Initial physical random access channel (PRACH) power control using multiple (PRACH) signals

Abstract

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for wireless communication. Various aspects relate to initial physical random access channel (PRACH) power control using multiple PRACH signals, and more particularly to supporting one or more initialization and power control operations between a user equipment (UE) and a network entity prior to an association procedure. Initial PRACH power control may include the UE transmitting a first set of PRACH signals to a network entity at different respective power levels. The network entity may transmit a response message indicating the single set of PRACH signals detected by the network entity, and the UE may detect whether a first PRACH signal of the first set of PRACH signals is included in the single set of PRACH signals to select a power level associated with the first PRACH signal for transmitting the association message.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 366,457, filed August 7, 2023, entitled “INITIAL PHYSICAL RANDOM ACCESSCHANNEL (PRACH) POWER CONTROL USING MULTIPLE PRACH SIGNALS”, the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates in general to wireless communications, and more specifically to initial PRACH power control using multiple Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals. Background Technology

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, message sending and receiving, broadcasting, and so on. Wireless multiple access communication systems may include multiple base stations or network access nodes, each supporting communication with multiple communication devices (which may otherwise be referred to as user equipment (UE)). These systems can support communication with multiple UEs by sharing available system resources such as time, frequency, and power. Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth-generation (4G) systems (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth-generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems). These systems may employ technologies such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), or Discrete Fourier Transform Extended Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM).

[0005] To perform communication within a wireless network, the UE performs an association procedure with a nearby network entity (such as a base station) that provides the connection to the wireless network. To initiate the association procedure, the UE can send Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signaling to the network entity and exchange information with the network entity to establish a communication link between the devices. For the PRACH signaling to be received by the network entity, the power level of the PRACH signaling detected at the network entity must meet a threshold level. However, due to path loss in the uplink (UL) direction between the UE and the network entity, the power level used by the UE to send the PRACH signaling may differ from the power level detected at the network entity. If the UE has information about the UL channel from the network entity, the UE can compensate for the UL path loss. However, when the UE first attempts to communicate with the network entity to perform the association procedure, the UE may only receive downlink (DL) signals from the network entity. Although the UE can determine the DL path loss using the detected power level of the received DL signals, at this time the UE does not have information about the UL path loss to use for setting the power level for sending the PRACH signaling.

[0006] To determine the initial power level for transmitting PRACH signaling (e.g., UL signaling), the UE typically performs open-loop power control. Using this open-loop power control, the UE determines the DL path loss and selects an initial UL power level based on the DL path loss and, in some examples, optionally on one or more other parameters. This open-loop power control is based on the assumption that the DL path loss and UL path loss are approximately the same. This reciprocity is typically assumed for communication in Time Division Duplex (TDD) bands (where the DL and UL channels are assumed to be reciprocal) and can also be assumed for communication in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) bands (where the DL and UL channels are relatively close in frequency). Open-loop power control allows the UE to select an initial transmit (TX) power level such that PRACH signaling is received at or above the target power level at the network entity. However, if the DL and UL channels are not sufficiently similar, the DL path loss may not indicate the UL path loss, which could lead the UE to select an initial TX power level that is insufficient to meet the target power level at the network entity.

[0007] This scenario is more likely when using multiple component carriers, such as when using a Supplemental Uplink (SUL) carrier configured in a lower frequency band to supplement one or more DL and / or UL carriers in a higher frequency band, because the DL path loss determined based on the received higher frequency band signaling may not be sufficiently similar to the UL path loss for the lower frequency band signaling. As another example, if a UE receives DL signaling from a first Transmit / Receive Point (TRP) and transmits UL signaling to different TRPs, the DL path loss determined based on the DL signaling received from the first TRP may be unrelated to the UL path loss used to transmit signaling to a second TRP. Additionally, research is currently underway to provide flexible duplex communication in future generation wireless communication systems, where high-frequency band DL channels will be paired with low-frequency band UL channels, and thus associated with some degree of inaccuracy in determining the initial TX power level. If a network entity cannot detect PRACH signaling due to insufficient TX power at the UE, the UE must wait until the end of the monitoring period to receive a response from the network entity before retransmitting the PRACH signaling at a higher power level. This process is repeated until the network entity is able to detect the PRACH signaling. Therefore, an inaccurate initial TX power level selection by the UE can significantly increase the duration of the association process with the network entity, thereby increasing power consumption at the UE and increasing initial latency. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The following outlines some aspects of this disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the techniques discussed. This overview is not a comprehensive summary of all intended features of this disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or essential elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to depict the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. The sole purpose of this summary is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure in a general form as a prelude to the more detailed description given later. The systems, methods, and apparatus of this disclosure each have several inventive aspects, and no single aspect is solely responsible for the intended properties disclosed herein.

[0009] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a user equipment (UE). The UE includes a processing system comprising processor circuitry and memory circuitry storing code. The processing system is configured to cause the UE to transmit a first plurality of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals to a network entity at multiple power levels during a time period. Each of the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted at a different corresponding power level among the plurality of power levels. The processing system is also configured to cause the UE to receive from the network entity a response message indicating a second plurality of PRACH signals detected during the time period. The processing system is further configured to cause the UE to associate a first PRACH signal included in the second plurality of PRACH signals with a first power level among the first plurality of power levels, and to transmit a random access request message to the network entity at that first power level.

[0010] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication performed by a UE. The method includes transmitting a first plurality of PRACH signals to a network entity at a plurality of power levels during a time period. Each of the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted at a different corresponding power level among the plurality of power levels. The method also includes receiving from the network entity a response message indicating a second plurality of PRACH signals detected during the time period. The method further includes sending a random access request message to the network entity at a first power level associated with a first PRACH signal included in the second plurality of PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals.

[0011] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a network entity. The network entity includes a processing system comprising processor circuitry and memory circuitry storing code. The processing system is configured to cause the network entity to detect a first plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by one or more UEs during a time period. The processing system is also configured to cause the network entity to send a response message to the one or more UEs indicating the first plurality of PRACH signals. The processing system is further configured to cause the network entity to receive a random access request message from a first UE at a first power level, based on the fact that a first PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals is included in a second plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by a first UE among the one or more UEs during the time period.

[0012] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication performed by a network entity. The method includes detecting a first plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by one or more UEs during a time period. The method further includes sending a response message to the one or more UEs indicating the first plurality of PRACH signals. The method also includes receiving a random access request message from a first UE at a first power level, based on the fact that a first PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals is included in a second plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by a first UE among the one or more UEs during the time period.

[0013] Other aspects, features, and embodiments of this disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of specific exemplary embodiments thereof. While features of this disclosure may be described with respect to the specific embodiments and drawings described below, all embodiments of this disclosure may include one or more of the advantageous features described herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be described as having specific advantageous features, one or more such features may also be used according to various embodiments of this disclosure described herein. Similarly, although exemplary embodiments may be described below as embodiments of an apparatus, system, or method, such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various apparatuses, systems, and methods. Attached Figure Description

[0014] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of this disclosure can be achieved by referring to the following figures. In the figures, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Furthermore, various components of the same type can be distinguished by adding a dash after the reference numerals and a second reference numeral for differentiation between similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description applies to any one of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numerals.

[0015] Figure 1 It is a block diagram illustrating details of an example wireless communication system based on one or more aspects.

[0016] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating examples of base stations and user equipment (UEs) based on one or more aspects.

[0017] Figure 3 A diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station architecture based on one or more aspects is shown.

[0018] Figure 4This is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless communication system that uses initial PRACH power control of multiple Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals based on support from one or more aspects.

[0019] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication resource configured according to one or more aspects for transmitting PRACH signals during initialization and power control.

[0020] Figure 6 Examples of PRACH signals transmitted during initialization and power control are illustrated, based on one or more aspects.

[0021] Figure 7 An example is shown of initialization and power control performed by the UE using multiple PRACH signals based on one or more aspects.

[0022] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating an example process that can be performed by a UE that supports initial PRACH power control using multiple PRACH signals, based on one or more aspects.

[0023] Figure 9 This is a block diagram of an example UE that uses multiple PRACH signals for initial PRACH power control based on support from one or more aspects.

[0024] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating an example process that can be performed by a network entity that supports initial PRACH power control using multiple PRACH signals, based on one or more aspects.

[0025] Figure 11 This is a block diagram of an example network entity that uses initial PRACH power control of multiple PRACH signals based on support from one or more aspects.

[0026] The same reference numerals and names in different figures denote the same elements. Detailed Implementation

[0027] Various aspects of this disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any particular structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided to make this disclosure thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of this disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of this disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosure herein, whether implemented independently of or in combination with any other aspect of this disclosure. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement an apparatus or practice. Furthermore, the scope of this disclosure is intended to cover such apparatus or methods practiced using structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities other than or different from the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. Any aspect of this disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0028] The various aspects generally relate to wireless communication, and more specifically to initial PRACH power control using multiple Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals. Some aspects more specifically relate to supporting one or more initialization and power control operations between a User Equipment (UE) and a network entity prior to the association process. In some examples, each of one or more UEs may transmit a corresponding set of multiple PRACH signals to the network entity at multiple different corresponding power levels during the same or at least partially overlapping time period. The network entity may monitor the PRACH signals during this time period, and after the time period expires, the network entity may transmit a response message to one or more UEs indicating a single set of PRACH signals detected by the network entity in a best-effort manner during that time period. The single set of PRACH signals detected by the network entity may include zero, one, or more than one corresponding PRACH signal from each of the sets of multiple initially transmitted PRACH signals. Because one or more PRACH signals are transmitted at a power level too low for the network entity to detect, or due to interference from other PRACH signals transmitted by other UEs, the number of PRACH signals in a single set of PRACH signals may be less than the total number of PRACH signals initially transmitted. As a non-limiting example, if a first UE transmits a set of three PRACH signals, a second UE transmits a set of two PRACH signals, and the network entity detects three of the five initially transmitted PRACH signals from the two UEs, the network entity may send a reply message to the two UEs indicating each of the three detected PRACH signals. The reply message may omit the remaining two initially transmitted PRACH signals that were not detected by the network entity. If the UE determines that at least one PRACH signal in the set of PRACH signals transmitted by the UE is included in the single set of PRACH signals indicated in the reply message, the UE may use the lowest power level associated with at least one PRACH signal as the power level for transmission to be performed during the association process with the network entity. For example, as part of a 4-step or 2-step association process with a network entity, the UE can use this power level to send a random access request (RAR) message (“msg1” or “msgA”).

[0029] Specific embodiments of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some aspects, this disclosure supports a process for the UE to perform initialization and power control using multiple PRACH signals prior to performing other steps of the association process with a network entity. Initialization and power control using multiple PRACH signals allows the UE to determine the power level used for transmitting messages as part of the association process, which is more likely to be detected compared to using open-loop power control, especially if the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) channels are not sufficiently similar in frequency. In some examples, because the UE transmits a set of multiple PRACH signals with different corresponding power levels, the network entity is more likely to detect at least one of the initially transmitted PRACH signals, which can be indicated by the network entity including one or more detected PRACH signals in the response message. This increased opportunity for detection by the network entity increases the chance that the UE can determine the appropriate power level after receiving a single response message rather than performing multiple cycles of transmitting corresponding PRACH signals and receiving corresponding response messages. While such a sequential process may not take long if the DL path loss fully represents the UL path loss, if the DL and UL channels are sufficiently frequency-separated, the initial power level selected to compensate for the DL path loss may not compensate for the UL path loss, and therefore the UE may perform several iterations of transmitting the corresponding PRACH signal and monitoring the corresponding response message. Additionally, if the UE identifies multiple PRACH signals in the set of initially transmitted PRACH signals detected by the network entity, the UE can use the lowest power level associated with the identified PRACH signal to avoid using more power than is required to achieve the target power level at the network entity. Therefore, compared to other techniques, the technique described herein can provide more efficient initialization and power control in terms of speed and network congestion for UL transmissions by the UE for different frequency DL and UL channels.

[0030] This disclosure relates throughout to providing or participating in licensed shared access between two or more wireless devices in one or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various embodiments, technologies and apparatus can be used in wireless communication networks such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, fifth-generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks (sometimes referred to as “5G NR” networks, systems, or devices), and other communication networks. As described herein, the terms “network” and “system” are used interchangeably. In some embodiments, two or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks) can be configured to provide or participate in licensed shared access between the two or more wireless communication systems.

[0031] CDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and CDMA2000. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and Low Chip Rate (LCR). CDMA2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards.

[0032] TDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). 3GPP defines standards for the GSMEDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution) Radio Access Network (RAN) (also referred to as GERAN). GERAN is a radio component of GSM or GSM EDGE, along with the network that combines base stations (e.g., Ater and Abis interfaces) and base station controllers (e.g., interfaces). The radio access network represents a component of the GSM network through which telephone calls and packet data are routed from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Internet to subscriber handsets (also called user terminals or user equipment (UEs)) and from subscriber handsets to the PSTN and the Internet. A mobile phone operator's network may include one or more GERANs, which may be coupled to the UTRAN in the case of UMTS / GSM networks. Additionally, an operator's network may include one or more LTE networks, or one or more other networks. Various network types may use different radio access technologies (RATs) and radio access networks (RANs).

[0033] OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, and Flash OFDM. UTRA, E-UTRA, and GSM are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Specifically, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a UMTS version using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents provided by an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), while cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization called 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or under development. For example, 3GPP is a collaboration among telecommunications associations aimed at defining globally applicable third-generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP initiative aimed at improving the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP defines specifications for next-generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. This disclosure may refer to LTE, 4G, 5G, or NR technologies to describe certain aspects; however, this description is not intended to be limited to any particular technology or application, and one or more aspects described with reference to one technology may be understood to be applicable to another technology. In fact, one or more aspects of this disclosure relate to shared access to radio spectrum between networks using different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0034] 5G networks are expected to have diverse deployments, diverse spectrum, and diverse services and devices that can be achieved using a unified OFDM-based air interface. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also being considered. 5G NR will be able to scale to (1) provide coverage to large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) with ultra-high density (e.g., about 1M nodes / km2), ultra-low complexity (e.g., about tens of bits / second), ultra-low energy (e.g., about 10+ years of battery life), and provide deep coverage with the ability to reach challenging locations; (2) include mission-critical controls with strong security to protect sensitive personal, financial or classified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., about 99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., about 1 millisecond (ms)), and users with wide range of mobility or lack of mobility; and (3) provide coverage with enhanced mobile broadband (including extremely high capacity (e.g., about 10Tbps / km2), extremely high data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+ Mbps user experience rates), and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimization).

[0035] 5G NR devices, networks, and systems can be implemented using optimized OFDM-based waveform characteristics. These characteristics may include scalable parameter sets and transmission time intervals (TTI); a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features using dynamic, low-latency time-division duplex (TDD) or frequency-division duplex (FDD) designs; and improved radio technologies such as massive MIMO, robust millimeter-wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel decoding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of parameter sets in 5G NR efficiently addresses the operation of diverse services across different spectrums and deployments through subcarrier spacing scaling. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments implementing FDD or TDD below 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 15 kHz, exceeding bandwidths such as 1 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz. For other various outdoor and small-cell coverage deployments using TDD above 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 30 kHz over bandwidths of 80 MHz or 100 MHz. For various other indoor broadband implementations using TDD on the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments using mmWave components for transmission at 28 GHz TDD, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

[0036] 5G NR's scalable parameter set facilitates scalable TTIs for diverse latency and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectrum efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmission to begin at symbol boundaries. 5G NR also anticipates self-contained integrated subframe designs, where uplink or downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgments reside in the same subframe. Self-contained integrated subframes support communication in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, with adaptive uplink or downlink that can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current service demands.

[0037] For clarity, certain aspects of the apparatus and technology may be described below with reference to example 5G NR implementations or in a 5G-centric manner, and 5G terminology may be used as illustrative examples in the sections described below; however, this description is not intended to be limited to 5G applications.

[0038] Furthermore, it should be understood that, in operation, wireless communication networks adapted according to the concepts herein may operate using any combination of licensed or unlicensed spectrum, depending on load and availability. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the systems, apparatuses, and methods described herein can be applied to other communication systems and applications besides the specific examples provided.

[0039] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating details of an example wireless communication system. The wireless communication system may include a wireless network 100. For example, wireless network 100 may include a 5G wireless network. As those skilled in the art will understand, Figure 1 The components appearing in this may have corresponding counterparts in other network deployments (including, for example, cellular network deployments and non-cellular network deployments such as device-to-device, point-to-point, or self-organizing network deployments).

[0040] Figure 1 The illustrated wireless network 100 includes multiple base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station can be a station communicating with a UE and can be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each base station 105 can provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to that specific geographic coverage area of ​​a base station or a base station subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In specific implementations of the wireless network 100 herein, base stations 105 can be associated with the same operator or different operators, such as wireless network 100 including multiple operator wireless networks. Additionally, in specific implementations of the wireless network 100 herein, base station 105 can use one or more frequencies (e.g., one or more bands of licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or combinations thereof) from the same frequencies as neighboring cells to provide wireless communication. In some examples, a single base station 105 or UE 115 may be operated by more than one network operating entity. In some other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115 may be operated by a single network operating entity.

[0041] Base stations can provide communication coverage for macro cells, small cells (such as pico cells or femto cells), or other types of cells. Macro cells typically cover a relatively large geographical area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions to a network provider. Small cells (such as pico cells) typically cover a relatively small geographical area and allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions to a network provider. Small cells (such as femto cells) also typically cover a relatively small geographical area (such as a residential area) and, in addition to unrestricted access, allow restricted access by UEs associated with that femto cell (such as UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs of users in that residence, etc.). A base station for a macro cell may be called a macro base station. A base station for a small cell may be called a small cell base station, pico base station, femto cell, or home base station. Figure 1 In the examples shown, base stations 105d and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations enabled with one of 3D, full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO enabled. Base stations 105a-105c utilize their higher-dimensional MIMO capabilities to increase coverage and capacity using 3D beamforming, whichever is more suitable for elevation or azimuth beamforming. Base station 105f is a small cell base station, which can be a home node or a portable access point. A base station can support one or more cells, such as two cells, three cells, four cells, etc.

[0042] Wireless network 100 can support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, base stations can have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations can be roughly aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, base stations can have different frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. In some scenarios, the network can be enabled or configured to handle dynamic switching between synchronous and asynchronous operations.

[0043] UE 115 are distributed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. It should be understood that although mobile devices are generally referred to as User Equipment (UE) in standards and specifications issued by 3GPP, such devices may be additionally or additionally referred to by those skilled in the art as mobile station (MS), subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, radio unit, remote unit, mobile device, radio device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal (AT), mobile terminal, radio terminal, remote terminal, mobile phone, terminal, user agent, mobile client, client, or any other suitable term. In this document, a “mobile” device or UE does not necessarily have the capability of mobility and may be stationary. Some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include specific implementations that may include one or more of the various UEs 115, including mobile stations, cellular (mobile) phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Mobile devices can also be “Internet of Things” (IoT) or “Internet of Everything” (IoE) devices, such as automobiles or other transportation vehicles, satellite radios, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) devices, logistics controllers, drones, multi-rotor helicopters, quadcopter helicopters, smart energy or security devices, solar panels or solar arrays, urban lighting, water supply or other infrastructure; industrial automation and enterprise equipment; consumer and wearable devices, such as glasses, wearable cameras, smartwatches, health or fitness trackers, mammalian implantable devices, posture tracking devices, medical devices, digital audio players (such as MP3 players), cameras or game consoles, etc.; and digital home or smart home devices, such as home audio, video and multimedia equipment, appliances, sensors, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems or smart meters, etc. In one aspect, a UE can be a device that includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In another aspect, a UE can be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, a UE that does not include a UICC may be referred to as an IoE device. Figure 1 The illustrated UEs 115a-115d are examples of mobile smartphone-type devices accessing the wireless network 100. The UE may be a machine specifically configured for connected communications, including machine-type communications (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc. Figure 1 The illustrated UE 115e-115k is an example of various machines configured for accessing communications on the 5G network 100.

[0044] Mobile devices (such as UE 115) may be able to communicate with any type of base station (whether macro base station, pico base station, femto base station, relay, etc.). Figure 1 In this context, a communication link (represented as a lightning bolt) indicates radio transmissions between the UE and a serving base station (a serving base station is a base station designated to serve the UE on the downlink or uplink), or expected transmissions between base stations, as well as backhaul transmissions between base stations. Backhaul communication between base stations of the wireless network 100 can occur using wired or wireless communication links.

[0045] In the operation of the 5G network 100, base stations 105a-105c use 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial technologies, such as Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) or multiple connections, to provide services to UEs 115a and UE 115b. Macro base station 105d performs backhaul communication with base stations 105a-105c and small cell base station 105f. Macro base station 105d also transmits multicast services subscribed to and received by UEs 115c and UE 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile TV or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber Alerts or Grey Alerts.

[0046] The implemented wireless network 100 supports mission-critical communication with highly reliable and redundant links for mission-critical equipment, such as UE115e as a drone. Redundant communication links with UE115e include those from macro base stations 105d and 105e, and small cell base station 105f. Other machine-type devices, such as UE115f (thermometer), UE115g (smart meter), and UE115h (wearable device), can communicate directly with base stations (such as small cell base station 105f and macro base station 105e) via the wireless network 100, or in a multi-hop configuration via the wireless network by communicating with another user equipment relaying its information to the network (e.g., UE115f relaying temperature measurement information to smart meter UE115g, which is then reported to the network via small cell base station 105f). 5G network 100 can provide additional network efficiency through dynamic low-latency TDD or FDD communication (such as in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh networks between UEs 115i-115k communicating with macro base station 105e).

[0047] Figure 2 This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example design of base station 105 and UE 115. Base station 105 and UE 115 can be... Figure 1 This refers to one base station among all base stations and one UE among all UEs. For restricted association scenarios (as mentioned above), base station 105 can be... Figure 1In the small cell base station 105f, UE 115 can be UE 115c or UE 115d operating within the service area of ​​base station 105f. To access small cell base station 105f, the UE will be included in the list of accessible UEs of small cell base station 105f. Additionally, base station 105 can be some other type of base station. Figure 2 As shown, base station 105 may be equipped with antennas 234a to 234t, and UE 115 may be equipped with antennas 252a to 252r for facilitating wireless communication.

[0048] At base station 105, transmit processor 220 can receive data from data source 212 and control information from controller 240. The control information may be for Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH), or MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel (MPDCCH), etc. Data may be used for PDSCH, etc. Transmit processor 220 can process (e.g., encoding and symbol mapping) data and control information separately to obtain data symbols and control symbols. Additionally, transmit processor 220 can generate reference symbols, such as reference symbols for primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specific reference signals. Transmit (TX) Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (if applicable) on data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols, and can provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) 232a to 232t. For example, spatial processing performed on data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols may include pre-decoding. Each modulator 232 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (such as for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may additionally or alternatively process the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. For example, to process the output sample stream, each modulator 232 may convert the output sample stream into an analog, amplified, filtered, and up-converted output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a to 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a to 234t, respectively.

[0049] At UE 115, antennas 252a to 252r can receive downlink signals from base station 105 and can provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a to 254r respectively. Each demodulator 254 can adjust the corresponding received signal to obtain an input sample. For example, to adjust the corresponding received signal, each demodulator 254 can filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize the corresponding received signal to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator 254 can further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 can obtain the received symbols from demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols when needed, and provide the detected symbols. Receiver processor 258 can process these detected symbols, provide the decoded data to UE 115 to data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information to controller 280. For example, to process these detected symbols, receive processor 258 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode these detected symbols.

[0050] On the uplink, at UE 115, the transmitting processor 264 can receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller 280 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)). Additionally, the transmitting processor 264 can generate reference symbols for reference signals. Symbols from the transmitting processor 264 can be pre-decoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, further processed by modulators 254a to 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to base station 105, where applicable. At base station 105, the uplink signal from UE 115 can be received by antenna 234, processed by demodulator 232, detected by MIMO detector 236, and further processed by receiving processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 115. Receiving processor 238 can provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller 240.

[0051] Controllers 240 and 280 can respectively direct operations at base station 105 and UE 115. Controller 240 or other processors and modules at base station 105 or controller 280 or other processors and modules at UE 115 can perform or direct the execution of various processes used in the techniques described herein, such as performing or directing... Figure 8 and Figure 10Other processes executed or used in accordance with the techniques described herein. Memory 242 and 282 may store data and program code for base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. Scheduler 244 may schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink or uplink.

[0052] In some cases, UE 115 and base station 105 may operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band, which may include licensed or unlicensed spectrum (e.g., contention-based). In the unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio spectrum band, UE 115 or base station 105 may conventionally perform a medium sensing process to contend for access to the spectrum. For example, UE 115 or base station 105 may perform a Listen-Before-Speak or Listen-Before-Send (LBT) process (such as Open Channel Assessment (CCA)) before communication to determine if a shared channel is available. CCA may include an energy detection process to determine if any other active transmissions are present. For example, the device may infer that a change in the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of the power meter indicates that the channel is occupied. In particular, signal power concentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeding a predetermined noise floor may indicate another wireless transmitter. In some implementations, CCA may include the detection of a specific sequence indicating channel usage. For example, another device may send a specific preamble before transmitting a data sequence. In some cases, the LBT process may include a wireless node acting as a collision-prone agent to adjust its own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on the channel or the acknowledgment or negative acknowledgment (ACK or NACK) feedback of packets it sends.

[0053] Figure 3 A diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station 300 architecture is shown. The decomposed base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310, which may communicate directly with the core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 via one or more decomposed base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both. The core network 320 may include or correspond to a core network 130. CUs 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via corresponding midhaul links (such as F1 interfaces). DUs 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via corresponding fronthaul links. RUs 340 may communicate with corresponding UEs 115 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 115 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.

[0054] Each of these units (i.e., CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325, non-RT RIC 315, and SMO frame 305) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via wired or wireless transmission media. Each of these units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of these units, may be configured to communicate with one or more other units via transmission media. For example, these units may include wired interfaces configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more other units via wired transmission media. Additionally, these units may include wireless interfaces that may include receivers, transmitters, or transceivers (such as radio frequency (RF) transceivers) configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more other units via wireless transmission media, or both.

[0055] In some aspects, the CU 310 can host one or more higher-level control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function can be implemented using an interface configured to signal to other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The CU 310 can 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 implementations, the CU 310 can 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 units can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as an E1 interface. The CU 310 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 330 for network control and signaling purposes, as needed.

[0056] DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit comprising one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 340s. In some aspects, DU 330 may, at least in part, host one or more of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) depending on functional splits (such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 330 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signaling with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 330 or with control functions hosted by CU 310.

[0057] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RU 340s. In some deployments, an RU340 controlled by a DU 330 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, or Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or both, at least in part based on functional decomposition (such as lower-layer functional decomposition). In this architecture, the RU 340 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UE 115s. In some specific implementations, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 340 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration enables the implementation of the DU 330 and CU 310 in cloud-based RAN architectures such as vRAN architectures.

[0058] The SMO framework 305 can be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces such as the O1 interface. For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform such as the Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 390 to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface such as the O2 interface. Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325. In some implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN, such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 311, via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via the O1 interface. SMO framework 305 may also include a non-RT RIC 315 configured to support the functionality of SMO framework 305.

[0059] The non-RT RIC 315 can be configured to include logical functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, including artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows for model training and updates, or policy-based guidance for applications / features in the near-RT RIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 can be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 325, such as via an A1 interface. The near-RT RIC 325 can be configured to include logical functions that enable near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via an interface, such as an E2 interface, through data collection and actions, connecting one or more CU 310s, one or more DU 330s, or both, and O-eNBs to the near-RT RIC 325.

[0060] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 325, the non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. This information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and can be received from non-network data sources or network functions at the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 315 or the near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and use AI / ML models to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 305 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or by creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0061] As described herein, a node (which may be referred to as a node, network node, network entity, or wireless node) may include, can be, or may include in (e.g., as a component of): a base station (e.g., any base station described herein), a Transmitter Receiver Point (TRP), a UE (e.g., any UE described herein), a network controller, apparatus, device, computing system, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, Distributed Unit (DU), Central Unit (CU), Remote Unit (RU), core network, LFM, and / or another processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a network node may be a UE. As another example, a network node may be a base station or a network entity. As another example, a first network node may be configured to communicate with a second or third network node. In one aspect of this example, the first network node may be a UE, the second network node may be a base station, and the third network node may be a UE. In another aspect of this example, the first network node may be a UE, the second network node may be a base station, and the third network node may be a base station. In yet other aspects of this example, the first network node, the second network node, and the third network node may be different from these examples. Similarly, references to UE, base station, device, equipment, computing system, etc., may include disclosures of UE, base station, device, equipment, computing system, etc., as network nodes. For example, a disclosure of a UE being configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node. Consistent with this disclosure, once a particular example is extended according to this disclosure (e.g., a disclosure of a UE being configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node), a broader example of a narrower example may be interpreted in reverse, but in a broad, open-ended manner. In the above example where a UE is configured to receive information from a base station and a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node, the first network node may refer to a first UE, a first base station, a first device, a first equipment, a first computing system, a first or more components, a first processing entity, etc., configured to receive information; and the second network node may refer to a second UE, a second base station, a second device, a second equipment, a second computing system, a second or more components, a second processing entity, etc.

[0062] As described herein, different terms may be used in various contexts to describe the transmission of information (e.g., any information, signal, etc.). Disclosure of one communication term includes disclosure of other communication terms. For example, a first network node may be described as being configured to send information to a second network node. In this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure that a first network node is configured to send information to a second network node includes disclosure that the first network node is configured to provide, transmit, output, communicate, or send information to the second network node. Similarly, in this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure that a first network node is configured to send information to a second network node includes disclosure that the second network node is configured to receive, obtain, or decode information provided, transmitted, output, communicate, or sent by the first network node.

[0063] Figure 4 This is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 400 supporting initial PRACH power control using multiple PRACH signals according to one or more aspects of this disclosure. In some examples, the wireless communication system 400 may implement aspects of the wireless network 100. The wireless communication system 400 includes UE 115, UE 430, and network entity 450, such as a base station. Although two UEs (e.g., UE 115 and UE 430) and one network entity 450 are illustrated, in some other specific implementations, the wireless communication system 400 may typically include more than two or fewer UEs, multiple network entities 450, or both.

[0064] UE 115 may include various components (such as architecture, hardware components) for performing one or more of the functions described herein. For example, these components may include one or more processors 402 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "processor 402"), one or more memory devices 404 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "memory 404"), one or more transmitters 416 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "transmitter 416"), one or more receivers 418 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "receiver 418"), and one or more antenna arrays 424 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "antenna array 424"). Processor 402 may be configured to execute instructions 405 stored in memory 404 to perform the operations described herein. In some specific implementations, processor 402 includes or corresponds to Figure 2 The receiving processor 258, the transmitting processor 264, and the controller 280 are one or more of these, and the memory 404 includes or corresponds to the receiving processor 258, the transmitting processor 264, and the controller 280. Figure 2 The memory 282.

[0065] Memory 404 includes or is configured to store instructions 405, power level 406, PRACH sequence 408, and path loss 410. Power level 406 represents the transmit (TX) power level of UE 115 transmitting signaling or messages (such as PRACH signals), as further described herein. PRACH sequence 408 includes a preamble or other PRACH sequences included in the PRACH signals transmitted by UE 115. Path loss 410 represents the UL path loss between UE 115 and network entity 450, which can be determined based on information received from network entity 450, as further described herein.

[0066] Transmitter 416 is configured to transmit reference signals, control information, and data to one or more other devices, and receiver 418 is configured to receive reference signals, synchronization signals, control information, and data from one or more other devices. For example, transmitter 416 may transmit signaling, control information, and data to network entity 450, and receiver 418 may receive signaling, control information, and data from that network entity. In some implementations, transmitter 416 and receiver 418 may be integrated into one or more transceivers. Additionally or alternatively, transmitter 416 or receiver 418 may include or correspond to a reference signal. Figure 2 One or more components of the described UE 115.

[0067] In some implementations, UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays. These antenna arrays may be coupled to transmitter 416, receiver 418, or a communication interface. The antenna arrays may include multiple antenna elements configured to perform wireless communication with other devices, such as network entity 450. In some implementations, the antenna arrays may be configured to perform wireless communication using different beams (also referred to as antenna beams). The beams may include a TX beam and an RX beam. In some examples, the antenna array may include multiple independent sets (or subsets) of antenna elements (or multiple separate antenna arrays), and each set of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to communicate using a different corresponding beam that may have a corresponding direction different from the other beams. For example, a first set of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to communicate via a first beam having a first direction, and a second set of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to communicate via a second beam having a second direction. In other implementations, the antenna array may be configured to communicate via more than two beams. Alternatively, one or more sets of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to generate multiple beams concurrently, for example, using multiple RF chains of UE 115. Each individual set (or subset) of antenna elements may include multiple antenna elements, such as two antenna elements, four antenna elements, ten antenna elements, twenty antenna elements, or any other number of antenna elements greater than two. Although described as an antenna array, in other specific embodiments, the antenna array may include or correspond to multiple antenna panels, and each antenna panel may be configured to communicate using a different corresponding beam.

[0068] UE 430 may include devices, such as mobile devices or stationary devices. In some embodiments, UE 430 is a device configured to communicate with UE 115, network entity 450, or both. UE 430 may include various components (such as architecture, hardware components) for performing one or more of the functions described herein. For example, these components may include one or more processors, one or more memory devices, one or more transmitters, one or more receivers, and optionally an antenna array, as described above with reference to UE 115. In some embodiments, UE 430 may include an interface (e.g., a communication interface) that includes a transmitter, a receiver, or a combination thereof. One or more processors may be configured to execute instructions stored in one or more memory devices to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, one or more processors include or correspond to Figure 2 One or more of the receiving processor 258, the transmitting processor 264, and the controller 280, and one or more memory devices including or corresponding to Figure 2 The memory 282. Therefore, the UE 430 may include, as referenced... Figures 1 to 3One or more components of the described UE 115.

[0069] Network entity 450 may include various components (such as architecture, hardware components) for performing one or more functions described herein. For example, these components may include one or more processors 452 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "processor 452"), one or more memory devices 454 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "memory 454"), one or more transmitters 456 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "transmitter 456"), one or more receivers 458 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "receiver 458"), and one or more antenna arrays 459 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "antenna array 459"). In some specific implementations, network entity 450 may include or correspond to references. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The described base station 105. Processor 452 can be configured to execute instructions 460 stored in memory 454 to perform the operations described herein. In some specific embodiments, processor 452 includes or corresponds to... Figure 2 The receiving processor 238, the transmitting processor 220, and the controller 240 are one or more of these, and the memory 454 includes or corresponds to the receiving processor 238, the transmitting processor 220, and the controller 240. Figure 2 The memory 242.

[0070] Memory 454 includes or is configured to store instruction 460, detected PRACH sequence 462, and optionally one or more of detected power level 464, detected delay offset 466, and suggested power offset 468. These optional elements may be collectively referred to as additional detected information 463. Detected PRACH sequence 462 represents the PRACH sequence (e.g., preamble or preamble sequence) identified in PRACH signaling detected at network entity 450. Detected power level 464 represents the detected power level of the PRACH signal detected at network entity 450. Detected delay offset 466 represents the delay offset of the PRACH signal detected by network entity 450. Suggested power offset 468 represents a suggested power offset to be applied to the power level of the detected PRACH signal so that the UE increases the likelihood that signaling or messages communicated during the association process will be detected at network entity 450 at the target power level.

[0071] Transmitter 456 is configured to transmit reference signals, synchronization signals, control information, and data to one or more other devices, and receiver 458 is configured to receive reference signals, control information, and data from one or more other devices. For example, transmitter 456 may transmit signaling, control information, and data to UE 115, and receiver 458 may receive signaling, control information, and data from the UE. In some implementations, transmitter 456 and receiver 458 may be integrated into one or more transceivers. Additionally or alternatively, transmitter 456 or receiver 458 may include or correspond to a reference signal. Figure 2 One or more components of the described base station 105.

[0072] In some implementations, network entity 450 may include one or more antenna arrays. The antenna array may include multiple antenna elements configured to perform wireless communication with other devices, such as UE 115. In some implementations, the antenna array may be configured to perform wireless communication using different beams (also referred to as antenna beams). The beams may include TX beams and RX beams. In some examples, the antenna array may include multiple independent sets (or subsets) of antenna elements (or multiple separate antenna arrays), and each set of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to communicate using a different corresponding beam that may have a corresponding direction different from the other beams. For example, a first set of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to communicate via a first beam having a first direction, and a second set of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to communicate via a second beam having a second direction. In other implementations, the antenna array may be configured to communicate via more than two beams. Alternatively, one or more sets of antenna elements of the antenna array may be configured to generate multiple beams concurrently, for example, using multiple RF chains of network entity 450. Each individual set (or subset) of antenna elements may include multiple antenna elements, such as two antenna elements, four antenna elements, ten antenna elements, twenty antenna elements, or any other number of antenna elements greater than two. Although described as an antenna array, in other specific implementations, an antenna array may include or correspond to multiple antenna panels, and each antenna panel may be configured to use a different corresponding beam for communication.

[0073] In some implementations, the wireless communication system 400 implements a 5G NR network. For example, the wireless communication system 400 may include multiple 5G-capable UEs 115 and 430, as well as multiple 5G-capable network entities 450, such as UEs and base stations (or other network entities) configured to operate according to 5G NR network protocols such as those defined by 3GPP. In some other implementations, the wireless communication system 400 implements a 6G network.

[0074] During the operation of the wireless communication system 400, UE 115 and UE 430 may perform a PRACH initialization and power control procedure before (or as an initial part of) the association procedure with network entity 450. During the PRACH initialization and power control procedure, each of UE 115 and UE 430 may transmit multiple PRACH signals to network entity 450 at different power levels, such as by scanning PRACH signals in a burst at multiple power levels. For example, UE 115 may transmit a set of one or more PRACH signals (referred to herein as "PRACH signal 470") to network entity 450 at multiple corresponding power levels (referred to herein as "power level 406") during a time period. UE 115 may transmit each corresponding PRACH signal in PRACH signal 470 at a corresponding power level in power level 406 that is different from the other PRACH signals in PRACH signal 470. As a non-limiting example, UE 115 may transmit a first PRACH signal at a first power level, a second PRACH signal at a second power level different from the first power level, a third PRACH signal at a third power level different from the first and second power levels, and a fourth PRACH signal at a fourth power level different from the first, second, and third power levels. As another example, UE 430 may transmit a set of one or more PRACH signals (referred to herein as "PRACH signal 472") to network entity 450 at multiple corresponding power levels during a time period. UE 430 may transmit each corresponding PRACH signal in PRACH signal 472 at different corresponding power levels, similar to what is described with reference to UE 115 and PRACH signal 470. PRACH signal 470 and PRACH signal 472 may be transmitted during the same time period (such as a first PRACHTX interval) before the time during which UE 115 and UE 430 wait for a response from network entity 450. In some specific implementations, at least some of the PRACH signals in PRACH signal 470 may overlap in time with at least some of the PRACH signals in PRACH signal 472. Alternatively, each of UE 115 and UE 430 may transmit the corresponding PRACH signal during the non-overlapping portion of the time interval.

[0075] In some implementations, UE 115 and UE 430 can select the power level for transmitting the corresponding PRACH signal based on a fixed pattern (such as a ramp-up pattern). For example, as a non-limiting example, a fixed pattern for power level selection includes increasing the power level of each subsequent PRACH transmission by a specific amount, such as 5 dB. In some examples, UE 115 can select power level 406 and transmit PRACH signal 470, such as transmitting a first PRACH signal at a first power level, a second PRACH signal at a second power level higher than the first power level (e.g., higher than an amount derived from the fixed pattern), and a third PRACH signal at a third power level higher than the second power level. UE 430 can select the power level for transmitting PRACH signal 472 based on the same fixed pattern as UE 115. By transmitting each subsequent PRACH signal at a higher power level, UE 115 and UE 430 can iteratively try different power levels until a power level that achieves the target power level at network entity 450 is selected. If each power level is separated by the same fixed value, that fixed value can be set to balance reducing the amount of time (and signaling) spent finding a sufficient power level with the competing goal of selecting a power level that is not higher than the power level required to achieve the target power level at network entity 450. In some examples, setting the fixed value to a larger value can increase the speed of finding a sufficient power level (e.g., and reduce the total number of PRACH transmissions), while setting the fixed value to a lower value can prevent or reduce the amount of power exceeding the target power level.

[0076] In some other implementations, UE 115 and UE 430 may select the power level for transmitting the corresponding PRACH signal according to a random or pseudo-random mode. For example, UE 115 may randomly or pseudo-randomly select the power level 406 for transmitting PRACH signal 470. Similarly, UE 430 may randomly or pseudo-randomly select the power level for transmitting PRACH signal 472. Randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting the power level for each PRACH signal can prevent one UE from blocking a signal transmitted by another UE due to differences in noise, path loss, distance, etc. For example, if UE 115 is significantly closer to network entity 450 than UE 430, and UE 115 and UE 430 transmit PRACH signals 470 and 472 according to the same fixed pattern, at least some of the PRACH signals in PRACH signal 470 can be received at a sufficiently high power compared to PRACH signal 472, interfering with and potentially preventing the reception of PRACH signal 472 at a power level that would otherwise satisfy the target power level at network entity 450. In other words, a higher-power PRACH signal (e.g., PRACH signal 470) may block the reception of a lower-power PRACH signal (e.g., PRACH signal 472) because the lower-power PRACH signal will be more difficult to detect on the same resources under interference from the higher-power PRACH signal. Randomly selecting the power level for each PRACH transmission reduces the likelihood of this happening with consecutive PRACH signal transmissions. In some such implementations, network entity 450 may be configured to perform continuous interference cancellation (SIC) to attempt successful reception of multiple PRACH signal transmissions on the same resources, thereby further improving the success provided by the random selection of power levels. In some implementations, each UE may be assigned a different pseudo-random selection pattern, and network entity 450 may be able to identify which UEs transmitted the received PRACH signal by comparing the pseudo-random power level pattern with information indicating the pseudo-random selection assignment to various UEs. However, such implementations may require additional storage at network entity 450 and additional communication frameworks for communicating pattern assignments (or predefined knowledge of pattern assignments, which may limit the number of different UEs that network entity 450 can support).

[0077] In addition to selecting power levels for PRACH signals 470 and 472, UEs 115 and 430 can also select a corresponding PRACH sequence for each PRACH signal in the PRACH signals. PRACH sequences that may include or correspond to preamble sequences (such as NR preamble sequences) can be generated from a predefined pool of possible PRACH sequences, or in some implementations, indicated by network entity 450, as further described below. PRACH sequences can be selected to have some "correlation" with the PRACH sequences of later messages during association with network entity 450. In some implementations, UEs 115 and 430 can select PRACH sequences according to a fixed pattern. For example, UE 115 can select PRACH sequence 408 and transmit PRACH signal 470, such as transmitting a first PRACH signal using a first PRACH sequence, a second PRACH signal using a second PRACH sequence in a fixed pattern, and a third PRACH signal using a third PRACH sequence in a fixed pattern. UE 430 can select the PRACH sequence for transmitting PRACH signal 472 according to the same fixed mode as UE 115. Alternatively, some UEs may be assigned different fixed modes for selecting PRACH sequences. In some other implementations, UEs 115 and 430 can randomly or pseudo-randomly select the PRACH sequences for PRACH signals 470 and 472. For example, UE 115 can randomly or pseudo-randomly select the PRACH sequence 408 for PRACH signal 470, such that a first PRACH signal is transmitted using a first random PRACH sequence, a second PRACH signal is transmitted using a second random PRACH sequence, and a third PRACH signal is transmitted using a third random PRACH sequence. UE 430 can similarly randomly or pseudo-randomly select the PRACH sequence for transmitting PRACH signal 472. Such random or pseudo-random selection of PRACH sequences can reduce the number of collisions, thereby reducing the number of PRACH signals with the same PRACH sequence on the same resources. Although occasional PRACH sequence collisions may occur, such collisions are likely infrequent enough to be outweighed by the benefits of using a less complex sequence selection scheme, such as a random or pseudo-random selection scheme. In some other implementations, PRACH sequence selection may be based on a group hopping sequence associated with the wireless communication resources on which the PRACH signals to be transmitted may be located.

[0078] In some implementations, PRACH signal transmission may be allocated to a specific set of wireless communication resources (e.g., a group of wireless communication resource blocks). Such specific wireless communication resources may be indicated by network entity 450. For example, network entity 450 may send a PRACH configuration message 480 to UEs 115 and 430. The PRACH configuration message 480 indicates one or more resource sets 482 of wireless resource blocks for UEs 115 and 340 to use when transmitting PRACH signals. The one or more resource sets indicated by the PRACH configuration message 480 may include wireless resource blocks different from those allocated to other message receptions during association, in order to prevent interference between PRACH signals and other message receptions. In some implementations, the PRACH configuration message 480 is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, or the PRACH resource configuration is otherwise RRC configured. UEs 115 and 430 may transmit PRACH signals 470 and 472 on wireless communication resource blocks selected from resource set 482. For example, UE 115 may transmit each PRACH signal in PRACH signal 470 via a selected resource set in resource set 482 or different radio resource blocks of multiple resource sets. In some specific implementations, UE 115, 430 may randomly or pseudo-randomly select radio resource blocks of the selected resource set to transmit PRACH signals 470, 472. Each selected resource block may be referred to as a transmission opportunity (XO). (References provided in this document) Figure 5 Further details are provided regarding resource block allocation and selection, as well as the opportunities to send them.

[0079] After PRACH signals 470 and 472 are transmitted by UEs 115 and 430, network entity 450 can detect at least some of the transmitted PRACH signals. In some examples, network entity 450 may be configured to detect PRACH signals in a best-effort manner, but not all PRACH transmissions may be detected by network entity 450, such as due to power levels that are too low (e.g., below a target level) or interference levels that are too high. For example, network entity 450 may not be able to detect (in PRACH signal 470) a PRACH signal transmitted at a power level lower than the target power level used for detection at network entity 450. As another example, if a particular PRACH signal (in PRACH signal 472) at least partially overlaps with a transmission of another PRACH signal (in PRACH signal 470) transmitted at a significantly higher power level, or if the channel between UE 430 and network entity 450 sufficiently degrades signal quality, then network entity 450 may fail to detect that particular PRACH signal even if the power level used by UE 430 is greater than the target power level. In some specific implementations, network entity 450 is configured to perform PRACH detection according to the same PRACH detection scheme associated with other messages in the reception associated process (such as “msg1” or “msgA”). Although there is no guarantee that network entity 450 will detect all transmitted PRACH signals, power level selection, PRACH sequence selection, radio resource allocation and selection, and transmission time intervals can be designed to achieve various target possibilities of receiving at least one PRACH signal or at least one PRACH signal from each UE. In some specific implementations, network entity 450 is configured to perform at least some SICs to increase the amount of PRACH signal detected under unbalanced power.

[0080] After performing PRACH detection, network entity 450 can identify one or more detected PRACH signals and associated transmission opportunities (e.g., transmission opportunities via which it detected PRACH signals, which may correspond to time resources, frequency resources, spatial resources, or combinations thereof). Additionally, because the detected PRACH signals were successfully detected, the network entity is able to extract and decode the detected PRACH sequence 462 associated with each detected PRACH signal. Network entity 450 may also be able to determine or derive other relevant information associated with the detected PRACH signals, such as the detected power level 464, delay offset 466, power offset 468, other metrics, or combinations thereof. However, in at least some implementations, network entity 450 cannot determine which UE is the transmitter of the detected PRACH signals, nor can it determine how many detected PRACH signals each UE transmitted. Because network entity 450 does not own and cannot determine which UEs transmitted the detected PRACH signals, it provides the UEs with information identifying the selected signals so that the UEs can determine whether any PRACH signals in their transmitted PRACH signals are detected, and if so, determine which power levels are associated with the detection at network entity 450.

[0081] To provide this information, network entity 450 may send a response message 474 to UEs 115 and 430, indicating which PRACH signals were detected at network entity 450. In some implementations, response message 474 may be communicated via PDSCH, similar to other random access response (RAR) messages during the association process. To schedule the transmission of response message 474, network entity 450 may send downlink control information (DCI) indicating that the response message will be transmitted via the upcoming PDSCH. In some implementations, the DCI may include a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated with the resource set from which PRACH signals were detected. For example, a first DCI may include a first RNTI indicating the scheduling of response messages associated with PRACH signals from a first resource set, and a second DCI may include a second RNTI indicating the scheduling of response messages associated with PRACH signals from a second resource set different from the first resource set. Thus, the UE may receive the DCI and determine whether to monitor the response message based on whether the UE transmitted the PRACH signal using a resource set associated with the RNTI included in the DCI.

[0082] Response message 474 may indicate a single set of PRACH signals detected at network entity 450. For example, the single set of detected PRACH signals may include zero, one, or more PRACH signals from PRACH signals 470 and zero, one, or more PRACH signals from PRACH signals 472. To indicate the single set of detected PRACH signals, response message 474 may include detected PRACH sequences 462 (e.g., including at least a portion of each corresponding PRACH sequence in the detected PRACH signals). Detected PRACH sequences 462 may be indicated by sequence index, by partial sequences, or in any other way to identify the PRACH sequences to the UE. In some implementations, response message 474 may include additional information besides the identification of the detected PRACH sequences 462. For example, response message 474 may include additional detected information 463, in Figure 4 In the illustrated example, the additional detected information may include detected power level 464, delay offset 466, power offset 468, or a combination thereof.

[0083] The additional detected information 463 can assist the UE in performing conflict resolution and thus provide better power control for message sending and receiving during the association process.

[0084] UEs 115 and 340 can receive a response message 474 and determine, based on the response message 474, whether any PRACH signal in their transmitted PRACH signals has been detected by network entity 450. For example, UE 115 can compare the PRACH sequence 408 associated with PRACH signal 470 with the detected PRACH sequence 462 to determine whether any PRACH sequence in PRACH sequence 408 is included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, and if so, determine that the PRACH signal associated with the identified PRACH sequence has been detected by network entity 450. In some implementations, if a PRACH sequence in PRACH sequence 408 is included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, UE 115 can identify the associated PRACH signal as detected by network entity 450. In some other implementations, there is a possibility of collisions between PRACH signals from multiple UEs (such as two UEs that both randomly select the same PRACH sequence for transmitting PRACH signals on the same radio resource block). Therefore, when identifying one or more PRACH sequences among the PRACH sequences 408 included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, UE 115 may prune the identified PRACH sequences that are unlikely to be intended for use by UE 115 (e.g., due to collisions, interference, etc.). In some implementations, response message 474 includes the detected PRACH sequence 462 and an indication of which radio communication blocks the detected PRACH sequence 462 is received on, and optionally includes additional detected information 463. Pruning may include UE 115 comparing the radio resource blocks associated with the PRACH signal used to transmit the identified PRACH sequence 408 with the radio resource blocks associated with the detected PRACH sequence 462, and discarding any identified PRACH sequences 408 that do not share the same radio resource blocks.

[0085] In some implementations, pruning may include considering the detected PRACH sequence 462 and PRACH sequence 408 jointly rather than separately. In such implementations, UEs 115 and 430 may be configured to prune or ignore the identified PRACH sequence if other PRACH signals are transmitted at a higher power level and the associated PRACH sequence is not included in the detected PRACH sequence 462. In some examples, if UE 115 transmits a first PRACH signal S1 with a first PRACH sequence Seq1 at a first power level P1, and a second PRACH signal S2 with a second PRACH sequence Seq2 at a second power level P2 higher than P1, but the detected PRACH sequence 462 only includes Seq1, it is more likely that another UE (e.g., UE 430) also transmits a PRACH signal with Seq1, and the detection of Seq1 comes from another PRACH signal. This determination is based on the fact that S2 is not detected by network entity 450, even if it has a higher power than S1. In this example, UE 115 can ignore Seq1 such that if Seq1 is the only identified PRACH sequence in PRACH sequence 408 included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, then UE 115 can determine that network entity 450 has not detected any PRACH signal 470. Additionally or alternatively, the UE can use additional detected information 463 to perform pruning. In such an implementation, if the corresponding level of power level 406 is also not included in the detected power level 464, then UE 115, 430 can be configured to prune or ignore the identified PRACH sequence included in the detected PRACH sequence 462. In the example above where UE 115 transmits PRACH signals S1 and S2, and PRACH sequences Seq1 and Seq2 are included in both PRACH sequence 408 and detected PRACH sequence 462, if the additional detected information 463 includes a detected power level 464, UE 115 can compare power level 406 with the detected power level 464 to assist the pruning process. For example, if power level P2 is 6 dB higher than P1 in power level 406, but the detected power level 464 indicates that P1 is 3 dB higher than P2 and P2 is approximately 6 dB, then UE 115 can determine that including Seq1 in the detected PRACH sequence 462 is intended for a different UE, and the PRACH signal with Seq1 transmitted by UE 115 was not detected by network entity 450.As another example, if the additional detected information 463 includes a delay offset 466 and UE 115 identifies multiple PRACH signals from the PRACH sequence 408 included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, then if those PRACH sequences are associated with delay offsets in delay offset 466 that are different from the remaining portion of the identified PRACH sequence, UE 115 may trim or ignore one or more of the identified PRACH sequences, because these detected PRACH sequences may come from other UEs that are transmitting using the same PRACH sequence on the same radio resource block.

[0086] After pruning, UEs 115 and 430 can select the lowest power level associated with the remaining identified PRACH sequences (and associated PRACH signals) for transmission during the association process with network entity 450. For example, if the two remaining identified PRACH sequences in PRACH sequence 408 are included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, namely PRACH sequences Seq1 and Seq4 (which correspond to PRACH signals S1 and S4 transmitted at power levels P1 and P4, respectively), then UE 115 can select the lower of P1 and P4 as the selected power level for receiving and transmitting association messages with network entity 450. Similarly, if the two remaining identified PRACH sequences in the corresponding PRACH sequence of PRACH signal 472 are included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, namely PRACH sequences Seq2 and Seq5 (which correspond to PRACH signals S2 and S5 transmitted at power levels P2 and P5, respectively), then UE 430 can select the lower of P2 and P5 as the selected power level for receiving and transmitting associated messages with network entity 450. Although described above as selecting the lowest power level associated with the remaining identified PRACH sequences, such a selection can be based on a “good enough” configuration that prioritizes UEs using lower transmission power to save power at the UE. In other implementations, the selection can be based on a configuration that prioritizes reducing signaling used to achieve the target power level at network entity 450, and thus the highest power level associated with the remaining identified PRACH sequences can be selected. If only a single identified PRACH sequence is retained, the selection according to either configuration is meaningless.

[0087] In some implementations, the selected power level can be adjusted based on additional information from network entity 450 (before sending or receiving messages at the selected power level). In some examples, if the additional detected information 463 includes a power offset 468, UEs 115 and 430 can each increase the selected power level based on a power offset in power offset 468. For example, if UE 115 identifies a single PRACH sequence in PRACH sequence 408 that is included in detected PRACH sequence 462, UE 115 can increase the selected power level by the amount of a power offset in power offset 468 corresponding to a power offset in both PRACH sequence 408 and detected PRACH sequence 462. As another example, if UE 115 identifies two PRACH sequences in PRACH sequence 408 that are included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, then UE 115 can add two power offsets in power offset 468 to each of the associated power levels, corresponding to the two PRACH sequences included in both PRACH sequence 408 and PRACH sequence 462, and then select the lower (or higher) power level of the two added power levels as the selected power level.

[0088] Additionally or alternatively, if the additional detected information 463 in the response message 474 includes a detected power level 464, the selected power level can be adjusted based on the path loss between the corresponding UE and network entity 450 (before sending and receiving messages at the selected power level). For example, if UE 115 identifies a single PRACH sequence in PRACH sequence 408 that is included in detected PRACH sequence 462, UE 115 can determine path loss 410 based on the associated power level in power level 406 and a power level in detected power level 464 corresponding to a PRACH sequence included in both PRACH sequence 408 and detected PRACH sequence 462. UE 115 can determine path loss 410 in an open-loop manner, similar to conventional open-loop power control, because the detected power level 464 indicates the power level associated with the uplink communication channel between UE 115 and network entity 450, rather than the downlink channel, which may have different channel characteristics due to differences in frequency range or TRP. In addition to determining path loss 410, UE 115 can also adjust the selected power level to account for path loss 410, such as via open-loop power adjustment. As another example, if UE 115 identifies multiple PRACH sequences in PRACH sequence 408 as being included in the detected PRACH sequence 462, UE 115 can determine the path loss 410 for each of the multiple associated signals of PRACH signal 470 in the same manner, and UE 115 can use aggregated path loss to adjust the selected power level. Aggregated path loss can be the minimum of multiple path loss values, the average path loss value, the maximum of multiple path loss values, the mode of multiple path loss values, or another statistical value derived from multiple path loss values. As can be understood from these examples, path loss can be determined and the selected power level adjusted without additional message transmission between UEs 115, 430 and network entity 450. This improves the speed of the power control process and reduces congestion in the wireless communication system 400 compared to performing a conventional open-loop power control process.

[0089] After selecting an appropriate power level, UEs 115 and 430 can initiate an association process (or the next stage of the association process) with network entity 450 using message transmission at the corresponding selected power level. For example, UE 115 can send a random access request message 476 at a power level selected in power level 406 (such as the lower (or higher) of P1 and P4 in the example described above). As another example, UE 430 can send a random access request message 478 at a power level determined at UE 430 (such as the lower (or higher) of P2 and P5 in the example described above). In some specific implementations, random access request messages 476 and 478 include or correspond to the first message of a 4-step association process (also referred to as "msg1") or the first message of a 2-step association process (also referred to as "msgA"). Network entity 450 may receive random access request messages 476, 478 with a high probability of being at or above the target power level, and upon receipt, network entity 450 may continue with the corresponding association process, such as by sending random access response messages, such as “msg2” or “msgB”.

[0090] For reference Figure 4As described, this disclosure provides techniques for supporting initialization and power control procedures performed by UEs (such as UE 115 and UE 430) using multiple PRACH signals prior to other steps in an association procedure with a network entity (such as network entity 450). For example, UE 115 may transmit PRACH signal 470 during a time period, UE 430 may transmit PRACH signal 472 during that time period, and network entity 450 may report each of the PRACH signals detected at network entity 450 during that time period in a response message 474. This initialization and power control using multiple PRACH signals allows UE 115 and UE 430 to each determine the appropriate power level for transmitting messages as part of the corresponding association procedure, which is more likely to be detected at network entity 450 compared to using open-loop power control, especially if the DL channel and UL channel are not sufficiently similar in frequency. In some examples, because UE 115 transmits multiple PRACH signals 470 at different corresponding power levels, network entity 450 is more likely to detect at least one of the PRACH signals 470, which can be indicated by network entity 450 including one or more detected PRACH signals in response message 474. This increased opportunity for detection by network entity 450 increases the chance that UE 115 can determine the appropriate power level after receiving a single response message (such as response message 474) rather than performing multiple cycles of transmitting corresponding PRACH signals and receiving corresponding response messages. Although such a sequential process may not take a long time if the DL path loss is sufficiently representative of the UL path loss, if the DL channel and UL channel are sufficiently separated in frequency, the initial power level selected to compensate for the DL path loss can compensate for the UL path loss, and therefore UE 115 can perform several iterations of transmitting corresponding PRACH signals and monitoring corresponding response messages. Additionally, if UE 115 identifies multiple PRACH signals detected in PRACH signal 470 by network entity 450, UE 115 can use the lowest power level associated with the identified PRACH signal to avoid using more power than is required to achieve the target power level at network entity 450. Therefore, compared to other wireless communication systems, wireless communication system 400 can provide more efficient initialization and power control in terms of speed and network congestion for UL transmissions performed by the UE for different frequency DL and UL channels.

[0091] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example wireless communication resource 500 configured for PRACH signal transmission during initialization and power control, according to one or more aspects of this disclosure. In some specific embodiments, the wireless communication resource can be... Figure 4 Assigned in PRACH configuration message 480, or in network entities and UEs (such as...) Figure 4 Predefined at network entity 450 and UE115 and UE430.

[0092] Wireless communication resources 500 can be allocated to one or more resource sets 502 of wireless resource blocks in both the time and frequency domains. Each wireless resource block may correspond to a transmission opportunity (XO) for transmitting a PRACH signal, such that each of the one or more resource sets 502 includes a corresponding set of multiple wireless resource blocks (e.g., transmission opportunities). The one or more resource sets 502 may include portions of the PRACH initialization time period, such as... Figure 4 UEs 115 and 430 transmit PRACH signals 470 and 472 respectively during their respective time periods. Different resource sets in one or more resource sets 502 can be associated with different transmission time segments (such as intervals, segments, time slots, etc.) of the PRACH initialization time period, such as... Figure 5 As shown. In some implementations, for each different Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beam, there may be a separate resource pool (e.g., one or more resource sets), similar to some implementations of a resource pool used for "msg1" transmission. Each such resource pool may have a defined PRACH time period corresponding to the PRACH initialization time period for a UE using the SSB beam for information from a network entity. Alternatively, different resource sets in one or more resource sets 502 may be assigned to different SSB beams, or the allocation of resource pools or resource sets may be based on other criteria, such as the type of UE, the location of the UE relative to a network entity, or other criteria. Each resource set may be defined within a resource pool using radio resource blocks, which may correspond to defining resources relative to the time and frequency domains for time division multiplexing (TDM) and frequency division multiplexing purposes. Thus, resources may represent a combination of frequencies, frequency ranges, carriers, bandwidths, bandwidth portions, etc. from the frequency domain and time slots, frames, subframes, intervals, periods, etc. from the time domain.

[0093] exist Figure 5 In the example shown, one or more resource sets 502 include four resource sets (including an exemplary resource set 504). An expanded view of resource set 504 is shown, illustrating that resource set 504 comprises a collection of multiple radio resources, also referred to as radio resource blocks. Each radio resource block can be defined as a set including time and frequency resources to support the transmission of PRACH signals, such as... Figure 4 Either PRACH signal 470 or 472. Therefore, each radio resource block is also referred to as a transmission opportunity. Figure 5In the example shown, resource set 504 includes thirty transmission opportunities (including exemplary transmission opportunity 506), which are allocated such that six transmission opportunities of different frequencies are allocated for each of five different time intervals to constitute resource set 504. Such transmission opportunity allocation can be analogous to allocating transmission opportunities to a resource set used for “msg1” communication in a conventional open-loop power control scheme. In other examples, transmission opportunities can be allocated to include more or fewer than thirty transmission opportunities in a resource set, more or fewer than six transmission opportunities at each time interval, more or fewer than five time intervals per resource set, or any combination thereof. In some specific implementations, to limit the amount of time the UE spends monitoring reply messages after transmitting a PRACH signal, the DL DCI for scheduling reply messages may include an indicator of which resource set (one or more) the scheduled reply message is associated with.

[0094] In some implementations, each UE can select one or more transmission opportunities from a set of resources used to transmit PRACH signals. In such implementations, the UE can select one transmission opportunity (e.g., a radio resource block) from each time interval, one transmission opportunity from each pair of time intervals, a single transmission opportunity, or some other subset of transmission opportunities not exceeding one per time interval. For example, in... Figure 5 In the example shown, the UE can randomly or pseudo-randomly select a transmission opportunity from one of six frequency ranges at each of the five time intervals. In some implementations, the UE may be configured to avoid selecting the same frequency range at consecutive time intervals or within resource set 504, but in other implementations, no such restriction is imposed. Selecting transmission opportunities at each time interval (e.g., nearly consecutive) or at least several different time intervals allows the UE to transmit more PRACH signals during the PRACH initialization period, thereby increasing the chance of finding a power level detected at a network entity that is higher than the target power level. However, configuring the UE to use only a subset of time intervals allows more UEs to communicate PRACH signals during that period without increasing the frequency resource allocation to resource set 504, and also reduces collisions with other UEs.

[0095] In addition to selecting which transmission opportunities to use to transmit the PRACH signal, the UE is configured to select the PRACH sequence used to generate the PRACH signal. For example... Figure 5As illustrated in the expanded example of transmission opportunity 506, the PRACH sequence space can be allocated to N different PRACH sequences (including the exemplary PRACH sequence 508), and for each transmission opportunity selected by the UE, the UE also selects one of the N PRACH sequences to transmit the corresponding PRACH signal. Although Figure 5 The diagram illustrates three PRACH sequences, but in other implementations, N can be less than or greater than three. Because a network entity may not have received communication from the UE before sending a PRACH signal, it may be unable to identify which device transmitted the detected PRACH signal. However, by allocating the known PRACH sequence space among these N PRACH sequences, the network entity can be able to decode and identify the PRACH sequence from the detected PRACH signal, and the PRACH sequence can be used as identification information when transmitted to the UE to determine whether it has received the UE's PRACH signal.

[0096] As referenced above Figure 4 As explained, a UE can select transmission opportunities (e.g., radio resource blocks) and PRACH sequences based on a fixed pattern or through random or pseudo-random selection. For example, each UE can select transmission opportunities for one or more time intervals based on a fixed frequency hopping pattern (such as an ascending or descending frequency hopping pattern). In such examples, different UEs can be configured to start at different frequency transmission opportunities, such as based on device ID or other identification information. As another example, each UE can randomly or pseudo-randomly select the frequency used for the transmission opportunity at each time interval in which the UE will transmit a PRACH signal. Although collisions may occur, the size of the resource set and the number of devices assigned to the resource set can be configured to reduce the likelihood of collisions, and pruning or collision handling operations can be performed, as referenced above. Figure 4 As described above, similar selection can be made relative to the PRACH sequence. For example, each UE can select a PRACH sequence based on a fixed pattern (such as an ascending or descending pattern, an alternating pattern, or any type of fixed pattern). The UE can select the starting PRACH sequence based on the device ID or other identifying information to avoid each UE picking the same PRACH sequence for the same transmission opportunity. As another example, the UE can randomly or pseudo-randomly select each PRACH sequence from N PRACH sequences for each transmission opportunity. Although collisions may occur, the size of the sequence space and the number of devices assigned to the resource set can be configured to reduce the likelihood of collisions, and pruning or collision operations can be performed, as referenced above. Figure 4 As described.

[0097] Figure 6An example of a PRACH signal 600 transmitted during initialization and power control according to one or more aspects of this disclosure is illustrated. Figure 6 As shown, the PRACH signal 600 includes a first PRACH signal 602 transmitted by a first UE, a second PRACH signal 604 transmitted by a second UE, and a third PRACH signal 606 transmitted by a third UE. The first PRACH signal 602 may include or correspond to the PRACH signal transmitted by the first UE. Figure 4 The second PRACH signal 604, which is sent by UE 115, may include or correspond to the PRACH signal 470 sent by UE 115. Figure 4 The UE 430 transmits the PRACH signal 472, and the third PRACH signal 606 may include or correspond to the PRACH signal 472 transmitted by the UE 430. Figure 4 The PRACH signal sent by the third UE is not shown in the diagram. PRACH signals 602-606 can be transmitted by network entities (such as...) Figure 4 The network entity 450) received the message, which was located at... Figure 6 The PRACH signal 608 is exemplified as an overlapped signal.

[0098] exist Figure 6 In the example shown, each UE transmits four PRACH signals at different time intervals during the PRACH initialization period: the first interval t1, the second interval t2, the third interval t3, and the fourth interval t4, and each UE randomly or pseudo-randomly selects the power level for each PRACH signal transmission (which corresponds to...). Figure 6 (Vertical direction in the middle). Overlapping PRACH signals 608 illustrate three PRACH signals transmitted by each of the three UEs at each of the four time intervals t1-t4.

[0099] Network entities typically prioritize detection resources for PRACH signals transmitted at sufficiently high power and with a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). However, they typically do not prioritize detection resources for PRACH signals transmitted at low power (e.g., below the target power level) or with a sufficiently low SNR or SINR. Therefore, due to interference from higher-power signals (such as the second PRACH signal 604 and the third PRACH signal 606), the network entity may not detect the first PRACH signal 602 at interval t4, even though this first PRACH signal could be transmitted at a power level above the target power level. While this may occur due to random selection of power levels, it is unlikely to occur at multiple time intervals, and therefore a UE with weaker power at one interval may be stronger at different intervals. For example, at the previous interval t3, the first UE transmits the strongest of all received PRACH signals, the first PRACH signal 602, as shown by the overlapping PRACH signal 608 at t3. As can be understood, configuring the UE to randomly or pseudo-randomly select the power level for transmitting PRACH signals can reduce collisions compared to using a fixed mode (such as ramp mode), and although some collisions may still occur, the likelihood can be further reduced by reducing the number of UEs assigned to the resource set or increasing the number of time intervals for transmission opportunities in the resource set.

[0100] Figure 7 Examples are illustrated of initialization and power control performed by a UE using multiple PRACH signals according to one or more aspects of this disclosure. In some specific implementations, Figure 7 The illustrated PRACH signal may include or correspond to the signal generated by... Figure 4 UE115 sends PRACH signal 470. (Refer to reference...) Figure 4 Compared to the described PRACH initialization process, PRACH initialization process 700 may include multiple transmit (TX) segments and multiple receive (RX) segments, and if the UE has identified a transmitted PRACH signal that is identical to the detected PRACH signal reported by a network entity, the UE may be configured to enter a low-power operating mode (e.g., sleep mode) during the subsequent TX and RX segments. This may be referred to as early termination of the execution of PRACH initialization process 700. Switching to a low-power operating mode during TX and RX segments that the UE does not need to utilize allows the UE to conserve power compared to remaining active but not transmitting PRACH signals or monitoring response messages not intended for use by the UE.

[0101] exist Figure 7In the example shown, the PRACH initialization process 700 includes, in the order of occurrence, a first TX segment 702, a first RX segment 704, a second TX segment 706, a second RX segment 708, an Mth TX segment 710, and an Mth RX segment 712. Following the PRACH initialization process 700 is an association process 714, during which the UE can perform association operations with network entities, such as sending a random access request message, such as “msg1” or “msgA”, at a selected power level. Although in Figure 7 The example illustrates three TX and RX segments, but in other implementations, the PRACH initialization process 700 may include fewer or more than three TX and RX segments. In some implementations, different resource sets may be associated with different TX segments. For example, the first TX segment 702 may be associated with... Figure 5 The second TX segment 706 may be associated with a second resource set 502, and the Mth TX segment 710 may be associated with a third resource set 502. Alternatively, one or more of the TX segments 702, 706, and 710 may be associated with the same resource set. Although Figure 7 An example of a UE (such as Figure 4 The UE 115) sends PRACH signaling, but other UEs can send PRACH signals during various TX segments.

[0102] During the first TX segment 702, the UE can transmit multiple PRACH signals. The UE can transmit PRACH signals at different power levels, such as according to a fixed pattern, or according to a random or pseudo-random selection (e.g., Figure 7 (As shown). Due to the selection of too low a power level or other interference, the network entity may be unable to detect any PRACH signals from the UE, and during the first RX segment 704, the network entity may send a response message that does not identify any PRACH sequences used by the UE. The UE may receive and process the response message, and in response to determining that the detected PRACH sequences included in the response message do not include any PRACH sequences used by the UE, the UE may remain in active operating mode after the first RX segment 704.

[0103] During the second TX segment 706, the UE can again transmit multiple PRACH signals at different randomly selected power levels. At this time, the UE selects at least one power level high enough to be detected by network entities. Figure 7In the specific example shown, the second PRACH signal and the third PRACH signal are detected by the network entity. During the second RX segment 708, the UE receives another response message identifying the PRACH sequence associated with the second and third PRACH signals. The UE can select the lower of the two power levels (e.g., the power level of the second PRACH signal) as the selected power level 716 used during the association process 714, as referenced above. Figure 4 As described. In some specific implementations, the selected power level 716 can be adjusted, for example, based on the determined path loss or the suggested power offset from the network entity. Additionally, based on the detection that at least one PRACH signal transmitted during the second TX segment 706 is included in the PRACH signal indicated by the response message in the second RX segment 708, the UE transitions to a low-power operating mode after the second RX segment 708 (e.g., the UE prematurely terminates the PRACH initialization procedure 700). During the remaining TX and RX segments (such as the Mth TX segment 710 and the Mth RX segment 712), other UEs that have not yet successfully transmitted a PRACH signal detected by the network entity can continue to transmit PRACH signals and monitor response messages from the network entity. After completing the last RX segment, the UE can transition to an active operating mode to perform the association procedure 714 with the network entity using the selected power level. Although the various TX and RX segments are presented as occurring consecutively, in some specific implementations, each pair of TX and RX segments can be time-separated by the network entity's allocation of time resources for other communications, so that the PRACH initialization process 700 is not so long that it blocks other functionality of the network entity. If any UE has not identified the corresponding transmitted PRACH signal included in the response message by the end of the M RX segment 712, those UEs can wait until the next PRACH initialization period to continue transmitting PRACH signals.

[0104] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure 800 that can be performed by a UE supporting initial PRACH power control using multiple PRACH signals, according to one or more aspects of this disclosure. Operation of procedure 800 can be performed by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, procedure 800 can be described by reference above. Figures 1 to 4 The described UE 115 or reference Figure 9 The described UE is used to execute.

[0105] In box 802, the UE transmits a first plurality of PRACH signals to a network entity at multiple power levels during a time period. Each of the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted at a different corresponding power level among the multiple power levels. For example, the first plurality of PRACH signals may include or correspond to Figure 4 The PRACH signal 470, and multiple power levels may include or correspond to Figure 4 The power level is 406.

[0106] In box 804, the UE receives a response message from a network entity indicating a second plurality of PRACH signals detected during the time period. For example, the response message may include or correspond to... Figure 4 The response message is 474. In block 806, the UE associates a first power level among a plurality of power levels with a first PRACH signal included in a second plurality of PRACH signals, and sends a random access request message to the network entity at that first power level. For example, the random access request message may include or correspond to Figure 4 Random access request message 476.

[0107] In some implementations, process 800 further includes receiving a PRACH configuration message from a network entity indicating one or more resource sets of wireless communication resource blocks. For example, the PRACH configuration message may include or correspond to... Figure 4 The PRACH configuration message 480, and one or more resource sets of wireless communication resources may include or correspond to Figure 4 Resource set 482. Each PRACH signal in the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted via different corresponding wireless communication resource blocks in one or more resource sets. For example, see reference Figure 5 The transmission opportunities of one or more resource sets 502 further describe the transmission of PRACH signals via different wireless communication resource blocks. In some such embodiments, process 800 also includes randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting a corresponding wireless resource block in one or more resource sets for transmission of one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals. Additionally or alternatively, process 800 may also include transitioning to a low-power operating mode during one or more remaining transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization period based on the detection that the first PRACH signal is included in the second plurality of PRACH signals. Different resource sets in one or more resource sets are associated with different corresponding transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization period, and the first plurality of PRACH signals are transmitted during the first transmission time segment. For example, refer to the above Figure 7 It further describes early termination, such as switching to a low-power operating mode during transmission time segments.

[0108] In some specific implementations, process 800 further includes selecting a corresponding PRACH sequence from a set of PRACH sequences according to a fixed pattern for one or more PRACH signals in the first plurality of PRACH signals. Each PRACH signal in the first plurality of PRACH signals includes a corresponding PRACH sequence. For example, the PRACH sequence may include or correspond to Figure 4 The PRACH sequences 408, in some specific implementations, are selected according to a fixed pattern. Alternatively, the process 800 may also include randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting a corresponding PRACH sequence from the set of PRACH sequences for one or more PRACH signals from a first plurality of PRACH signals.

[0109] In some implementations, process 800 may also include selecting a corresponding power level for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals according to a fixed pattern. For example, the power level may be selected according to a fixed pattern (such as a ramp pattern). Figure 4 The power level is 406. Alternatively, process 800 may include randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting a corresponding power level for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals. For example, the power level may be selected randomly or pseudo-randomly. Figure 4 The power level is 406.

[0110] In some specific implementations, for each of one or more PRACH signals in a first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the corresponding PRACH signal. For example, the corresponding PRACH sequence may include or correspond to Figure 4 The detected PRACH sequence 462. In some such embodiments, for each of one or more PRACH signals in a first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message also includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof. For example, the detected power level may include or correspond to Figure 4 The detected power level is 464, and the detected delay offset may include or correspond to Figure 4 The delay offset is 466, and it is suggested that the power offset may include or correspond to Figure 4 The recommended power offset is 468. In some such embodiments, process 800 may also include determining path loss based on the power level of the first PRACH signal and the detected power level of the second PRACH signal. The first power level is further determined based on the path loss. For example, the path loss may include or correspond to Figure 4 The path loss is 410.

[0111] Figure 9 This is a block diagram of an example UE 900 supporting initial PRACH power control using multiple PRACH signals according to one or more aspects of this disclosure. The UE 900 can be configured to perform operations including referencing... Figure 8 The described process is a block 800. In some specific implementations, UE 900 includes references. Figures 1 to 4 The UE 115 illustrates and describes the structure, hardware, and components. For example, UE 900 includes a controller 280 that operates to execute logical or computer instructions stored in memory 282, and components that control UE 900 and provide the features and functionality of UE 900. Under the control of controller 280, UE 900 transmits and receives signals via wireless radio components 901a-r and antennas 252a-r. Wireless radio components 901a-r include, for example... Figure 2 The various components and hardware illustrated for UE 115 include modulators and demodulators 254a-r, MIMO detector 256, receiver processor 258, transmitter processor 264, and TX MIMO processor 266.

[0112] As shown in the figure, memory 282 may include (or be configured to store) PRACH initialization logic 902, power level 903, transmit (TX) power control logic 904, and communication logic 905. PRACH initialization logic 902 may be configured to generate PRACH signaling to be transmitted during initialization and power control operations. Power level 903 may include or correspond to... Figure 4 The power level is 406. TX power control logic 904 can be configured to select and set the power level of transmissions (such as PRACH signals and messages) during the association process. Communication logic 905 can be configured to enable communication between UE 900 and one or more other devices. UE 900 can communicate from one or more network entities (such as...) Figures 1 to 3 Base station 105 Figure 4 Network entity 450 or such Figure 11 The network entity(s) Receive signals or send signals to one or more network entities.

[0113] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating an example process 1000 that can be performed by a network entity supporting initial PRACH power control using multiple PRACH signals, according to one or more aspects of this disclosure. The operation of process 1000 can be performed by a network entity or its components (such as a base station or other network entity) as described herein. For example, process 1000 can be described by reference above. Figures 1 to 3 The described base station 105, as mentioned above (reference). Figure 4 The network entity described is 450 or as mentioned above. Figure 11The network entity described is used to execute this.

[0114] At box 1002, the network entity detects a first plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by one or more UEs during a time period. For example, the first plurality of PRACH signals may include or correspond to... Figure 4 The network entity detects PRACH signals at location 450, which may be a subset of PRACH signals 470 and 472. At box 1004, the network entity sends a response message to one or more UEs indicating the first plurality of PRACH signals. For example, the response message may include or correspond to... Figure 4 The response message is 474.

[0115] At block 1006, the network entity receives a random access request message from the first UE at a first power level, based on the fact that the first PRACH signal in the first plurality of PRACH signals is included in a second plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by the first UE in one or more UEs during a time period. For example, the random access request message may include or correspond to Figure 4 The random access request message 476, and the first power level may include or correspond to Figure 4 One of the power levels in power level 406.

[0116] In some specific implementations, process 1000 further includes receiving a second random access request message from a second UE at a second power level, based on the inclusion of a third PRACH signal among a first plurality of PRACH signals in a third plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by a second UE during a time period by one or more UEs. For example, the second UE may include or correspond to Figure 4 UE430, and the fourth PRACH signal may include or correspond to Figure 4 One of the PRACH signals in PRACH signal 472.

[0117] In some implementations, for one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the first PRACH signal. For example, the PRACH sequence may include or correspond to the detected PRACH sequence 462. In some such implementations, for one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message also includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof. For example, the detected power level may include or correspond to... Figure 4 The detected power level 464, the detected delay offset may include or correspond to delay offset 466, and the suggested power offset may include or correspond to Figure 4The recommended power offset is 468.

[0118] Figure 11 This is a block diagram of an example network entity 1100 that uses initial PRACH power control of multiple PRACH signals based on support from one or more aspects. Network entity 1100 can be configured to perform operations, including references... Figure 10 The process 1000 is described in the box. In some specific implementations, network entity 1100 includes references. Figures 1 to 3 Base station 105 or Figure 4 The network entity 450 shows and describes the structure, hardware, and components. For example, network entity 1100 may include a controller 240 that operates to execute logical or computer instructions stored in memory 242, and components that control network entity 1100 and provide the characteristics and functionality of network entity 1100. Under the control of controller 240, network entity 1100 transmits and receives signals via wireless radio components 1101a-t and antennas 234a-t. Wireless radio components 1101a-t include, for example... Figure 2 The various components and hardware illustrated for base station 105 include modulators and demodulators 232a-t, a transmit processor 220, a TX MIMO processor 230, a MIMO detector 236, and a receive processor 238.

[0119] As shown in the figure, memory 242 may include (or be configured to store) PRACH initialization logic 1102, detected sequence 1103, and communication logic 1104. PRACH initialization logic 1102 may be configured to detect a PRACH signal from the UE and to send a response message indicating the detected PRACH signal. Detected sequence 1103 may include or correspond to... Figure 4 The detected PRACH sequence 462. Communication logic 1104 can be configured to enable communication between network entity 1100 and one or more other devices. Network entity 1100 can communicate from one or more UEs (such as...) Figures 1 to 4 UE 115 or Figure 9 The UE 900 receives signals or sends signals to one or more UEs.

[0120] Note that this is for reference only. Figure 8 and Figure 10 One or more boxes (or operations) described can be combined with one or more boxes (or operations) described in another figure referring to these figures. For example, Figure 8 One or more boxes (or operations) can be associated with Figure 10 A combination of one or more boxes (or actions). As another example, with... Figure 8 or Figure 10One or more associated boxes can be combined with Figures 1 to 7 A combination of one or more related boxes (or operations). Additionally or alternatively, see above for reference. Figures 1 to 7 One or more operations described can be compared with the reference Figure 9 or Figure 11 The described combination of one or more operations.

[0121] In one or more aspects, techniques for supporting initial PRACH power control using multiple PRACH signals may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below or in conjunction with one or more other processes or devices described elsewhere in this document. In some examples, the techniques of one or more aspects may be implemented in a method or process. In some other examples, the techniques of one or more aspects may be implemented in a wireless communication device, such as a UE or a component of a UE. In some examples, the wireless communication device may include at least one processing unit or system (which may include an application processor, modem, or other component) and at least one memory device coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit or system may be configured to perform the operations described herein with respect to the wireless communication device. In some examples, the memory device includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions or storing program code thereon, which, when executed by the processing unit or system, is configured to cause the wireless communication device to perform the operations described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication device may include an interface (e.g., a wireless communication interface) including a transmitter, a receiver, or a combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication device may include one or more components configured to perform the operations described herein. In some other examples, the techniques of one or more aspects may be implemented in a network entity, such as a base station, a component of a base station, a server, a component of a server, another network entity, or a component of another network entity. In some examples, the network entity may include at least one processing unit or system (which may include an application processor, modem, or other component) and at least one memory device coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit or system may be configured to perform the operations described herein with respect to the wireless communication device. In some examples, the memory device includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions or program code thereon, which, when executed by the processing unit or system, is configured to cause the network entity to perform the operations described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity may include an interface (e.g., a wireless communication interface) including a transmitter, a receiver, or a combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity may include one or more components configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0122] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses: Clause 1: A UE, the UE including a processing system including processor circuitry and memory circuitry storing code, the processing system being configured to cause the UE to: transmit a first plurality of PRACH signals to a network entity at a plurality of power levels during a time period, each of the first plurality of PRACH signals being transmitted at a different corresponding power level among the plurality of power levels; receive from the network entity a response message indicating a second plurality of PRACH signals detected during the time period; and transmit a random access request message to the network entity at the first power level based on a first power level among the plurality of power levels associated with a first PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals included in the second plurality of PRACH signals.

[0123] Clause 2: The UE according to Clause 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: receive from the network entity a PRACH configuration message indicating one or more resource sets of wireless communication resource blocks, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted via different corresponding wireless communication resource blocks in the one or more resource sets.

[0124] Clause 3: The UE according to Clause 2, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: randomly or pseudo-randomly select a corresponding radio resource block in the one or more resource sets to transmit the PRACH signal for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals.

[0125] Clause 4: The UE according to Clause 2, wherein different resource sets in the one or more resource sets are associated with different corresponding transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization time period, wherein the first plurality of PRACH signals are transmitted during the first transmission time segment, and wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: transition to a low-power operating mode during one or more remaining transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization time period based on detecting that the first PRACH signal is included in the second plurality of PRACH signals.

[0126] Clause 5: The UE according to Clause 1, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals includes a corresponding PRACH sequence, and wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: select a corresponding PRACH sequence from a set of PRACH sequences for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals according to a fixed pattern.

[0127] Clause 6: The UE according to Clause 1, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals includes a corresponding PRACH sequence, and wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: randomly or pseudo-randomly select a corresponding PRACH sequence from the set of PRACH sequences for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals.

[0128] Clause 7: The UE according to Clause 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: select a corresponding power level for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals according to a fixed pattern.

[0129] Clause 8: The UE according to Clause 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: randomly or pseudo-randomly select a corresponding power level for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals.

[0130] Clause 9: The UE according to Clause 1, wherein for each of one or more of the second plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the corresponding PRACH signal.

[0131] Clause 10: The UE as described in Clause 9, wherein for each of one or more of the second plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

[0132] Clause 11: UE as described in Clause 10: wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: determine path loss based on the power level of the first PRACH signal and the detected power level of the second PRACH signal, wherein the first power level is further based on the path loss.

[0133] Clause 12: A method for wireless communication by a UE, the method comprising: transmitting a first plurality of PRACH signals to a network entity at a plurality of power levels during a time period, each of the first plurality of PRACH signals being transmitted at a different corresponding power level among the plurality of power levels; receiving from the network entity a response message indicating a second plurality of PRACH signals detected during the time period; and transmitting a random access request message to the network entity at the first power level based on a first power level among the plurality of power levels associated with a first PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals included in the second plurality of PRACH signals.

[0134] Clause 13: The method according to Clause 12 further comprises: receiving from the network entity a PRACH configuration message indicating one or more resource sets of wireless communication resource blocks, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted via different corresponding wireless communication resource blocks in the one or more resource sets.

[0135] Clause 14: The method according to Clause 13 further comprises: randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting a corresponding radio resource block in the one or more resource sets for transmitting the PRACH signal for one or more PRACH signals in the first plurality of PRACH signals.

[0136] Clause 15: The method according to Clause 13, wherein different resource sets in the one or more resource sets are associated with different corresponding transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization time period, wherein the first plurality of PRACH signals are transmitted during the first transmission time segment, and the method further comprises: based on detecting that the first PRACH signal is included in the second plurality of PRACH signals, transitioning to a low-power operation mode during one or more remaining transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization time period.

[0137] Clause 16: The method according to Clause 12 further comprises: selecting a corresponding PRACH sequence from a set of PRACH sequences for one or more PRACH signals in the first plurality of PRACH signals according to a fixed pattern, wherein each PRACH signal in the first plurality of PRACH signals includes the corresponding PRACH sequence.

[0138] Clause 17: The method according to Clause 12 further comprises: randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting a corresponding PRACH sequence from a set of PRACH sequences for one or more PRACH signals in the first plurality of PRACH signals, wherein each PRACH signal in the first plurality of PRACH signals includes the corresponding PRACH sequence.

[0139] Clause 18: The method according to Clause 12 further comprises: selecting a corresponding power level for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals according to a fixed pattern.

[0140] Clause 19: The method according to Clause 12 further comprises: randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting a corresponding power level for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals.

[0141] Clause 20: The method according to Clause 12, wherein for each of one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the corresponding PRACH signal.

[0142] Clause 21: The method according to Clause 20, wherein for each of one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

[0143] Clause 22: The method according to Clause 21 further comprises: determining path loss based on the power level of the first PRACH signal and the detected power level of the second PRACH signal, wherein the first power level is further based on the path loss.

[0144] Clause 23: A network entity comprising a processing system including processor circuitry and memory circuitry storing code, the processing system being configured to cause the network entity to: detect a first plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by one or more UEs during a time period; send a response message to the one or more UEs indicating the first plurality of PRACH signals; and receive a random access request message from the first UE at a first power level, based on the fact that a first PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals is included in a second plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by the first UE among the one or more UEs during the time period.

[0145] Clause 24: A network entity pursuant to Clause 23, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the network entity to receive a second random access request message from the second UE at a second power level, based on the inclusion of a third PRACH signal from the first plurality of PRACH signals in a third plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by the second UE during the time period by the one or more UEs.

[0146] Clause 25: A network entity pursuant to Clause 23, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the first PRACH signal.

[0147] Clause 26: The network entity as described in Clause 25, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

[0148] Clause 27: A method for wireless communication by a network entity, the method comprising: detecting a first plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by one or more UEs during a time period; sending a response message to the one or more UEs indicating the first plurality of PRACH signals; and receiving a random access request message from the first UE at a first power level, based on the fact that a first PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals is included in a second plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by the first UE among the one or more UEs during the time period.

[0149] Clause 28: The method according to Clause 27 further comprises: receiving a second random access request message from the second UE at a second power level, based on the fact that a third PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals is included in a third plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by a second UE during the time period by the one or more UEs.

[0150] Clause 29: The method according to Clause 27, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the first PRACH signal.

[0151] Clause 30: The method according to Clause 29, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

[0152] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and skills. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0153] This article is about Figures 1 to 11 The components, functional blocks, and modules described include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory, software code, firmware code, and so on, or any combination thereof. Software should be interpreted broadly as instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, and / or functions, regardless of whether it is referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other terms. Furthermore, the features discussed herein can be implemented via dedicated processor circuitry, via executable instructions, or a combination thereof.

[0154] Those skilled in the art will further understand that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the disclosure herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will also readily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods, or interactions described herein is merely illustrative, and that components, methods, or interactions of various aspects of this disclosure can be combined or performed in ways other than those illustrated and described herein.

[0155] The various exemplary logics, logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the specific implementations disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. The interchangeability of hardware and software has been broadly described in terms of functionality and illustrated in the aforementioned exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0156] Hardware and data processing means for implementing the various exemplary logic, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described herein can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose single-chip or multi-chip processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic unit, discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. In some embodiments, the processor may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some embodiments, specific processes and methods may be performed by circuitry specific to a given function.

[0157] In one or more aspects, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuits, computer software, firmware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents or any combination thereof. Specific implementations of the subject matter described in this specification may also be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer storage medium for execution by a data processing apparatus or for controlling the operation of a data processing apparatus.

[0158] If implemented in software, the functionality can be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted through a computer-readable medium. The processes of the methods or algorithms disclosed herein can be implemented in a processor-executable software module that can reside on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, with communication media including any medium capable of transferring a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium accessible to a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible to a computer. Furthermore, any connection may be properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. As used herein, disks and optical discs include compact optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile optical discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically magnetically reproduce data, while optical discs optically reproduce data using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. Additionally, the operation of a method or algorithm may reside as a set of code and instructions or any combination of code and instructions on a machine-readable medium and a computer-readable medium that may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0159] Various modifications to the specific embodiments described in this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments shown herein, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles disclosed herein, and the novel features thereof.

[0160] Additionally, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the terms “upper” and “lower” are sometimes used to facilitate the description of the drawings and to indicate relative positions on a correctly oriented page corresponding to the orientation of the drawings, and may not reflect the correct orientation of any device as implemented.

[0161] Some features described in this specification within the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in combination within that single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments. Furthermore, while some features are described above as working in a particular combination and even initially claimed in this way, in some cases, one or more features from the claimed combination may be extracted from that combination, and the claimed combination may involve sub-combinations or variations thereof.

[0162] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a specific order in the figures, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in the shown specific order or sequential order, or to perform all illustrated operations to achieve the desired result. Furthermore, the figures may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of flowcharts. However, other operations not depicted may be incorporated into the schematically illustrated example processes. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously with, or between any of the illustrated operations. In some contexts, multitasking and parallel processing are advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be construed as requiring such separation in all embodiments, but rather should be understood as meaning that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. Additionally, some other embodiments also fall within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve the desired result.

[0163] As used herein, including in the claims, the term "or," when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items may be used alone, or any combination of two or more of the listed items may be used. For example, if a composition is described as containing component A, B, or C, the composition may contain A alone; B alone; C alone; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B, and C. Furthermore, as used herein (including the claims), "or" in a list of items ending in "at least one of" indicates a disjunctive list, such that a list such as "at least one of A, B, or C" refers to A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or any combination of any of these items. The term "substantially" is defined as substantially but not necessarily entirely what is specified (and includes what is specified; for example, substantially 90 degrees includes 90 degrees and substantially parallel includes parallel), as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. In any disclosed specific implementation, the term “substantially” may be used in place of “[percentage]” for the specified content, where the percentage includes 0.1%, 1%, 5% or 10%.

[0164] As used herein, unless otherwise expressly indicated, “based on” is intended to be interpreted in an inclusive sense. For example, unless otherwise expressly indicated, “based on” may be used interchangeably with “at least partially based on,” “associated with,” “associated with,” or “according to.” Specifically, unless the phrase in the context means “based solely on ‘one’” or an equivalent, whether it is “based on ‘one’” or “at least partially based on ‘one’”, it may be based solely on “one” or based on a combination of “one” and one or more other factors, conditions, or information. Additionally, an operation a performed “associated with condition b” may be performed based on or associated with the existence of condition b, in response to condition b, responsive to condition b, or otherwise due to the association or correspondence between operation a and condition b.

[0165] The prior description of this disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use this disclosure. Various modifications to this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: A processing system, comprising processor circuitry and memory circuitry for storing code, is configured to cause the UE to: During a time period, a first plurality of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals are transmitted to network entities at multiple power levels, each of the first plurality of PRACH signals being transmitted at a different corresponding power level among the plurality of power levels; Receive a response message from the network entity indicating a second plurality of PRACH signals detected during the time period; as well as A random access request message is sent to the network entity at the first power level, which is associated with a first PRACH signal included in the second PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: Receive from the network entity a PRACH configuration message indicating one or more resource sets of wireless communication resource blocks, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted via a different corresponding wireless communication resource block in the one or more resource sets.

3. The UE of claim 2, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: For one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding radio resource block in the one or more resource sets is randomly or pseudo-randomly selected to transmit the PRACH signal.

4. The UE of claim 2, wherein different resource sets in the one or more resource sets are associated with different corresponding transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization time period, wherein the first plurality of PRACH signals are transmitted during the first transmission time segment, and wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: Based on the detection that the first PRACH signal is included in the second plurality of PRACH signals, the system transitions to a low-power operation mode during one or more remaining transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization period.

5. The UE of claim 1, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals comprises a corresponding PRACH sequence, and wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: For one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding PRACH sequence is selected from the PRACH sequence set according to a fixed pattern.

6. The UE of claim 1, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals comprises a corresponding PRACH sequence, and wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: For one or more PRACH signals from the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding PRACH sequence is randomly or pseudo-randomly selected from the PRACH sequence set.

7. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: For one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding power level is selected according to a fixed pattern.

8. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: For one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding power level is randomly or pseudo-randomly selected.

9. The UE of claim 1, wherein for each of one or more of the second plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the corresponding PRACH signal.

10. The UE of claim 9, wherein for each of one or more of the second plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

11. The UE of claim 10, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the UE to: The path loss is determined based on the power level of the first PRACH signal and the detected power level of the second PRACH signal, wherein the first power level is further determined based on the path loss.

12. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: During a time period, a first plurality of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals are transmitted to network entities at multiple power levels, each of the first plurality of PRACH signals being transmitted at a different corresponding power level among the plurality of power levels; Receive a response message from the network entity indicating a second plurality of PRACH signals detected during the time period; as well as A random access request message is sent to the network entity at the first power level, which is associated with a first PRACH signal included in the second PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Receive from the network entity a PRACH configuration message indicating one or more resource sets of wireless communication resource blocks, wherein each of the first plurality of PRACH signals is transmitted via a different corresponding wireless communication resource block in the one or more resource sets.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: For one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding radio resource block in the one or more resource sets is randomly or pseudo-randomly selected to transmit the PRACH signal.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein different resource sets in the one or more resource sets are associated with different corresponding transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization time period, wherein the first plurality of PRACH signals are transmitted during the first transmission time segment, and the method further comprises: Based on the detection that the first PRACH signal is included in the second plurality of PRACH signals, the system transitions to a low-power operation mode during one or more remaining transmission time segments of the PRACH initialization period.

16. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: For one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding PRACH sequence is selected from the PRACH sequence set according to a fixed pattern, wherein each PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals includes the corresponding PRACH sequence.

17. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: For one or more PRACH signals among the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding PRACH sequence is randomly or pseudo-randomly selected from the PRACH sequence set, wherein each PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals includes the corresponding PRACH sequence.

18. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: For one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding power level is selected according to a fixed pattern.

19. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: For one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, a corresponding power level is randomly or pseudo-randomly selected.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein for each of one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the corresponding PRACH signal.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein for each of one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: The path loss is determined based on the power level of the first PRACH signal and the detected power level of the second PRACH signal, wherein the first power level is further determined based on the path loss.

23. A network entity, the network entity comprising: A processing system, comprising processor circuitry and memory circuitry for storing code, is configured to cause the network entity to: Detect the first plurality of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals transmitted by one or more User Equipments (UEs) during a time period; Send a response message indicating the first plurality of PRACH signals to the one or more UEs; as well as According to the first PRACH signal in the first plurality of PRACH signals being included in the second plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by the first UE in the one or more UEs during the time period, a random access request message is received from the first UE at a first power level.

24. The network entity of claim 23, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the network entity to: According to the fact that a third PRACH signal among the first plurality of PRACH signals is included in a third plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by a second UE among the one or more UEs during the time period, a second random access request message is received from the second UE at a second power level.

25. The network entity of claim 23, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the first PRACH signal.

26. The network entity of claim 25, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

27. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, the method comprising: Detect the first plurality of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) signals transmitted by one or more User Equipments (UEs) during a time period; Send a response message indicating the first plurality of PRACH signals to the one or more UEs; as well as According to the first PRACH signal in the first plurality of PRACH signals being included in the second plurality of PRACH signals transmitted by the first UE in the one or more UEs during the time period, a random access request message is received from the first UE at a first power level.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising: The second random access request message is received from the second UE at a second power level in association with the third PRACH signal being included in the third PRACH signal transmitted by the second UE during the time period among the one or more UEs.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message includes at least a portion of the corresponding PRACH sequence included in the first PRACH signal.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein for one or more of the first plurality of PRACH signals, the response message further includes a corresponding detected power level, a corresponding detected delay offset, a corresponding suggested power offset, or a combination thereof.

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