by the transparent air device can be a repetitive signal, wherein the waveform of the output signal is unchanged relative to the received signal.
[0165] In other aspects, the air device 722 and / or the second air device 732 can implement a regenerative payload. For example, the regenerative air device can have the ability to perform all or part of the functions of a base station, such as transforming and amplifying a received signal via onboard processing before outputting the signal. In some such aspects, the transformation of the received signal can refer to digital processing, which can include demodulating, decoding, switching and / or routing, re-encoding, re-modulating, and / or filtering the received signal.
[0166] In examples where the air device implements a transparent payload, the transparent air device can communicate with the base station 702 via the gateway 728. In some such examples, the base station 702 can facilitate communication between the gateway 728 and the network node 706. In examples where the air device implements a regenerative payload, the regenerative air device can have an onboard base station. In some such examples, the onboard base station can communicate with the network node 706 via the gateway 728. In some examples, the onboard base station can include a DU and a CU, such as Figure 1 DU 105 and CU 106. In some examples, an airborne base station may include a DU that communicates with a corresponding CU on the ground.
[0167] Figure 8 An example NTN cell 800 as presented herein is illustrated, supported by an air device 802. Figure 8As shown, NTN cell 800 includes four example beams, each associated with a corresponding coverage area on the ground. For example, first beam 810 can be associated with first coverage area 820, second beam 812 can be associated with second coverage area 822, third beam 814 can be associated with third coverage area 824, and fourth beam 816 can be associated with fourth coverage area 826.
[0168] exist Figure 8 In the illustrated example of FIG, a first UE 804 and a second UE 806 are each located within the coverage area of the NTN cell 800 and can exchange communications with the air device 802. For example, the first UE 804 is located within the area of the first coverage area 820 and can therefore send signals to and / or receive signals from the air device 802 via the first beam 810. Figure 8 In the example of FIG, second UE 806 is located in an area that partially overlaps first coverage area 820 and second coverage area 822. In some such examples, second UE 806 can transmit signals to and / or receive signals from air device 802 via first beam 810 and / or second beam 812.
[0169] like Figure 8 As shown, the coverage areas of NTN cells 800 are typically different. Such different coverage areas create an opportunity to reuse resources associated with different beams for transmitting the second part of the RedCap SSB (e.g., information from the first part copied into adjacent symbols). For example, referring to Figure 8 In the example of FIG. 8 , the first coverage area 820 associated with the first beam 810 does not overlap with the third coverage area 824 associated with the third beam 814. Thus, the first resource associated with the first beam 810 may include a first SSB (“SSB1”), and the third resource associated with the third beam 814 may include a third SSB, and wherein the first resource and the third resource may at least partially overlap with each other. In such a scenario, since the coverage areas associated with the respective beams are different, problems associated with mutual interference between the first resource and the third resource for the first beam 810 and the third beam 814, respectively, may be reduced and / or negligible. For example, the first UE 804 may not detect the signal transmitted on the third beam 814, and / or the signal transmitted on the third beam 814 may arrive at the first UE 804 with very low strength. In such a scenario, the transmission of the third SSB on the third beam 814 will not cause severe signal degradation for the first UE 804 receiving the first SSB, but the resources for the two SSBs at least partially overlap.
[0170] Aspects disclosed herein provide techniques for utilizing characteristics associated with NTN to improve reception of SSBs by UEs with reduced NTN capabilities (e.g., UEs with reduced capabilities operating in an NTN). For example, aspects disclosed herein provide techniques for reducing power consumption of UEs with reduced capabilities, for example, by reducing the number of symbols that the UE can monitor to receive RedCap SSBs. Additionally or alternatively, the techniques disclosed herein can reduce UE complexity, for example, by reducing the number of hypotheses that a UE with reduced capabilities can attempt when performing decoding of RedCap SSBs.
[0171] For the purposes of this disclosure, SSB may be described as comprising a first part and a second part. The first part of SSB may refer to the old-style SSB, such as Figure 5A The second portion of the SSB may refer to a portion of the SSB that may not be received by the reduced capability UE, for example, due to a limited operating bandwidth of the reduced capability UE. The second portion may be repeated (e.g., duplicated) and placed in another time resource to enable the reduced capability UE to receive the entire content of the SSB. For example, the second portion may include PBCH information copied into adjacent symbols, such as in combination with Figure 5A The second SSB520, Figure 5B SSB 540 and Figure 5C The fourth is described in SSB 560.
[0172] Figure 9 An example communication flow 900 between a network entity 902 and a UE 904 as presented herein is illustrated. One or more aspects described with respect to the network entity 902 may be performed by a base station or a component of the network entity, such as a CU, DU, and / or RU. In the illustrated example, the communication flow 900 facilitates the use of RedCap SSB in an NTN. Aspects of the network entity 902 may be performed by Figure 1 Base station 102 and / or Figure 4 Various aspects of UE 904 may be implemented by Figure 1 UE 104 and / or Figure 4 UE 450 to achieve. Figure 9 Not shown in the illustrated example, but in additional or alternative examples, the network entity 902 and / or the UE 904 may communicate with one or more other base stations or UEs.
[0173] exist Figure 9In some examples, the network entity 902 may output a configuration 910 that is obtained (e.g., received) by the UE 904. The configuration 910 may indicate whether the network entity 902 supports RedCap SSB. In some examples, the configuration 910 may indicate that the second part of the SSB will precede the first part of the SSB. In some examples, the configuration 910 may indicate that the second part of the SSB will follow the first part of the SSB. In some examples, the configuration 910 may indicate a time distance between the first part and the second part of the SSB. In some examples, the configuration 910 may be (pre-)configured at the UE 904 and / or described in a technical specification.
[0174] like Figure 9 As shown, the network entity 902 can output multiple SSBs. For example, the network entity 902 can output a first SSB 914 on a first resource 916. The network entity 902 can output a second SSB including a first portion (e.g., second SSB portion 1 918) and a second portion (e.g., second SSB portion 2 922). The network entity 902 can output the second SSB portion 1 918 on a second resource 920 and can output the second SSB portion 2 922 on a third resource 924. The network entity 902 can also output a third SSB 926 on a fourth resource 928.
[0175] The UE 904 may perform a monitoring process 930 to monitor the first beam for at least one portion of the SSB. For example, the UE 904 may monitor the first resource 916, the second resource 920, the third resource 924, and / or the fourth resource 928 to receive a portion of the SSB, such as the second SSB portion 1 918.
[0176] The UE 904 may perform a monitoring process 932 to monitor the second beam for a second portion of the SSB. For example, the UE 904 may monitor the first resource 916, the third resource 924, and / or the fourth resource 928 to receive the second SSB portion 2 922.
[0177] The UE 904 may perform a decoding process 934 to decode the SSB. For example, the UE 904 may use the portion of the SSB received via the monitoring process 930 and the second portion of the SSB received via the monitoring process 932 to decode the second SSB.
[0178] In some examples, UE 904 may include a higher capability UE that is configured with the ability to receive the SSB via a first portion of the SSB (such as second SSB portion 1 918).
[0179] In some examples, when performing the monitoring process 932, the UE 904 may receive the second portion of the second SSB (e.g., second SSB portion 2 922) on resources that precede the first portion of the second SSB (e.g., second SSB portion 1 918). For example, the UE 904 may receive the second SSB portion 2 922 on resources that at least partially overlap with the first SSB 914. In other examples, the UE 904 may receive the second portion of the second SSB (e.g., second SSB portion 2 922) on resources that follow the first portion of the second SSB (e.g., second SSB portion 1 918). For example, the UE 904 may receive the second SSB portion 2 922 on resources that at least partially overlap with the third SSB 926.
[0180] In some examples, the second portion from beam m may at least partially overlap with the first portion from beam n in the time domain and / or frequency domain.
[0181] Figure 10 The mapping 1000 of the first SSB 1006 and the second SSB 1008 to time and frequency resources as presented herein is illustrated. Figure 10 In the illustrated example of , the first beam may be allocated with first beam resources 1002 including symbols 4 to 9 in the time domain. Similarly, the second beam may be allocated with second beam resources 1004 including symbols 8 to 13 in the time domain. Figure 10 As shown, first SSB 1006 includes a first portion 1010 ("SSB1 portion 1") and a second portion 1020 ("SSB1 portion 2"). Second portion 1020 may include information from first portion 1010 that may not be received by the UE, e.g., due to a reduced operating bandwidth of the UE. Second SSB 1008 includes a third portion 1012 ("SSB2 portion 1") and a fourth portion 1022 ("SSB2 portion 2"). Similar to second portion 1020, fourth portion 1022 may include information from third portion 1012 that may not be received by the UE, e.g., due to a reduced operating bandwidth of the UE.
[0182] exist Figure 10 In the illustrated example, the first part 1010 and the second part 1020 of the first SSB 1006 occupy the first resource and the second resource in the time domain and the frequency domain, respectively. Similarly, the third part 1012 and the fourth part 1022 of the second SSB 1008 occupy the third resource and the fourth resource in the time domain and the frequency domain, respectively. Figure 10 As shown, the first resource and the third resource are adjacent resources in the time domain. For example, the first resource associated with the first portion 1010 occupies symbols 4 to 7 in the time domain, and the third resource associated with the third portion 1012 occupies symbols 8 to 11 in the time domain.
[0183] exist Figure 10 In the illustrated example of , the second resource associated with the second portion 1020 of the first SSB 1006 at least partially overlaps in time with the third resource associated with the second SSB 1008. For example, the third resource occupies symbols 8 to 11 in the time domain, and the second resource occupies symbols 8 and 9 in the time domain. However, the second and third resources are non-overlapping in the frequency domain, as shown in FIG. Figure 10 For example, the second resource associated with the second portion 1020 occupies the first frequency bandwidth 1018, the third resource occupies the second frequency bandwidth 1026, and the first frequency bandwidth 1018 and the second frequency bandwidth 1026 do not overlap in the frequency domain.
[0184] In other examples, resources associated with the second portion of the first SSB may overlap in time and frequency with the first portion of the second SSB portion.
[0185] Figure 11 The mapping 1100 of the first SSB 1106 and the second SSB 1108 to time and frequency resources as presented herein is illustrated. Figure 11 In the illustrated example of , the first beam may be allocated with first beam resources 1102 including symbols 4 to 9 in the time domain. Similarly, the second beam may be allocated with second beam resources 1104 including symbols 8 to 13 in the time domain. Figure 11 As shown, first SSB 1106 includes a first portion 1110 ("SSB1 portion 1") and a second portion 1120 ("SSB1 portion 2"). Second portion 1120 may include information from first portion 1110 that may not be received by the UE, e.g., due to a reduced operating bandwidth of the UE. Second SSB 1108 includes a third portion 1112 ("SSB2 portion 1") and a fourth portion 1122 ("SSB2 portion 2"). Similar to second portion 1120, fourth portion 1122 may include information from third portion 1112 that may not be received by the UE, e.g., due to a reduced operating bandwidth of the UE.
[0186] exist Figure 11 In the illustrated example of FIG, the first part 1110 and the second part 1120 of the first SSB 1106 occupy the first resource and the second resource in the time domain and the frequency domain, respectively. Similarly, the third part 1112 and the fourth part 1122 of the second SSB 1108 occupy the third resource and the fourth resource in the time domain and the frequency domain, respectively. Figure 10 In the example of , the first resource and the third resource are adjacent resources in the time domain. For example, the first resource occupies symbols 4 to 7 in the time domain, and the third resource occupies symbols 8 to 11 in the time domain.
[0187] exist Figure 11 In the illustrated example of , the second resource associated with the second portion 1120 of the first SSB 1106 at least partially overlaps in time with the third resource associated with the second SSB 1108. For example, the third resource occupies symbols 8 to 11 in the time domain, and the second resource occupies symbols 8 and 9 in the time domain. In addition, the second resource and the third resource at least partially overlap in the frequency domain, as shown in FIG. Figure 11 For example, the second resource occupies the first frequency bandwidth 1118, the third resource occupies the second frequency bandwidth 1126, and the first frequency bandwidth 1118 and the second frequency bandwidth 1126 at least partially overlap in the frequency domain.
[0188] exist Figure 10 and Figure 11 In the illustrated example of , the second part of the SSB is located after (or after) the first part of the SSB in the time domain. Figure 10 In the example of , the first resources associated with the first portion 1010 occupy symbols 4 to 7, and the second resources associated with the second portion 1020 occupy symbols 8 and 9. Similarly, in Figure 11 In the example shown in FIG1 , the first resources associated with the first portion 1110 occupy symbols 4 through 7, and the second resources associated with the second portion 1120 occupy symbols 8 and 9. In some examples, the same rule (e.g., the second portion of the SSB is located after (or after) the first portion of the SSB in the time domain) applies to all SSBs. Thus, a UE (such as a reduced capability UE) searching for the second portion of the SSB can reduce the number of hypotheses it attempts to one because the UE can skip searching for the second portion of the SSB in resources preceding the first portion of the SSB. As described above, reducing the number of hypotheses attempted by a UE can reduce UE complexity.
[0189] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB may overlap with the first and second portions of the second SSB. Figure 12 The mapping 1200 of the first SSB 1210, the second SSB 1220, and the third SSB 1230 to time and frequency resources as presented herein is illustrated. Figure 12 In the illustrated example of , the first beam may be allocated with a first beam resource 1202 including symbols 4 to 12 in the time domain. Similarly, the second beam may be allocated with a second beam resource 1204 including symbols 8 to 16 in the time domain, and the third beam may be allocated with a third beam resource 1206 including symbols 16 to 19 in the time domain. Figure 12As shown, the first SSB 1210 includes a first portion 1210a ("SSB1 portion 1") and a second portion 1210b ("SSB1 portion 2"). The second portion 1210b may include information of the first portion 1210a that may not be received by the UE, for example, due to a reduced operating bandwidth of the UE. The second SSB 1220 includes a third portion 1220a ("SSB2 portion 1") and a fourth portion 1220b ("SSB2 portion 2"). Similar to the second portion 1210b of the first SSB 1210, the fourth portion 1220b may include information of the third portion 1220a that may not be received by the UE, for example, due to a reduced operating bandwidth of the UE. Figure 12 In the example of , the third SSB 1230 may correspond to the fifth part 1230a ("SSB3 part 1"). Figure 12 Not shown in the example, but it is understood that the third SSB1230 may include a second portion (e.g., "SSB3 Part 2") which is not shown for simplicity.
[0190] exist Figure 12 In the illustrated example, the first portion 1210a and the second portion 1210b of the first SSB 1210 occupy the first resource subset 1202a and the second resource subset 1202b of the first beam resource 1202 in the time domain and the frequency domain, respectively. Similarly, the third portion 1220a and the fourth portion 1220b of the second SSB 1220 occupy the third resource subset 1204a and the fourth resource subset 1204b of the second beam resource 1204 in the time domain and the frequency domain, respectively. In addition, the third SSB 1230 occupies the fifth resource subset 1206a of the third beam resource 1206 in the time domain and the frequency domain. Figure 12 As shown, the first resource subset 1202a and the third resource subset 1204a are adjacent resources in the time domain. For example, the first resource subset 1202a occupies symbols 4 to 7 in the time domain, and the third resource subset 1204a occupies symbols 8 to 11 in the time domain.
[0191] In some examples, the time length associated with the second portion of the first SSB can be longer than the time distance between the first portion of the first SSB and the first portion of the second SSB. Figure 12 In the example shown, the Figure 10 The second part of 1020 and / or assigned to Figure 11 The second resource subset 1202b associated with the second portion 1210b of the first SSB 1210 is allocated with a smaller frequency bandwidth than the resources of the second portion 1120 of the first SSB 1210. In some such scenarios, the second resource subset 1202b may be allocated with more resources in the time domain. Figure 10 and Figure 11Compared with the two resources (e.g., symbol 8 and symbol 9) in the time domain in the example of Figure 12 The second subset of resources 1202b is allocated with five resources in the time domain (eg, symbols 8 to 12).
[0192] like Figure 12 As shown, the second resource subset 1202b associated with the second portion 1210b of the first SSB 1210 at least partially overlaps in time with at least a portion of the third resource subset 1204a and the fourth resource subset 1204b associated with the second SSB 1220. For example, the third resource subset 1204a occupies symbols 8 to 11 in the time domain, and the fourth resource subset 1204b occupies symbols 12 to 16 in the time domain. Thus, in this example, the second portion 1210b of the first SSB 1210 at least partially overlaps in time with the third portion 1220a and the fourth portion 1220b associated with the second SSB 1220.
[0193] exist Figure 12 In the illustrated example, the fourth resource subset 1204b allocated to the fourth portion 1220b of the second SSB 1220 at least partially overlaps with the fifth resource subset 1206a allocated to the third SSB 1230. As described above, the third SSB 1230 may include a first portion (e.g., "SSB3 portion 1"). Therefore, the fourth resource subset 1204b associated with the fourth portion 1220b may at least partially overlap with the fifth resource subset 1206a associated with the fifth portion 1230a of the third SSB 1230.
[0194] although Figure 12 The example of illustrates overlapping resources in the time domain, such as in combination with Figure 10 As described in the example of , but in other examples, resources associated with respective portions of the first SSB 1210, the second SSB 1220, and / or the third SSB 1230 may at least partially overlap in the time domain and the frequency domain, as described in conjunction with Figure 11 The example described.
[0195] Similar to Figure 10 and Figure 11 For example, Figure 12In the illustrated example of FIG, the second portion of the SSB (e.g., SSB portion 2) is located after (or subsequent to) the first portion of the SSB in the time domain. For example, the first resource subset 1202a associated with the first portion 1210a occupies symbols 4 to 7, and the second resource subset 1202b associated with the second portion 1210b occupies symbols 8 to 12. Thus, a UE (such as a reduced-capability UE) searching for the second portion 1210b of the first SSB 1210 can reduce the number of hypotheses it attempts to one because the UE can skip searching for the second portion 1210b in resources that precede the first portion 1210a in the time domain. As described above, reducing the number of hypotheses a UE attempts when performing decoding of an SSB can reduce UE complexity.
[0196] exist Figure 10 、 Figure 11 and Figure 12 In the illustrated example of , the SSB indices are continuous, and the beams transmitting the corresponding SSBs are adjacent beams. Figure 8 In the example of , the first beam 810 can transmit a first SSB 830 ("SSB1" or "SSB Beam 1"), the second beam 812 can transmit a second SSB 832 ("SSB2" or "SSB Beam 2"), the third beam 814 can transmit a third SSB 834 ("SSB3" or "SSB Beam 3"), and the fourth beam 816 can transmit a fourth SSB 836 ("SSB4" or "SSB Beam 4").
[0197] Although NTN beams are associated with relatively different coverage areas on the ground, there are scenarios where some overlap may occur. For example, referring again to Figure 8 In the example of FIG. 8 , area 828 represents an area of overlap between the first coverage area 820 and the second coverage area 822. In such a scenario, a UE (e.g., the second UE 806) located in area 828 can receive two beams (e.g., the first beam 810 and the second beam 812), which may result in overlapping SSB beams.
[0198] In some examples, consecutive SSB indices may be associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas. For example, Figure 13 Illustrated is a diagram 1300 including an air device 1304 providing service coverage to an NTN cell 1306 as presented herein. Figure 13 In the example shown, the air device 1304 can wirelessly communicate with the UE on the ground via the service link and can wirelessly communicate with the ground node via the feeder link, such as in combination with Figure 7 described.
[0199] like Figure 13As shown, NTN cell 1306 includes four example beams, each associated with a corresponding coverage area on the ground. For example, first beam 1310 can be associated with first coverage area 1320, second beam 1312 can be associated with second coverage area 1322, third beam 1314 can be associated with third coverage area 1324, and fourth beam 1316 can be associated with fourth coverage area 1326. In addition, each of these beams can transmit a corresponding SSB.
[0200] In some examples, the network may use beams serving non-adjacent areas (e.g., beam m and beam n) to transmit SSBs with consecutive SSB indices. Figure 13 In the example of , consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas. For example, the first beam 1310 may transmit a first SSB 1330 ("SSB1" or "SSB beam index 1"), and the third beam 1314 may transmit a second SSB 1332 ("SSB2" or "SSB beam index 2"). Figure 13 As shown, the first coverage area 1320 associated with the first beam 1310 and the third coverage area 1324 associated with the third beam 1314 are non-adjacent. Similarly, the second beam 1312 can transmit a third SSB 1334 ("SSB3" or "SSB beam index 3"), and the fourth beam 1316 can transmit a fourth SSB 1336 ("SSB4" or "SSB beam index 4"). Figure 13 As shown, the second coverage area 1322 associated with the second beam 1312 and the fourth coverage area 1326 associated with the fourth beam 1316 are non-adjacent.
[0201] exist Figure 13 In the illustrated example of , although there may be overlap between portions of the coverage area, consecutive SSB indices are associated with non-adjacent beams, which reduces the likelihood of interference with respect to the SSB beams. For example, a UE may be located in the region 1328 that overlaps between the first beam 1310 and the second beam 1312. Figure 13 In the example of , the second beam 1312 is transmitting the third SSB 1334 and therefore will not interfere with the first SSB 1330 transmitted by the first beam 1310.
[0202] In some examples where beams serving non-adjacent areas transmit consecutive SSB indices, the second part of the SSB (e.g., SSB part 2) may be allocated resources before the first part of the SSB (e.g., SSB part 1), as in conjunction with Figure 14 In other examples, the second portion of the SSB may be allocated resources after the first portion of the SSB, such as in conjunction with Figure 15described.
[0203] Figure 14 Depicted is a diagram 1400 illustrating an example of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas as presented herein. Figure 14 In the illustrated example of , four example SSBs are mapped to resources in the time and frequency domains for four different beams. For example, the first beam resource 1402 may be associated with a first beam such as Figure 13 The first beam 1310) is associated with Figure 13 As described in the example of , consecutive SSB indices are associated with non-adjacent beams. For example, the second beam resource 1404 may be associated with a second beam that is not adjacent to the first beam. Figure 14 In the example of Figure 13 In a similar manner, the third beam resource 1406 is allocated to Figure 13 The second beam 1312 and the fourth beam resource 1408 are allocated to Figure 13 The fourth beam 1316.
[0204] exist Figure 14 In the illustrated example of , the second part of an SSB precedes the first part of the corresponding SSB. For example, the first part 1410a ("SSB1 part 1") of the first SSB 1410 begins at symbol 4, and the second part 1410b ("SSB1 part 2") of the first SSB 1410 begins at symbol 2. The third part 1420a ("SSB2 part 1") of the second SSB 1420 begins at symbol 8, and the fourth part 1420b ("SSB2 part 2") of the second SSB 1420 begins at symbol 6. In a similar manner, the fifth part 1430a ("SSB3 part 1") of the third SSB 1430 begins at symbol 16, and the sixth part 1430b ("SSB3 part 2") of the third SSB 1430 begins at symbol 14. Additionally, the seventh portion 1440 a (“SSB4 portion 1 ”) of the fourth SSB 1440 begins at symbol 20 , and the eighth portion 1440 b (“SSB4 portion 2 ”) of the fourth SSB 1440 begins at symbol 18 .
[0205] exist Figure 14 In the example of FIG, although a portion of the second SSB 1420 overlaps with the first beam resource 1402 associated with the first SSB 1410, the beam carrying the fourth portion 1420b is geographically separated from the beam carrying the first portion 1410a, and therefore, interference between the first SSB 1410 and the second SSB 1420 can be limited. For example, the second beam resource 1404 is allocated to Figure 13 The third beam 1314 has the same Figure 13 The first coverage area 1320 associated with the first beam 1310 does not geographically overlap with the coverage area.
[0206] exist Figure 14 In the illustrated example, the second part of the SSB precedes the corresponding first part of the SSB. Figure 15 Depicted is a diagram 1500 illustrating an example of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas as presented herein. Figure 15 In the illustrated example, the second part of the SSB follows the corresponding first part of the SSB. Figure 15 The mapping of resources to SSBs and beams can be similar to Figure 13 and Figure 14 .
[0207] For example, the first beam resource 1502 may be associated with a first beam such as Figure 13 The first beam 1310) is associated with Figure 15 In the example of Figure 13 In a similar manner, the third beam resource 1506 is allocated to Figure 13 The second beam 1312 and the fourth beam resource 1508 are allocated to Figure 13 The fourth beam 1316.
[0208] exist Figure 15 In the illustrated example of , the second part of the SSB follows the first part of the corresponding SSB. For example, the first part 1510a ("SSB1 part 1") of the first SSB 1510 begins at symbol 4, and the second part 1510b ("SSB1 part 2") of the first SSB 1510 begins at symbol 8. The third part 1520a ("SSB2 part 1") of the second SSB 1520 begins at symbol 8, and the fourth part 1520b ("SSB2 part 2") of the second SSB 1520 begins at symbol 12. In a similar manner, the fifth part 1530a ("SSB3 part 1") of the third SSB 1530 begins at symbol 16, and the sixth part 1530b ("SSB3 part 2") of the third SSB 1530 begins at symbol 20. Additionally, a seventh portion 1540 a (“SSB4 portion 1 ”) of the fourth SSB 1540 begins at symbol 20 , and an eighth portion 1540 b (“SSB4 portion 2 ”) of the fourth SSB 1540 begins at symbol 24 .
[0209] like Figure 15As shown, consecutive SSB indices are sent by non-adjacent beams. For example, the first SSB 1510 is being sent by Figure 13 The first beam 1310 is transmitted by the RF signal and the second SSB 1520 is transmitted by the RF signal. Figure 13 Similarly, the third SSB 1530 is being transmitted by Figure 13 The second beam 1312 is sent by the Figure 13 The fourth beam 1316 is sent.
[0210] In some examples, the network can use beams with consecutive SSB indices to serve two adjacent areas. For example, Figure 16 A diagram 1600 is illustrated including an air device 1604 providing service coverage to an NTN cell 1606 as presented herein. Figure 16 Not shown in the example, but the air device 1604 can wirelessly communicate with the UE on the ground via the service link and can wirelessly communicate with the ground node via the feeder link, such as in combination with Figure 7 described.
[0211] like Figure 16 As shown, NTN cell 1606 includes four example beams, each associated with a corresponding coverage area on the ground. For example, first beam 1610 can be associated with first coverage area 1620, second beam 1612 can be associated with second coverage area 1622, third beam 1614 can be associated with third coverage area 1624, and fourth beam 1616 can be associated with fourth coverage area 1626. In addition, each of these beams can transmit a corresponding SSB.
[0212] exist Figure 16 In the example, the air device 1604 may output a first SSB 1630 ("SSB1" or "SSB beam index 1") on the first beam 1610, may output a second SSB 1632 ("SSB2" or "SSB beam index 2") on the second beam 1612, may output a third SSB 1634 ("SSB3" or "SSB beam index 3") on the third beam 1614, and may output a fourth SSB 1636 ("SSB4" or "SSB beam index 4") on the fourth beam 1616.
[0213] In some examples, the network may transmit SSBs with consecutive SSB indices to serve two adjacent areas, but the indices of beam m and beam n may be discontinuous. For example, the network may output the first part of the first SSB (e.g., SSB1 part 1) on beam m, and may output the second part of the first SSB (e.g., SSB1 part 2) on beam n that is discontinuous with beam m. That is, if beam m is indexed to beam 3, beam n will be indexed to a beam that is discontinuous with beam 3. For example, beam n may be indexed to beam 1 or may be indexed to beam 5, but will not be indexed to beam 2 or beam 4.
[0214] Figure 17 Depicted is a diagram 1700 illustrating an example of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas as presented herein.
[0215] exist Figure 17 In the illustrated example of , four example SSBs are mapped to resources in the time and frequency domains for four different beams. For example, the first beam resource 1702 may be associated with a first beam such as Figure 16 The second beam resource 1704 may be associated with a second beam such as Figure 16 The third beam resource 1706 may be associated with a third beam such as Figure 16 The third beam 1614 of the present invention is associated with the fourth beam resource 1708, and the fourth beam resource 1708 can be associated with the fourth beam such as Figure 16 associated with a fourth beam 1616).
[0216] exist Figure 17 In the illustrated example of , the second part of the SSB (e.g., SSB part 2) follows the corresponding first part of the SSB (e.g., SSB part 1). For example, the first part 1710a ("SSB1 part 1") of the first SSB 1710 begins at symbol 4, and the second part 1710b ("SSB1 part 2") of the first SSB 1710 begins at symbol 18. The third part 1720a ("SSB2 part 1") of the second SSB 1720 begins at symbol 8, and the fourth part 1720b ("SSB2 part 2") of the second SSB 1720 begins at symbol 22. Figure 17 As shown, the fifth portion 1730a ("SSB3 Part 1") of the third SSB 1730 begins at symbol 16, and the sixth portion 1740a ("SSB4 Part 1") of the fourth SSB 1740 begins at symbol 20. Figure 17 In the example of FIG, the second parts of the third SSB 1730 and the fourth SSB 1740 are not shown for convenience.
[0217] like Figure 17 As shown, the resources carrying the second portion 1710b of the first SSB 1710 associated with the first beam are the same as the resources carrying the third beam (e.g., Figure 16 The resources of the fifth portion 1730a of the third SSB 1730 associated with the third beam 1614 of the UE are overlapped. Figure 16 For UEs in the area of overlap between the first beam 1610 and the second beam 1612, there will be limited mutual interference with respect to the corresponding portions of the first SSB 1710 and the third SSB 1730. Similarly, the resources carrying the fourth portion 1720b of the second SSB 1720 are the same as the resources carrying the fourth beam (e.g., Figure 16 The resources of the sixth part 1740a of the fourth SSB 1740 associated with the fourth beam 1616) overlap.
[0218] Figure 18 Depicted is a diagram 1800 illustrating another example of mapping SSBs to resources where consecutive SSB indices are associated with beams covering non-adjacent areas as presented herein. Figure 18 In the illustrated example of , four example SSBs are mapped to resources in the time and frequency domains for four different beams. For example, the first beam resource 1802 may be associated with a first beam such as Figure 16 The second beam resource 1804 may be associated with a second beam such as Figure 16 The third beam resource 1806 may be associated with a third beam such as Figure 16 1614), and the fourth beam resource 1808 can be associated with a fourth beam such as Figure 16 associated with a fourth beam 1616).
[0219] exist Figure 18 In the illustrated example of , the second part of the SSB is located after the first part of the SSB in the time domain. For example, the first part 1810a ("SSB1 part 1") of the first SSB 1810 starts at symbol 4, and the second part 1810b ("SSB1 part 2") of the first SSB 1810 starts at symbol 19. The third part 1820a ("SSB2 part 1") of the second SSB 1820 starts at symbol 8, and the fourth part 1820b ("SSB2 part 2") of the second SSB 1820 starts at symbol 23. Figure 18 As shown, the fifth portion 1830a ("SSB3 Part 1") of the third SSB 1830 begins at symbol 16, and the sixth portion 1840a ("SSB4 Part 1") of the fourth SSB 1840 begins at symbol 20. Figure 18 In the example of FIG, the second parts of the third SSB 1830 and the fourth SSB 1840 are not shown for convenience.
[0220] like Figure 18 As shown, the resources carrying the second portion 1810b of the first SSB 1810 are the same as those carrying the third beam (e.g., Figure 16 The resources of the fifth portion 1830a of the third SSB 1830 associated with the third beam 1614 of FIG. 1830 and the resources of the fifth portion 1830a of the third SSB 1830 associated with the fourth beam (eg, Figure 16 The resources of the sixth portion 1840a of the fourth SSB 1840 associated with the fourth beam 1616 of Figure 16 For UEs in the area of overlap between the first beam 1610 and the second beam 1612, there will be limited mutual interference with respect to the portion of the first SSB 1810 from the third SSB 1830 and the fourth SSB 1840. Similarly, the resources carrying the fourth portion 1820b of the second SSB 1820 are aligned with the fourth beam (e.g., Figure 16 associated with a fourth beam 1616).
[0221] exist Figure 17 In the illustrated example of , the second portion 1710b (e.g., located at symbols 18 and 19) overlaps with the fifth portion 1730a of the third SSB 1730 (e.g., located at symbols 16 to 19). Figure 18 In the illustrated example, the second portion 1810b of the first SSB 1810 (e.g., located at symbols 19 and 20) overlaps with the fifth portion 1830a of the third SSB 1830 (e.g., located at symbols 16 to 19) and with the sixth portion 1840a of the fourth SSB 1840 (e.g., located at symbols 20 to 23).
[0222] exist Figures 10 to 12 、 Figure 14 and Figure 15 In the examples of FIG, a reduced capability UE monitoring an SSB may monitor more symbols than a higher capability UE. For example, a higher capability UE may monitor 16 symbols to receive four SSBs, such as symbols 4, 8, 16, and 20. However, in some of the above examples, the reduced capability UE may monitor symbols before the first SSB (e.g., before symbol 4 in time) or before the third SSB (e.g., before symbol 16 in time). In other examples, the reduced capability UE may monitor symbols after the second SSB (e.g., after symbol 11 in time) or after the fourth SSB (e.g., after symbol 23 in time).
[0223] In some examples, aspects disclosed herein may apply techniques to minimize the monitoring time of a UE (e.g., a UE with reduced capabilities). For example, the network may transmit a second portion of an SSB to overlap with a first portion from another beam. For example, the network may transmit a first SSB on a first beam and a second SSB beam on a second beam. In such a scenario, the resources allocated to the first beam may include the first portion and the second portion for the first SSB. Additionally, the resources allocated to the second beam may include the third portion and the fourth portion for the second SSB.
[0224] Figure 19 Depicted is a diagram 1900 illustrating an example of mapping SSBs to resources while minimizing UE monitoring time as presented herein. Figure 19 In the illustrated example of FIG, four example SSBs are mapped to resources in the time and frequency domains for four different beams. For example, first beam resource 1902 may be associated with a first beam, second beam resource 1904 may be associated with a second beam, third beam resource 1906 may be associated with a third beam, and fourth beam resource 1908 may be associated with a fourth beam. These beams may be, for example, Figure 13 The non-adjacent beams in the example of Figure 16 Adjacent beams in the example of .
[0225] exist Figure 19In the illustrated example, the second portion of some SSBs follows the first portion of the corresponding SSB, while the second portion of other SSBs precedes the first portion of the corresponding SSB. For example, the first portion 1910a ("SSB1 part 1") of the first SSB 1910 begins at symbol 4, and the second portion 1910b ("SSB1 part 2") of the first SSB 1910 begins at symbol 8, which follows the first portion 1910a of the first SSB 1910. The third portion 1920a ("SSB2 part 1") of the second SSB 1920 begins at symbol 8, and the fourth portion 1920b ("SSB2 part 2") of the second SSB 1920 begins at symbol 6, which precedes the third portion 1920a of the second SSB 1920. Similarly, the fifth part 1930a (“SSB3 part 1”) of the third SSB 1930 begins at symbol 16, and the sixth part 1930b (“SSB3 part 2”) of the third SSB 1930 begins at symbol 20, which follows the fifth part 1930a of the third SSB 1930. The seventh part 1940a (“SSB4 part 1”) of the fourth SSB 1940 begins at symbol 20, and the eighth part 1940b (“SSB4 part 2”) of the fourth SSB 1940 begins at symbol 18, which precedes the seventh part 1940a of the fourth SSB 1940.
[0226] like Figure 19 As shown, the resources that a UE can monitor to receive SSB can be reduced to the original 16 symbols that a higher-capability UE can monitor when receiving SSB. Figure 19 The example facilitates reducing the UE monitoring time for receiving SSB, which can reduce the power consumption of the UE.
[0227] exist Figure 19 In the illustrated example of , the second portion of the SSB is allocated to resources that are contiguous in time. For example, the second portion 1910b occupies symbols 8 and 9. In other examples, the second portion of the SSB may be allocated resources that are not contiguous in time.
[0228] Figure 20 Depicted is a diagram 2000 illustrating another example of mapping SSBs to resources while minimizing UE monitoring time as presented herein. Figure 20In the illustrated example of FIG, four example SSBs are mapped to resources in the time and frequency domains for four different beams. For example, first beam resource 2002 may be associated with a first beam, second beam resource 2004 may be associated with a second beam, third beam resource 2006 may be associated with a third beam, and fourth beam resource 2008 may be associated with a fourth beam. These beams may be, for example, Figure 13 The non-adjacent beams in the example of Figure 16 Adjacent beams in the example of .
[0229] exist Figure 20 In the illustrated example of , the second part of some SSBs follows the first part of the corresponding SSB, while the second part of other SSBs precedes the first part of the corresponding SSB, as shown in FIG. Figure 19 In addition, the resources allocated to the second part of the SSB may be discontinuous in time.
[0230] For example, the first part 2010a of the first SSB 2010 (“SSB1 part 1”) starts at symbol 4, and the second part 2010b of the first SSB 2010 (“SSB1 part 2”) is located at symbol 9 and symbol 11, which follow the first part 2010a of the first SSB 2010.
[0231] The third part 2020a ("SSB2 part 1") of the second SSB 2020 starts at symbol 8, and the fourth part 2020b ("SSB2 part 2") of the second SSB 2020 is located at symbol 5 and symbol 7, which precede the third part 2020a of the second SSB 2020.
[0232] Similarly, the fifth part 2030a (“SSB3 part 1”) of the third SSB 2030 starts at symbol 16, and the sixth part 2030b (“SSB3 part 2”) of the third SSB 2030 is located at symbols 21 and 23, which follow the fifth part 2030a of the third SSB 2030.
[0233] In addition, the seventh part 2040a ("SSB4 part 1") of the fourth SSB 2040 starts at symbol 20, and the eighth part 2040b ("SSB4 part 2") of the fourth SSB 2040 is located at symbols 17 and 19, which precede the seventh part 2040a of the fourth SSB 2040.
[0234] like Figure 20As shown, the resources that a UE can monitor to receive SSB can be reduced to the original 16 symbols that a higher-capability UE can monitor when receiving SSB. Figure 20 The example facilitates reducing the UE monitoring time for receiving SSB, which can reduce the power consumption of the UE.
[0235] although Figure 20 The example illustrates that the second part of the SSB is allocated to resources that are not continuous in time, but it can be understood that the second part of the examples described in other figures herein may also be allocated to resources that are not continuous in time.
[0236] Figure 21 2100 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 104 and / or Figure 23 The method may facilitate reducing UE complexity and reducing UE power consumption, for example, by reducing the number of symbols monitored by the UE when receiving an SSB and / or by reducing the number of hypotheses attempted by the UE when performing blind decoding to receive a complete SSB.
[0237] At 2102, the UE monitors at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource, the first resource being associated with a first beam, such as in conjunction with Figure 9 The monitoring process 930 is described. For example, 2102 may be performed by Figure 23 The cellular RF transceiver 2322 / UE SSB component 198 of the device 2304 is executed.
[0238] At 2104, the UE monitors a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with a second portion of the first SSB, as in combination with Figure 9 The monitoring process 932 is described. For example, 2104 can be performed by Figure 23 The cellular RF transceiver 2322 / UE SSB component 198 of the device 2304 is executed.
[0239] Figure 22 2200 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 104 and / or Figure 23 The method may facilitate reducing UE complexity and reducing UE power consumption, for example, by reducing the number of symbols monitored by the UE when receiving an SSB and / or by reducing the number of hypotheses attempted by the UE when performing blind decoding to receive a complete SSB.
[0240] At 2202, the UE monitors at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource, the first resource being associated with a first beam, such as in conjunction with Figure 9 The monitoring process 930 is described. For example, 2202 may be performed by Figure 23 The cellular RF transceiver 2322 / UE SSB component 198 of the device 2304 is executed.
[0241] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB may precede the first portion of the first SSB.
[0242] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB may follow the first portion of the first SSB.
[0243] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can have a fixed time relationship with the first portion of the first SSB.
[0244] In some examples, monitoring the first SSB is based on a single hypothesis for the second portion. In some examples, the single hypothesis can be based on a fixed time relationship between the second portion of the first SSB and the first portion of the first SSB.
[0245] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB is continuous in time or discontinuous in time.
[0246] In some examples, monitoring the second portion of the first SSB can be based on supporting reception in a reduced bandwidth.
[0247] At 2204, the UE monitors a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with a second portion of the first SSB, as in conjunction with Figure 9 The monitoring process 932 is described. For example, 2204 can be performed by Figure 23 The cellular RF transceiver 2322 / UE SSB component 198 of the device 2304 is executed.
[0248] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can overlap with the second resource of the second SSB based on at least one of the following: the first beam is a beam that is not adjacent to the second beam, the first beam has a coverage area that does not overlap with the second beam, or the first SSB index is discontinuous with the second SSB index.
[0249] In some examples, the second SSB includes a third portion and a fourth portion, and the second portion of the first SSB may overlap with a second resource used for at least one of the third portion of the second SSB or the fourth portion of the second SSB.
[0250] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can be temporally separated from the first portion of the first SSB and can temporally overlap with one or more other SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam. In some such examples, the one or more other SSBs on the one or more other beams can have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
[0251] At 2206, the UE may decode the first SSB based on the first resource and the second resource, such as in combination with Figure 9 The decoding process 934 is described. For example, 2206 can be performed by Figure 23 The UE SSB component 198 of the device 2304 is executed.
[0252] In some examples, the UE may include a first type of UE that is configured with the capability to decode the first SSB based on the first resource. For example, the first type of UE may include a higher capability UE.
[0253] In some examples, the EU may include a second type of UE configured with the ability to decode the first SSB based on the first resource and the second resource. For example, the first type of EU may include a UE with reduced capability (e.g., a RedCap UE or an eRedCap UE).
[0254] Figure 2323 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 2304. The apparatus 2304 may be a UE, a component of a UE, or may implement UE functionality. In some aspects, the apparatus 2304 may include a cellular baseband processor 2324 (also referred to as a modem) coupled to one or more transceivers (e.g., a cellular RF transceiver 2322). The cellular baseband processor 2324 may include on-chip memory 2325. In some aspects, the apparatus 2304 may also include one or more subscriber identity module (SIM) cards 2320 and an application processor 2306 coupled to a secure digital (SD) card 2308 and a screen 2310. The application processor 2306 may include on-chip memory 2307. In some aspects, the device 2304 may also include a Bluetooth module 2312, a WLAN module 2314, an SPS module 2316 (e.g., a GNSS module), one or more sensor modules 2318 (e.g., an atmospheric pressure sensor / altimeter; a motion sensor such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a gyroscope, and / or an accelerometer; light detection and ranging (LIDAR), radio-aided detection and ranging (RADAR), sound navigation and ranging (SONAR), a magnetometer, audio, and / or other technologies for positioning), an additional memory module 2326, a power source 2330, and / or a camera 2332. The Bluetooth module 2312, the WLAN module 2314, and the SPS module 2316 may include an on-chip transceiver (TRX) (or, in some cases, only a receiver (RX)). The Bluetooth module 2312, the WLAN module 2314, and the SPS module 2316 may include their own dedicated antennas and / or utilize one or more antennas 2380 for communication. The cellular baseband processor 2324 communicates with the UE 104 and / or RUs associated with the network entity 2302 via one or more antennas 2380 through a transceiver (e.g., a cellular RF transceiver 2322). The cellular baseband processor 2324 and the application processor 2306 may each include computer-readable media / memory, such as on-chip memory 2325 and on-chip memory 2307, respectively. The additional memory module 2326 may also be considered a computer-readable medium / memory. Each computer-readable medium / memory (e.g., on-chip memory 2325, on-chip memory 2307, and / or additional memory module 2326) may be non-transitory. The cellular baseband processor 2324 and the application processor 2306 are each responsible for general processing, including executing software stored on the computer-readable media / memory. When executed by the cellular baseband processor 2324 / application processor 2306, the software enables the cellular baseband processor 2324 / application processor 2306 to perform the various functions described above. The computer-readable medium / memory may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the cellular baseband processor 2324 / applications processor 2306 when executing software.The cellular baseband processor 2324 / application processor 2306 may be a component of the UE 450 and may include the memory 460 and / or at least one of the TX processor 468, the RX processor 456, and the controller / processor 459. In one configuration, the device 2304 may be a processor chip (modem and / or application) and include only the cellular baseband processor 2324 and / or the application processor 2306, while in another configuration, the device 2304 may be the entire UE (e.g., see. Figure 4 UE 450) and includes additional modules of device 2304.
[0255] As discussed above, the UE SSB component 198 is configured to monitor at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource associated with a first beam. The UE SSB component 198 may also be configured to monitor a second SSB of a non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource that at least partially overlaps with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0256] The UE SSB component 198 may be within the cellular baseband processor 2324, the application processor 2306, or both the cellular baseband processor 2324 and the application processor 2306. The UE SSB component 198 may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the stated processes / algorithms, implemented by one or more processors configured to perform the stated processes / algorithms, stored in a computer-readable medium for implementation by one or more processors, or some combination thereof.
[0257] As shown, the apparatus 2304 may include various components configured for various functions. For example, the UE SSB component 198 may include a processor that executes Figure 21 and / or Figure 22 Each block of the algorithm in the flowchart is one or more hardware components.
[0258] In one configuration, the apparatus 2304 (particularly the cellular baseband processor 2324 and / or the application processor 2306) includes means for monitoring at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource associated with a first beam. The example apparatus 2304 also includes means for monitoring a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0259] In another configuration, the example apparatus 2304 further includes means for decoding the first SSB.
[0260] The means may be the UE SSB component 198 of the apparatus 2304 configured to perform the functions recited by the means. As described above, the apparatus 2304 may include the TX processor 468, the RX processor 456, and the controller / processor 459. Thus, in one configuration, the means may be the TX processor 468, the RX processor 456, and / or the controller / processor 459 configured to perform the functions recited by the means.
[0261] Figure 24 2400 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a network node (e.g., base station 102 and / or Figure 26 The method may facilitate reducing UE complexity and reducing UE power consumption, for example, by reducing the number of symbols monitored by the UE when receiving an SSB and / or by reducing the number of hypotheses tried by the UE when performing blind decoding to receive a complete SSB.
[0262] At 2402, a network node outputs a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first portion and a second portion, as combined. Figure 9 The second SSB portion 1 918 and the second SSB portion 2 922 are described. For example, 2402 may be composed of Figure 26 The network SSB component 199 of the network entity 2602 is executed.
[0263] At 2404, the network node outputs a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource that at least partially overlaps a second portion of the first SSB, as in conjunction with Figure 9 The first SSB 914 and the third SSB 926 are described. For example, 2404 may be composed of Figure 26 The network SSB component 199 of the network entity 2602 is executed.
[0264] Figure 25 2500 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a network node (e.g., base station 102 and / or Figure 26 The method may facilitate reducing UE complexity and reducing UE power consumption, for example, by reducing the number of symbols monitored by the UE when receiving an SSB and / or by reducing the number of hypotheses tried by the UE when performing blind decoding to receive a complete SSB.
[0265] At 2502, a network node outputs a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first portion and a second portion, as combined. Figure 9 The second SSB portion 1 918 and / or the second SSB portion 2 922 are described. For example, 2502 may be composed of Figure 26 The network SSB component 199 of the network entity 2602 is executed.
[0266] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can precede the first portion of the first SSB in the time domain.
[0267] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can be located after the first portion of the first SSB in the time domain.
[0268] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can have a fixed time relationship with the first portion of the first SSB.
[0269] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB is continuous in time or discontinuous in time.
[0270] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB may be configured to at least support one type of UE receiving in a reduced bandwidth.
[0271] At 2504, the network node outputs a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource that at least partially overlaps a second portion of the first SSB, as in conjunction with Figure 9 918 and / or the second SSB portion 2 922. For example, 2504 may be Figure 26 The network SSB component 199 of the network entity 2602 is executed.
[0272] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can overlap with the second resources of the second SSB in at least one of time or frequency.
[0273] In some examples, the second SSB may include a third portion and a fourth portion, and the second portion of the first SSB may overlap with the second resource used for at least one of the third portion of the second SSB or the third portion of the second SSB.
[0274] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can overlap with the second resource of the second SSB based on one of the following: the first beam is a beam that is not adjacent to the second beam, the first beam has a coverage area that does not overlap with the second beam, or the first SSB index is discontinuous with the second SSB index.
[0275] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can be temporally separated from the first portion of the first SSB and can temporally overlap with one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam. In some such examples, the one or more SSBs on the one or more other beams have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
[0276] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB precedes the first portion of the first SSB and at least partially overlaps with resources used for one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam. In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB follows the first portion of the first SSB and at least partially overlaps with resources used for one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam.
[0277] At 2506, the network node may output a third SSB in a third resource on a third beam, wherein the second portion of the first SSB may at least partially overlap with the third resource of the third SSB, as in conjunction with Figure 9 918 and / or the second SSB portion 2 922. For example, 2506 may be Figure 26 The network SSB component 199 of the network entity 2602 is executed.
[0278] In some examples, the second portion of the first SSB can overlap with at least one of the fifth and sixth portions of the third SSB.
[0279] Figure 26Diagram 2600 illustrates an example hardware implementation for a network entity 2602. Network entity 2602 may be a base station (BS), a component of a BS, or may implement BS functionality. Network entity 2602 may include at least one of a CU 2610, a DU 2630, or a RU 2640. For example, depending on the layer functionality handled by network SSB component 199, network entity 2602 may include a CU 2610; both a CU 2610 and a DU 2630; each of a CU 2610, a DU 2630, and a RU 2640; a DU 2630; both a DU 2630 and a RU 2640; or a RU 2640. CU 2610 may include a CU processor 2612. CU processor 2612 may include on-chip memory 2613. In some aspects, additional memory modules 2614 and communication interfaces 2618 may also be included. The CU 2610 communicates with the DU 2630 via a midhaul link, such as an F1 interface. The DU 2630 may include a DU processor 2632. The DU processor 2632 may include on-chip memory 2633. In some aspects, the DU 2630 may also include an additional memory module 2634 and a communication interface 2638. The DU 2630 communicates with the RU 2640 via a fronthaul link. The RU 2640 may include a RU processor 2642. The RU processor 2642 may include on-chip memory 2643. In some aspects, the RU 2640 may also include an additional memory module 2644, one or more transceivers 2646, an antenna 2680, and a communication interface 2648. The RU 2640 communicates with the UE 104. On-chip memory (e.g., on-chip memory 2613, on-chip memory 2633, and / or on-chip memory 2643) and / or additional memory modules (e.g., additional memory module 2614, additional memory module 2634, and / or additional memory module 2644) can each be considered a computer-readable medium / memory. Each computer-readable medium / memory can be non-transitory. Each of the CU processor 2612, the DU processor 2632, and the RU processor 2642 is responsible for general processing, including executing software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory. When executed by the corresponding processor, the software enables the processor to perform the various functions described above. The computer-readable medium / memory can also be used to store data manipulated by the processor when executing the software.
[0280] As discussed above, the network SSB component 199 is configured to output a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first portion and a second portion. The network SSB component 199 may also be configured to output a second SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a second resource on a second beam, the second resource at least partially overlapping the second portion of the first SSB.
[0281] The network SSB component 199 may be within one or more processors of one or more of the CU 2610, DU 2630, and RU 2640. The network SSB component 199 may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the stated processes / algorithms, implemented by one or more processors configured to perform the stated processes / algorithms, stored in a computer-readable medium for implementation by one or more processors, or some combination thereof.
[0282] The network entity 2602 may include various components configured for various functions. For example, the network SSB component 199 may include a Figure 24 and / or Figure 25 Each block of the algorithm in the flowchart is one or more hardware components.
[0283] In one configuration, the network entity 2602 includes means for outputting a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB including a first portion and a second portion. The example network entity 2602 also includes means for outputting a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network in a second resource on a second beam, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0284] In another configuration, the example network entity 2602 further includes means for outputting a third SSB in a third resource on a third beam, wherein the second portion of the first SSB at least partially overlaps with the third resource of the third SSB.
[0285] The means may be the network SSB component 199 of the network entity 2602 configured to perform the functions recited by the means. As described above, the network entity 2602 may include the TX processor 416, the RX processor 470, and the controller / processor 475. Thus, in one configuration, the means may be the TX processor 416, the RX processor 470, and / or the controller / processor 475 configured to perform the functions recited by the means.
[0286] Aspects disclosed herein provide techniques for utilizing characteristics associated with NTN to improve reception of SSBs by a UE with reduced NTN capabilities (e.g., a UE with reduced capabilities operating in an NTN). For example, the aspects disclosed herein provide techniques for reducing power consumption of a UE with reduced capabilities, for example, by reducing the number of symbols that the UE with reduced capabilities can monitor to receive SSBs. Additionally or alternatively, the techniques disclosed herein can reduce UE complexity, for example, by reducing the number of hypotheses that the UE with reduced capabilities can try when performing blind decoding.
[0287] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the disclosed process / flowchart is merely illustrative of exemplary methods. It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the process / flowchart may be rearranged based on design preferences. Furthermore, some blocks may be combined or omitted. The accompanying method claims provide elements of the various blocks in a sample order, but are not limited to the specific order or hierarchy provided.
[0288] The foregoing description is provided to enable anyone 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 limited to the aspects described herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. Unless specifically stated otherwise, references to singular elements in the foregoing description and claims do not mean "one and only one," but rather "one or more." Terms such as "if," "when," and "while" do not imply a direct temporal relationship or reaction. That is, these phrases, such as "when...", do not imply immediate action in response to the occurrence of an action or during the occurrence of an action, but simply imply that if a condition is met, the action will occur, but no specific or immediate time limit is required for the action to occur. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof” include any combination of A, B, and / or C, which may include multiple As, multiple Bs, or multiple Cs. Specifically, combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof” may be only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B, and C, where any such combination may include one or more members of A, B, or C. A set should be interpreted as a set of elements, where the number of elements is one or more. Thus, for a set of X, X will include one or more elements. If a first device receives data from or sends data to a second device, the data may be received / sent directly between the first device and the second device, or indirectly between the first device and the second device through a collection of devices. A device configured to "output" data (such as, a transmission, a signal, or a message) may, for example, send the data using a transceiver, or may transmit the data to a device that sends the data. A device configured to "obtain" data (such as, a transmission, a signal, or a message) may, for example, receive the data using a transceiver, or may obtain the data from a device that receives the data. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later become known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are encompassed by the claims.Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. Words such as "module," "mechanism," "element," and "device" cannot replace the word "component." Thus, no claim element will be construed as a component-plus-function unless the element is explicitly recited using the phrase "component for..."
[0289] As used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as referring to a closed set of information, one or more conditions, one or more factors, etc. In other words, the phrase "based on A" (where "A" can be information, a condition, a factor, etc.) should be interpreted as "based at least on A" unless specifically stated differently.
[0290] The following aspects are merely illustrative and may be combined with other aspects or teachings described herein without limitation.
[0291] Aspect 1 is a method for performing wireless communication at a UE, the method comprising: monitoring at least a portion of a first portion of a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB in a first resource, the first resource being associated with a first beam; and monitoring a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
[0292] Aspect 2 is a method according to aspect 1, and the method also includes: the second part of the first SSB has a fixed time relationship with the first part of the first SSB.
[0293] Aspect 3 is a method according to any one of Aspects 1 and 2, further comprising: the second SSB includes a third part and a fourth part, and the second part of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource used for at least one of the third part of the second SSB or the fourth part of the second SSB.
[0294] Aspect 4 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 3, the method further comprising: monitoring the first SSB is based on a single hypothesis for the second part.
[0295] Aspect 5 is a method according to aspect 4, the method further comprising: the single hypothesis is based on a fixed time relationship between the second part of the first SSB and the first part of the first SSB.
[0296] Aspect 6 is a method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 5, and the method further includes: the second part of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource of the second SSB based on at least one of the following: the first beam is a beam that is not adjacent to the second beam, the first beam has a coverage area that does not overlap with the second beam, or the first SSB index is discontinuous with the second SSB index.
[0297] Aspect 7 is a method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 6, further comprising: the second part of the first SSB precedes the first part of the first SSB.
[0298] Aspect 8 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 6, the method further comprising: the second part of the first SSB follows the first part of the first SSB.
[0299] Aspect 9 is a method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 8, further comprising: the second part of the first SSB is temporally separated from the first part of the first SSB and temporally overlaps with one or more other SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam, wherein the one or more other SSBs on the one or more other beams have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
[0300] Aspect 10 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, further comprising: the second part of the first SSB is continuous in time or discontinuous in time.
[0301] Aspect 11 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 10, the method further comprising: monitoring the second portion of the first SSB is based on support for reception in a reduced bandwidth.
[0302] Aspect 12 is an apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, the apparatus comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory and configured to implement any one of aspects 1 to 11.
[0303] In aspect 13, the apparatus of aspect 12 further comprises at least one antenna coupled to the at least one processor.
[0304] In aspect 14, the apparatus according to aspect 12 or 13 further comprises a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.
[0305] Aspect 15 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for implementing any one of aspects 1 to 11.
[0306] In aspect 16, the apparatus according to aspect 15 further comprises at least one antenna coupled to the means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11.
[0307] In aspect 17, the apparatus according to aspect 15 or 16 further comprises a transceiver coupled to the means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11.
[0308] Aspect 18 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable code, wherein the code, when executed, causes a processor to implement any one of aspects 1 to 11.
[0309] Aspect 19 is a method for performing wireless communication at a network node, the method comprising: outputting a first SSB of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first part and a second part; and outputting a second SSB of the non-terrestrial network on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second part of the first SSB.
[0310] Aspect 20 is a method according to aspect 19, the method further comprising: the second part of the first SSB has a fixed time relationship with the first part of the first SSB.
[0311] Aspect 21 is a method according to any one of aspects 19 and 20, the method also including: the second part of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource of the second SSB in at least one of time or frequency.
[0312] Aspect 22 is a method according to any one of Aspects 19 to 21, further comprising: the second SSB includes a third part and a fourth part, and the second part of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource used for at least one of the third part of the second SSB or the third part of the second SSB.
[0313] Aspect 23 is a method according to any one of Aspects 19 to 22, the method further comprising: outputting a third SSB in a third resource on a third beam, wherein the second part of the first SSB at least partially overlaps with the third resource of the third SSB.
[0314] Aspect 24 is a method according to aspect 23, further comprising: the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with at least one of the fifth portion and the sixth portion of the third SSB.
[0315] Aspect 25 is a method according to any one of Aspects 19 to 24, and the method further includes: the second part of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource of the second SSB based on one of the following: the first beam is a beam that is not adjacent to the second beam, the first beam has a coverage area that does not overlap with the second beam, or the first SSB index is discontinuous with the second SSB index.
[0316] Aspect 26 is a method according to any one of aspects 19 to 25, the method further comprising: the second part of the first SSB precedes the first part of the first SSB in the time domain.
[0317] Aspect 27 is a method according to any one of aspects 19 to 25, the method further comprising: the second part of the first SSB follows the first part of the first SSB in the time domain.
[0318] Aspect 28 is a method according to any one of Aspects 19 to 27, further comprising: the second part of the first SSB is temporally separated from the first part of the first SSB and temporally overlaps with one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam, wherein the one or more SSBs on the one or more other beams have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
[0319] Aspect 29 is a method according to any one of Aspects 19 to 28, further comprising: the second part of the first SSB is one of before the first part of the first SSB or after the first part of the first SSB, and at least partially overlaps with resources used for one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam.
[0320] Aspect 30 is a method according to any one of aspects 19 to 29, the method further comprising: the second part of the first SSB is continuous in time or discontinuous in time.
[0321] Aspect 31 is a method according to any one of aspects 19 to 30, the method also including: the second part of the first SSB is configured to at least support one type of user equipment (UE) receiving in a reduced bandwidth.
[0322] Aspect 32 is an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, the apparatus comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory and configured to implement any one of aspects 19 to 31.
[0323] In aspect 33, the apparatus of aspect 32 further comprises at least one antenna coupled to the at least one processor.
[0324] In aspect 34, the apparatus of aspect 32 or 33 further comprises a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.
[0325] Aspect 35 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for implementing any one of aspects 19 to 31.
[0326] In aspect 36, the apparatus of aspect 35 further comprises at least one antenna coupled to the means for performing the method of any one of aspects 19 to 31.
[0327] In aspect 37, the apparatus according to aspect 35 or 36 further comprises a transceiver coupled to the means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 19 to 31.
[0328] Aspect 38 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable code, wherein the code, when executed, causes a processor to implement any one of aspects 19 to 31.
Claims
1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: Memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: monitoring, in a first resource, at least a portion of a first portion of a first synchronization signal block (SSB) of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB, the first resource being associated with a first beam; as well as A second SSB of the non-terrestrial network is monitored on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping the second portion of the first SSB.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the first SSB has a fixed time relationship with the first portion of the first SSB.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second SSB comprises a third portion and a fourth portion, and the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resources used for at least one of the third portion of the second SSB or the fourth portion of the second SSB.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one antenna coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The first SSB is monitored based on a single hypothesis for the second portion.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the single hypothesis is based on a fixed time relationship between the second portion of the first SSB and the first portion of the first SSB.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource of the second SSB based on at least one of: The first beam is a beam that is not adjacent to the second beam, The first beam has a coverage area that does not overlap with the second beam, or The first SSB index and the second SSB index are not consecutive.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the first SSB is temporally separated from the first portion of the first SSB and temporally overlaps with one or more other SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam, wherein the one or more other SSBs on the one or more other beams have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein monitoring the second portion of the first SSB is based on support for reception in a reduced bandwidth.
9. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: monitoring, in a first resource, at least a portion of a first portion of a first synchronization signal block (SSB) of a non-terrestrial network and a second portion of the first SSB, the first resource being associated with a first beam; as well as A second SSB of the non-terrestrial network is monitored on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping the second portion of the first SSB.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second portion of the first SSB has a fixed time relationship with the first portion of the first SSB.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the second SSB includes a third portion and a fourth portion, and the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resources used for at least one of the third portion of the second SSB or the fourth portion of the second SSB.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein monitoring the first SSB is based on a single hypothesis for the second portion.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the single hypothesis is based on a fixed time relationship between the second portion of the first SSB and the first portion of the first SSB.
14. The method according to claim 9, The second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource of the second SSB based on at least one of the following: The first beam is a beam that is not adjacent to the second beam, The first beam has a coverage area that does not overlap with the second beam, or The first SSB index and the second SSB index are not consecutive.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the second portion of the first SSB is temporally separated from the first portion of the first SSB and temporally overlaps with one or more other SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam, wherein the one or more other SSBs on the one or more other beams have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
16. The method of claim 9, wherein monitoring the second portion of the first SSB is based on supporting reception in a reduced bandwidth.
17. An apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, the apparatus comprising: Memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: outputting a first synchronization signal block (SSB) of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first part and a second part; as well as A second SSB of the non-terrestrial network is output on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second portion of the first SSB has a fixed time relationship with the first portion of the first SSB.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resources of the second SSB in at least one of time or frequency.
20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second SSB comprises a third portion and a fourth portion, and the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resources used for at least one of the third portion of the second SSB or the third portion of the second SSB.
21. The apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising: at least one antenna coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: A third SSB is output in a third resource on a third beam, wherein the second portion of the first SSB at least partially overlaps with the third resource of the third SSB.
22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resource of the second SSB based on one of: The first beam is a beam that is not adjacent to the second beam, The first beam has a coverage area that does not overlap with the second beam, or The first SSB index and the second SSB index are not consecutive.
23. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the second portion of the first SSB is temporally separated from the first portion of the first SSB and temporally overlaps with one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam, wherein the one or more SSBs on the one or more other beams have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second portion of the first SSB is one of before the first portion of the first SSB or after the first portion of the first SSB and at least partially overlaps with resources used for one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam.
25. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second portion of the first SSB is configured to at least support one type of user equipment (UE) receiving in a reduced bandwidth.
26. A method of wireless communication at a network node, the method comprising: outputting a first synchronization signal block (SSB) of a non-terrestrial network in a first resource on a first beam, the first SSB comprising a first part and a second part; as well as A second SSB of the non-terrestrial network is output on a second beam in a second resource, the second resource at least partially overlapping with the second portion of the first SSB.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein the second portion of the first SSB overlaps with the second resources of the second SSB in at least one of time or frequency.
28. The method of claim 26, wherein the second portion of the first SSB is temporally separated from the first portion of the first SSB and temporally overlaps with one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam, wherein the one or more SSBs on the one or more other beams have one or more SSB indices that are discontinuous with the first SSB index of the first SSB.
29. The method of claim 26, wherein the second portion of the first SSB is one of before the first portion of the first SSB or after the first portion of the first SSB and at least partially overlaps with resources used for one or more SSBs on one or more other beams different from the first beam.
30. The method of claim 26, wherein the second portion of the first SSB is configured to at least support one type of user equipment (UE) receiving in a reduced bandwidth.