Synchronization signal periodic indication

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the field of telecommunications, and in particular to devices, methods, apparatus and computer readable storage media for indicating the periodicity of a synchronization signal and / or performing an action based on the periodicity. One aspect of the present disclosure proposes an apparatus that is caused to perform at least: receiving a broadcast channel, where the broadcast channel comprises periodic information; determining a periodicity of the synchronization signal based on the periodicity information; and performing at least one action based on the determined periodicity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of this disclosure relate to the telecommunications field, and more particularly to methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for indicating periodicity and / or periodicity-based actions of synchronization signals. Background Technology

[0002] In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) cellular networks, synchronization signals are a key element for maintaining timing and frequency alignment between the base station (eNodeB) and the user equipment (UE). This signal enables the UE to accurately receive and decode data transmitted by the eNodeB.

[0003] Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) are a relatively new concept within 3GPP, designed to extend cellular connectivity beyond traditional terrestrial networks. This means providing cellular services to areas not covered by terrestrial towers, such as: 1) remote areas (e.g., vast deserts, remote islands, or mountainous regions where building traditional towers is both impractical and expensive), 2) mobile vehicles (e.g., ships, aircraft, and even vehicles in space, which require continuous connectivity while in motion), and 3) disaster relief (e.g., NTN can provide critical communications during natural disasters or emergencies where terrestrial infrastructure may be damaged). Summary of the Invention

[0004] The scope of protection sought by the various exemplary embodiments is set forth in the claims. The subject matter of the independent claims is provided according to some aspects. Other aspects are defined in the dependent claims. Exemplary embodiments and features (if any) described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the claims should be interpreted as examples helpful in understanding the various embodiments.

[0005] Other features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will also become apparent from the following description of particular embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the principles of embodiments of the present disclosure by way of example. Attached Figure Description

[0006] Embodiments of this disclosure are presented in an exemplary sense, and their advantages are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0007] Figure 1A An example of a wireless communication network is shown; Figure 1B An example of NTN communication is shown.

[0008] Figure 2 An example of subframe number and SSB deployment is shown.

[0009] Figure 3This is a schematic flowchart illustrating some example embodiments according to the first aspect of this disclosure.

[0010] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating some example embodiments according to the second aspect of this disclosure.

[0011] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating some example embodiments according to the third aspect of this disclosure.

[0012] Figure 6 An example of the device is shown.

[0013] Figure 7 An example of the device is shown.

[0014] In all the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals may denote the same or similar elements. Detailed Implementation

[0015] The following embodiments are exemplary. The principles of this disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to help those skilled in the art to understand and implement this disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0016] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein may have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0017] References to "an embodiment," "an embodiment," "an exemplary embodiment," etc., in this disclosure indicate that the described embodiments may include specific features, structures, elements, or characteristics, but not every embodiment includes that specific feature, structure, element, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, when a specific feature, structure, element, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is to be noted that those skilled in the art will recognize, whether explicitly described or not, that such features, structures, or characteristics apply in conjunction with other embodiments.

[0018] It should be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,” etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0019] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where a list of two or more elements is connected by “and” or “or”, means at least one element, or at least two or more elements, or at least all elements.

[0020] As used herein, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the execution step “in response to A” does not mean that the step is executed immediately after “A” occurs, and may include one or more intermediate steps.

[0021] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “possessing,” “containing,” and / or “covering,” as used herein, specify the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0022] As used in this application, the term "circuit" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware circuit implementation only (e.g., implemented with purely analog and / or digital circuits), and (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) A combination of (multiple) analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and (ii) Any part of a hardware processor having software (including (multiple) digital signal processors, software, and (multiple) memories, which work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions), and (c) The operation requires software (e.g., firmware) for the operation of (multiple) hardware circuits and / or (multiple) processors, such as (multiple) microprocessors or parts thereof, but the software may be absent when the operation does not require the software.

[0023] This definition of "circuit" applies to all uses of the term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuit" also covers only hardware circuitry or processors (or processors), or portions of hardware circuitry or servers and their accompanying software and / or firmware implementations. For example, where applicable to certain claim elements, the term "circuit" also covers baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or networking devices.

[0024] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other currently known or under development protocols. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, future types of communication technologies and systems that can implement this disclosure will inevitably emerge. The scope of this disclosure should not be considered limited to the systems described above.

[0025] As used herein, the term "network entity" refers to a node in a communications network through which user equipment accesses the network and receives services. A network entity can refer to network equipment, base stations (BS), or access points (AP), such as Node B (or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also known as gNB), radio access network (RAN) node, next-generation RAN (NG RAN), remote radio unit (RRU), radio headend (RH), remote radio headend (RRH), relay, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, low-power node (such as femtoseconds, picoseconds), non-terrestrial network (NTN) equipment or non-terrestrial network equipment (such as satellite network equipment, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites), spacecraft network equipment, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied. In some example embodiments, the radio access network (RAN) decoupling architecture includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) at the IAB provisioning node. An IAB node consists of a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion that behaves similarly to a UE toward its parent node, and a DU portion that behaves similarly to a base station toward its next-hop IAB node.

[0026] The term "user equipment" refers to any end device with wireless communication capabilities. As an example and not a limitation, end equipment can refer to communication equipment, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), terminal equipment, or access terminal (AT). User equipment can include, but is not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image acquisition terminal devices (such as digital cameras), gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEE), laptop mounted devices (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless client devices (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. User equipment may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "user equipment," "communication equipment," "terminal," "terminal equipment," "user equipment," and "UE" are used interchangeably.

[0027] As used herein, the terms “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” “downlink resource,” or “sidelink resource” can refer to any resource used to perform communication (e.g., communication between a user equipment and a network entity), such as resources in the time domain, resources in the frequency domain, resources in the spatial domain, resources in the code domain, or any other resource that enables communication. In the following, unless explicitly stated otherwise, resources in both the frequency and time domains will be used as examples of transmission resources used to describe some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Note that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0028] Figure 1A An example of a simplified wireless communication network is depicted, showing some physical and logical network entities. Figure 1A The connection shown can be a physical connection or a logical connection. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the wireless communication network may also include, in addition to... Figure 1A Other physical and logical entities besides those shown.

[0029] However, the exemplary embodiments described herein are not limited to the wireless communication networks given as examples, and those skilled in the art can apply the embodiments described herein to other wireless communication networks with the necessary properties.

[0030] Figure 1A The example wireless communication network shown includes an access network (such as a radio access network (RAN)) and a core network 110.

[0031] Figure 1A User equipment (UE) 100 and 102 are illustrated, configured to be in a radio connection with access node (AN) 104 of an access network on one or more communication channels in a radio cell. AN 104 may be an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) providing the radio cell, a next-generation evolved NodeB (ng-eNB), or a next-generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB). The radio connection from the UE to access node 104 (e.g., a radio link) may be referred to as an uplink (UL) or a reverse link, and the radio connection from the access node to the UE (e.g., a radio link) may be referred to as a downlink (DL) or a forward link. UE 100 may also communicate directly with UE 102 via a radio connection commonly referred to as a side link (SL), and vice versa. It should be recognized that access node 104 or its functionality may be implemented using any entity suitable for providing such functionality, such as a node, host, server, or access point.

[0032] An access network may include more than one access node, in which case the access node may also be configured to communicate with another access node via wired or wireless links. These links between access nodes may be used to send and receive control plane signaling, and may also be used to route data from one access node to another.

[0033] An access node may include a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the access node. An access node may also be referred to as a network entity, base station, base transceiver station (BTS), access point, cell site, radio access node, or any other type of node capable of wirelessly connecting to a UE (e.g., UE 100, 102). An access node may include or be coupled to a transceiver. From the transceiver of the access node, a connection may be provided to an antenna element that establishes a bidirectional radio link to UE 100, 102. The antenna element may include an antenna or antenna element, or multiple antennas or antenna elements.

[0034] Access node 104 can also connect to core network (CN) 110. Core network 110 may include an evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or a fifth-generation core network (5GC). EPC may include network entities such as a serving gateway (S-GW for routing and forwarding data packets), a packet data network gateway (P-GW) for providing connectivity to external packet data networks for the UE, and a mobility management entity (MME). 5GC may include network functions such as user plane functions (UPF), access and mobility management functions (AMF), and location management functions (LMF).

[0035] The core network 110 can also communicate with or utilize services provided by one or more external networks 113 (such as the public switched telephone network or the Internet). For example, in a 5G wireless communication network, the UPF of the core network 110 can be configured to communicate with an external data network via the N6 interface. In an LTE wireless communication network, the P-GW of the core network 110 can be configured to communicate with an external data network.

[0036] The UEs 100 and 102 shown are a type of apparatus to which resources on the air interface can be allocated and assigned. UEs 100 and 102 may also be referred to as wireless communication devices, subscriber units, mobile stations, remote terminals, access terminals, user terminals, terminal equipment, or user equipment (to name only). A UE can be a computing device operating with or without a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), including but not limited to the following types of computing devices: mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, computing devices including wireless modems (e.g., alarm or measuring devices), laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, game consoles, notebooks, multimedia devices, redcap devices, wearable devices with radio components (e.g., watches, headphones, or glasses), sensors including wireless modems, or any computing device including a wireless modem integrated into a vehicle.

[0037] It should be understood that a UE can also be a nearly dedicated uplink-only device, an example of which could be a camera or video camera that loads images or video clips onto the network. A UE can also be a device capable of operating in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, a scenario in which the ability to deliver data over a network to objects can be provided without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. A UE can also leverage the cloud. In some applications, computation can be performed in the cloud or within another UE.

[0038] Wireless communication networks can also support the use of cloud services; for example, at least a portion of the core network operation can be implemented as a cloud service (this is in...). Figure 1A(Described by “Cloud” 114). Wireless communication networks may also include a central control entity, which provides facilities for different operators’ wireless communication networks to cooperate, for example, in spectrum sharing.

[0039] 5G enables the use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas in access node 104 and / or UEs 100, 102, and allows for a significantly larger number of base stations or access nodes than in LTE networks (the so-called small cell concept), including macro sites that operate in cooperation with smaller stations and employ various radio technologies depending on service requirements, use cases, and / or available spectrum. 5G wireless communication networks can support a wide range of use cases and related applications, including video streaming, augmented reality, different forms of data sharing, and various forms of machine-type applications such as (massive) machine-type communication (mMTC), including vehicle safety, various sensors, and real-time control.

[0040] In 5G wireless communication networks, access nodes and / or UEs can have multiple radio interfaces, namely sub-6GHz, cmWave, and mmWave, and can also be integrated with existing legacy radio access technologies such as LTE. Integration with LTE can be implemented, for example, as a system where macro coverage can be provided by LTE, and 5G radio interface access can be achieved through aggregation to LTE cells. In other words, 5G wireless communication networks can support both RAT interoperability (e.g., LTE-5G) and RI interoperability (radio interface interoperability, such as sub-6GHz-cmWave-mmWave). One concept proposed for use in 5G wireless communication networks could be network slicing, where multiple independent and dedicated virtual subnetworks (network instances) can be created within essentially the same infrastructure to run services with different requirements for latency, reliability, throughput, and mobility.

[0041] In some example embodiments, an access node (e.g., access node 104) may include: a radio unit (RU) comprising radio transceivers (TRXs), i.e., transmitters (Tx) and receivers (Rx); one or more distributed units (DUs) 105, which may be used for so-called Layer 1 (L1) processing and real-time Layer 2 (L2) processing; and a central unit (CU) 108 (also called a centralized unit), which may be used for non-real-time L2 and Layer 3 (L3) processing. The CU 108 may be connected to one or more DUs 105, for example, via an F1 interface. This embodiment of the access node allows for the centralization of the CU relative to the cell site and the DU, while the DU can be more distributed and may even remain at the cell site. The CU and DU together may also be referred to as a baseband or baseband unit (BBU). The CU and DU may also be included in a radio access point (RAP).

[0042] CU 108 may be a logical node hosting the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and / or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) of the NR protocol stack for access nodes. DU 105 may be a logical node hosting the Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), and / or Physical (PHY) layers of the NR protocol stack for access nodes. The operation of the DU may be at least partially controlled by the CU. It should also be understood that the functional distribution between DU 105 and CU 108 may vary depending on the implementation scheme. CU may include a control plane (CU-CP), which may be a logical node hosting the control plane portions of the RRC and PDCP protocols for the NR protocol stack for access nodes. CU may also include a user plane (CU-UP), which may be a logical node hosting the user plane portions of the PDCP and SDAP protocols for the CU for access nodes.

[0043] Cloud computing systems can also be used to provide CU 108 and / or DU 105. CUs provided by cloud computing systems can be referred to as virtualized CUs (vCUs). In addition to vCUs, virtualized DUs (vDUs) provided by cloud computing systems can also exist. Furthermore, combinations can exist where DUs can be implemented on so-called bare-metal solutions, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or customer-specific standard product (CSSP) system-on-chips (SoCs).

[0044] Edge cloud can be introduced into the access network (e.g., RAN) by leveraging Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN). Using an edge cloud may mean that access node operations are implemented, at least partially, in a computing system operationally coupled to the Remote Radio Head (RRH) or Radio Unit (RU) of the access node. Alternatively, access node operations may be implemented on a distributed computing system or cloud computing system located at the access node. The application of a cloud RAN architecture enables real-time RAN functions to be implemented at the access network (e.g., in DU 105), while non-real-time functions are implemented centrally (e.g., in CU 108).

[0045] It should also be understood that in future wireless communication networks, the functional distribution between core network operations and access node operations may differ from, or even not exist at all, compared to the functional distribution of LTE, 5G, or 6G. Other technological advancements that can be used include big data and all-IP, which can change how wireless communication networks are built and managed. 5G (or new radio) NR wireless communication networks can support multiple tiers, where multi-access edge computing (MEC) servers can be placed between the core network 110 and access nodes 104. It should be understood that MEC can also be applied to LTE wireless communication networks.

[0046] 5G wireless communication networks (“5G networks”) may also include non-terrestrial communication networks, such as satellite communication networks, to enhance or supplement the coverage of 5G radio access networks. For example, satellite communications can support data transmission between the 5G radio access network and the core network, thereby enabling broader network coverage. Possible use cases could be providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (IoT) devices or for passengers on transportation vehicles, or ensuring the service availability of critical communications and future rail / sea / air communications. Satellite communications can utilize geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems or low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, particularly mega-constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano) satellites are deployed). A satellite 106 in a mega-constellation can cover several network entities supporting the satellite, which create terrestrial cells. Terrestrial cells can be created by terrestrial relay access nodes or by access nodes 104 located on the ground or in satellites.

[0047] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that Figure 1A The access node 104 depicted is merely an example of a portion of an access network (e.g., a radio access network), and in practice, an access network may include multiple access nodes, UEs 100 and 102 may access multiple radio cells, and the access network may also include other devices, such as physical layer relay access nodes or other entities. At least one of the access nodes may be a home eNodeB or a home gNodeB. A home gNodeB or home eNodeB is an access node that can be used to provide indoor coverage in a home, office, or other indoor environment.

[0048] Additionally, within the geographical area of ​​an access network (e.g., a radio access network), multiple different types of radio cells and multiple radio cells can be provided. Radio cells can be macrocells (or umbrella cells), which can be areas with diameters of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as microcells, femtocells, or picocells. Figure 1A Access nodes can provide any type of these cells. Cellular radio networks can be implemented as multi-layered access networks comprising several radio cells. In a multi-layered access network, one access node can provide one or more radio cells, thus requiring multiple access nodes to provide such a multi-layered access network.

[0049] To meet the demand for improved access network performance, the concept of "plug-and-play" access nodes can be introduced. Besides home eNodeBs or home gNodeBs, access networks capable of using "plug-and-play" access nodes can also include home NodeB gateways or HNB-GWs ( Figure 1A(Not shown in the image). An HNB-GW, which can be installed in an operator's access network, can aggregate services from a large number of home eNodeBs or home gNodeBs back to the operator's core network.

[0050] 1. Non-terrestrial network (NTN) Figure 1B This is a schematic diagram illustrating a non-terrestrial network in which an example embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0051] refer to Figure 1B A non-terrestrial network (NTN) (which may form part of a cellular communication network) may include one or more user equipment (UE) devices 100, 102 ( Figure 1A and Figure 1B One and one or more satellites 106 (shown in the image) Figure 1A and Figure 1B One is shown in the image.

[0052] Satellite 106 can be implemented as a so-called regenerative satellite. The regenerative satellite can communicate with UE 100 via a service link and with a ground-based gateway (not shown) via a feeder link. The payload of the regenerative satellite may include a base station or at least a portion of a base station to perform at least a portion of the functions of a base station. For example, if satellite 106 includes, for example, Figure 1B The 5G NR base station shown, designated as the airborne gNB, can have its NR-Uu radio interface implemented on the serving link, and its N2 / N3 interface implemented on the feeder link. The regenerating satellite 106 can regenerate signals received from the UE 100 and gateway on the ground. It is conceivable that the satellite 106 can also be implemented as at least part of a 4G LTE base station eNB, a 5G base station, and / or a 5G or later (e.g., 6G) base station.

[0053] NTN is a wireless communication system operating above the Earth's surface, involving satellites, high-altitude platforms (HAPS), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geostationary orbit (GEO). Such components are essential for achieving seamless coverage, extending it even to remote areas inaccessible to traditional terrestrial networks. When Satellite 106 is an LEO satellite, it can be replaced by, for example, aircraft, balloons, high-altitude platform stations, or unmanned aerial vehicle systems.

[0054] Equipment can be categorized into devices connected to the 3GPP terrestrial network and devices connected to satellite. In other words, user equipment requiring satellite connectivity needs an additional device besides their existing smartphone. Through NTN, all mobile devices will connect to both terrestrial and satellite networks as part of the 3GPP ecosystem. As technology continues to evolve, satellites will become base stations. NTN encompasses aspects such as NTN-IoT and NTN-RN.

[0055] The NTN market is beginning to take shape with NTN-IoT. NTN-IoT expands the scope of IoT use cases, achieving true global coverage across land, sea, and air. It can operate at both GEO and LEO altitudes, but current services primarily operate at GEO.

[0056] As NTN technology develops, NTN-NR will become increasingly relevant. NTN-NR will directly link smartphones and other 5G devices, such as those using RedCap for off-terrestrial services. It can operate at LEO altitudes and enable low-data services, voice, and messaging for a variety of use cases.

[0057] The embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein can be operated in NTN.

[0058] 2. Broadcast Channel The broadcast channel includes the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) payload as defined in TS38.212 v18.4.0. A Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) may include one or more Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS), one or more Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS), and one or more PBCHs.

[0059] According to Clause 7.1.1 of TS38.212, the first phase of PBCH payload processing at the physical layer of the network device is as follows:

[0060] In the embodiments and / or examples of this disclosure, the PBCH can be used as one example of a broadcast channel.

[0061] 3. System Frame Number (SFN) The SFN value can range from 0, ..., 1023 to record a transmission timing of up to 10.24 seconds, after which the counter will restart. Therefore, a user equipment can understand that it needs... These 10 bits are a binary representation of the range of values ​​for the SFN. In 5G NR, these 10 bits are generated at different layers, specifically, jointly by the RRC and PHY layers, as described below.

[0062] The base station's MAC layer provides the BCH transport block to the PHY layer, which is a 24-bit Master Information Block (MIB). The MIB includes the timing information of the SFN by carrying the 6 most significant bits (MSB) of the SFN. The 4 least significant bits (LSB) are not included in the MIB. This means that as the SFN increases every 10ms (e.g., each radio frame has a duration of 10ms, so the system frame number increases by 1 every 10ms), the SFN content of the MIB changes every 160ms. Adding these 4 LSBs at the physical layer reduces the MIB's RRC update rate (which is passed from the MAC layer to the PHY layer).

[0063] The following sections will explain some examples of how the LSB and / or MSB of the expression SFN change based on different values ​​of SFN.

[0064] Figure 2 An example of subframe number and SSB deployment is shown.

[0065] Figure 2 This illustrates how the LSB of the SFN changes by incrementing the SFN value, and how the SSB is deployed on the subframe. (Reference) Figure 2 Ten SFNs (SFN0, SFN1, SFN9) are disclosed. Each SFN can be indicated by 10 bits. In the 10-bit SFN, the first 6 bits from the left are the most significant bits (MSB), and the 4 bits from the right are the least significant bits (LSB).

[0066] refer to Figure 2 (a) It can be observed that if the SS / PBCH block (i.e., the SSB) is transmitted periodically at 20ms, the least significant bit (i.e., the rightmost bit) in the LSB remains constant and equal to '0', because this bit flips once every 10ms or once after each increment of the SFN number. For example, if above Figure 2 If SS / PBCH is transmitted in an even-numbered frame, then the least significant bit in the LSB will always remain "0".

[0067] Additionally, refer to Figure 2 (b) It can be observed that, as an example, if the SSB is transmitted periodically at 40ms, the two bits in the LSB remain unchanged and are equal to 0 during the 40ms window. For example, if the SSB is transmitted in SFN=0 and SFN=4, the first two bits of the LSB (i.e., the rightmost two bits) remain "00" and unchanged. Similarly, when the SSB is transmitted in SFN=2 and SFN=6, the first two bits of the LSB remain unchanged as "10".

[0068] Another aspect to consider is the current specification text in TS 38.331 v18.3.0 (RRC specification), which is as follows:

[0069] According to TS38.331, each SSB will repeat every 80ms, and since each repeating block needs to contain the same content, the “boundary region” of each 160ms period (where the LSB of the MSB of the high 6 bits of the SFN will change, i.e., the SFN bits included in the MIB will change) cannot be part of the same repeating set within the 80ms block.

[0070] Therefore, the “repeating block” needs to start at SFN=0, so that the following property is always satisfied: when transmitting an SSB carrying PBCH, “0” is used as the LSB for any PHY-encoded LSB used for SFN.

[0071] 4. Neighborhood Search User equipment can perform cell search in the NTN based on the received SSB, in accordance with Parts 1 to 3 and Clause 4.1 of TS38.213 v18.4.0, as follows:

[0072] As observed from the underlined text above, for operations in FR1 (which are related to coverage enhancements in NTN Rel-19 or later versions), up to 8 SSBs can be transmitted within a half-frame. Therefore, The value can be equal to or less than 8.

[0073] The UE can assume that half-frames with SS / PBCH blocks (i.e., SSBs) occur periodically at 2-frame intervals (according to Clause 4.1 of TS38.213v18.4.0). This means that when the UE searches for a cell, the UE (including regular UEs and NTN UEs) expects the SSB to occur once every 20ms. NTN UEs can be UEs that support Rel-19 or NTN communication.

[0074] 5. Extended periodic indication From the perspective of the user equipment (e.g., UE), if the UE is unaware of the cell's periodicity, the extension of the SSB periodicity may cause ambiguity in the initial cell search or other actions requiring periodicity information. The UE may face several challenges, including: The time position of -CORESET 0 (coreset 0) is unknown when the periodicity value is not known. -RACH timing (RO) availability is unknown without knowing the periodicity value.

[0075] These challenges may also apply to conventional UEs or UEs that support NTN. Therefore, this invention addresses the problem of indicating periodicity to UEs, including Rel-19 NTN UEs that support receiving extended default SSB periodicity.

[0076] This disclosure proposes a signaling mechanism that can notify the UE of the synchronization signal periodicity (e.g., SSB periodicity) through various signaling means. This will allow the UE to obtain an understanding of the absolute timing of the synchronization signal transmission and the periodicity that may be configured to be longer than the periodicity that the UE can assume to be the default setting (e.g., normal operation) according to current specifications. For example, a legacy UE can be configured to have a default SSB periodicity (e.g., 20ms), and other non-default SSB periodicities can be configured for the legacy UE by the network device. For Rel-19 UEs, including NTN UEs, new default SSB periodicities (e.g., longer than 20ms) can be configured for them, and other non-default SSB periodicities can be configured for the Rel-19 UEs by the network device.

[0077] Signaling / indication means can be implemented by utilizing restrictions based on certain configuration options (such as the amount of SSB per half-frame, which is related to subcarrier spacing configuration) or by reserved bits based on special attributes from existing SSB indication patterns (e.g., LBS of SSB). Alternatively, signaling / indication means can be implemented by a combination of both.

[0078] The aspects of this disclosure are explained in more detail below.

[0079] 5.1 First aspect of this disclosure Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating some example embodiments according to the first aspect of this disclosure.

[0080] refer to Figure 3 User equipment 100 and network equipment 106 are disclosed. User equipment 100 can be... Figure 1A or Figure 1B UEs 100 and 102, and there can be more than one user equipment (not shown). Network device 106 can be... Figure 1A AN 104 or Figure 1A or Figure 1B The gNB 106 can exist, and there can be more than one network device.

[0081] To explain the first aspect of this disclosure, Figure 1 and its description, as well as the technical features disclosed in Parts 1 to 4 above, can be applied.

[0082] Regarding user equipment, a first means for communication will be explained. The first means in method A1 may be user equipment 100 supporting satellite network communication. Alternatively or additionally, the first means may be embedded in or will be embedded in user equipment 106.

[0083] The first device may include at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to perform at least one of the following methods A1 to A3, A5 to A7 or A8.

[0084] The first device may include one or more components for performing at least one of the following methods A1 to A3, A5 to A7 or A8.

[0085] A1 includes steps S320, S330, and S340.

[0086] In S320, the second device receives the broadcast channel. The broadcast channel includes periodic information. The broadcast channel is received for NTN communication.

[0087] In S330, the second device determines the periodicity of the synchronization signal based on periodicity information.

[0088] In S340, the second device performs at least one action based on the determined periodicity.

[0089] For method A2, at least one action in A1 may include at least one of the following: -Receive synchronization signals within the cell; - Determine the timing of the random access channel; or - Determine (or search) the time position of coreset (e.g., coreset 0).

[0090] For method A3, at least one of the actions in A1 or A2 may include at least one of the following: -Do not receive synchronization signals; or - Uncertain (or search) the time position of coreset (e.g., coreset 0).

[0091] Regarding network device 106, a second means for communication will be explained. The second means may be network device 106 that supports satellite network communication. Alternatively or additionally, the second means may be embedded in or will be embedded in network device 106. The second means may broadcast a broadcast channel for NTN communication.

[0092] The second device may include at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device to perform at least one of the following methods A4 to A8.

[0093] The second device may include one or more components for performing at least one of the following methods A4 to A8.

[0094] A4 includes steps S310 and S320.

[0095] In S310, the second device (e.g., network device 106) generates a broadcast channel that includes periodic information. The periodic information is associated with the periodicity of a synchronization signal.

[0096] In S320, the second device broadcasts (or sends, transmits) a broadcast channel on the cell.

[0097] For method A5, the broadcast channel of any of methods A1 to A4 may include the physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0098] For method A6, the synchronization signal of any one of methods A1 to A5 may include a synchronization signal block (SSB). The SSB may include PSS, SSS, and PBCH.

[0099] For method A7, the periodic information of any one of methods A1 to A6 can be indicated by a subset of the bits carried by the broadcast channel.

[0100] For method A8, the broadcast channel of any of methods A1 to A7 may include an indication of whether the periodicity is extended.

[0101] To implement methods A1 to A8, a computer program including instructions, when executed by a first or second device (e.g., user equipment 100 or network device 106), can cause the first or second device to perform any of the methods A1 to A8. In this case, the computer program may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0102] Alternatively or additionally, periodic information may be indicated based on timing-dependent payload bits of the broadcast channel (e.g., additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits). For example, periodic information may be indicated by at least one bit of the LSBs associated with the timing-dependent payload bits. Alternatively, periodic information may be indicated by at least one of the seventh or eighth bits of the timing-dependent payload bits. Alternatively, periodic information may be indicated by at least one reserved bit of the broadcast channel. Alternatively, periodic information may be indicated by a combination of at least one bit of the LSBs and at least one of the seventh or eighth bits of the timing-dependent payload bits.

[0103] 5.2 Second aspect of this disclosure It should be noted that the terms SS / PBCH block and SSB are used interchangeably in this disclosure.

[0104] As a second aspect of this disclosure, in order to indicate the periodicity of the (extended) SSB, it is proposed to utilize a subset of the LSB carrying the SFN, namely (See Part 2). As shown in the example in Part 2, at the SFN where SS / PBCH blocks are transmitted in a specific periodicity, a portion of the LSB does not change as the SFN increments.

[0105] In one embodiment of the second aspect, the SSB periodicity is configured or indicated via a subset of the least significant bits (LSBs), which is added to the PBCH payload by the PHY layer. For example, the PHY layer of network devices 104, 106 may configure at least one LSB with additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits to indicate periodicity.

[0106] In one embodiment, a subset of LSBs may be pre-configured / fixed code points in a specification table used for SSB periodicity indication. In this case, the specification table means one of the tables hard-coded in the 3GPP technical specification document.

[0107] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating some example embodiments according to the second aspect of this disclosure.

[0108] refer to Figure 4 User equipment 100 and network equipment 106 are disclosed. User equipment 100 can be... Figure 1A or Figure 1B UEs 100 and 102, and there can be more than one user equipment (not shown). Network device 106 can be... Figure 1A AN 104 or Figure 1A or Figure 1B The gNB 106 can exist, and there can be more than one network device.

[0109] To explain the second aspect of this disclosure, Figure 1 and its description, as well as the technical features disclosed in Parts 1 to 4 above, can be applied.

[0110] Regarding user equipment 100, a third device for communication will be explained. The third device may be user equipment 106 that supports satellite network communication. Alternatively or additionally, the third device may be embedded in or will be embedded in user equipment 100.

[0111] The third device includes at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the third device to perform at least one of methods B1 to B3, B5 to B10, or B11.

[0112] The third device may include one or more components for performing at least one of the following methods B1 to B3 and B5 to B10 or B11.

[0113] B1 may include steps S420, S430 and S440.

[0114] In step S420, the third device receives a broadcast channel including system frame number (SFN) information. At least one bit in the least significant bit (LSB) of the SFN information is related to the periodicity of the synchronization signal.

[0115] In step S430, the third device determines the periodicity based on at least one bit in the LSB.

[0116] In step S440, the third device performs at least one action based on the determined periodicity.

[0117] For method B2, at least one action in method B1 includes at least one of the following actions: - Receive synchronization signal; - Determine the timing of the random access channel; - Determine (or search) the time position of coreset (e.g., coreset 0).

[0118] For method B3, at least one action of method B2 or B3 includes at least one of the following actions: -Do not receive synchronization signals; or - Uncertain (or search) the time position of coreset (e.g., coreset 0).

[0119] Regarding network device 106, a fourth means for communication will be explained. The fourth means in method B4 can be network device 106 that supports satellite network communication. Alternatively or additionally, the fourth means can be embedded in or will be embedded in network device 106.

[0120] The fourth device includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the fourth device to perform at least one of methods B4 to B10 or B11.

[0121] The fourth device may include one or more components for performing at least one of methods B4 to B10 or B11.

[0122] B4 may include steps S410 and S420.

[0123] In step S410, the fourth device generates a broadcast channel including system frame number (SFN) information. At least one bit in the least significant bit (LSB) of the SFN information is related to the periodicity of the synchronization signal.

[0124] In step S420, the fourth device broadcasts a broadcast channel in the cell.

[0125] For method B5, the broadcast channel of any of methods B1 to B4 includes the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) payload.

[0126] For method B6, the synchronization signal of any one of methods B1 to B5 includes a synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0127] For method B7, the broadcast channel of any of methods B1 to B6 may include an indication of whether the periodicity is extended.

[0128] For method B8, the first bit in the LSB of method B7 is used for indication.

[0129] For method B9, at least one bit of the LSB in any of methods B1 to B8 can be 4 bits. The size of the LSB can vary if the total size of the additional timing-dependent PBCH payload changes.

[0130] For method B10, at least one of the LSBs of any one of methods B1 to B9 is a code point used to determine the pre-configuration table for periodicity.

[0131] For method B11, the periodicity of any of the terms in methods B1 to B9 can be extended to the next level when at least one bit in the LSB is set to '1', or the periodicity can be left unextended to the next level when the bit is set to '0'.

[0132] To implement methods B1 to B11, a computer program including instructions, when executed by a third or fourth device (e.g., user equipment 100 or network device 106), can cause the third or fourth device to perform any of the methods B1 to B11. In this case, the computer program may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0133] In the following sections, additionally or alternatively, some examples of the second aspect of this disclosure will be explained. The following examples may be found in... Figure 4 Step S430 is implemented.

[0134] As a possible prerequisite, the UE (e.g., user equipment 100) knows that the network is operating in a frequency band reserved for "special operation"—that is, to support Rel-19 coverage enhancement.

[0135] Since UE 100 knows that network device 106 is operating in a special mode, it is allowed to read and interpret the set of LSBs of SFN carried as part of the physical layer encoding of SS / PBCH blocks.

[0136] In one embodiment of the second aspect, the encoding of the first LSB will cause the value "0" to indicate that "normal operation" is configured, i.e., the SSB periodicity is 20ms. In normal operation, network device 106 may be AN 104, or network device 106 may be a satellite but support a legacy communication system (e.g., 4G or 5G version 18 and earlier).

[0137] If the first LSB has a value of "1", this indicates that network device 106 is operating in an "extended SSB periodicity mode". In extended SSB periodicity mode, the network device can be AN 104, or network device 106 can be a satellite but supports new communication systems (e.g., 5G or 6G beyond Rel-18). In this case, it means that UE 100 will determine the actual value of the SFN by treating it as having a value of 0, while it will still use the acquired knowledge to assume a longer SSB periodicity. A longer SSB periodicity means an SSB periodicity extended from (or compared to) the normal SSB periodicity to support NTN communication.

[0138] The interpretation of "longer SSB periodicity" can be implemented in several ways. This could mean that another (larger) SSB periodicity (e.g., 80ms) is configured for the NTN UE (or Rel-19 UE), or the UE can be triggered with a series of interpretations, as follows.

[0139] If the SSB periodicity is "longer than 20ms", this means the extended periodicity is 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms (or even longer). If the SSB periodicity is extended to 40ms, this means the second bit of the LSB will always be "0" (for normal counting), and the same principle can be used to indicate whether 40ms or "longer than 40ms" is used. The same is possible for an 80ms periodicity, and all the way to all possible SSB periodicities, such as 160ms, 320ms, 640ms, 1280ms, etc.

[0140] As a supplement or alternative to the second aspect, the extended SSB periodicity can be indicated by using at least one bit of the LSB in the additional timing-related PBCH payload bits. For example, referring to Table 1 below, when assuming an SSB is transmitted every 20 ms, the LSB without encoded periodicity information should be [x, x, x, 0]. Furthermore, when assuming an SSB is transmitted every 40 ms, the LSB without encoded periodicity information should be [x, x, 0, 0]. In other words, for 40 ms, the first two LSBs remain unchanged and equal to zero. If the network device wants to additionally encode periodicity information in the LSB (i.e., carry additional information to indicate the extended SSB periodicity to the NTN UE), the network device can change (i.e., we encode) those bits that the UE expects to remain unchanged and equal to zero. In this way, the network device can convey additional information, in this case, an indication of the extended SSB periodicity.

[0141] [Table 1]

[0142] The SSB periodicity indicated in Table 1 is merely an example; the value of periodicity may vary depending on standard specifications or the capacity of the communication network.

[0143] In addition to or as an alternative to the second aspect, if the UE observes a transmission with 4 LSBs of [1 01 1] having an SFN, it will observe L1 as "1", which means that the SSB periodicity extension has been activated and the SSB periodicity is greater than 20 ms. When L2 is also observed to be "1", the UE will again observe that the SSB periodicity is greater than 40 ms. And when L3 is observed to be "0", the UE can detect that the SSB periodicity is no greater than 80 ms, and therefore the UE knows which SSB periodicity the gNB has configured for the system. This process can be performed at step S430.

[0144] Accordingly, since SSB repetition needs to follow the procedure text according to TS38.331, when evaluating the actual SFN used for other procedures, the UE can simply reset the L1 and L2 values ​​of the LSB to "0".

[0145] By observing that the LSB of the indicated SFN is "non-zero" in the L1 bit, the UE can implicitly know that the applied SSB periodicity is also "non-20ms". Accordingly, by observing that the LSB is "zero", the UE will assume that the SSB periodicity is the default 20ms according to Clause 4.1 of TS 38.213.

[0146] As an alternative or supplement to the second aspect of this disclosure, another point to note in conjunction with the foregoing description is that the prerequisite is that the UE implicitly understands that the SSB periodicity does not have a value less than 20 ms. That is, the gNB will not transmit SSBs with a periodicity less than 20 ms (e.g., not using a 5 or 10 ms periodicity), and the UE will use this understanding when evaluating and interpreting the set of LSBs of the SFN.

[0147] 5.3 Third aspect of this disclosure As a third aspect for indicating SSB periodicity, it is proposed to use at least one of the additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits or reserved bits other than the LSBs added to the PBCH payload by the PHY layer. Specifically, this utilizes the fact that for FR1 NTN, the maximum number of SS / PBCH blocks that can be transmitted can be no greater than 8. Therefore, And additional timing-related PBCH payload bits or At least one bit of the bits can be retained.

[0148] In one embodiment of the third aspect, at least one of the timing-related bits of the broadcast channel may be used for the configuration or indication of the SSB periodicity of the Rel-19NTN UE. In this case, the timing-related bits include an additional timing-related PBCH payload bit.

[0149] In one embodiment of the third aspect, the reserved bits for SS / PBCH block index indication can be used for the periodic configuration / indication of the SSB of the Rel-19NTN UE.

[0150] In one embodiment of the third aspect, the subset of reserved bits may be pre-configured / fixed code points in a specification table for SSB periodicity indication.

[0151] The third aspect of this disclosure can be implemented separately from or in combination with the first or second aspect of this disclosure. For example, at least one bit of the LSB in the additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits and at least one bit of the reserved bits in the additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits are combined to indicate the periodicity of the synchronization signal (e.g., SSB).

[0152] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating some example embodiments according to the third aspect of this disclosure.

[0153] refer to Figure 5 User equipment 100 and network equipment 106 are disclosed. User equipment 100 can be... Figure 1A or Figure 1BUEs 100 and 102, and there can be more than one user equipment (not shown). Network device 106 can be... Figure 1A AN 104 or Figure 1A or Figure 1B The gNB 106 can exist, and there can be more than one network device.

[0154] To explain the third aspect of this disclosure, Figure 1 and its description, as well as the technical features disclosed in Parts 1 to 4 above, can be applied.

[0155] Regarding user equipment 100, a fifth means for communication will be explained. The fifth means in method C1 can be user equipment 100 supporting satellite network communication. Alternatively or additionally, the fifth means can be embedded in or will be embedded in user equipment 100.

[0156] The fifth device includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the fifth device to perform at least one of the following methods: The fifth device may include one or more components for performing one of the following methods C1 to C3, C5 to C9 or C10.

[0157] Method C1 may include steps S520, S530 and S540.

[0158] In step S520, the fifth device receives a broadcast channel including at least one bit from the timing-dependent payload bits. The at least one bit from the timing-dependent payload bits indicates the periodicity of the synchronization signal.

[0159] In step S530, the fifth device determines the periodicity based on at least one bit of the timing-related payload bits.

[0160] In step S540, the fifth device performs at least one action based on the determined periodicity.

[0161] For method C2, at least one action of C1 includes at least one of the following actions: - Receive synchronization signal; - Determine the timing of the random access channel; - Determine (or search) the time position of the coreset.

[0162] For method C3, at least one action in C1 or C2 includes at least one of the following actions: -Do not receive synchronization signals; or -Uncertain (search) for the time and location of the coreset.

[0163] Regarding network device 106, a sixth device for communication will be explained. The sixth device in method C4 can be network device 106 that supports satellite network communication. Alternatively or additionally, the sixth device may be embedded in or will be embedded in network device 106.

[0164] The sixth device includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the sixth device to perform at least one of the following methods C4 to C9 or C10.

[0165] The sixth device may include one or more components for performing at least one of the following methods C4 to C9 or C10.

[0166] C4 may include steps S510 and S520.

[0167] In step S510, the sixth device generates a broadcast channel including at least one bit from the timing-dependent payload bits. The at least one bit from the timing-dependent payload bits indicates the periodicity of the synchronization signal. The timing-dependent payload bits may be additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits.

[0168] In step S520, the sixth device transmits the broadcast channel. Alternatively or concurrently, the sixth device may broadcast the broadcast channel on one or more cells.

[0169] For method C5, the broadcast channel of any of C1 to C4 may include the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

[0170] For method C6, the synchronization signal of any of methods C1 to C5 may include a synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0171] For method C7, at least one of the seventh or eighth bits of the timing-dependent payload (or the additional timing-dependent PBCH payload) of any of methods C1 to C6 may indicate periodicity. Additionally or alternatively, at least one bit of the timing-dependent payload bits may include at least one reserved bit. In this case, at least one reserved bit may indicate periodicity.

[0172] For method C8, the maximum number of candidate synchronization signals for any of methods C1 to C7 can be equal to or less than 8.

[0173] For method C9, the broadcast channel of any of methods C1 to C8 includes an indication of whether the periodicity is extended.

[0174] For method C10, at least one of the timing-related payload bits in any of methods C1 to C9 may be a code point used to determine the pre-configuration table for periodicity.

[0175] To implement methods C1 to C10, a computer program including instructions, when executed by a fifth or sixth device (e.g., user equipment 100 or network device 106), can cause the fifth or sixth device to perform the method according to any one of C1 to C10. In this case, the computer program may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0176] In the following text, additional or alternative locations are based on Figure 5 Some examples illustrating the third aspect of this disclosure.

[0177] The Rel-19 NTN UE 100 can perform frequency band scanning ( Figure 5 (Not shown in the table). For example, when the NTN UE 100 is powered on, it does not know in which frequency band (n1, n2, n3, etc.) the SSB is being transmitted. Therefore, the NTN UE 100 should check some predetermined locations, called synchronization grid points, which may belong to different frequency bands, to see if the SSB is being transmitted. In this case, the Rel-19 NTN UE 100 may have a hard-coded table according to the specification, where different rows specify potentially different values ​​for the SSB periodicity. Table 2 is an example of a hard-coded table.

[0178] [Table 2]

[0179] gNB 106 can indicate SSB periodicity to NTN UE 100. In this case, it is assumed that FR1 NTN and 8 potential SS / PBCH blocks have indexes. For example, a gNB can generate and broadcast (S510, 520) a broadcast channel that includes periodic timing-dependent payload bits (or reserved bits) of the SSB indicating at least one SS / PBCH block (e.g., SSB). The timing-dependent payload bits... and The bit is used to indicate periodicity.

[0180] In addition, for all SS / PBCH blocks (i.e., the 8 potential SSBs), their corresponding timing-related payload bits (or reserved bits) are... It is changed to indicate the periodicity of SS / PBCH transmissions. For example, when the bit is set to , At that time, NTN UE 100 can determine the periodicity of SSB (S530) as 80ms according to Table 2.

[0181] NTN UE 100 can periodically perform at least one action (S540) based on the determined SSB.

[0182] Alternatively, at least one bit of the LBS in the additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits can be used to indicate SSB periodicity instead of the seventh and eighth bits of the additional timing-dependent PBCH payload bits. Table 3 shows the SFN. The third and fourth LSBs are examples used to indicate the periodicity of the SSB.

[0183] [Table 3]

[0184] Referring to Table 3, if SFN If the third and fourth LSBs are set to '00', the SSB periodicity is 40ms; if they are set to '10', the SSB periodicity is 160ms.

[0185] Additional or alternative land, at least one of the reserved positions (or A combination of at least one bit from the LSB of the PBCH payload bits associated with the additional timing can indicate the periodicity of the SSB.

[0186] Figure 6 An example of device 600 is shown, which includes components for performing one or more embodiments of the example embodiments described above. For example, device 600 may be, may include, or may be included in user equipment 100. Device 600 can perform the functions shown in FIG1 to... Figure 5 The operation was made public in China.

[0187] Apparatus 600 may include circuitry or chipsets suitable for implementing one or more of the example embodiments described above. For example, apparatus 600 may include at least one processor 610. At least one processor 610 interprets instructions (e.g., computer program instructions) and processes data. At least one processor 610 may include one or more programmable processors. At least one processor 610 may include programmable hardware with embedded firmware, and alternatively or additionally may include one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0188] At least one processor 610 is coupled to at least one memory 620. The at least one processor is configured to read data from and write data to at least one memory 620. At least one memory 620 may include one or more memory cells. Memory cells may be volatile or non-volatile. It should be noted that one or more cells of non-volatile memory and one or more cells of volatile memory may be present, or alternatively, one or more cells of non-volatile memory, or alternatively, one or more cells of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be, for example, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory may be, for example, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage, or magnetic storage. Generally, memory may be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not tactile), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). At least one memory 620 stores computer-readable instructions that are executed by at least one processor 610 to implement one or more of the example embodiments described above. For example, non-volatile memory stores the computer-readable instructions, and at least one processor 610 uses volatile memory to execute the instructions for temporarily storing data and / or instructions. The computer-readable instructions may refer to computer program code.

[0189] Computer-readable instructions may be pre-stored in at least one memory 620, or alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer-readable instructions by at least one processor 610 causes the device 600 to perform one or more of the foregoing aspects of this disclosure. That is, at least one processor and at least one memory storing the instructions can provide components for providing or causing execution of any of the foregoing methods and / or blocks.

[0190] The device 600 may also include or be connected to the input unit 630. The input unit 630 may include one or more interfaces for receiving input. The one or more interfaces may include, for example, one or more temperature, motion and / or orientation sensors, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons and / or one or more touch detection units. In addition, the input unit 630 may include interfaces to which external devices can be connected.

[0191] The device 600 may also include an output unit 640. The output unit may include or be connected to one or more displays capable of displaying visual content, such as a light-emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and / or a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display. The output unit 640 may also include one or more audio outputs. The one or more audio outputs may be, for example, speakers.

[0192] Device 600 also includes a connection unit 650. Connection unit 650 enables wireless connectivity to one or more external devices. Connection unit 650 includes at least one transmitter and at least one receiver that can be integrated into or connected to device 600. The at least one transmitter includes at least one transmitting antenna, and the at least one receiver includes at least one receiving antenna. Connection unit 650 may include an integrated circuit or a collection of integrated circuits providing wireless communication capabilities to device 600. Alternatively, the wireless connection may be a hardwired application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Connection unit 650 may also provide components for performing at least some of the blocks or functions of one or more of the example embodiments described above. Connection unit 650 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as: a power amplifier, a digital front-end (DFE), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a (de)modulator, and / or encoder / decoder circuitry.

[0193] It should be noted that device 600 may also include Figure 6 Various components are not shown. These components can be hardware components and / or software components.

[0194] The device 600 can perform or be applied to the embodiments described above. More specifically, the device 600 can be user equipment 100, and user equipment 100 can be configured to perform the use of Figures 1 to 100. Figure 5 One method of explanation.

[0195] Figure 7 An example of apparatus 700 is shown, which includes components for performing one or more example embodiments of the above-described example embodiments. For example, apparatus 700 may be an apparatus such as network entity or network device 104, 106, or an apparatus including network entity or network device 104, 106, or an apparatus included in network entity or network device 104, 106, and supports the above-described embodiments and examples.

[0196] Network device 106 can also be referred to as, for example, network element, next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN) node, NodeB, eNB, gNB, base transceiver station (BTS), base station, NR base station, 5G base station, access node, access point (AP), cell site, relay node, repeater, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, IAB host node, distributed unit (DU), central unit (CU), baseband unit (BBU), radio unit (RU), radio headend, remote radio headend, or transmit and receive point (TRP).

[0197] Apparatus 700 may include, for example, circuitry or chipsets suitable for implementing one or more of the example embodiments described above. Apparatus 700 may be an electronic device including one or more electronic circuits. Apparatus 700 may include communication control circuitry 710, such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 720, which stores instructions 722 that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause apparatus 700 to perform one or more of the example embodiments described above. Such instructions 722 may, for example, include computer program code (software). The at least one processor and the at least one memory storing the instructions may provide components for providing or causing execution of any of the methods and / or blocks described above.

[0198] A processor is coupled to memory 720. The processor is configured to read data from memory 720 and write data to memory 720. Memory 720 may include one or more memory cells. Memory cells may be volatile or non-volatile. It should be noted that one or more cells of non-volatile memory and one or more cells of volatile memory may be present, or alternatively, one or more cells of non-volatile memory, or alternatively, one or more cells of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be, for example, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory may be, for example, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage, or magnetic storage. Generally, memory may be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not tactile), not a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). Memory 720 stores computer-readable instructions that are executed by the processor. For example, non-volatile memory stores computer-readable instructions, and the processor uses volatile memory to execute instructions for temporary storage of data and / or instructions.

[0199] Computer-readable instructions may be pre-stored in memory 720, or alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer-readable instructions causes device 700 to perform one or more of the functions described above.

[0200] The memory 720 can be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and / or removable memory.

[0201] The device 700 may also include or be connected to a communication interface 730, such as a radio unit, which includes hardware and / or software for establishing a communication connection with one or more wireless communication devices according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 730 includes at least one transmitter (Tx) and at least one receiver (Rx) that can be integrated into or connected to the device 700. The communication interface 730 may provide components for performing some of the blocks of the above-described example embodiments. The communication interface 730 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as: a power amplifier, a digital front end (DFE), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a (de)modulator, and / or encoder / decoder circuitry.

[0202] Communication interface 730 provides the device with radio communication capabilities for communication within a wireless communication network. The communication interface may, for example, provide a radio interface to one or more wireless communication devices. The device 700 may also include or be connected to another interface toward a core network (such as a network coordinator device or AMF), and / or to an access node connected to the wireless communication network.

[0203] The apparatus 700 may also include a scheduler 740 configured to allocate radio resources. The scheduler 740 may be configured together with the communication control circuitry 710 or may be configured separately.

[0204] It should be noted that device 700 may also include Figure 7 Various components are not shown. These components can be hardware components and / or software components.

[0205] The device 700 can perform or be applied to the embodiments described above. More specifically, the device 700 can be a network device 104, which can be used to perform the embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 104. Figure 5 One of the methods explained.

[0206] The techniques and methods described herein can be implemented in various ways. For example, these techniques can be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For hardware implementations, the apparatus of the example embodiments can be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof. For firmware or software, this implementation can be executed by a module of at least one chipset (e.g., processes, functions, etc.) performing the functions described herein. Software code can be stored in memory cells and executed by a processor. Memory cells can be implemented within or outside the processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means known in the art. Furthermore, the components of the systems described herein can be rearranged and / or supplemented by additional components to facilitate the implementation of aspects such as those described herein, and as those skilled in the art will understand, they are not limited to the precise configurations illustrated in the given figures.

[0207] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways as technology advances. The embodiments are not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above, but may vary within the scope of the claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate rather than limit the embodiments.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communication, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: Receive a broadcast channel, wherein the broadcast channel includes periodic information; The periodicity of the synchronization signal is determined based on the aforementioned periodic information; and At least one action is performed based on the determined periodicity.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment supporting satellite network communication.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one action comprises at least one of the following: Receive the synchronization signal; Determine the timing of random access channel; or Determine the time position of the coreset.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one action comprises at least one of the following: Do not receive the synchronization signal; or The timing of coreset is uncertain.

5. An apparatus for communication, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: Generate a broadcast channel including periodic information, wherein the periodic information is associated with the periodicity of a synchronization signal; and The broadcast channel is broadcast within the cell.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the apparatus is a network device that supports satellite network communication.

7. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the broadcast channel includes the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the synchronization signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB).

9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the periodic information is indicated by a subset of bits carried by the broadcast channel.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the broadcast channel includes an indication of whether the periodicity is extended.

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