Step-by-step timing adjustment for communications at NTN

Abstract

In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method, computer-readable medium, and apparatus are provided in a user equipment (UE) in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). The UE may be configured to receive one or more timing advance (TA) commands from the NTN. In response to a transmit timing error between the UE's transmit TA and a reference timing exceeding a threshold, the UE may be configured to transmit an uplink transmission with a timing change having a propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and a total timing adjustment that meets one or more threshold requirements apart from a network-controlled common TA value.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] (CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS)

[0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 312,064, filed February 20, 2022, entitled "Gradual Timing Adjustment for Communication in NTN," and U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 18 / 048,667, filed October 21, 2022, entitled "Gradual Timing Adjustment for Communication in NTN," each of which is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety into this specification.

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to non-terrestrial network (NTN) wireless communication systems. [Background technology]

[0003]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have been widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services, such as telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. A typical wireless communication system may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0004]

[0004] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that allows different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, or even global level. An exemplary telecommunications standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continuing mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., with the Internet of Things (IoT)), and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Further improvements are needed in 5G NR technology that may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunications standards that employ those technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements of all aspects, nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0006]

[0006] In one aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus in a user equipment (UE) are provided. The apparatus may include a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The memory and the at least one processor coupled to the memory may be configured to receive one or more timing advance (TA) commands from an NTN. In response to a transmission timing error between a transmission TA of the UE and a reference timing exceeding a threshold, the memory and the at least one processor coupled to the memory may be further configured to transmit an uplink transmission with a timing change having a propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and a total timing adjustment that meets one or more threshold requirements, apart from a network-controlled common TA value.

[0007]

[0007] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects may include the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of only a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and the description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1]

[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system and access network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a first frame in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B]

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a DL channel in a subframe in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2C]

[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a second frame, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2D]

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a UL channel in a subframe in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3]

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a network device and user equipment (UE) in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4]

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system and access network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A]

[0015] 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a network architecture supporting communication via NTN devices, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a network architecture supporting communication via NTN devices, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5C] 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a network architecture supporting communication via NTN devices, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 6]

[0016] 1 illustrates an example of an NTN configuration, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7]

[0017] 1 illustrates a timing diagram illustrating an example aspect of a timing advance calculation according to aspects presented herein. [Figure 8]

[0018] FIG. 13 shows another timing diagram illustrating differential UE-specific TA values ​​for communication between a UE and an NTN node. [Figure 9A]

[0019] 1 illustrates an idealized NTN network having a UE configured to perform location updates for each uplink transmission to a network entity via an NTN device. [Figure 9B]

[0020] 9 shows a non-idealized NTN network 950 having UEs configured to perform location updates every N slots. [Figure 10A]

[0021] 1 illustrates a static UE location network with UEs that do not move from their locations. [Figure 10B]

[0022] 10B illustrates a static UE location network of FIG. 10A showing an estimated service link between the NTN device and the UE. [Figure 11]

[0023] 13 shows a graph illustrating an abrupt adjustment to an offset based on a corrected transmit timing error. [Figure 12]

[0024] 13 shows a graph illustrating incremental adjustments to an offset based on a corrected transmit timing error. [Figure 13]

[0025] 1 illustrates a connection flow diagram having a UE configured to send an uplink transmission to a network entity via an NTN device. [Figure 14]

[0026] 1 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15]

[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware implementation for an exemplary apparatus in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009]

[0028] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The Detailed Description includes specific details intended to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0010]

[0029] Certain aspects of a telecommunications system are now presented with respect to various apparatus and methods that are described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0011]

[0030] As an example, the elements, or any portion of the elements, or any combination of the elements, may be implemented as a "processing system" including one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on a chip (SoC), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0012]

[0031] Thus, in one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of instructions or data structures accessible by a computer.

[0013]

[0032] Although aspects and implementations are described in this application by illustrating several examples, those skilled in the art will appreciate that additional implementations and use cases may arise in many different configurations and scenarios. The innovations described herein may be realized across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging configurations. For example, implementations and / or applications may arise with integrated chip implementations and other non-modular component-based devices (e.g., end user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled devices, etc.). Some examples may or may not be specifically targeted to a use case or application, but may result in a wide variety of applicability of the described innovations. Implementations may range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and even aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also include additional components and features for implementation and practice of the claimed and described aspects. For example, transmitting and receiving wireless signals necessarily involves a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processor(s), interleavers, summers / analog summers, etc.). It is contemplated that the innovations described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed configurations, aggregated or separated components, end-user devices, etc. of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0014]

[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system and access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes base stations 102, UEs 104, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., 5G Core (5GC)). The base stations 102 may include macro cells (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cells (low-power cellular base stations). The macro cells include base stations. The small cells include femto cells, pico cells, and micro cells.

[0015]

[0034] A base station 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 over a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). A base station 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with the core network 190 over a second backhaul link 184. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform one or more of the following functions: forwarding 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, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, 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 alert message delivery. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC 160 or the core network 190) via a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., an X2 interface). The first backhaul link 132, the second backhaul link 184, and the third backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0016]

[0035] In some aspects, the base station 102 or 180 may be referred to as a RAN and may include aggregated or separated components. As an example of a separated RAN, the base station may include a central unit (CU) 106, one or more distributed units (DUs) 105, and / or one or more remote units (RUs) 109, as shown in FIG. 1. The RAN may be separated by a split between the RU 109 and the aggregated CU / DU. The RAN may be separated by a split between or among the CU 106, the DU 105, and the RU 109. The RAN may be separated by a split between the CU 106 and the aggregated DU / RU. The CU 106 and one or more DUs 105 may be connected via an F1 interface. The DUs 105 and the RUs 109 may be connected via a fronthaul interface. The connection between the CU 106 and the DU 105 may be referred to as a midhaul, and the connection between the DU 105 and the RU 109 may be referred to as a fronthaul. The connection between the CU 106 and the core network may be referred to as a backhaul. The RAN may be based on a functional division between various components of the RAN, for example, between or within the CU 106, the DU 105, or the RU 109. The CU may be configured to perform processing of one or more aspects of a wireless communication protocol, for example, one or more layers of a protocol stack, and the DU(s) may be configured to process other aspects of the wireless communication protocol, for example, other layers of the protocol stack. In various implementations, the division between or within layers processed by the CU and layers processed by the DU may occur at various layers of the protocol stack. As one non-limiting example, the DU 105 may provide logical nodes for hosting a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and at least a portion of a physical (PHY) layer based on a functional division.The RU may provide a logical node configured to host at least a portion of the PHY layer and radio frequency (RF) processing. The CU 106 may host higher layer functions above the RLC layer, such as, for example, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, etc. In other implementations, the division between or among the layer functions provided by the CU, DU, or RU may be different.

[0017]

[0036] An access network may include one or more IAB nodes 111 that exchange wireless communications with UEs 104 or other integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes 111 to provide access and backhaul to a core network. In an IAB network of multiple IAB nodes, an anchor node may be referred to as an IAB donor. An IAB donor may be a base station 102 or 180 that provides access to a core network 190 or an EPC 160 and / or control to one or more IAB nodes 111. An IAB donor may include a CU 106 and a DU 105. An IAB node 111 may include a DU 105 and a mobile termination (MT). The DU 105 of an IAB node 111 may act as a parent node, and the MT may act as a child node.

[0018]

[0037] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cells may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs) that may provide service to restricted groups known as closed subscriber groups (CSGs). The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link may be through one or more carriers. The base station 102 / UE 104 may use spectrum with a bandwidth of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400 MHz, etc.) per carrier, allocated in carrier aggregation with up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. The carriers may be adjacent or non-adjacent to each other. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric for 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).

[0019]

[0038] Particular 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, for example, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

[0020]

[0039] The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with Wi-Fi stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154, such as in the 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STAs 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communication to determine if a channel is available.

[0021]

[0040] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ NR and use the same unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz, etc.) used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. By employing NR in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell 102' may enhance coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network.

[0022]

[0041] The electromagnetic spectrum is often divided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. For 5G NR, two initial operating bands are defined as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). Although a portion of FR1 is higher than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers. A similar nomenclature issue may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) defined as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

[0023]

[0042] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as intermediate band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have defined the operating bands for these intermediate band frequencies as a frequency range designated FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands that fall within FR3 may inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus, in effect, may extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to the intermediate band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been defined as frequency ranges designated FR2-2 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0024]

[0043] With the above aspects in mind, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6 GHz" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Additionally, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "millimeter wave" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR2-2, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0025]

[0044] The base station 102, whether a small cell 102′ or a large cell (e.g., macro base station), may include and / or be referred to as an eNB, gNodeB (gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations, such as the gNB 180, may operate at millimeter wave and / or quasi-millimeter wave frequencies in the conventional sub-6 GHz spectrum in communication with the UE 104. When the gNB 180 operates at millimeter wave or quasi-millimeter wave frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred to as a millimeter wave base station. The millimeter wave base station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 for the UE 104 to compensate for path loss and short distances. The base station 180 and the UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming.

[0026]

[0045] The base station 180 may transmit a beamformed signal to the UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182′. The UE 104 may receive the beamformed signal from the base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182″. The UE 104 may also transmit a beamformed signal to the base station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station 180 may receive the beamformed signal from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions. The base station 180 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the best receive direction and transmit direction for each of the base station 180 / UE 104. The transmit and receive directions for the base station 180 may or may not be the same. The transmit and receive directions for the UE 104 may or may not be the same.

[0027]

[0046] 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 communicate 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. 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 IP address allocation for the UE as well as other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176, which may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionality for provisioning and delivery of MBMS user services. The BM-SC 170 may act as an entry point for content providers' MBMS transmissions and 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 can be used to distribute MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a particular service, and can be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collection of eMBMS related charging information.

[0028]

[0047] The core network 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 communicate with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. In general, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides IP address allocation for the UE as well as other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to IP Services 197. The IP services 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), Packet Switch (PS) Streaming (PSS) services, and / or other IP services.

[0029]

[0048] A base station may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, Node B, eNB, access point, base transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmit reception point (TRP), or some other suitable terminology. The base station 102 provides an access point to the EPC 160 or core network 190 for the UE 104. Examples of the UE 104 include a cellular phone, a smartphone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small cooking appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similarly functional device. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking meters, gas pumps, toasters, vehicles, heart monitors, etc.). The UEs 104 may also be referred to as stations, mobile stations, subscriber stations, mobile units, subscriber units, wireless units, remote units, mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communication 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. In some scenarios, the term UE may also apply to one or more companion devices, such as in a device constellation configuration. One or more of these devices may collectively access the network and / or may individually access the network.

[0030]

[0049] In some aspects, the base station 102 may communicate with the UE 104 via an NTN device 103, such as a satellite. In some aspects, the NTN device 103 may be a transparent satellite that performs one or more of amplification, filtering, and frequency conversion. In some aspects where the NTN device 103 is a transparent satellite, the NTN device 103 may receive signals from the base station 102 and relay the signals to one or more UEs 104, such as by performing amplify-and-forward repeating. The NTN device 103 may also receive signals from one or more UEs 104 and relay the signals to the base station 102, such as by performing amplify-and-forward repeating. In some aspects, the NTN device 103 may also convert carrier frequencies between the input / received signal and the output / transmitted signal. The communication link between the NTN device 103 and the base station 102 may be referred to as a feeder link. In some aspects, the NTN device 103 may be a non-transparent satellite that may be capable of performing one or more aspects performed by the base station 102. In some aspects, the NTN device 103 may be a base station and may be connected to a core network 190.

[0031]

[0050] FIG. 2A is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a first subframe in a 5G NR frame structure. FIG. 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating an example of a DL channel in a 5G NR subframe. FIG. 2C is a diagram 250 illustrating an example of a second subframe in a 5G NR frame structure. FIG. 2D is a diagram 280 illustrating an example of a UL channel in a 5G NR subframe. The 5G NR frame structure may be frequency division duplexed (FDD) where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL, or may be time division duplexed (TDD) where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. In the example provided by FIG. 2A, FIG. 2C, the 5G NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, with subframe 4 configured with slot format 28 (mostly DL), D is DL, U is UL, F is flexible for DL / UL use, and subframe 3 configured with slot format 1 (all UL). Subframes 3 and 4 are shown with slot formats 1 and 28, respectively, but any particular subframe can be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and UL, respectively. The 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 5G NR frame configurations that are TDD.

[0032]

[0051] 2A-2D show a frame structure, and aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other wireless communication technologies, which 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. Each slot may include 14 or 12 symbols depending on whether the cyclic prefix (CP) is normal or extended. For normal CP, each slot may include 14 symbols, and for extended CP, each slot may include 12 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be CP orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL can 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, i.e. limited to single stream transmission). The number of slots in a subframe is based on the CP and numerology. The numerology defines the subcarrier spacing (SCS) (see Table 1). The symbol length / duration can be scaled by 1 / SCS.

[0033] [Table 1]

[0034]

[0052] For the normal CP (14 symbols / slot), the different numerologies μ0-4 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. For the extended CP, numerology 2 allows 4 slots per subframe. Thus, for the normal CP and numerology μ, 14 symbols / slot and 2 μ There are slots / subframes. The subcarrier spacing is 2 μ *15 kHz, where μ is a number logic 0-4. Thus, numerology μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and numerology μ=4 has a subcarrier spacing of 240 kHz. The symbol length / period is inversely proportional to the subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A-2D provide an example of a normal CP 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 about 16.67 μs. Within a set of frames, there may be one or more different bandwidth parts (BWPs) (see Figure 2B), which are frequency division multiplexed. Each BWP may have a specific numerology and CP (normal or extended).

[0035]

[0053] A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot contains resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)), spanning 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0036]

[0054] As shown in Figure 2A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE. The RS may include demodulation RS (DMRS) (shown as R for one particular configuration, but other DMRS configurations are possible) and channel state information RS (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may also include beam measurement RS (BRS), beam refinement RS (BRRS), and phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0037]

[0055] FIG. 2B shows an example of various DL channels in a subframe of a frame. A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI in one or more control channel elements (CCEs) (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs), where each CCE includes 6 RE groups (REGs), and each REG includes 12 consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol of an RB. The PDCCHs in one BWP may be referred to as a control resource set (CORESET). During a PDCCH monitoring occasion on the CORESET, the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., common search space, UE-specific search space), where the PDCCH candidates have different DCI formats and different aggregation levels. Additional BWPs may be located at higher and / or lower frequencies across the channel bandwidth. 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 104 to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. 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 the timing of the radio frame. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine a physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DMRS.The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), which carries the master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block (also referred to as an SS block (SSB)). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted over the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

[0038]

[0056] As shown in FIG. 2C, some of the REs carry DMRS (shown as R for one particular configuration, but other DMRS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE may transmit DMRS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DMRS for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DMRS may be transmitted in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DMRS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit sounding reference signals (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 in 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.

[0039]

[0057] 2D 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 hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (i.e., one or more HARQ ACK bits indicating one or more ACKs and / or negative ACKs (NACKs)). The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSRs), power headroom reports (PHRs), and / or UCIs.

[0040]

[0058] 3 is a block diagram of a network device (e.g., a base station or an NTN device such as a satellite) 310 in communication with a UE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to a controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements Layer 3 functionality and Layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, and Layer 2 includes a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 includes RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., MIBs, SIBs), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), mobility between radio access technologies (RATs), and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with forwarding higher layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and mapping of logical channels to transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs into transport blocks (TBs), and MAC SDUs from TBs. It provides MAC layer functionality associated with demultiplexing of SDUs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0041]

[0059] The transmit (Tx) processor 316 and receive (Rx) processor 370 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The Tx processor 316 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. This OFDM stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 can be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 350. Each spatial stream can then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318Tx. Each transmitter 318Tx can modulate a radio frequency (RF) carrier with the respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0042]

[0060] At the UE 350, each receiver 354Rx receives a signal through its respective antenna 352. Each receiver 354Rx recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (Rx) processor 356. The Tx processor 368 and the Rx processor 356 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The Rx processor 356 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 350. Multiple spatial streams may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the Rx processor 356 if destined for the UE 350. The Rx processor 356 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal may include a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the network device 310. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator 358. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the network device 310 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to a controller / processor 359, which implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functionality.

[0043]

[0061] The controller / processor 359 can be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides transport and logical channel demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0044]

[0062] Similar to the functionality described in connection with DL transmissions by the network device 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIBs, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with forwarding of higher layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs to TBs, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0045]

[0063] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 358 from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the network device 310 may be used by the Tx processor 368 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the Tx processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354Tx. Each transmitter 354Tx may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0046]

[0064] The UL transmissions are processed in the network device 310 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver functions in the UE 350. Each receiver 318Rx receives a signal through its corresponding antenna 320. Each receiver 318Rx recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the Rx processor 370.

[0047]

[0065] The controller / processor 375 can be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides transport and logical channel demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 350. The IP packets from the controller / processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0048]

[0066] At least one of the Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 may be configured to implement aspects associated with the TA component 198 of FIG. 1, FIG. 4, or FIG.

[0049]

[0067] The deployment of a communication system, such as a 5G New Radio (NR) system, can be configured in multiple ways using various components or components. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of the network, a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment such as a base station (BS), or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality can be implemented in an aggregated or separated architecture. For example, a BS (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit / receive point (TRP), or cell) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone BS or monolithic BS) or a separated base station.

[0050]

[0068] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A separated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units, such as one or more centralized or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU or alternatively distributed geographically or virtually across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0051]

[0069] The operation of a base station type or network design may take into account the aggregated nature of the base station functionality. For example, a separated base station may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as the network configuration supported by the O-RAN alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Separation may include distributing functionality across two or more units in different physical locations, as well as distributing functionality virtually for at least one unit, which may allow flexibility in network design. Various units of a separated base station, or a separated RAN architecture, may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0052]

[0070] FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and access network. The illustrated wireless communication system includes a separated base station architecture. The separated base station architecture may include one or more CUs 410 that may directly communicate with a core network 420 via a backhaul link or indirectly communicate with the core network 420 through one or more separated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 425 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 415 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 405, or both). The CUs 410 may communicate with one or more DUs 430 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 430 may communicate with one or more RUs 440 via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 440 may communicate with respective UEs 404 via one or more Radio Frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 404 may be served by multiple RUs 440 simultaneously.

[0053]

[0071] Each of the units, i.e., CU 410, DU 430, RU 440, and quasi-RT RIC 425, non-RT RIC 415, and SMO framework 405, may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) over a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the unit's communication interface, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units over a transmission medium. For example, a unit may include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals to one or more of the other units over a wired transmission medium. Additionally, a unit may include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as an RF transceiver), configured to receive and / or transmit signals to one or more of the other units over a wireless transmission medium.

[0054]

[0072] In some aspects, the CU 410 may host one or more upper layer control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and the like. Each control function may be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 410. The CU 410 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 410 may be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP units, when implemented in an O-RAN configuration, may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface, such as an E1 interface. The CU 410 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 430, as needed, for network control and signaling.

[0055]

[0073] The DU 430 may correspond to a logical unit including one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 440. In some aspects, the DU 430 may host one or more of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and one or more higher physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, demodulation, etc.), at least in part according to a functional division such as that defined by 3GPP. In some aspects, the DU 430 may further host one or more lower PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 430 or with a control function hosted by the CU 410.

[0056]

[0074] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 440. In some deployments, the RUs 440 controlled by the DU 430 may correspond to logical nodes hosting RF processing functions, or low PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional division, such as a lower layer functional division. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 440 may be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 404. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communications with the RU(s) 440 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 430. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU(s) 430 and CU 410 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0057]

[0075] The SMO framework 405 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 405 may be configured to support deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements that may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 405 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-cloud) 490) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, the CU 410, the DU 430, the RU 440, and the quasi-RT RIC 425. In some implementations, the SMO framework 405 may communicate with hardware aspects of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 411, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 405 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 440 via an O1 interface. The SMO framework 405 can also include a non-RT RIC 415 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 405.

[0058]

[0076] The non-RT RIC 415 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the quasi-RT RIC 425. The non-RT RIC 415 may be coupled to or in communication with the quasi-RT RIC 425 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The quasi-RT RIC 425 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via one or more CUs 410, one or more DUs 430, or both, and data collection and action via an interface connecting the O-eNB to the quasi-RT RIC 425 (e.g., via an E2 interface).

[0059]

[0077] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 415 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate the AI / ML models deployed to the quasi-RT RIC 425. Such information may be utilized by the quasi-RT RIC 425 or may be received at the SMO framework 405 or non-RT RIC 415 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 415 or quasi-RT RIC 425 may be configured to adjust RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 415 may employ the AI / ML models to monitor long-term trends and patterns regarding performance and implement corrective actions through the SMO framework 405 (e.g., reconfiguration via O1) or through the creation of RAN management policies (e.g., A1 policies).

[0060]

[0078] At least one of the CU 410, the DU 430, and the RU 440 may be referred to as a base station 402. Thus, the base station 402 may include one or more of the CU 410, the DU 430, and the RU 440 (each component is shown with a dotted line to indicate that each component may or may not be included in the base station 402). The base station 402 provides an access point to the core network 420 for the UE 404. The base station 402 may include a macro cell (high power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (low power cellular base station). Small cells include femto cells, pico cells, and micro cells. A network including both small cells and macro cells may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs). The communication link between the RU 440 and the UE 404 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmission from the UE 404 to the RU 440, and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmission from the RU 440 to the UE 404. The communication link may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link may be through one or more carriers. The base station 402 / UE 404 may use spectrum with a bandwidth of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 40, 45, 20, 400, 400 MHz, etc.) per carrier, allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) in total, used for transmission in each direction. The carriers may be adjacent or non-adjacent to each other. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric for DL ​​and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than 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).

[0061]

[0079] Particular UEs 404 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links 458. The D2D communication links 458 may use DL / UL wireless wide area network (WWAN) spectrum. The D2D communication links 458 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 via various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

[0062]

[0080] The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi AP 450 that communicates with the UE 404 (also referred to as a Wi-Fi station (STA)) via a communication link 454, such as in an unlicensed frequency spectrum at 5 GHz. When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the UE 404 / AP 450 may perform clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0063]

[0081] The electromagnetic spectrum is often divided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. For 5G NR, two initial operating bands are defined as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). Although a portion of FR1 is higher than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers. A similar nomenclature issue may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) defined as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

[0064]

[0082] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as intermediate band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have defined the operating bands for these intermediate band frequencies as a frequency range designated FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands that fall within FR3 may inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus, in effect, extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to the intermediate band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been defined as frequency ranges designated FR2-2 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (71 GHz to 414.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0065]

[0083] With the above aspects in mind, unless otherwise indicated, as used herein, terms such as "sub-6 GHz" may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Additionally, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, terms such as "millimeter wave" may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR2-2, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0066]

[0084] The base station 402 and the UE 404 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming. The base station 402 may transmit a beamformed signal 482 to the UE 404 in one or more transmit directions. The UE 404 may receive the beamformed signal from the base station 402 in one or more receive directions. The UE 404 may also transmit a beamformed signal 484 to the base station 402 in one or more transmit directions. The base station 402 may receive the beamformed signal from the UE 404 in one or more receive directions. The base station 402 / UE 404 may perform beam training to determine the best receive and transmit directions for each of the base station 402 / UE 404. The transmit and receive directions for the base station 402 may or may not be the same. The transmit and receive directions for the UE 404 may or may not be the same.

[0067]

[0085] The base station 402 may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, Node B, eNB, access point, base transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmit / receive point (TRP), network node, network entity, network equipment, or some other suitable terminology. The base station 402 may be implemented as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, a sidelink node, an aggregated (monolithic) base station having a baseband unit (BBU) (including a CU and a DU) and a RU, or as a separated base station including one or more of a CU, a DU, and / or a RU. A set of base stations that may include separated and / or aggregated base stations may be referred to as a Next Generation (NG)RAN (NG-RAN).

[0068]

[0086] The core network 420 may include an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 461, a Session Management Function (SMF) 462, a User Plane Function (UPF) 463, a Unified Data Management (UDM) 464, one or more location servers 468, and other functional entities. The AMF 461 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 404 and the core network 420. The AMF 461 supports registration management, connection management, mobility management, and other functions. The SMF 462 supports session management and other functions. The UPF 463 supports packet routing, packet forwarding, and other functions. The UDM 464 supports authentication and key agreement (AKA) credential generation, user identity handling, access authorization, and subscription management. The one or more location servers 468 are shown to include a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 465 and a Location Management Function (LMF) 466. In general, however, the one or more location servers 468 may include one or more location / positioning servers, which may include one or more of the GMLC 465, the LMF 466, a position determination entity (PDE), a serving mobile location center (SMLC), a mobile positioning center (MPC), etc. The GMLC 465 and the LMF 466 support UE location services. The GMLC 465 provides an interface for clients / applications (e.g., emergency services) to access UE positioning information. The LMF 466 receives measurement and assistance information from the NG-RAN and the UE 404 via the AMF 461 to calculate the position of the UE 404. The NG-RAN may utilize one or more positioning methods to determine the position of the UE 404.Positioning the UE 404 may involve signal measurements, a position estimate, and an optional velocity calculation based on these measurements. The signal measurements may be performed by the UE 404 and / or the base station 402 serving the UE 404. The signals measured may include one or more of a satellite positioning system (SPS) 470 (e.g., one or more of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), a global position system (GPS), a non-terrestrial network (NTN), or other satellite position / location system), LTE signals, wireless local area network (WLAN) signals, Bluetooth signals, a terrestrial beacon system (TBS), sensor-based information (e.g., barometric pressure sensors, motion sensors), NR enhanced cell ID (NR E-CID) methods, NR signals (e.g., multi-round trip time (Multi-RTT), DL angle-of-departure (DL-AoD), DL time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), UL time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), and UL angle-of-arrival (UL-ARV) signals). The positioning may be based on one or more of: UL-AoA (angle-of-arrival) positioning, and / or other systems / signals / sensors.

[0069]

[0087] Examples of UEs 404 include a cellular phone, a smartphone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small cooking appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similarly functional device. Some of the UEs 404 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., a parking meter, a gas pump, a toaster, a vehicle, a heart monitor, etc.). The UEs 404 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. In some scenarios, the term UE may also apply to one or more companion devices, such as in a device constellation configuration, one or more of these devices may collectively access the network and / or may individually access the network.

[0070]

[0088] 1 and 4, in some aspects, the UE 104 or UE 404 may include a TA component 198. In some aspects, the TA component 198 may be configured to incrementally adjust a TA in response to detecting a timing transmission error for communication at the NTN. The TA component 198 may be configured to receive one or more TA commands from the NTN. In response to a transmission timing error between the UE's transmission TA and a reference timing exceeding a threshold, the TA component 198 may be configured to transmit an uplink transmission with a timing change having a propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and a total timing adjustment that meets one or more threshold requirements apart from a network-controlled common TA value. The following description may focus on TA commands from an NTN, but the concepts described herein may be applicable to TA commands from any network node with a high altitude (e.g., greater than 20 meters), such as a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) device, a medium earth orbit (MEO) device, a low earth orbit (LEO) device, an airplane device, a balloon device, or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) device. The NTN may be an Internet of Things (IoT) NTN. The following description may focus on 5G NR, but the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar fields, such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, IoT communications, and other wireless technologies.

[0071]

[0089] NTN networks utilizing non-terrestrial network nodes (e.g., satellites) may be integrated into wireless communication systems, such as 5G communication systems, to facilitate communication between or among base stations or RANs and UEs. For example, in some aspects, a transparent satellite performing amplification, spatial filtering, or frequency conversion may relay communications transmitted from a base station to a UE. In another aspect, a non-transparent satellite may serve as at least a part of a 5G base station. NTNs may provide service coverage to areas where terrestrial cellular service is not available. Network devices to which a UE may connect over the air may be satellites, balloons, drones, etc.

[0072]

[0090] FIG. 5A illustrates an example network architecture 500 capable of supporting NTN access using, for example, 5G NR as presented herein. Although the aspects are described using a 5G NR example, the concepts presented herein may be applied to other types of core networks. FIG. 5A illustrates a network architecture with a transparent payload. Although the aspects of FIG. 5A illustrate a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies such as 3G, 4G LTE, etc.

[0073]

[0091] 5A includes a UE 505, an NTN device 502, an NTN gateway 504 (sometimes referred to as a “gateway,” “earth station,” or “ground station”), and a base station 506 capable of communicating with the UE 505 via the NTN device 502. The NTN device 502, the NTN gateway 504, and the base station 506 may be part of a RAN 512 (e.g., an NG RAN).

[0074]

[0092] The base station 506 may be a network node corresponding to the network device 310 of Figure 3. The network architecture 500 is shown as further including a core network 510. In some aspects, the core network 510 may include some Fifth Generation (5G) networks, including 5G Core Networks (5GCNs), and may correspond to the core network 190 described with respect to Figure 1. The core network 510 may be a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). In some aspects, the core network may be a 5GCN.

[0075]

[0093] 5A , the permitted connections in the network architecture 500 with transparent payload allow the base station 506 to access the NTN gateway 504 and the core network 510. In some examples, the base station 506 may be shared by multiple PLMNs. Similarly, the NTN gateway 504 may be shared by more than one base station.

[0076]

[0094] FIG. 5A provides a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as necessary. In particular, while the example of FIG. 5A includes one UE 505, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the network architecture 500. For example, multiple UEs may connect with the NTN device 502 via multiple service links similar to the service link 520. Similarly, the network architecture 500 may include a greater (or lesser) number of NTN devices, NTN gateways, base stations, RANs, core networks, and / or other components. The connections shown connecting the various components in the network architecture 500 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0077]

[0095] The UE 505 is configured to communicate with the core network 510 via the NTN device 502, the NTN gateway 504, and the base station 506. As indicated by the RAN 512, one or more RANs associated with the core network 510 may include one or more base stations. Access to the network may be provided to the UE 505 via wireless communication between the UE 505 and the base station 506 (e.g., a serving base station) via the NTN device 502 and the NTN gateway 504. The base station 506 may provide wireless communication access to the core network 510 on behalf of the UE 505, for example, using 5G NR.

[0078]

[0096] The base station 506 may be referred to by other names such as network entity, gNB, "satellite node", satellite NodeB (sNB), "satellite access node", etc. The base station 506 may not be the same as the terrestrial network gNB, but may be based on the terrestrial network gNB with additional capabilities. For example, the base station 506 may terminate the air interface and associated air interface protocols to the UE 505 via the NTN device 502 and the NTN gateway 504, and may transmit DL signals to the UE 505 and receive UL signals from the UE 505. The base station 506 may also support signaling connections and voice and data bearers to the UE 505, and may support handover of the UE 505 between different radio cells for the NTN device 502, between different NTN devices, and / or between different base stations. The base station 506 may be configured to manage mobile radio beams (e.g., for aircraft and / or non-stationary (non-GEO) devices) and associated mobility of the UE 505. The base station 506 may assist in handover (or transfer) of the NTN device 502 between different NTN gateways or different base stations. In some examples, the base station 506 may be separate from the NTN gateway 504, for example, as shown in the example of FIG. 5A. In other examples, the base station 506 may include one or more NTN gateways or may be combined with one or more NTN gateways, for example, using a split architecture. For example, in a split architecture, the base station 506 may include a central unit (CU), such as the example CU 106 of FIG. 1, and the NTN gateway 504 may include or operate as a distributed unit (DU), such as the example DU 105 of FIG. 1. The base station 506 may be fixed to the ground with a transparent payload operation. In one implementation, the base station 506 may be physically combined with or physically connected to the NTN gateway 504 to reduce complexity and cost.

[0079]

[0097] The NTN gateway 504 may be shared by two or more base stations and may communicate with the UE 505 via the NTN device 502. The NTN gateway 504 may be dedicated to one associated constellation of the NTN device. The NTN gateway 504 may be included within the base station 506, for example as a base station DU within the base station 506. The NTN gateway 504 may communicate with the NTN device 502 using control and user plane protocols. The control and user plane protocols between the NTN gateway 504 and the NTN device 502 can (i) establish and release communication links from the NTN gateway 504 to the NTN device 502, including authentication and encryption, (ii) update the NTN device software and firmware, (iii) perform operations and maintenance (O&M) of the NTN device, (iv) control radio beams (e.g., direction, power, on / off state) and mapping between radio beams and the NTN gateway UL and DL payloads, and / or (v) assist in handoff of the NTN device 502 or radio cell to another NTN gateway.

[0080]

[0098] Support of transparent payloads by the network architecture 500 shown in FIG. 5A may impact the communication system as follows: The core network 510 may treat the satellite RAT as a new type of RAT with longer delay, reduced bandwidth, and / or higher error rate. As a result, there may be some impact on PDU session establishment and mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) procedures. The NTN device 502 may be shared with other services (e.g., satellite TV, fixed Internet access) with 5G NR mobile access for transparently added UEs. This may allow legacy NTN devices to be used and may avoid the need to deploy new types of NTN devices. The base station 506 may assist in allocation and transfer of the NTN device 502 and radio cells between the base station 506 and the NTN gateway 504, and may support handover of the UE 505 between radio cells, between NTN devices, and between other base stations. Thus, the base station 506 may be different from the terrestrial network gNB. Additionally, the coverage area of ​​the base station 506 may be much larger than the coverage area(s) of the terrestrial network base station.

[0081]

[0099] In the illustrated example of FIG. 5A, the service link 520 may facilitate communication between the UE 505 and the NTN device 502, the feeder link 522 may facilitate communication between the NTN device 502 and the NTN gateway 504, and the interface 524 may facilitate communication between the base station 506 and the core network 510. The service link 520 and the feeder link 522 may be implemented by the same radio interface (e.g., the NR-Uu interface). The interface 524 may be implemented by an NG interface.

[0082]

[0100] FIG. 5B illustrates a diagram of a network architecture 525 capable of supporting NTN access using, for example, 5G NR as presented herein. The network architecture 525 illustrated in FIG. 5B is similar to that illustrated in FIG. 5A, and similarly designated elements are similar or identical. However, FIG. 5B illustrates a network architecture having a regenerative payload as opposed to the transparent payload illustrated in FIG. 5A. Unlike the transparent payload, the regenerative payload includes an on-board base station (e.g., includes the functional capabilities of a base station) and is referred to herein as an NTN device 502 / base station. The on-board base station may be a network node corresponding to the network device 310 of FIG. 3. The RAN 512 is illustrated as including an NTN device 502 / base station. Reference to the NTN device 502 / base station may refer to functions related to communication with the UE 505 and the core network 510, and / or functions related to communication with the NTN gateway 504 and the UE 505 at the physical radio frequency level.

[0083]

[0101] The on-board base station may perform many of the same functions as the base station 506 described above. For example, the NTN device 502 / base station may terminate the air interface and associated air interface protocols to the UE 505, transmit DL signals to the UE 505, and receive UL signals from the UE 505, which may include encoding and modulating transmitted signals and demodulating and decoding received signals. The NTN device 502 / base station may also support signaling connections and voice and data bearers to the UE 505, and may support handover of the UE 505 between different radio cells for the NTN device 502 / base station, and between or among different NTN devices / base stations. The NTN device 502 / base station may assist in handover (or transfer) of the UE 505 between different NTN gateways and different control networks. The NTN device 502 / base station may hide or mask certain aspects of the NTN device 502 / base station from the core network 510, for example, by interfacing to the core network 510 in the same or similar manner as a terrestrial network base station. The NTN device 502 / base station may further support sharing of the NTN device 502 / base station. The NTN device 502 / base station may communicate with one or more NTN gateways and one or more core networks via the NTN gateway 504. In some aspects, the NTN device 502 / base station may communicate directly with other NTN device / base stations using Inter-Satellite Links (ISLs), which may support an Xn interface between any pair of NTN device / base stations.

[0084]

[0102] With a low earth orbit (LEO) device, the NTN device 502 / base station may manage mobile radio cells with coverage at different times. The NTN gateway 504 may be directly connected to the core network 510 as shown. The NTN gateway 504 may be shared by multiple core networks, for example, if the NTN gateway is limited. In some examples, the core network 510 may need to be aware of the coverage area of ​​the NTN device 502 / base station to page the UE 505 and manage handovers. Thus, as can be seen, the network architecture 525 with a regenerative payload may have more impact and complexity with respect to both the NTN device 502 / base station and the core network 510 than the network architecture 500 with a transparent payload as shown in FIG. 5A.

[0085]

[0103] Support of regenerative payloads by the network architecture 525 shown in FIG. 5B may impact the network architecture 525 as follows: If fixed tracking areas and fixed cells are not supported, the core network 510 may be impacted because the core components of fixed cells and fixed tracking area-based mobility management and restriction services for terrestrial PLMNs may be replaced by new systems (e.g., based on the location of the UE 505). If fixed tracking areas and fixed cells are supported, the core network 510 may map any fixed tracking area to one or more NTN devices / base stations that have current radio coverage of the fixed tracking area when performing paging of the UE 505 located within this fixed tracking area. This may include configuration in the core network 510 of long-term orbit data for the NTN devices 502 / base stations (e.g., obtained from the operators of the NTN devices 502 / base stations) and may add significant new impacts to the core network 510.

[0086]

[0104] In the illustrated example of FIG. 5B, the service link 520 may facilitate communication between the UE 505 and the NTN device 502 / base station, the feeder link 522 may facilitate communication between the NTN device 502 / base station and the NTN gateway 504, and the interface 524 may facilitate communication between the NTN gateway 504 and the core network 510. The service link 520 may be implemented by an NR-Uu interface. The feeder link 522 may be implemented by an NG interface over the SRI. The interface 524 may be implemented by an NG interface.

[0087]

[0105] FIG. 5C illustrates a diagram of a network architecture 550 capable of supporting NTN access using, for example, 5G NR as presented herein. The network architecture illustrated in FIG. 5C is similar to the systems illustrated in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, and similarly designated elements are similar or identical. However, FIG. 5C illustrates a network architecture having a regenerative payload and a split architecture for base stations, as opposed to a transparent payload as illustrated in FIG. 5A. For example, a base station may be split between a central unit (CU), such as CU 106 in FIG. 1, and a distributed unit (DU), such as DU 105 in FIG. 1. In the illustrated example of FIG. 5C, the network architecture 550 includes an NTN-CU 516, which may be a ground-based base station or a terrestrial base station. The regenerative payload includes an on-board base station DU, referred to herein as an NTN-DU 514. The NTN-CU 516 and the NTN-DU 514, collectively or individually, may correspond to a network node associated with the network device 310 in FIG. 3.

[0088]

[0106] The NTN-DU 514 communicates with the NTN-CU 516 via the NTN Gateway 504. The NTN-CU 516 together with the NTN-DU 514 may perform functions and use internal communication protocols similar or identical to those of a gNB with a split architecture. In this example, the NTN-DU 514 corresponds to a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) and may perform similar or identical functions thereto, while the NTN-CU 516 corresponds to a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) and may perform similar or identical functions thereto. However, the NTN-CU 516 and the NTN-DU 514 may each include additional capabilities to support UE 505 access using NTN devices.

[0089]

[0107] The NTN-DU 514 and NTN-CU 516 may communicate with each other using the F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) and together may perform some or all of the same functions as the base station 506 or the NTN device 502 / base station as described in connection with Figures 5B and 5C, respectively.

[0090]

[0108] The NTN-DU 514 may terminate the air interface to the UE 505 and associated lower level air interface protocols, and may transmit DL signals to the UE 505 and receive UL signals from the UE 505, which may include encoding and modulating transmitted signals and demodulating and decoding received signals. The operation of the NTN-DU 514 may be controlled in part by the NTN-CU 516. The NTN-DU 514 may support one or more NR radio cells for the UE 505. The NTN-CU 516 may also be divided into separate control plane (CP) (NTN-CU-CP) and user plane (UP) (NTN-CU-UP) parts. The NTN-DU 514 and NTN-CU 516 may communicate over the F1 interface to support (a) control plane signaling for the UE 505 using IP, Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), and F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) protocols, and (b) user plane data transfer for the UE using IP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP), PDCP, SDAP, GTP-U, and NR User Plane Protocol (NRUPP) protocols.

[0091]

[0109] The NTN-CU516 may communicate with one or more other NTN-CUs and / or one or more other terrestrial base stations using terrestrial links to support the Xn interface between any pair of NTN-CUs and / or between the NTN-CU516 and any terrestrial base station.

[0092]

[0110] The NTN-DU 514, together with the NTN-CU 516, may (i) support signaling connections and voice and data bearers to the UE 505, (ii) support handover of the UE 505 between different radio cells and between different NTN-DUs for the NTN-DU 514, and (iii) assist in handover (or transfer) of NTN devices between different NTN gateways or different core networks. The NTN-CU 516 may hide or mask certain aspects of the NTN devices from the core network 510, for example, by interfacing to the core network 510 in the same or similar manner as a terrestrial network base station.

[0093]

[0111] In the network architecture 550 of FIG. 5C, the NTN-DU 514 that communicates with and is accessible from the NTN-CU may change over time with the LEO device. With a split base station architecture, the core network 510 may connect to a fixed, time-invariant NTN-CU, which may reduce difficulties with paging the UE 505. For example, the core network 510 may not need to know the NTN-DU required to page the UE 505. A network architecture with regenerative payloads with a split base station architecture may thereby reduce the core network 510 impact at the expense of additional impact on the NTN-CU 516.

[0094]

[0112] As shown in FIG. 5C, the support of regenerative payloads with a split base station architecture may affect the network architecture 550 as follows: The impact on the core network 510 may be limited with respect to the transparent payloads (e.g., NTN device 502) discussed above. For example, the core network 510 may treat the satellite RAT in the network architecture 550 as a new type of RAT with longer delay, reduced bandwidth, and / or higher error rate. The impact on the NTN-DU 514 may be less than the impact on the NTN device / base station (e.g., NTN device 502 / base station with a non-split architecture) as discussed above with reference to FIG. 5B. The NTN-DU 514 may manage the change of association with different (fixed) NTN-CUs. Furthermore, the NTN-DU 514 may manage radio beams and radio cells. The impact of the NTN-CU 516 may be similar to that of the base station 506 for a network architecture with transparent payloads, as discussed above, except for the extra impact to manage association changes with different NTN-DUs and reduced impact to support radio cells and radio beams that may be forwarded to the NTN-DU 514. In some aspects, the NTN device may correspond to a high altitude platform system (HAPS) that serves one or more UEs on the ground.

[0095]

[0113] One or more satellites may be integrated with the terrestrial infrastructure of a wireless communications system. A satellite may refer to a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), and / or Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) device. A Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) may refer to a network or a segment of a network that uses aircraft or spacecraft for transmission. An aircraft may refer to High Altitude Platforms (HAPs), including Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

[0096]

[0114] NTNs can be configured to help provide wireless communications in unserved or underserved areas to upgrade the performance of terrestrial networks. For example, communication satellites can provide coverage to a larger geographic area than TN base stations. NTNs can also enhance service reliability by providing service continuity to UEs or mobile platforms (e.g., passenger vehicles - passenger aircraft, ships, high-speed trains, buses). NTNs can also improve service availability, including critical communications. NTNs can also enable network scalability through the provision of efficient multicast / broadcast resources for data delivery towards the network edge or even directly to user equipment.

[0097]

[0115] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an NTN 600 configuration. An NTN may refer to a network or a segment of a network that uses RF resources onboard an NTN platform. An NTN platform may refer to a spacecraft or an aircraft. A spacecraft includes a communication satellite, which may be classified based on its orbit. For example, a communication satellite may include a GEO device that appears geostationary relative to the Earth. Thus, a single GEO device may provide coverage to a geographic coverage area. In other examples, a communication satellite may include a non-GEO device, such as a LEO device, a MEO device, or a HEO device. A non-GEO device does not appear geostationary relative to the Earth. Thus, a satellite constellation (e.g., one or more satellites) may be configured to provide coverage to a geographic coverage area. Aircraft may refer to systems including, for example, Tethered UAS (TUA), Lighter Than Air UAS (LTA), and Heavier Than Air UAS (HTA), typically at altitudes between 8-50 km, including High Altitude Platforms (HAPs).

[0098]

[0116] In some aspects, the NTN 600 may include an example NR-NTN. The example of FIG. 6 provides that the NTN 600 may include a first NTN device 602, a second NTN device 604, a third NTN device 606, an NTN gateway 608, a data network 610, and a UE 630 within cell coverage of the first NTN device 602. In some aspects, the UE 630 may include an IoT device, and the UE may be connected to the NTN 600 for wireless communication.

[0099]

[0117] The NTN gateway 608 may be one of one or more NTN gateways that may connect the NTN 600 to a public data network. In some examples, the NTN gateway 608 may support functionality for forwarding signals from the NTN device to a Uu interface, such as an NR-Uu interface. In other examples, the NTN gateway 608 may provide a transport network layer node and may support a transport protocol, such as operating as an IP router. A satellite radio interface (SRI) may provide an IP trunk connection between the NTN gateway 608 and the NTN device, carrying an NG interface or an F1 interface, respectively. One or more geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) devices (e.g., which may be referred to herein as a first NTN device 602, a second NTN device 604, or a third NTN device 606) may be fed by the NTN gateway 608, and one or more NTN devices may be deployed across a satellite target coverage that may correspond to regional or even continental coverage. A non-GEO device may be served sequentially by one or more NTN gateways at a time, and the NTN 600 may be configured to provide service and feeder link continuity between successive serving NTN gateways with duration to perform mobility anchoring and handover.

[0100]

[0118] A first NTN device 602, including a spacecraft or aircraft, may communicate with a data network 610 through a feeder link 612 established between the first NTN device 602 and an NTN gateway 608 to provide services to a UE 630 within the cell coverage or field of view of the NTN cell 620 of the first NTN device 602 via a service link 614. The feeder link 612 may include a wireless link between the NTN gateway and the NTN device. The service link 614 may refer to a radio link between an NTN device (e.g., the first NTN device 602) and the UE 630. As described in connection with FIG. 1, the first NTN device 602 may use one or more directional beams, e.g., beamforming, to exchange communications with the UE 630. A beam may refer to a wireless communication beam generated by an antenna mounted on the NTN device.

[0101]

[0119] In some examples, the UE 630 may communicate with the first NTN device 602 via a service link 614. The second NTN device 604 may relay communications for the first NTN device 602 through an inter-satellite link (ISL) 616, and the second NTN device 604 may communicate with the data network 610 through a feeder link 612 established between the second NTN device 604 and an NTN gateway 608. The ISL link may be provided between a constellation of satellites and may include the use of a transparent payload onboard the NTN device. The ISL may operate in RF frequencies or optical bands.

[0102]

[0120] In the illustrated example of FIG. 6, the first NTN device 602 may provide a first physical cell ID (PCI) ("PCI1") to the NTN cell 620. In some examples, a constellation of satellites may provide coverage to the NTN cell 620. For example, the first NTN device 602 may include a non-GEO device that does not appear to be stationary relative to the Earth. Therefore, the satellite constellation (e.g., one or more satellites) may be configured to provide coverage to the NTN cell 620. For example, the first NTN device 602 and the third NTN device 606 may be part of a satellite constellation that provides coverage to the NTN cell 620.

[0103]

[0121] In some examples, NTN deployments may provide different services based on the type of payload carried by the NTN device. The type of payload may determine whether the NTN device operates as a relay node or a base station. For example, a transport payload may implement frequency conversion and radio frequency (RF) amplifiers in both the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) directions and may correspond to an analog RF repeater. A transparent payload may, for example, receive UL signals from all served UEs and redirect the combined signal DL to an earth station without demodulating or decoding the signal. Similarly, a transparent payload may receive UL signals from an earth station and redirect the signal DL to a served UE without demodulating or decoding the signal. However, a transparent payload may frequency convert the received signal and amplify and / or filter the received signal before transmitting the signal.

[0104]

[0122] Wireless communication between a UE and a base station may experience a propagation delay over time, e.g., between the time the UE transmits an uplink transmission and the time the uplink transmission is received at the base station. In some aspects, different UEs may experience different propagation delays, thereby causing time misalignment of uplink transmissions from different UEs at the base station. Such misalignment, if large enough, may cause interference between uplink transmissions, e.g., transmissions based on OFDM. The base station may provide a timing advance command to the UE indicating that the UE adjust the timing of the uplink transmission to compensate for the propagation delay. Thus, the network may use the timing advance command to control the uplink signal transmission timing. The network may measure the time difference between the uplink reception and the subframe time and send a timing advance command to the UE to change the timing of the uplink transmission, such as PUSCH, PUCCH, and / or SRS, to provide reception at the base station that is better aligned with the subframe timing at the network side. For example, if the PUSCH / PUCCH / SRS arrives at the network too early, the network may indicate to the UE to transmit the signal later by an indicated amount. If the PUSCH / PUCCH / SRS arrives at the network too late, the network may indicate to the UE to transmit an uplink signal an indicated amount earlier.

[0105]

[0123] The total timing advance (T TA , or transmit timing advance) may be based on:

[0124] T TA =(N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C

[0106]

[0125] N TA may include an accumulated timing advance value based on an accumulation of TA commands from the network.TA may be equal to 0 for PRACH transmission and may be updated based on the TA command field in the random access msg2 / msgB and / or MAC-CE TA command. The network-provided timing advance may be referred to as closed loop timing advance. The network entity may TA The value may be provided to the UE via an NTN device, for example BS 102 in FIG. 1 to UE 104 via NTN device 103, or NTN gateway 608 to UE 630 via NTN gateway 608.

[0107]

[0126] N TA,UE固有 may include a UE self-estimated timing advance amount that pre-compensates for a service link delay, e.g., a propagation delay between the UE and a satellite of the NTN. An example service link 614 is shown in FIG. 6. The UE may estimate this TA based on its own location (e.g., obtained using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) relative to the NTN devices (e.g., satellites) of the NTN. In other words, the UE may estimate this TA based on an estimate of the service link distance and an estimate of the feeder link distance. The satellite location may be provided by ephemeris. Such a TA calculated by the UE may be referred to as an open-loop timing advance. The UE may estimate its N without first obtaining a GNSS fix. TA,UE固有 value, thereby obtaining an estimated N TA,UE固有 Value can be provided.

[0108]

[0127] N TA,共通 may include a network controlled common TA and may include a timing offset deemed necessary by the network. This common TA may be based, for example, on the delay in the feeder link between the satellite and the base station. FIG. 6 shows an example of a feeder link 612. In some aspects, the common TA may be zero. N TA,共通 The value is N TA,UE固有The network entity may also specify the N TA,共通 The value may be provided to the UE via an NTN device, e.g., BS 102 in FIG. 1 may provide the value to UE 104 via NTN device 103, or NTN gateway 608 may provide the value to UE 630 via NTN gateway 608. TA,共通 may be calculated by the UE based on a model constructed by the UE using one or more parameters (e.g., coefficients in a Taylor series) signaled by the network. In some aspects, the signaling of the parameters may be via system information.

[0109]

[0128] N TA,オフセット may include a fixed offset used to calculate the timing advance. TA,オフセット may be used to ensure coexistence with LTE. TA,オフセット The value may be provided to the UE via an NTN device, for example BS 102 in FIG. 1 to UE 104 via NTN device 103, or NTN gateway 608 to UE 630 via NTN gateway 608.

[0110]

[0129] Tc may be equal to 1 / (480000×4096) seconds.

[0111]

[0130] The UE may apply the timing advance in an idle RRC state (e.g., "RRC_IDLE" state), an inactive RRC state (e.g., "RRC_INACTIVE" state), or an RRC connected state (e.g., "RRC_CONNECTED" state). If the UE has established an RRC connection with a base station, the UE may be in a connected state (e.g., "RRC_CONNECTED" state) or an inactive state (e.g., "RRC_INACTIVE" state). If an RRC connection is not established, the UE is in an idle state (e.g., "RRC_IDLE" state). While in the idle state, the UE and the base station may establish an RRC connection, and the UE may transition to a connected state. While in the connected state, the UE and / or the base station may release the RRC connection, and the UE may transition to an idle state. In another example, while in the connected state, the UE and / or the base station may suspend and release the RRC connection, and the UE may transition to an inactive state. While in the inactive state, the UE and / or the base station can resume the RRC connection and the UE can transmit to a connected state. In another example, while in the inactive state, the UE and / or the base station can release the RRC connection and the UE can transition to an idle state.

[0112]

[0131] In some aspects, a timing advance command from the network may expire based on, for example, the amount of time since a TA command was received by the UE. In some aspects, the timing advance calculation may lead to a double adaptation, in which the propagation delay is adjusted until the UE implements a new GNSS fix and updates its self-estimated timing advance value N. TA,UE固有 Network-controlled TA (e.g., cumulative TA, N based on TA commands from the network) that attempts to mitigate the UE's use of previous GNSS fixes when updating TA ) and is addressed by both TAs becoming overlapping. Dual adaptation is sometimes called dual compensation.

[0113]

[0132] 7 shows a time diagram 700 illustrating an example of dual adaptation for timing advance. The UE performs a GNSS fix 702 and TA,UE固有 The UE may be configured to use GNSS location readings resulting from the GNSS fixes and satellite locations to determine N of the GNSS fixes 702. TA,UE固有 The uplink transmissions 704 and 706 are also transmitted at time t1 and t1′, respectively, based at least in part on the accumulated timing advance commands. TA ), N TA,共通 , and / or N TA,オフセット The network provides timing advance commands 708 and 712 based on the UE's previous transmissions. For example, the timing advance commands 708 and / or 712 may be based on an observed propagation delay for the uplink transmissions 704, 706, or 710 based on the GNSS fix 702. Thus, the timing advance commands 708 or 712 may account for the UE's movement relative to the satellites after the GNSS fix 702. The UE applies an accumulation of the timing advance commands 708, 712, etc. when transmitting uplink transmissions. For example, the uplink transmissions 704 and 706 may be based on a first value N TA1 and the uplink transmission 710 may have an accumulated value N TA1 + timing advance command 708. The uplink transmission 716 may include the accumulated value N TA1 + timing advance command 708 + timing advance command 712. The closed loop timing advance based on the accumulated timing advance commands from the network provides a timing advance that accounts for the movement of the UE relative to the satellites between GNSS fixes. The UE implements another GNSS fix 714 and adjusts its own estimated timing advance (e.g., open loop timing advance value) N based on the location of the UE relative to the satellites based on the GNSS fix 714. TA,UE固有 Therefore, the self-estimated timing advance NTA,UE固有 also accounts for the movement of the UE between GNSS fix 702 and GNSS fix 714. TA +N TA,UE固有 ) provides dual adaptation (sometimes referred to as dual correction) based on the movement of the UE relative to the satellites. Because the time t2 at which uplink transmission 716 is transmitted is close to the time t1′ at which uplink transmission 710 is transmitted and the GNSS fix, the self-estimated timing advance (N TA,UE固有 ) captures the change in location between t1 and t1', along with timing advance commands 708, 712 from the network to address the change in location. Figures 9A, 9B, 10A, and 10B show examples of time periods between GNSS fixes, timing commands from the network, and uplink transmissions.

[0114]

[0133] NTN deployments may be associated with long delays (e.g., long latency and / or long RTT) relative to terrestrial networks due at least in part to the long distance between the UE and the NTN node. Furthermore, the delay in a transparent satellite deployment may exceed the delay in a regenerative satellite deployment because any communication between a UE and a base station or gateway may travel from the UE to the NTN node via a service link and then from the NTN node to the base station or gateway via a feeder link, where both the service link and the feeder link may be associated with longer delays than a terrestrial network. Thus, in an NTN, a UE may generally apply a TA to uplink transmissions performed in an RRC idle or inactive state and / or to uplink transmissions performed in an RRC connected state. For example, the TA applied by the UE may have a value corresponding to the length of time it takes for a signal to travel from the base station to the UE and back to the base station (which may be included in an NTN node in a regenerative satellite deployment or a gateway in a transparent satellite deployment). For example, the TA applied by the UE may correspond to the RTT between the base station and the UE. Because the TA relates to a downlink frame at the UE, which is already a single trip delay relative to the same downlink frame at the base station, the TA applied by the UE can align the uplink receive timing implemented at the base station to enable communication with different UEs that may be located at various distances from the base station.

[0115]

[0134] In some cases, the UE may determine an open loop N-channel location based at least in part on the location of the UE and the satellite locations (e.g., the location of the NTN device). TA,UE固有 The UE may self-estimate the value, and the UE's position may be estimated based at least in part on a current or most recent GNSS position fix, which the UE may update every few seconds (e.g., at 10 second intervals). TA,UE固有The value may be a TA calculation that is not based on feedback, as opposed to a closed-loop calculation. Thus, during intervals between GNSS position fixes, the UE location that the UE uses to calculate the UE-specific TA may be inaccurate (e.g., when the UE is moving and not performing GNSS position fixes). In some aspects, the N TA,UE固有 The inaccuracy in the UE location used to calculate the value may be compensated for in the closed loop timing offset (e.g., the base station measures the uplink receive timing error and uses N 1 , which indicates the closed loop timing offset that the UE should use to calculate the overall TA to apply for uplink transmissions). TA As a result, the UE may receive a new open-loop N TA,UE固有 When calculating the value, the new T TA The value is calculated by multiplying the UE location by two, i.e., N TA Once in value, N TA,UE固有 The TA (e.g., T TA ) is the closed loop value (e.g., N TA ) and open loop values ​​(eg, NTA, UE specific), which may double correct for errors in the UE location.

[0116]

[0135] 8, graph 800 illustrates how updated GNSS position fixes can result in abrupt changes in uplink timing. For example, spikes 814 can occur relative to curve 812, each of which corresponds to an update to a GNSS fix (e.g., N TA,UE固有 Update to value) or N TA,共通 It may represent an update to a value.

[0117]

[0136] The sudden changes that occur when a UE acquires an updated GNSS position fix may lead to spikes or jumps in uplink receive timing errors at base stations in the NTN. In some aspects, the TA parameters (e.g., N TA,共通 This is a model that gives TA,共通 In some aspects, a sudden change to the TA parameter (e.g., via a GNSS position fix) and a change to the TA parameter may lead to a double correction problem. TA Applying such a doubly corrected value to generate TA may be harmful since the total TA itself may change too quickly (e.g., as fast as 50 μs / sec). In some aspects, the specification may support adjustments up to 0.895 μs / sec for FR1 or 0.407 μs / sec for FR2.

[0118]

[0137] A transmission timing error may occur in several scenarios, for example, for an uplink transmission that is sent when the UE is in a location different from its last known location and the UE has not completed a location update process with respect to the NTN node or device.

[0119]

[0138] FIG. 9A illustrates an idealized NTN network 900 having a UE configured to perform a position update (e.g., a GNSS fix update) for every uplink transmission to a network entity 932 via an NTN device. n From position 921 in n+1 To position 922 in T n+2 To position 923 in T n+N-1 To position 924 in T n+N To position 925 in T n+N+1 Similarly, the NTN device moves to position 926 in T n From position 911 in T n+1 To position 912 in T n+2 To position 913 in T n+N-1To position 914 in T n+N To position 915 in T n+N+1 In other words, n At , the UE at location 921 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 911. n+1 At , the UE at location 922 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 912. n+2 At , the UE at location 923 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 913. n+N-1 At , the UE at location 924 sends an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 914. n+N At , the UE at location 925 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 915. n+N+1 At , the UE at location 926 sends an uplink transmission to a network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 916.

[0120]

[0139] In an idealized NTN network 900, the UE performs a GNSS fix update for every uplink transmission, which allows the UE to receive an accurate N TA,UE固有 This allows the UE to perfectly calculate the value since it always knows its location relative to the NTN device. However, GNSS fix updates are a resource intensive process to complete, consuming time, power, and bandwidth that could be used more efficiently on other tasks.

[0121]

[0140] FIG. 9B illustrates a non-idealized NTN network 950 having a UE configured to perform a position update (e.g., a GNSS fix update) every N slots. Similar to the idealized NTN network 900 in FIG. 9A, the UE in the non-idealized NTN network 950 also performs a T n From position 921 in n+1 To position 922 in T n+2 To position 923 in T n+N-1 To position 924 in T n+N To position 925 in T n+N+1 Similarly, the NTN device moves to position 926 in T n From position 911 in T n+1 To position 912 in T n+2 To position 913 in T n+N-1 To position 914 in T n+N To position 915 in T n+N+1 Move to position 916 in T n At , the UE at location 921 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 911. n+1 At , the UE at location 922 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 912. n+2 At , the UE at location 923 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 913. n+N-1 At , the UE at location 924 sends an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 914. n+N At , the UE at location 925 transmits an uplink transmission to the network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 915. n+N+1 At , the UE at location 926 sends an uplink transmission to a network entity 932 via the NTN device at location 916.

[0122]

[0141] However, since the UE in the non-idealized NTN network 950 is configured to perform GNSS fix updates every N slots, the UE in the non-idealized NTN network 950 n Uplink transmission in and T n+N GNSS fix updates may be performed only for uplink transmissions in (e.g., immediately before) T n In, the UE receives the broadcasted ephemeris, N TA,共通 , and the epoch time, and the UE's position 921, may be configured to estimate a one-way propagation delay across the service link and the feeder link.

[0123]

[0142] UE is T n and T n+N Although the UE can accurately estimate the service link distance in T n+1 , T n+2 , T n+N-1 , and T n+N+1 For example, it is not possible to accurately estimate the service link distance in T n+1 , T n+2 , T n+N-1 , and T n+N+1 In the above, the estimated service link distance may be longer than the actual service link distance.

[0124]

[0143] A UE in a non-idealized NTN network 950 may be configured to use the last known GNSS fix location when estimating a service link between the UE and the NTN device. n+1 In , the UE may estimate its location as being at location 921 even though it is actually at location 922. Although the UE may accurately estimate the feeder link distance, the UE may inaccurately estimate the service link distance. This leads to a decrease in the UE's T TA value, more specifically, the UE's T TA The UE's N TA,UE固有The UE may determine its N based on the estimated service link distance and the estimated feeder link distance. TA,UE固有 It may be configured to determine the value of T n+2 , T n+N-1 , and T n+N+1 In, a UE in a non-idealized NTN network 950 may not have an accurate current location and may similarly estimate the service link distance using its last known location.

[0125]

[0144] T n+N In, the UE may perform a location update and then update the transmission timing error to its T TA value, and then based on its updated location at position 925, TA,UE固有 However, by that time, the network entity 932 may also have detected a transmission timing error and may update its own N TA The value of N may be updated based on the updated location of the UE at position 925. TA 8 may cause spikes similar to spike 814 in FIG. 8, which, if used, may cause transmission errors.

[0126]

[0145] Transmit timing errors may also occur for uplink transmissions sent when the UE no longer has a direct line of sight (LoS) to the NTN device and does not compensate for reflectors.

[0127]

[0146] FIG. 10A illustrates a static UE location network 1000 with a UE that does not move from a location 1021. The UE transmits uplink transmissions at T n , T n+1 , T n+2 , T n+N-1 , T n+N , and T n+N+1The NTN device transmits the signal to the network entity 1032 via the NTN device in T n From position 1011 in T n+1 To position 1012 in T n+2 To position 1013 in T n+N-1 To position 1014 in T n+N To position 1015 in T n+N+1 The UE moves to a position 1016 in T n , T n+1 , and T n+2 Although the UE has a direct LoS to the NTN device in n+N-1 , T n+N , and T n+N+1 Scattering 1042 is caused when the UE does not have a direct LoS to the NTN device at T n+N-1 , T n+N , and T n+N+1 This prevents the network from having a direct LoS to the NTN device in the

[0128]

[0147] The reflector 1044 is n+N-1 , T n+N , and T n+N+1 may reflect signals between the NTN device and the UE at

[0129]

[0148] FIG. 10B shows the T n+N-1 , T n+N , and T n+N+1 10 shows a static UE location network 1050 showing estimated service links between NTN devices and UEs in Tn+N-1 In, the UE may estimate its position to be at position 1021 without using a reflector for transmission, which may cause the UE to estimate the service link length at effective position 1024. Tn+N In, the UE may estimate its position to be at position 1021 without using a reflector for transmission, which may cause the UE to estimate the service link length at the effective position 1025. Tn+N+1In T, the UE may estimate its location to be at location 1021 without using a reflector for transmission, which may cause the UE to estimate the service link length at the effective location 1026. In other words, n+N-1 , T n+N , and T n+N+1 In, the LoS-based propagation delay estimation error can be equivalently modeled as a UE position estimation error, where T n+N-1 , T n+N , T n+N+1 In the above, the estimated service link distance may be shorter than the actual service link distance.

[0130]

[0149] Similar to a UE in a non-idealized NTN network 950, a UE in a static UE location network 1050 may accurately estimate the feeder link distance, but the UE may inaccurately estimate the service link distance. TA value, more specifically, the UE's T TA The UE's N TA,UE固有 The UE may determine its N based on the estimated service link distance and the estimated feeder link distance. TA,UE固有 The device may be configured to determine a value.

[0131]

[0150] The UE may detect that a transmission may be received from the NTN device via the reflector 1044, for example, by comparing a timestamp transmitted from the network entity 1032 with a timestamp received at the UE at the location 1021 and determining that the estimated service link is inaccurate. TA The reflector 1044 may be taken into account when correcting the value. However, by that time, the network entity 1032 may also have detected a transmission timing error and may adjust its N TA The UE may update its T TA Reflector 1044 is taken into account when correcting the value N TACalculating σ can cause spikes similar to spike 814 in FIG. 8, which can cause transmission errors.

[0132]

[0151] 11, a graph 1100 illustrates an abrupt adjustment to the offset based on a corrected transmit timing error. The graph 1100 shows an x-axis of slot index moving one slot at a time from N-2 to N+4, and a TA calculated based on a derived value, e.g., (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C T is calculated as TA The graph shows a y-axis of T C may represent a basic timing unit defined by the requirements or regulations of the terrestrial network or NTN. Line 1112 represents a TA calculated based on a previously known UE position, and line 1114 represents a TA calculated based on an updated UE position determined between slot N-1 and slot N. In other words, line 1112 represents a TA calculated based on the updated satellite positions in each of slots N-2 to N+4 and N. TA,共通 Line 1114 represents the UE position based TA applied to the uplink transmission prior to slot N using the updated satellite positions in each of slots N-2 to N+4 and N TA,共通 and TA based on the UE location updated before uplink transmission in slot N using the UE's updated TA and offset. The UE may be configured to rapidly adjust its TA for the offset based on its updated UE location.

[0133]

[0152] At N-1, the UE may calculate TA using line 1112 at point 1121, which results in a TA of TA_p. TA_p may represent a TA calculation based on a previously known position of the UE. Between N-1 and N, the UE may perform a position update and update its TA based on a newly derived value, e.g., a new position determined by a GNSS process. At N, the UE may calculate TA using line 1114 at point 1122 (i.e., using the UE position update that occurred after slot N-1 and before slot N), which gives a TA of TA_c. TA_c represents the TA calculation based on the most recently updated UE position and the satellite positions updated at N and N TA,共通 may represent a quantity of TA derived based on

[0134]

[0153] The total difference between TA at slot N-1 and TA at slot N is TA_c-TA_p. However, a new location update performed by the UE may not take into account the total difference between TA at slot N-1 and TA at slot N. TA_h indicates the intersection of line 1112 at slot N, which is the difference between the previously updated UE location and the updated satellite location at N and N. TA,共通 The difference between TA_h and TA_p is SP_off, which represents the amount of uplink transmission timing derived based on the satellite position update and the N TA,共通 The difference between TA_c and TA_h is AE_off, which takes into account the offset due to propagation path blocking or the accumulated error due to the old UE location. In other words, the new location update performed by the UE takes into account the AE_off portion of the total difference between TA at slot N-1 and TA at slot N. In another aspect, AE_off is the time-domain delay (TA) of the UE at slot N−1. TA,UE固有_前 From N TA,UE固有_新 may be considered as the difference between TA,UE固有_新 is calculated using the projected satellite positions at N and the updated UE position at N. TA,UE固有 and N TA,UE固有_前is calculated using the projected satellite position at N and the previous UE position at N-1. TA,UE固有 It is.

[0135]

[0154] At slot N, the UE may update its TA to TA_c using line 1114 at point 1122. After slot N, the UE may use line 1114 to provide TA updates at point 1123 at N+1, point 1124 at N+2, point 1125 at N+3, and point 1126 at N+4. However, by abruptly adjusting the TA based on an updated UE position determined just before slot N, the UE may create a spike, such as spike 814 in FIG. 8, if this abrupt UE adjustment results in a double correction problem.

[0136]

[0155] In FIG. 12, graph 1200 illustrates a gradual adjustment to the offset based on the corrected transmit timing error. Similar to graph 1100 in FIG. 11, graph 1200 illustrates a graph with an x-axis of slot index moving from N-2 to N+4 one slot at a time and a y-axis of TA calculated based on the derived values. Line 1212 represents the TA calculated based on a previously known UE position, and line 1214 represents the TA calculated based on an updated UE position determined between slot N-1 and slot N. However, instead of abruptly adjusting the TA for the UE based on the entire offset due to propagation path blocking or the accumulated error due to the old UE position (AE_off in FIG. 11), the UE may be configured to use only a portion of the offset due to propagation path blocking or the accumulated error due to the old UE position. In other words, the UE may be configured to use a ΔT# value that partially corrects the UE's offset over time, rather than all at once.

[0137]

[0156] Similar to graph 1100 in FIG. 11, at N-1 of graph 1200, the UE may calculate TA using line 1212 at point 1221, which results in a TA of TA_p. TA_p may represent a TA calculation based on a previously known location of the UE. Again, between N-1 and N, the UE may perform a location update and update its TA based on a newly derived value, e.g., a new location determined by a GNSS process. At N, the UE may calculate a TA_c value using line 1214 (i.e., using a UE location update made after slot N-1 and before slot N), but may only add a portion (ΔT1) of the difference between TA_c and TA_h (AE_off in FIG. 11) to TA_h to obtain a new point (e.g., point 1222) that provides a corrected TA value TA_d. In the ongoing slot, the UE may be configured to add another portion of the accumulated error due to the old UE location or an offset due to propagation path blocking.

[0138]

[0157] Thus, between N-1 and N, the UE may be configured to add only ΔT1 and SP_off to move from point 1221 to point 1222 between N and N+1, the UE may be configured to add only ΔT2 and SP_off to move from point 1221 to point 1223 between N+1 and N+2, the UE may be configured to add only ΔT3 and SP_off to move from point 1223 to point 1224 between N+2 and N+3, the UE may be configured to add only ΔT4 and SP_off to move from point 1224 to point 1225 between N+3 and N+4, and the UE may be configured to add only SP_off to move from point 1225 to point 1226, since the entire accumulated error due to offsets due to propagation path blocking or old UE position may have been accounted for in the last ΔT# value.

[0139]

[0158] By gradually adjusting the TA based on adding only a portion of the TA that is calculated based on an updated UE position determined just before slot N, the UE may avoid creating spikes, such as spike 814 in FIG. 8.

[0140]

[0159] Any suitable timing adjustment system for use with the NTN device may be adapted. For example, the timing adjustment system may be configured to trigger when the transmit timing error between the UE and the reference timing exceeds a threshold such as ±Te. Te may include a timing error threshold. The timing error threshold may be defined by a condition or rule of the terrestrial network or the NTN. In response to the transmit timing error meeting or exceeding the threshold (e.g., ±Te), the UE may be configured to adjust its timing to within ±Te to prevent the TA from changing too much. TA may be set to TA=(N TA +N TA,オフセット ) × Tc. TA can be based on TA = (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C The UE may be configured to calculate the TA such that the timing change between the reference TA and the corrected TA is within ±Te to prevent the TA from changing too much. The timing charge may be configured to have a total timing adjustment that meets one or more threshold requirements. The threshold requirements may use threshold requirement values ​​for Tq and Tp as shown in Table 2 below. The threshold requirement values ​​for Tq and Tp may be common to both the terrestrial network and the NTN.

[0141] [Table 2]

[0142]

[0160] T Cmay denote a basic timing unit defined by the conditions or rules of the terrestrial network or NTN. K may denote a value defined by the UE configuration. For example, a UE configured to support power class 6 may have a K value of 4.5, while a UE configured to support other power classes may have a K value of 2.5. The UE may be configured to ensure that the maximum amount of timing change magnitude is configured not to exceed the Tq threshold. If the difference (i.e., timing change) between the corrected TA and the reference TA exceeds the Tq threshold, the UE may be configured to set the new timing change to Tq. This will set the corrected TA to the reference TA ± Tq. The UE may be configured to add Tq if the corrected TA is greater than the reference TA, and to subtract Tq if the corrected TA is less than the reference TA.

[0143]

[0161] The UE may be configured to ensure that the minimum aggregate adjustment rate over a period of time meets or exceeds the Tp threshold every T1 seconds, where T1 may be any suitable value, such as 0.5, 1, or 2 seconds. For example, if T1 is 1 second, and if the aggregate of all timing changes in the previous second is below the Tp threshold, the UE may be configured to set a new timing change to be at least as large as Tp minus all previous timing changes in the previous second.

[0144]

[0162] The UE may be configured to ensure that the maximum aggregate adjustment rate over the second time period is configured to not exceed a Tq threshold every T2 milliseconds (ms), where T2 may be any suitable value, such as 100, 200, or 400 ms. For example, if T2 is 200 ms, and if the aggregate of all timing changes in the previous 200 ms when added to the estimated timing change exceeds the Tq threshold, the UE may be configured to set the new timing change to be, at most, the difference between Tq and the aggregate of all timing changes in the previous 200 ms.

[0145]

[0163] Although the above timing adjustment system may be used as a guideline for NTN devices, the average timing change for a UE using an NTN may be much larger than the average timing change for a UE communicating with a terrestrial network. For example, the average timing change for a UE using an NTN may be more than 50 times larger than the average timing change for a UE communicating with a terrestrial network. Most of the timing change for a UE using an NTN network is due to the propagation delay change caused by satellite position updates and the N TA,共通 and N, which is not easily affected by the transmission timing error. Most of the transmission timing error may be due to propagation path blocking or cumulative error due to the use of old UE position. In other words, for the graph 1100 in FIG. 1, most of the timing error between N-1 and N for the UE may be due to AE_off and not due to SP_off. Therefore, when measuring the transmission timing error of a UE using NTN, the NTN timing adjustment system may use the propagation delay adjustment by NTN node position update and network controlled common TA value (e.g., satellite position update and N TA,共通 (propagation delay changes due to NTN node location updates or network controlled common TA values) may not be considered, or may be removed or not included. This allows the NTN timing adjustment system to be configured to allow the UE to perform large NTN timing adjustments for propagation delay adjustments due to NTN node location updates or network controlled common TA values, and to perform incremental NTN timing adjustments for other transmit timing errors that may be susceptible to double correction scenarios.

[0146]

[0164] In FIG. 13, the connection flow diagram 1300 has a UE 1302 configured to send an uplink transmission to a network entity 1306 via an NTN device 1304 .

[0147]

[0165] The network entity 1306 may be configured to send one or more TA commands 1322 to the UE 1302 to adjust the timing of the uplink transmissions to compensate for the propagation delay. In response, the UE 1302 may then be configured to adjust the timing of its uplink transmissions to the network entity 1306, such as uplink transmission 1324 and uplink transmission 1328, using the TA to compensate for the propagation delay.

[0148]

[0166] At 1312, the UE 1302 may determine a reference TA. Such a reference TA may be, for example, (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C Based on T TA The reference TA may be based on a value (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C It can be. N TA,UE固有 may be calculated based on, for example, an estimated location of the NTN device 1304, an estimated location of the UE 1302, and / or an estimated environment of a beam between the UE 1302 and the NTN device 1304 without propagation path blocking. The UE 1302 may be configured to transmit an uplink transmission 1324 to the network entity 1306 via the NTN device 1304 using the calculated reference TA.

[0149]

[0167] At 1314, the network entity 1306 may be configured to calculate a network TA value. Such a value may be, for example, N TA , N TA,共通 , and / or N TA,オフセット For example, the network entity 1306 may detect an error in the UE 1302's calculation of the service link and may include N TA,共通 Or N TAAdd a delay to N TA,共通 Or N TA The network entity 1306 may then determine whether the UE is in a TA, e.g., T TA At least some of the network TA values ​​1326 may be transmitted to the UE 1302 for use in its own calculation of the values.

[0150]

[0168] At 1316, the UE 1302 may determine a corrected TA. For example, the UE 1302 may perform a GNSS fix update to determine its position, determine that the UE 1302 has moved from its last known position, and update its location with its new GNSS verified position. In another aspect, the UE 1302 may determine that a previous transmission, such as uplink transmission 1324, was blocked and transmitted through a reflector, and the updated service link length may be N TA,UE固有 should be used to calculate

[0151]

[0169] At 1318, the UE 1302 may determine whether the timing difference between the uplink transmission and the reference timing exceeds a threshold, such as ±Te_NTN. Te_NTN may be configured in any suitable manner, e.g., via RRC configuration or MAC CE, or may be specified by a standard specification. The reference timing may be a TA value (e.g., (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T CIn response to determining that the transmit timing error between the uplink transmission and the reference timing exceeds a threshold, the UE 1302 may be configured to adjust the TA to meet the threshold requirement. For example, if the UE 1302 is provided with Te_NTN, in response to determining that the timing change between the corrected TA and the reference TA exceeds ±Te_NTN, the UE 1302 may adjust its TA, e.g., its T TA can be configured to adjust the TA to be within ±Te_NTN. Both the corrected TA and the reference TA can be adjusted to be within ±Te_NTN. TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C Based on T TA The value can be:

[0152]

[0170] The UE 1302 may be configured to consider a subset of the timing changes to determine whether the timing changes meet one or more threshold requirements. For example, the UE 1302 may be configured to consider timing changes having a total timing adjustment apart from the propagation delay adjustment due to NTN node location updates and the network controlled common TA value. In one aspect, the corrected TA is calculated as follows: (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C Based on T TA When the value is calculated as N TA,UE固有 and N TA,共通 In some embodiments, the corrected TA may be configured not to take into account changes in the function of (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C Based on T TA If the sum is calculated as a value, the UE 1302 TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 ) due to satellite position updates. TA,UE固有 and the change in N between the previous transmission and the current transmission. TA,共通In some embodiments, the corrected TA may be configured not to take into account (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C Based on T TA When the UE 1302 is calculated as a value, (N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 ) due to satellite position updates. TA,UE固有 and the change in N between the previous transmission and the current transmission. TA,共通 In another aspect, the UE 1302 may be configured not to consider T C For the remaining (N TA +N TA,オフセット ), before multiplying by (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット ) to (N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 In another aspect, the UE 1302 may be further configured to subtract N TA,UE固有_前 From N TA,UE固有_新 where N TA,UE固有_新 is calculated using the projected satellite positions in the recent slots (e.g., at 1316) and the updated UE metrics in the recent slots. TA,UE固有 and N TA,UE固有_前 is calculated using the projected satellite positions in the recent slots and previous UE metrics in past slots (e.g., at 1312). TA,UE固有 In other words, for the graph 1100 in Figure 11, the UE 1302 may be configured to consider the timing change as an AE_off value calculated as the difference between TA_c and TA_h, rather than an AE_off+SP_off value calculated as the difference between TA_c and TA_p.

[0153]

[0171] The UE 1302 may be configured to ensure that the timing change considered, or a subset of the timing changes as discussed above, meets one or more threshold requirements common to the timing adjustment systems discussed above. For example, the UE 1302 may be configured to ensure that a maximum amount of timing change magnitude is configured not to exceed a Tq threshold. If the difference (i.e., timing change) between the corrected TA and the reference TA exceeds the Tq threshold, the UE may be configured to set the new timing change to Tq. The UE 1302 may be configured to determine the N due to satellite position updates. TA,UE固有 and the change in N between the previous transmission and the current transmission. TA,共通 The corrected T TA is the standard T TA The UE 1302 may be configured to add Tq if the corrected TA is greater than the reference TA, and to subtract Tq if the corrected TA is less than the reference TA.

[0154]

[0172] In one aspect, the UE 1302 may determine the (N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 When configured to ensure that the maximum amount of timing change between the two transmissions, except for changes in the Tq threshold, does not exceed the Tq threshold, the UE 1302 also determines the location of the UE 1302 and common TA parameters signaled by the network (e.g., N TA,共通 ) occurs between the two transmissions, the UE may be configured to consider excluding from considering the impact of such updates.

[0155]

[0173] The common TA parameter update occurs when the UE is in a future common TA (i.e., N TA,共通) may provide different models for calculating the new and old models. The new and old models may not be continuous when updating, which may cause spikes, such as spike 814 in FIG. 8. The configurations referenced above may be used to configure the UE 1302 to adjust for such spikes. This may be achieved as follows: by removing the variance that excludes the spikes → -(variance-spike)=-variance+spike.

[0156]

[0174] The UE 1302 may be configured to ensure that a minimum aggregate adjustment rate over a period of time meets or exceeds a Tp threshold every T1 seconds. TA,UE固有 and the change in N during the previous T1 seconds TA,共通 The UE may be configured to calculate the minimum aggregate adjustment rate without considering T. T may be any suitable value, such as 0.5, 1, or 2 seconds. For example, if T is 1 second, and if the aggregate of all timing changes in the previous second is below the T threshold, the UE may be configured to set the new timing change to be at least as large as T minus all previous timing changes in the previous second.

[0157]

[0175] The UE 1302 may be configured to ensure that a maximum aggregate adjustment rate over the second time period is configured not to exceed a T threshold every T ms. TA,UE固有 Changes in and N during the previous T2ms TA,共通 and t2 may be any suitable value, such as 100, 200, or 400. For example, if T2 is 200, and if the aggregate of all timing changes in the previous 200 ms when added to the estimated timing change exceeds the Tq threshold, the UE may be configured to set the new timing change to be, at most, the difference between Tq and the aggregate of all timing changes in the previous 200 ms.

[0158]

[0176] The UE 1302 may be configured to ensure that the considered timing change meets at least one of the threshold requirements. In one aspect, the UE 1302 may be configured to ensure that the considered timing change meets all of the threshold requirements. The UE 1302 may be configured to transmit an uplink transmission 1328 to the network entity 1306 via the NTN device 1304 using an updated corrected TA having a timing change that meets the threshold requirements. In some aspects, the UE 1302 may be configured to ensure that future transmission timing errors have timing changes that meet the same threshold requirements.

[0159]

[0177] 14 is a flow chart illustrating example operations 1400 for wireless communication. The operations may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 104, UE 350, UE 404, UE 505, UE 630, UE 1302, device 1504) or components in the UE. The method may improve timing adjustments in the UE for communication with an NTN and may help avoid overcorrection or double compensation by gradually adjusting timing while allowing timing adjustments based on known position changes of NTN nodes such as satellites.

[0160]

[0178] At 1402, the UE may receive one or more TA commands from the NTN. For example, the UE 1302 of FIG. 13 may receive one or more TA commands 1322 from the network entity 1306. For example, TA may include an accumulated timing advance value based on an accumulation of one or more timing advance commands from the NTN. In some aspects, 1402 may be implemented by the TA component 198 of FIG.

[0161]

[0179] At 1404, in response to a transmit timing error between the UE's transmit TA and the reference timing exceeding a threshold, the UE transmits an uplink transmission with a timing change having a total timing adjustment, apart from the propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and the network-controlled common TA value, that meets one or more threshold requirements. For example, the UE 1302 of FIG. 13 may determine a corrected TA at 1316 and a reference TA at 1312. The difference between the corrected TA at 1316 and the reference TA at 1312 may be considered as a transmit timing error. In response to the transmit timing error exceeding a threshold, the UE 1302 may ensure at 1318 that the timing change having a total timing adjustment, apart from the propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and the network-controlled common TA value, meets one or more threshold requirements. The UE 1302 may transmit an uplink transmission 1328 with a timing change to the network entity 1306 via the NTN device 1304 having a total timing adjustment that meets one or more of the threshold requirements.

[0162]

[0180] The one or more threshold requirements may include at least one of a maximum amount of magnitude of timing changes that does not exceed a first threshold, a minimum aggregate adjustment rate over a first time period that meets or exceeds a second threshold, or a maximum aggregate adjustment rate over a second time period that does not exceed a third threshold. One or more of the maximum amount of magnitude, minimum aggregate adjustment rate, or maximum aggregate adjustment rate each have a common threshold value with the thresholds for terrestrial network communications. For example, the threshold values ​​may be the same for the NTN and the terrestrial network.

[0163]

[0181] For example, timing changes without propagation delay adjustments due to NTN node location updates and without network controlled common timing advance values ​​may not exceed a maximum magnitude threshold. The maximum magnitude threshold may be, for example, T qAs another example, an aggregation of timing changes without propagation delay adjustments due to NTN node location updates and without a network controlled common timing advance value added to the set of historical timing changes over the first time period may meet or exceed a minimum aggregation threshold. The minimum aggregation threshold may be, for example, T p As another example, an aggregation of timing changes without a propagation delay adjustment due to NTN node location updates and without a network controlled common timing advance value added to a set of historical timing changes over a first time period may not exceed a maximum aggregation threshold. The maximum aggregation threshold may be, for example, T q It could be.

[0164]

[0182] As another example, the reference timing may be (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C It can be based on N TA may include an accumulated timing advance value based on an accumulation of one or more timing advance commands from the NTN. TA,UE固有 may include a self-estimated timing advance amount for the UE that pre-compensates for the service link delay. TA,共通 may contain a network controlled common timing advance value. TA,オフセット may include a fixed offset. C may include a fixed value defined by the network, such as a terrestrial network or NTN. TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 A timing change without N can be less than a maximum magnitude threshold. TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 An aggregate of timing changes that have not been summed may meet or exceed the minimum aggregate adjustment rate threshold. TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 The aggregate of timing changes that are not added together may not exceed the minimum aggregate adjustment rate threshold.

[0165]

[0183] FIG. 15 is a diagram 1500 illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 1504 and a network entity 1502. The apparatus 1504 may be a UE, may be a component of a UE, or may implement UE functionality. The network entity 1502 may be a BS, may be a component of a BS, or may implement BS functionality. The apparatus 1504 may communicate with a network via an NTN device 103 as described in connection with any of FIG. 1, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5A-5C. In some aspects, the apparatus 1504 may include a cellular baseband processor 1524 (also referred to as a modem) coupled to a cellular RF transceiver 1522. In some aspects, the device 1504 may further include one or more subscriber identity module (SIM) cards 1520, an application processor 1506 coupled to a secure digital (SD) card 1508 and a screen 1510, a Bluetooth module 1512, a wireless local area network (WLAN) module 1514, a global positioning system (GPS) module 1516, or a power source 1518. The cellular baseband processor 1524 communicates with the UE 104 and / or RUs associated with the network entity 1502 through a cellular RF transceiver 1522. The RUs are either part of the network entity 1502 or in communication with the network entity 1502. The network entity 1502 may include one or more of a CU, a DU, and a RU. The cellular baseband processor 1524 and the application processor 1506 may each include a computer-readable medium / memory. Each computer-readable medium / memory may be non-transitory. The cellular baseband processor 1524 and the application processor 1506 are each responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored in a computer-readable medium / memory.The software, when executed by the cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506, causes the cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506 to perform the various functions described above. The computer-readable medium / memory may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506 when executing the software. The cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506 may be a component of the UE 350 and may include the memory 360 and / or at least one of the Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and the controller / processor 359. In one configuration, the device 1504 may be a processor chip (modem and / or application) and may include only the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the application processor 1506, and in another configuration, the device 1504 may be an entire UE (e.g., see UE 350 of FIG. 3) and may include additional modules of the device 1504.

[0166]

[0184] As discussed above, component 198 is configured to receive one or more TA commands from the NTN. In response to a transmit timing error between the UE's transmit TA and a reference timing exceeding a threshold, component 198 may be configured to transmit an uplink transmission with a timing change having a total timing adjustment that meets one or more threshold requirements, apart from a propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and a network controlled common TA value. Component 198 may be within the cellular baseband processor 1524, the application processor 1506, or both the cellular baseband processor 1524 and the application processor 1506. Component 198 may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the described processes / algorithms, may be implemented by one or more processors configured to implement the described processes / algorithms, may be stored in a computer readable medium for implementation by one or more processors, or some combination thereof. As shown, the device 1504 may include various components configured for various functions. In one configuration, the device 1504, particularly the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the application processor 1506, includes means for receiving one or more TA commands from the NTN, and means for transmitting an uplink transmission with a timing change having a total timing adjustment that meets one or more threshold requirements, apart from the propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update, in response to a transmission timing error between the UE's transmission TA and a reference timing exceeding a threshold, apart from the network controlled common TA value, that meets one or more threshold requirements. The means may be a component 198 of the device 1504 configured to perform the recited functions by the means. As described above, the device 1504 may include the Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and the controller / processor 359. Thus, in one configuration, the means may be the Tx processor 368, the Rx processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 configured to perform the recited functions by the means.

[0167]

[0185] It should be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of the blocks in the disclosed process / flow diagrams is an example of an example approach. Based on design preferences, it should be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of the blocks in the process / flow diagrams can be rearranged. Further, some blocks can be combined or omitted. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various blocks in an example order, and are not meant to be limited to the particular order or hierarchy presented.

[0168]

[0186] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects set forth herein, but should be accorded the widest scope consistent with the language of the claims, and references to singular elements herein are intended to mean "one or more," rather than "one and only one," unless expressly so recited. Terms such as "if," "when," and "while" should be construed to mean "under the condition that," rather than implying an immediate temporal relationship or reaction. That is, these phrases, such as "when," do not imply immediate action in response to or during the occurrence of an action, but simply mean that an action will occur if a condition is met, but do not require a specific or immediate temporal constraint for the action to occur. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B, and / or C, and may include multiple As, multiple Bs, or multiple Cs.Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, and any such combination may include one or more elements of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or that later become known to those of skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be made public, regardless of whether such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims. Words such as "module," "mechanism," "element," "device," and the like may not be substitutes for the word "means." Therefore, no element of a claim should be construed as a means-plus-function unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for."

[0169]

[0187] The following aspects are exemplary only and can be combined with other aspects or teachings described herein without limitation.

[0170]

[0188] Aspect 1 is a method for wireless communications that includes receiving one or more TA commands from an NTN. The method may further include, in response to a transmission timing error between the UE and a reference timing exceeding a threshold, transmitting an uplink transmission with a timing change having a propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and a total timing adjustment apart from a network controlled common TA value that meets one or more threshold requirements.

[0171]

[0189] Aspect 2 is the method of aspect 1, wherein the one or more threshold requirements include at least one of: (1) a maximum amount of timing change magnitude configured not to exceed a first threshold; (2) a minimum aggregate adjustment rate over a first time period configured to meet or exceed a second threshold; or (3) a maximum aggregate adjustment rate over a second time period configured not to exceed a third threshold.

[0172]

[0190] Example 3 is the method of example 2, wherein one or more of the maximum amount of magnitude, the minimum aggregate adjustment rate, or the maximum aggregate adjustment rate may have a threshold requirement value common to the threshold for terrestrial network communications.

[0173]

[0191] In the fourth aspect, the reference timing is (N TA +N TA,UE固有 +N TA,共通 +N TA,オフセット )×T C The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 3 may be based on the following: TA may include an accumulated TA value based on an accumulation of one or more TA commands from the NTN. TA,UE固有 may include a self-estimated amount of TA for the UE that pre-compensates for the service link delay. TA,共通 may contain a network controlled common TA value. TA,オフセット may include a fixed offset. C may include a fixed value.

[0174]

[0192] Example 5 is any of the methods of Examples 1 to 4, which may be configured such that timing changes without propagation delay adjustments due to NTN node position updates and without network controlled common TA values ​​do not exceed a maximum magnitude threshold.

[0175]

[0193] Example 6 is the method of example 5, wherein the propagation delay adjustment further does not include the effect of any updates to the UE location or the network controlled common TA value when the UE location changes between the UE's transmit TA and the reference timing.

[0176]

[0194] Example 7 is the method of example 5, wherein the propagation delay adjustment further does not include the effect of any updates to the UE's location or the network-controlled common TA value when parameters of the network-controlled common TA value change between the UE's transmit TA and the reference timing.

[0177]

[0195] Example 8 is any of the methods of Examples 1-7, wherein an aggregation of timing changes that does not involve propagation delay adjustments due to NTN node position updates and that do not have a network controlled common TA value added to a set of historical timing changes over a first time period may be configured to meet or exceed a minimum aggregation adjustment rate threshold.

[0178]

[0196] Example 9 is any of the methods of Examples 1 to 8, which may be configured such that an aggregation of timing changes that do not involve propagation delay adjustments due to NTN node position updates and that do not have a network controlled common TA value added to a set of historical timing changes over a first time period does not exceed a maximum aggregation threshold.

[0179]

[0197] Aspect 10 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising a memory, instructions, and one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to perform any of the methods of aspects 1-9.

[0180]

[0198] In an embodiment 11, the apparatus of embodiment 10 further includes at least one of a transceiver or an antenna.

[0181]

[0199] Aspect 12 is an apparatus for wireless communication including means for implementing any of aspects 1 to 9.

[0182]

[0200] In an embodiment 13, the apparatus of embodiment 12 further includes at least one of a transceiver or an antenna.

[0183]

[0201] Aspect 14 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of aspects 1-9.

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication in a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving one or more timing advance (TA) commands from a non-terrestrial network (NTN); in response to a transmission timing error between the UE's transmit TA and a reference timing exceeding a threshold, transmitting an uplink transmission with timing changes corresponding to only a subset of: N TA comprising an accumulated TA value based on an accumulation of the one or more TA commands from the NTN; N TA,UE-specific comprising a self-estimated timing advance amount for the UE that pre-compensates for service link delay; N TA,common comprising a network-controlled common TA value; N TA,offset comprising a fixed offset; and T C comprising a fixed value, and having a total timing adjustment that meets one or more threshold requirements.

2. The one or more threshold requirements: a maximum amount of magnitude of the timing variation configured not to exceed a first threshold; a minimum aggregate throttle rate over the first time period configured to meet or exceed a second threshold; or The method of claim 1 , including at least one of a maximum aggregate adjustment rate over a second time period configured not to exceed a third threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein one or more of the maximum amount of magnitude, the minimum aggregate adjustment rate, or the maximum aggregate adjustment rate have a threshold requirement value common to a threshold for terrestrial network communications.

4. The reference timing is (N ＴＡ +N ＴＡ，ＵＥ固有 +N ＴＡ，共通 +N ＴＡ，オフセット ) x T Ｃ The method of claim 1 , based on 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the timing change not involving N TA,UE-specific + N TA,common is less than a maximum magnitude threshold.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein an aggregate of the timing changes without N TA,UE-specific + N TA,common added to the set of historical timing changes over a first time period meets or exceeds a minimum aggregate adjustment rate threshold.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein an aggregation of the timing changes without N TA,UE-specific + N TA,common added to the set of historical timing changes over a first time period does not exceed a maximum aggregation adjustment rate threshold.

8. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the timing change without the propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and without the network-controlled common TA value is configured not to exceed a maximum magnitude threshold.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the propagation delay adjustment further does not include the effect of any updates to the location of the UE or the network-controlled common TA value if the location of the UE changes between the transmit TA of the UE and the reference timing.

10. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the propagation delay adjustment further does not include the effect of any updates to the location of the UE or the network-controlled common TA value if these parameters change between the transmit TA of the UE and the reference timing.

11. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein an aggregation of the timing changes without the propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and without the network-controlled common TA value added to a set of historical timing changes over a first time period is configured to meet or exceed a minimum aggregate adjustment rate threshold.

12. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein an aggregation of the timing changes without the propagation delay adjustment due to the NTN node location update and without the network-controlled common TA value added to a set of historical timing changes over a first time period does not exceed a maximum aggregation threshold.

13. 1. An apparatus for wireless communication in a user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving one or more Timing Advance (TA) commands from a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN); and means for transmitting an uplink transmission with a timing change corresponding to only a subset of: N TA , including an accumulated TA value based on an accumulation of the one or more TA commands from the NTN; N TA,UE-specific, including a self-estimated timing advance amount for the UE that pre-compensates for service link delay; N TA,common, including a network-controlled common TA value; N TA,offset, including a fixed offset; and T C, including a fixed value, in response to a transmission timing error between the UE's transmit TA and a reference timing exceeding a threshold.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 2 to 12.

15. 13. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.

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