Uplink (UL) resource allocation for medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). The UE detects that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) that provides assistance information to a network entity for scheduling. In response to the detection, the UE then takes one or more actions to obtain uplink (UL) resources for transmitting the MAC CE.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 392,955, filed August 3, 2021, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. [Background technology]

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for uplink (UL) resource allocation for medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs).

[0003] Wireless communication systems have been widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, or other similar types of services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple access techniques capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, or other resources). Multiple access techniques may rely on either code division, time division, frequency division orthogonal frequency division, single carrier frequency division, or time division synchronous code division, to name a few. These and other multiple access techniques have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that allows different wireless devices to communicate at city, national, regional, and even global levels.

[0004] Although wireless communication systems have made great technological advances over the years, challenges still exist. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between wireless transmitters and wireless receivers, undermining the various established wireless channel measurement and reporting mechanisms used to manage and optimize the use of finite wireless channel resources. Thus, further improvements in wireless communication systems are needed to overcome various challenges. Summary of the Invention

[0005] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method including detecting that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) providing assistance information to a network entity for scheduling, and taking one or more actions in response to the detection to obtain uplink (UL) resources for transmitting the MAC CE.

[0006] Another aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a network entity, the method including receiving a MAC CE indicating that a UE has detected that one or more conditions are met, the MAC CE providing assistance information including at least one of a TA report for scheduling or information regarding a possible HARQ problem, and allocating UL resources based on the MAC CE having the assistance information.

[0007] Other aspects provide an apparatus operable, configured, or otherwise adapted to perform the above-mentioned method as well as methods described elsewhere herein, a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the above-mentioned method as well as methods described elsewhere herein, a computer program product embodied on a computer readable storage medium comprising code for performing the above-mentioned method as well as methods described elsewhere herein, and an apparatus comprising means for performing the above-mentioned method as well as methods described elsewhere herein. By way of example, the apparatus may comprise a processing system, a device having a processing system, or a processing system that cooperates over one or more networks.

[0008] The following description and the annexed drawings set forth certain features by way of example only. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] The accompanying drawings illustrate certain features of the various aspects described herein and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example wireless communication network. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating aspects of an exemplary base station (BS) and user equipment (UE). [Figure 3A] 1 illustrates various example aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 3B] 1 illustrates various example aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 3C] 1 illustrates various example aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 3D] 1 illustrates various example aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network. [Figure 4] 1 shows a flow diagram illustrating an example operation for wireless communication by a UE. [Diagram 5] 1 shows a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication by network entities. [Figure 6] 1 shows a call flow diagram illustrating example signaling for allocating (UL) resources. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates aspects of an exemplary communications device. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates aspects of an exemplary communications device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, method, processing system, and computer-readable medium for a user equipment (UE) to trigger uplink (UL) resource allocation for a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to provide assistance information to a network entity for UL scheduling.

[0011] For example, the UE may trigger UL resource allocation to transmit a Timing Advance (TA) report MAC CE and / or a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback MAC CE to a network entity. If some conditions are met, the UE may trigger a Scheduling Request (SR) and / or a Two-Step Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure to obtain resources for transmission of the TA report MAC CE and / or the HARQ feedback MAC CE. Based on the SR or RACH procedure, the network entity may then allocate UL resources that allow the UE to transmit the TA report MAC CE and / or the HARQ feedback MAC CE.

[0012] Introduction to wireless communication networks FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication network 100 in which aspects described herein may be implemented.

[0013] For example, the wireless communication network 100 may include a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) component 199 that may be configured to perform, or have a base station (BS) 102 perform, the operations 500 of Figure 5. The wireless communication network 100 may also include a MAC CE component 198 that may be configured to perform, or have a user equipment (UE) 104 perform, the operations 400 of Figure 4.

[0014] Generally, the wireless communication network 100 includes a BS 102, a UE 104, and one or more core networks, such as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160 and a 5G Core (5GC) network 190, which interoperate to provide wireless communication services.

[0015] The BS 102 may provide an access point to the EPC 160 and / or the 5GC 190 for the UE 104 and may perform one or more of the following functions: forwarding of user data, encryption and decryption of radio channels, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages, among other functions. The BS 102 may include and / or may be referred to as a gNB, NodeB, eNB, ng-eNB (e.g., an eNB enhanced to provide connectivity to both the EPC 160 and the 5GC 190), access point, base transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, or transceiver function, or a transmit reception point in various contexts.

[0016] The BSs 102 communicate wirelessly with the UEs 104 via communication links 120. Each of the BSs 102 may provide communication coverage in a respective geographic coverage area 110, which may in some cases overlap. For example, a small cell 102' (e.g., a low power BS) may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro cells (e.g., a high power BS).

[0017] The communication link 120 between the BS 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the BS 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from the BS 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity in various aspects.

[0018] Examples of UEs 104 include mobile phones, smartphones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, gaming consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electric meters, gas pumps, large or small cooking appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or other similar devices. Some of the UEs 104 may be Internet of Things (IoT) devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, heart monitors, or other IoT devices), always-on (AON) devices, or edge processing devices. The UEs 104 may also be more generally referred to as stations, mobile stations, subscriber stations, mobile units, subscriber units, wireless units, remote units, mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communications devices, remote devices, mobile subscriber stations, access terminals, mobile terminals, wireless terminals, remote terminals, handsets, user agents, mobile clients, clients, or some other suitable terminology.

[0019] Communications using higher frequency bands may have higher path loss and shorter range compared to lower frequency communications. Thus, some BSs 102 may utilize beamforming 182 with UEs 104 to improve path loss and range. For example, the BSs 102 and UEs 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming.

[0020] In some cases, the BS 102 may transmit a beamformed signal to the UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182′. The UE 104 may receive a beamformed signal from the BS 102 in one or more receive directions 182″. The UE 104 may also transmit a beamformed signal to the BS 102 in one or more transmit directions 182″. The BS 102 may also receive a beamformed signal from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions 182′. The BS 102 and the UE 104 may then perform beam training to determine the best receive and transmit directions for each of the BS 102 and the UE 104. In particular, the transmit and receive directions of the BS 102 may or may not be the same. Similarly, the transmit and receive directions for the UE 104 may or may not be the same.

[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates an example aspect of the BS 102 and UE 104.

[0022] Generally, the BS 102 includes various processors (e.g., 220, 230, 238, and 240), antennas 234a-t (collectively 234), transceivers 232a-t (collectively 232) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable the wireless transmission of data (e.g., source data 212) and the wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 239). For example, the BS 102 may transmit and receive data between itself and the UE 104.

[0023] The BS 102 includes a controller / processor 240 that may be configured to implement various functions relating to wireless communications. In the depicted example, the controller / processor 240 includes a MAC CE component 241, which may represent the MAC CE component 199 of FIG. 1. Notably, although shown as an aspect of the controller / processor 240, the MAC CE component 241 may be implemented in addition to or instead of various other aspects of the BS 102 in other implementations.

[0024] Generally, the UE 104 includes various processors (e.g., 258, 264, 266, and 280), antennas 252a-r (collectively 252), transceivers 254a-r (collectively 254) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., source data 262) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 260).

[0025] The UE 104 includes a controller / processor 280 that may be configured to implement various functions relating to wireless communications. In the depicted example, the controller / processor 280 includes a MAC CE component 281, which may represent the MAC CE component 198 of FIG. 1. Notably, while shown as an aspect of the controller / processor 280, the MAC CE component 281 may be implemented in addition to or instead of various other aspects of the UE 104 in other implementations.

[0026] Figures 3A-3D illustrate aspects of data structures for a wireless communications network, such as wireless communications network 100 of Figure 1. In particular, Figure 3A is a diagram 300 illustrating an example of a first subframe in a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure, Figure 3B is a diagram 330 illustrating an example of a DL channel in a 5G subframe, Figure 3C is a diagram 350 illustrating an example of a second subframe in a 5G frame structure, and Figure 3D is a diagram 380 illustrating an example of a UL channel in a 5G subframe.

[0027] Further discussion regarding Figures 1, 2, and 3A-3D is provided later in this disclosure.

[0028] Overview of Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and Scheduling Request (SR) In New Radio (NR) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), a user equipment may trigger a buffer status report (BSR) medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) and a scheduling request (SR) may be triggered if no uplink (UL) scheduling resources are available for a new transmission (or the available UL scheduling resources for a new transmission do not meet the Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) mapping restrictions). This is because when the UE triggers the BSR MAC CE, the UE must have UL data in the radio bearer to transmit to the network entity (because the BSR may indicate information about the amount of pending UL data in the UE's buffer). After receiving the SR, the network entity grants the UE UL resources to perform the UL transmission. In some cases, the BSR MAC CE may not directly trigger a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure (i.e., without triggering an SR).

[0029] The UE may trigger an SR in some other cases. In one example, if the UE may detect a consistent Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) failure (e.g., in the context of NR-Unlicensed (NR-U)), the UE may have to send an LBT failure MAC CE to the network entity to report the consistent LBT failure. If no UL scheduling resources are available, or if UL scheduling resources are available but the LBT failure MAC CE cannot be accommodated in the UL scheduling resources, the UE may trigger and send an SR to the network entity using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource. The network entity then grants UL resources to the UE based on the SR.

[0030] In another example, SR may be triggered if the UE may trigger a sidelink (SL) channel state information (CSI) report (e.g., in the context of SL communication), and then the network entity grants UL resources to the UE.

[0031] In another example, if the UE may trigger a beam measurement report MAC CE, the UE may also trigger a SR (e.g., when there are no UL scheduling resources available for new transmissions or retransmissions). The network entity then grants UL resources based on the SR.

[0032] Usually, any other MAC CE alone (except the above MAC CE) may not trigger SR, because the UE may transmit the MAC CE to the network entity only when UL scheduling resources are available. In some cases, it may be necessary to specify whether each MAC CE may trigger SR or not.

[0033] The UE may use the MAC CE to transmit different types of information to the network entity. In one example, if the UE may need to transmit timing misalignment information to the network entity, the UE may use a timing advance (TA) report MAC CE to transmit the timing misalignment information to the network entity. In another example, if the UE may need to transmit hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback to the network entity, the UE may use a HARQ feedback MAC CE to report HARQ issues (e.g., particularly when HARQ retransmissions may be disabled) to the network entity.

[0034] Although the TA report MAC CE and the HARQ feedback MAC CE may not be able to request any UL scheduling resources by themselves, the TA report MAC CE and the HARQ feedback MAC CE may be useful for UL scheduling by the network entity. Therefore, it may be essential for the UE to update the network entity regarding the current timing advance value (e.g., using the TA report MAC CE) or the status of the HARQ problem (e.g., using the HARQ feedback MAC CE). Therefore, the UE may need to send the TA report MAC CE and the HARQ feedback MAC CE to the network entity. In some cases, the UE may also need to trigger an SR if there may be no UL scheduling resources available for new transmission or retransmission.

[0035] Aspects relating to uplink (UL) resource allocation for medium access control (MAC) control elements (CE) Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, method, processing system, and computer-readable medium for a user equipment (UE) to trigger uplink (UL) resource allocation for a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to provide assistance information to a network for UL scheduling.

[0036] For example, as described above, the UE may trigger a Scheduling Request (SR) and / or a Two-Step Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure based on the MAC CE (e.g., a Timing Advance (TA) report MAC CE and / or a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback MAC CE) and a Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) of the MAC CE. Based on the SR or RACH procedure, a network entity may allocate UL resources for the UE to transmit the (TA report and / or HARQ feedback) MAC CE.

[0037] 4 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 400 for wireless communication. The operations 400 may be performed, for example, by a UE (such as, for example, UE 104 in wireless communication network 100 of FIG. 1). The operations 400 may be implemented as software components executed and operated on one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280 of FIG. 2). Additionally, transmission and reception of signals by the UE in the operations 400 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 252 of FIG. 2). In some aspects, transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller / processor 280) that acquire and / or output the signals.

[0038] The operations 400 begin by detecting, at 410, that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a MAC CE that provides assistance information to a network entity for scheduling. For example, the UE may detect, using the processor, antenna(s), and / or transceiver components of the UE 104 shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 and / or the apparatus shown in Figure 7, that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a MAC CE that provides assistance information.

[0039] At 420, the UE takes one or more actions to acquire UL resources for transmitting the MAC CE in response to the detection. The UE may take the one or more actions to acquire the UL resources using the processor, antenna(s), and / or transceiver components of the UE 104 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 and / or the apparatus shown in FIG. 7.

[0040] 5 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 500 for wireless communication. The operations 500 may be performed, for example, by a network entity (such as, for example, the BS 102 in the wireless communication network 100 of FIG. 1). The operations 500 may be implemented as software components executed and operated on one or more processors (such as, for example, the controller / processor 240 of FIG. 2). Additionally, the transmission and reception of signals by the network entity in the operations 500 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (such as the antenna 234 of FIG. 2). In some aspects, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the network entity may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (such as, for example, the controller / processor 240) that acquire and / or output the signals.

[0041] The operations 500 begin, at 510, by receiving a MAC CE indicating that the UE has detected that one or more conditions are met. The MAC CE provides assistance information for scheduling, including at least one of a TA report or information regarding possible HARQ issues. For example, the network entity may use the antenna(s) and receiver / transceiver components of the BS 102 shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 and / or the apparatus shown in Figure 8 to receive the MAC CE from the UE providing assistance information for scheduling.

[0042] At 520, the network entity allocates UL resources based on the MAC CE with the assistance information. For example, the network entity may allocate the UL resources using the processor, antenna(s), and / or transceiver components of the BS 102 shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 and / or the apparatus shown in Figure 8.

[0043] The operations illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be understood with reference to the call flow diagram of FIG.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 6, at 602, a UE (e.g., UE 104 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) may detect that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a MAC CE to a BS (e.g., BS 102 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) providing assistance information for scheduling.

[0045] As one example, the assistance information may include TA reports (e.g., timing misalignment information). In another example, the assistance information may include information regarding potential HARQ issues (e.g., HARQ retransmissions being disabled). As another example, the assistance information may include measurement reports (e.g., different signal strength measurements).

[0046] At 604, the UE transmits a MAC CE (e.g., a TA report MAC CE and / or a HARQ feedback MAC CE) providing the assistance information to the BS. In some aspects, triggering the transmission of the MAC CE providing the assistance information may trigger an SR if one or more conditions (e.g., an SR condition) are met.

[0047] In one example, an SR condition may be met if a buffer status report (BSR) may be triggered via a logical channel associated with the highest or lowest priority (i.e., the UE meets the same condition for triggering an SR if a normal BSR is triggered).

[0048] In another example, the SR condition may be met when a dynamic UL resource (e.g., a dynamic UL scheduling resource) is not available. In other words, when available, the dynamic UL resource may be used to transmit the MAC CE without having to request additional UL resources.

[0049] In another example, the SR condition may be met when the configured UL resource (e.g., the configured UL scheduling resource) is not available. In other words, when available, the configured UL resource may be used to transmit the MAC CE without having to request additional UL resources.

[0050] In another example, the SR condition may be met if a two-step RACH UL resource (eg, a two-step RACH UL scheduling resource) is not available.

[0051] In another example, the SR condition may be met if an SR configuration for a MAC CE is configured. In some cases, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) occasion for the SR configuration associated with the MAC CE may be half a round trip time (RTT) earlier than the available UL resources. In some cases, a PUCCH occasion for the SR configuration associated with the MAC CE may be one RTT earlier than the available UL resources (UL resources may be considered unavailable if a PUCCH occasion for the SR configuration is one RTT earlier than the available UL resources).

[0052] In some aspects, the UE may trigger a two-step RACH procedure based on triggering transmission of a MAC CE (e.g., a TA report MAC CE, a HARQ feedback MAC CE, and / or a measurement report MAC CE) having assistance information when one or more conditions (e.g., a RACH condition) are met.

[0053] In one example, the RACH condition may be met if the two-step RACH procedure is set to an active bandwidth portion (BWP). In another example, the RACH condition may be met if the two-step RACH procedure is set to a default BWP. In another example, the RACH condition may be met if an available UL resource (e.g., UL scheduling resource) occasion is half an RTT later than a two-step RACH physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) occasion. In another example, the RACH condition may be met if an available UL resource occasion is one RTT later than a two-step RACH PUSCH occasion. In another example, the RACH condition may be met if a TA time alignment timer expires before an available UL occasion. In another example, the RACH condition may be met if the UE may lose synchronization before an available UL scheduling occasion (e.g., a TA time alignment timer expires before an available UL occasion).

[0054] In another example, the RACH condition may be met when the PUCCH resource for SR configuration is not configured in the active BWP and the two-step RACH procedure is configured in the active BWP or the default BWP.

[0055] In another example, the RACH condition may be met when SR is triggered, the PUCCH resource for SR configuration is not set to the active BWP, the 4-step RACH procedure is set to the active BWP or the default BWP, the 2-step RACH procedure is set to the active BWP or the default BWP, and the 4-step RACH procedure is selected based on a selection criterion corresponding to a different type of RACH (i.e., the 4-step RACH procedure is selected based on a RACH type selection criterion).

[0056] In another example, the RACH condition may be met if SR is triggered, PUCCH resources for SR configuration are available, the two-step RACH procedure is set to an active BWP or a default BWP, PUCCH resources for SR configuration associated with a logical channel with the lowest priority are not available, PUCCH resources for SR configuration associated with a logical channel with the highest priority are not available, the MAC entity is configured with an SR configuration for a MAC CE, and PUCCH resources for SR configuration associated with the MAC CE are not available.

[0057] At 606, the BS can allocate UL resources for UL transmission by the UE in response to the SR triggered based on the MAC CE providing the assistance information.

[0058] In some aspects, a MAC CE providing assistance information (e.g., a TA report MAC CE, a HARQ feedback MAC CE, or a measurement report MAC CE) may be configured with an LCP. In some cases, a UE may need to transmit multiple MAC CEs, and if limited UL resources are available, the UE may transmit the MAC CEs based on their corresponding LCPs.

[0059] In one example, a MAC CE with assistance information may have a lower priority than a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE based on the LCP of the MAC CE (i.e., the highest priority may be provided to the C-RNTI MAC CE). In some cases, the UE may need to transmit a C-RNTI MAC CE and a MAC CE with assistance information, but if limited UL resources are available, the UE may transmit the C-RNTI MAC CE.

[0060] In another example, a MAC CE with assistance information may have a lower priority than data from a UL common control channel (UL-CCCH) based on the LCP of the MAC CE (i.e., highest priority may be given to data from the UL-CCCH). In some cases, a UE may need to transmit data from a UL-CCCH and a MAC CE with assistance information, but if limited UL resources are available, the UE may transmit data from the UL-CCCH.

[0061] In another example, a MAC CE with assistance information may have one step lower priority than data from the UL-CCCH based on the MAC CE's LCP.

[0062] In another example, a MAC CE with assistance information may have a higher priority than all other MAC CEs except the C-RNTI MAC CE based on the LCP of the MAC CE. In some cases, the UE may need to transmit the MAC CE with assistance information and some other MAC CE, but if limited UL resources are available, the UE may transmit the MAC CE with assistance information.

[0063] In another example, a MAC CE with assistance information may have a higher priority than data from all logical channels except data from the UL-CCCH based on the LCP of the MAC CE. In some cases, the UE may need to transmit a MAC CE with assistance information and data from another logical channel, but if limited UL resources are available, the UE may transmit the MAC CE with assistance information (and may at least temporarily drop the data).

[0064] In another example, a MAC CE with assistance information may have the lowest priority among all MAC CEs and logical channels, in which case the UE may attempt to fit the MAC CE into the assistance information within the available transport block size (TBS) based on the LCP of the MAC CE.

[0065] Example Wireless Communication Devices Figure 7 illustrates an example communications device 700 that includes various components operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as those illustrated and described with respect to Figure 4. In some examples, the communications device 700 may be a user equipment (UE) 104, for example, as described with respect to Figures 1 and 2.

[0066] The communications device 700 includes a processing system 702 coupled to a transceiver 708 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 708 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device 700 via an antenna 710, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 702 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communications device 700, including processing signals to be received and / or transmitted by the communications device 700.

[0067] The processing system 702 includes one or more processors 720 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 730 via a bus 706. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 730 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 720, cause the one or more processors 720 to perform operations illustrated in FIG. 4 or other operations for performing various techniques described herein.

[0068] In the illustrated example, computer-readable medium / memory 730 stores code 731 for detecting that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) that provides assistance information to a network entity for scheduling, and code 732 for taking one or more actions to obtain uplink (UL) resources for transmitting the MAC CE in response to the detection.

[0069] In the illustrated example, the one or more processors 720 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 730, including circuitry 721 for detecting that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a MAC CE that provides assistance information to a network entity for scheduling, and circuitry 722 for taking one or more actions to obtain UL resources for transmitting the MAC CE in response to the detection.

[0070] The various components of the communications device 700 may provide means for performing the methods described herein, including those with respect to FIG.

[0071] In some examples, the transmitting or transmitting means (or the means for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 254 and / or antenna(s) 252 of the UE 104 illustrated in FIG. 2 and / or the transceiver 708 and antenna 710 of the communications device 700 of FIG.

[0072] In some examples, the receiving means (or obtaining means) may include the transceiver 254 and / or antenna(s) 252 of the UE 104 illustrated in FIG. 2 and / or the transceiver 708 and antenna 710 of the communications device 700 of FIG.

[0073] In some examples, the means for detecting that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a MAC CE providing assistance information to a network entity for scheduling, and the means for taking one or more actions to obtain UL resources for transmitting the MAC CE in response to the detection, may include various processing system components, such as one or more processors 720 in FIG. 7, including receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, and / or controller / processor 280 (including MAC CE component 281), or aspects of UE 104 shown in FIG. 2.

[0074] Notably, FIG. 7 is merely an example use case and many other examples and configurations of communications device 700 are possible.

[0075] Figure 8 illustrates an example communications device 800 including various components operable, configured, or adapted to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as those illustrated and described with respect to Figure 5. In some examples, the communications device 800 may be a base station (BS) 102, for example, as described with respect to Figures 1 and 2.

[0076] Communications device 800 includes a processing system 802 coupled to a transceiver 808 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 808 is configured to transmit and receive signals for communications device 800 via an antenna 810, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 802 may be configured to perform processing functions for communications device 800, including processing signals to be received and / or transmitted by communications device 800.

[0077] The processing system 802 includes one or more processors 820 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 830 via a bus 806. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 830 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 820, cause the one or more processors 820 to perform operations illustrated in FIG. 5 or other operations for performing various techniques described herein.

[0078] In the illustrated example, computer-readable medium / memory 830 stores code 831 for receiving a MAC CE indicating that the UE has detected that one or more conditions are met, where the MAC CE provides assistance information including at least one of a TA report for scheduling or information regarding a possible HARQ issue, and code 832 stores code for allocating UL resources based on the MAC CE with the assistance information.

[0079] In the illustrated example, the one or more processors 820 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 830, including circuitry 821 for receiving a MAC CE indicating that the UE has detected that one or more conditions are met, where the MAC CE provides assistance information including at least one of a TA report for scheduling or information regarding a potential HARQ issue, and circuitry 822 for allocating UL resources based on the MAC CE having the assistance information.

[0080] The various components of the communications device 800 may provide means for performing the methods described herein, including those with respect to FIG.

[0081] In some examples, the transmitting or transmitting means (or the means for outputting for transmission) may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna(s) 234 of the BS 102 illustrated in FIG. 2 and / or the transceiver 808 and antenna 810 of the communications device 800 in FIG. 8.

[0082] In some examples, the receiving means (or obtaining means) may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna(s) 234 of the BS 102 illustrated in FIG. 2 and / or the transceiver 808 and antenna 810 of the communications device 800 in FIG. 8.

[0083] In some examples, the means for receiving a MAC CE indicating that the UE has detected that one or more conditions are met, whereby the MAC CE provides assistance information including at least one of a TA report for scheduling or information regarding possible HARQ issues, and the means for allocating UL resources based on the MAC CE with the assistance information may include various processing system components, such as one or more processors 820 in FIG. 8, including receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processor 230, and / or controller / processor 240 (including MAC CE component 241), or aspects of BS 102 shown in FIG. 2.

[0084] Notably, FIG. 8 is merely an example use case and many other examples and configurations of communications device 800 are possible.

[0085] Example clause The following numbered clauses describe example implementations. Clause 1: A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: detecting that one or more conditions are met for transmitting a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) that provides assistance information to a network entity for scheduling; and, in response to the detection, taking one or more actions to obtain uplink (UL) resources for transmitting the MAC CE.

[0086] Clause 2: A method, alone or in combination with clause 1, in which the assistance information includes at least one of a timing advance (TA) report or information regarding a potential hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) problem.

[0087] Clause 3: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 and 2, including triggering a Scheduling Request (SR) based at least on triggering a MAC CE transmission with assistance information if one or more conditions are met.

[0088] Clause 4: The method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the one or more conditions include at least one of the following: the UE satisfies the same condition of a Buffer Status Report (BSR) via a logical channel associated with the highest or lowest priority that triggers an SR; dynamic UL resources are not available; configured UL resources are not available; two-step random access channel (RACH) UL resources are not available; or an SR configuration for a MAC CE is configured.

[0089] Clause 5: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 4, in which a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) occasion for SR configuration associated with a MAC CE is one round trip time (RTT) earlier than the available UL resources.

[0090] Clause 6: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 5, in which the one or more actions include triggering a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure based at least on triggering a MAC CE transmission with assistance information if one or more conditions are met.

[0091] Clause 7: The one or more conditions include at least one of: the two-step RACH procedure is set to an active bandwidth portion (BWP); the two-step RACH procedure is set to a default BWP; an available UL resource occasion is one round trip time (RTT) later than a two-step RACH physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) occasion; or the TA time alignment timer expires before an available UL occasion, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 6.

[0092] Clause 8: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 7, in which one or more conditions are met when a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for scheduling request (SR) configuration is not set to an active bandwidth portion (BWP) and a two-step RACH procedure is set to an active BWP or a default BWP.

[0093] Clause 9: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 8, in which one or more conditions are met when a scheduling request (SR) is triggered, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for SR configuration for a MAC CE are not set to an active bandwidth portion (BWP), and a two-step RACH procedure is set to an active BWP or a default BWP.

[0094] Clause 10: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 9, in which one or more conditions are met when a scheduling request (SR) is triggered, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for SR setting are available, and a two-step RACH procedure is set to active bandwidth portion (BWP) or default BWP, the one or more conditions including: a PUCCH resource for SR setting associated with a logical channel having the lowest priority is not available; a PUCCH resource for SR setting associated with a logical channel having the highest priority is not available; and a MAC entity is configured with an SR setting for a MAC CE and a PUCCH resource for SR setting associated with the MAC CE is not available.

[0095] Clause 11: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 10, in which a MAC CE with assistance information has a lower priority than a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE.

[0096] Clause 12: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 11, in which the MAC CE with the assistance information has lower priority than data from the UL Common Control Channel (UL-CCCH).

[0097] Clause 13: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 12, in which a MAC CE having assistance information has a higher MAC CE than all other MAC CEs except a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE.

[0098] Clause 14: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 13, in which a MAC CE with assistance information has data higher than data from all logical channels except data from a UL Common Control Channel (UL-CCCH).

[0099] Clause 15: If a MAC CE with assistance information can fit into the available Transport Block Size (TBS), the MAC CE with assistance information has the lowest priority among all MAC CEs and logical channels, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 1 to 14.

[0100] Clause 16: A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) indicating that a User Equipment (UE) has detected that one or more conditions are met, the MAC CE providing assistance information including at least one of a Timing Advance (TA) report for scheduling or information regarding a potential Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) issue; and allocating uplink (UL) resources based on the MAC CE with the assistance information.

[0101] Clause 17: A MAC CE providing assistance information triggers a Scheduling Request (SR) if one or more conditions are met, either alone or in combination with clause 16.

[0102] Clause 18: The method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 and 17, wherein the one or more conditions include at least one of the following: the UE satisfies the same condition of a Buffer Status Report (BSR) via a logical channel associated with the highest or lowest priority that triggers an SR; dynamic UL resources are not available; configured UL resources are not available; two-step random access channel (RACH) UL resources are not available; or an SR configuration for a MAC CE is configured.

[0103] Clause 19: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 18, in which a MAC CE providing assistance information triggers a two-step Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure if one or more conditions are met.

[0104] Clause 20: The one or more conditions include at least one of: the two-step RACH procedure is set to an active bandwidth portion (BWP); the two-step RACH procedure is set to a default BWP; an available UL resource occasion is one round trip time (RTT) later than a two-step RACH physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) occasion; or the TA time alignment timer expires before an available UL occasion, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 19.

[0105] Clause 21: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 20, in which one or more conditions are met when a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for scheduling request (SR) configuration is not set to an active bandwidth portion (BWP) and a two-step RACH procedure is set to an active BWP or a default BWP.

[0106] Clause 22: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 21, in which one or more conditions are met when a scheduling request (SR) is triggered, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for SR configuration for a MAC CE are not set to an active bandwidth portion (BWP), and a two-step RACH procedure is set to an active BWP or a default BWP.

[0107] Clause 23: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 22, in which one or more conditions are met when a scheduling request (SR) is triggered, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for SR setting are available, and the two-step RACH procedure is set to active bandwidth portion (BWP) or default BWP, the one or more conditions including: a PUCCH resource for SR setting associated with a logical channel having the lowest priority is not available; a PUCCH resource for SR setting associated with a logical channel having the highest priority is not available; and a MAC entity is configured with SR setting for a MAC CE and a PUCCH resource for SR setting associated with the MAC CE is not available.

[0108] Clause 24: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 23, in which a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE has a higher priority than a MAC CE with assistance information.

[0109] Clause 25: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 24, whereby data from an UL common control channel (UL-CCCH) has a higher priority than a MAC CE having assistance information.

[0110] Clause 26: A method, alone or in combination with one or more of clauses 16 to 25, in which a MAC CE having assistance information has a higher MAC CE than all other MAC CEs except a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE.

[0111] Clause 27: An apparatus comprising: a memory comprising executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 26.

[0112] Clause 28: An apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 26.

[0113] Clause 29: A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 26.

[0114] Clause 30: A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for performing the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 26.

[0115] Additional Wireless Communication Network Considerations The techniques and methods described herein may be used for a variety of wireless communications networks (or wireless wide area networks (WWANs)) and radio access technologies (RATs). Although aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)) wireless technologies, aspects of the disclosure may be equally applicable to other communication systems and standards not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0116] 5G wireless communication networks may support a variety of advanced wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), millimeter wave (mmWave), machine type communications (MTC), and / or mission-critical targeted ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), which may include latency and reliability requirements.

[0117] Returning to FIG. 1, various aspects of the disclosure may be performed within an exemplary wireless communication network 100.

[0118] In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the coverage area of ​​a NodeB and / or a narrowband subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In an NR system, the terms "cell" and BS, next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier, or transmit reception point (TRP) can be used interchangeably. A BS can provide communication coverage for a macrocell, a picocell, a femtocell, and / or other types of cells.

[0119] A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a few kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a sports stadium) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS, a home BS, or a home NodeB.

[0120] BSs 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 through a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). BSs 102 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with the 5GC 190 through a second backhaul link 184. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC 160 or the 5GC 190) through a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., an X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0121] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and may use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. A small cell 102' employing NR in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may provide increased coverage and / or capacity to the access network.

[0122] Some base stations, such as the gNB 180, may operate in conventional sub-6 GHz spectrum, millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, and / or near mmWave frequencies to communicate with the UE 104. If the gNB 180 operates on mmWave or near-mmWave frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred to as an mmWave base station.

[0123] The communication link 120 between the BS 102 and, for example, the UE 104 may be over one or more carriers. The BS 102 / UE 104 may use spectrum with bandwidth up to YMHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400 MHz, etc.) per carrier allocated in carrier aggregation with up to a total of YxMHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell) and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0124] The wireless communication network 100 further includes a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 in communication with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 over a communication link 154, for example, in the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communication to determine if a channel is available.

[0125] Several UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links 158. The D2D communication links 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication links 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, 4G (e.g., LTE), or 5G (e.g., NR), to name a few options.

[0126] The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be in communication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. In general, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management.

[0127] All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the Serving Gateway 166, which is itself connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP Services 176, which may include, for example, the Internet, an Intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and / or other IP services.

[0128] The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may act as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services in the public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to deliver MBMS traffic to BSs 102 that belong to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS related charging information.

[0129] The 5GC 190 may include an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may be in communication with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196.

[0130] The AMF 192 is generally a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the 5GC 190. Generally, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management.

[0131] All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the UPF 195, which connects to IP services 197 and provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions for the 5GC 190. The IP services 197 may include, for example, the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and / or other IP services.

[0132] Turning now to FIG. 2, various example components of a BS 102 and a UE 104 (eg, the wireless communication network 100 of FIG. 1) that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0133] At the BS 102, the transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information may be for a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), a Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a Group Common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. In some examples, the data may be for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc.

[0134] A Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used to control command exchanges between wireless nodes. The MAC-CE may be carried within a shared channel, such as a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH).

[0135] The processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, such as for a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0136] The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​the data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) in the transceivers 232a-t. Each modulator in the transceivers 232a-t may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from the modulators in the transceivers 232a-t may be transmitted via the antennas 234a-t, respectively.

[0137] At the UE 104, the antennas 252a-252r may receive downlink signals from the BS 102 and may provide received signals to respective demodulators within the transceivers (DEMODs) 254a-254r. Each demodulator within the transceivers 254a-254r may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols.

[0138] A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols and provide decoded data for the UE 104 to a data sink 260 and provide decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0139] On the uplink, at the UE 104, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) from a controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., for a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by a modulator in the transceivers 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to the BS 102.

[0140] At the BS 102, the uplink signals from the UE 104 may be received by antennas 234a-t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 232a-t, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 104. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to a controller / processor 240.

[0141] Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for BS 102 and UE 104, respectively.

[0142] A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0143] 5G may utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with Cyclic Prefix (CP) on the uplink and downlink. 5G may also support half-duplex operation using Time Division Duplexing (TDD). OFDM and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) partition the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Modulation symbols may be sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers may depend on the system bandwidth. A minimum resource allocation, called a resource block (RB), may be 12 consecutive subcarriers in some examples. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover multiple RBs. NR may support a base subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 KHz, and other SCSs (e.g., 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc.) may be defined for the base SCS.

[0144] As noted above, FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate various example aspects of data structures for a wireless communications network, such as wireless communications network 100 of FIG.

[0145] In various aspects, the 5G frame structure may be Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated for either DL or UL. The 5G frame structure may also be Time Division Duplex (TDD) where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated for both DL and UL. In the example provided by Figures 3A, 3C, the 5G frame structure is assumed to be TDD, subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (having mostly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexible for use between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (having mostly UL). Subframes 3 and 4 are shown with slot formats 34 and 28, respectively, although any particular subframe may be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and all UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mix of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with the slot format through a received Slot Format Indicator (SFI) (dynamically through DL Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G frame structure, which is TDD.

[0146] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10 ms) may be divided into 10 subframes (1 ms) of equal size. Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a minislot, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. In some examples, each slot may include 7 or 14 symbols depending on the slot configuration.

[0147] For example, in slot configuration 0, each slot may contain 14 symbols, and in slot configuration 1, each slot may contain 7 symbols. Symbols on the DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. Symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also called single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios, restricted to a single stream transmission).

[0148] The number of slots in a subframe is based on the slot configuration and numerology. For slot configuration 0, the different numerologies μ=0-5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, the different numerologies 0-2 allow 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Thus, for slot configuration 0 and numerology μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2μ slots / subframe. Subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of numerology. Subcarrier spacing is 2 μ ×15 kHz, where μ is a numerology 0-5. Thus, numerology μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz and numerology μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. The symbol length / duration is inversely proportional to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 3A-3D provide an example of slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and numerology μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0149] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot contains a resource block (RB), also called physical RB (PRB), spanning 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into resource elements (RE). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0150] As shown in Figure 3A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE (e.g., UE 104 in Figures 1 and 2). The RS may include demodulation RS (DM-RS) (shown as Rx for one particular configuration where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may also include beam measurement RS (BRS), beam improvement RS (BRRS), and phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0151] 3B shows an example of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame. The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries DCI in one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs), each CCE containing 9 RE Groups (REGs), each REG containing 4 consecutive REs within an OFDM symbol.

[0152] A primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be present in symbol 2 of a particular subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by the UE (e.g., 104 in Figures 1 and 2) to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification information.

[0153] A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be present in symbol 4 of a particular subframe of a frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing.

[0154] Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the above-mentioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), which carries the master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped with the PSS and the SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted over the PBCH, such as the system information block (SIB), and paging messages.

[0155] As shown in FIG. 3C, some of the REs carry DM-RS (denoted as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE may transmit DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the particular PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the combs. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

[0156] 3D shows an example of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame. The PUCCH, in one configuration, may be located as shown. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0157] Additional Considerations The above description provides examples of UL resource allocation for a MAC CE in a communication system. The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or aspects described in the claims. Various modifications of these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. For example, changes may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the methods described may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some embodiments may be combined in some other embodiments. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects described herein. Additionally, the scope of the disclosure is intended to encompass such apparatus or methods practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions in addition to or other than the various aspects of the disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

[0158] The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as 5G (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP® Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology, such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA®) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP®). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP®2). NR is an emerging wireless communications technology under development.

[0159] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with this disclosure may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, a system on a chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

[0160] When implemented in hardware, an exemplary hardware configuration may comprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges depending on the particular application of the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus may link various circuits together, including the processor, the machine-readable medium, and the bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter to the processing system via the bus, among other things. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of user equipment (see FIG. 1), the user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, touch screen, biometric sensor, proximity sensor, light emitting element, etc.) may also connect to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose and / or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits capable of executing software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality for a processing system depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0161] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Software shall be broadly construed to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A processor may be responsible for general processing, including managing a bus and executing software modules stored on a machine-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. By way of example, a machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and / or a computer-readable storage medium having stored instructions separate from a wireless node, all of which may be accessed by a processor through a bus interface. Alternatively or additionally, the machine-readable medium, or any portion thereof, may be integrated into the processor, such as may be a cache and / or a general purpose register file. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, by way of example only, a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a register, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard drive, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product.

[0162] A software module may comprise a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed across several different code segments, among different programs, and across several storage media. A computer-readable medium may comprise several software modules. A software module includes instructions that, when executed by a device such as a processor, cause a processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or may be distributed across several storage devices. As an example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when a trigger event occurs. During execution of a software module, a processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general-purpose register file for execution by the processor. When referring to a function of a software module below, it will be understood that such function is implemented by a processor upon executing instructions from that software module.

[0163] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. By way of example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination having multiples of the same element (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other permutation of a, b, and c).

[0164] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. Also, "determining" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. Also, "determining" can include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0165] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions for achieving the method. The method steps and / or actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Furthermore, various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware and / or software component(s) and / or module(s), including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. In general, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

[0166] The following claims are not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. In the claims, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one," but rather "one or more." Unless otherwise specified, the term "several" refers to one or more. No element of a claim is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means of," or, in the case of a method claim, unless the element is recited using the phrase "step of." All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or that later become known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be made public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: detecting that one or more conditions for transmitting a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) for providing assistance information to a network entity for scheduling are satisfied, wherein the assistance information includes a timing advance (TA) report; taking one or more actions to obtain an uplink (UL) resource for transmitting the MAC CE in response to the detection; The method including the above.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more actions include triggering a scheduling request (SR) based at least on triggering the transmission of the MAC CE having the assistance information when the one or more conditions are satisfied.

3. The one or more conditions include: the UE satisfies the same condition of a buffer status report (BSR) via a logical channel associated with the highest or lowest priority for triggering the SR; no dynamic UL resource is available; no configured UL resource is available; no two-step random access channel (RACH) UL resource is available; or an SR setting for the MAC CE is configured. including at least one of the above, wherein a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) occasion for the SR setting associated with the MAC CE is one round-trip time (RTT) earlier than an available UL resource, according to the method of claim 2.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more actions include triggering a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure based at least on triggering the transmission of the MAC CE having the assistance information when the one or more conditions are satisfied.

5. The one or more conditions include: the two-step RACH procedure is configured in an active bandwidth part (BWP); the two-step RACH procedure is configured in a default BWP; an available UL resource occasion is one round-trip time (RTT) later than a two-step RACH physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) occasion; or If the TA time alignment timer expires before a UL occasion becomes available including at least one of The method according to claim 4

6. wherein the one or more conditions are the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for scheduling request (SR) setting is not set in the active bandwidth part (BWP), and the two-step RACH procedure is set in the active BWP or the default BWP are satisfied when The method according to claim 4

7. wherein the one or more conditions are a scheduling request (SR) is triggered, the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for SR setting for the MAC CE is not set in the active bandwidth part (BWP), and the two-step RACH procedure is set in the active BWP or the default BWP are satisfied when The method according to claim 4

8. wherein the one or more conditions are a scheduling request (SR) is triggered, the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for SR setting is available, and the two-step RACH procedure is set in the active bandwidth part (BWP) or the default BWP are satisfied when wherein the one or more conditions are the PUCCH resource for the SR setting associated with the logical channel having the lowest priority is not available, the PUCCH resource for the SR setting associated with the logical channel having the highest priority is not available, the MAC entity is set using the SR setting for the MAC CE, and the PUCCH resource for the SR setting associated with the MAC CE is not available, including The method according to claim 4

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the MAC CE having the assistance information has a lower priority than the cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the MAC CE having the assistance information has a lower priority than the data from the UL common control channel (UL-CCCH)

11. The MAC CE having the assistance information is all other MAC CEs except the cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE, or Data from all logical channels except data from the UL common control channel (UL-CCCH) The method according to claim 1, having a higher priority than

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein, if the MAC CE having the support information can be adapted to an available transport block size (TBS), the MAC CE having the support information has the lowest priority among all MAC CEs and logical channels.

13. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: Receiving a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating that a user equipment (UE) has detected that one or more conditions are met, the MAC CE providing support information including a timing advance (TA) report; Allocating uplink (UL) resources based on the MAC CE having the support information; A method comprising

14. An apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: At least one processor and a memory; Wherein the at least one processor and the memory are configured to: Detect that one or more conditions for transmitting a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) providing support information to a network entity for scheduling are met, the support information including a timing advance (TA) report; Take one or more actions to obtain uplink (UL) resources for transmitting the MAC CE in response to the detection; Configured as Apparatus

15. A computer-readable recording medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising: Detecting, by a user equipment (UE), that one or more conditions for transmitting a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) providing support information to a network entity for scheduling are met, the support information including a timing advance (TA) report; Taking, by the UE, one or more actions to obtain uplink (UL) resources for transmitting the MAC CE in response to the detection; A computer-readable recording medium comprising

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