Method and apparatus for maintaining uplink time alignment

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for maintaining uplink time alignment, the method comprising a terminal device maintaining uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one or two TA timers, where one TA timer is associated with one TAG and the serving cell is associated with two TA timers.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of communications.

Background Art

[0002] In the prior art, a gNB (network device) provides a UE (terminal device) with a TA (Timing Advance) by means of the MAC (Media Access Control) payload of a RAR (Random Access Response) or MSGB (Message B). As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the provision of a TA to a UE by a RAR and shows the format of a MAC RAR. FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing the provision of a TA to a UE by the MAC payload of an MSGB. Among them, FIG. 2 shows the format of a fallbackRAR, and FIG. 3 shows the format of a successRAR.

[0003] In multi-TRP (Transmission and Receiving Point) operation, one serving cell schedules a UE from two TRPs, thereby providing better coverage, reliability and / or data rates for PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel).

[0004] There are two different operating modes for scheduling PDSCH transmissions in multi-TRPs: single DCI (Downlink Control Information) and multi-DCI. In these two modes, the settings provided by the RRC (Radio Resource Control) layer allow for control of uplink and downlink operations by the physical and MAC layers. In single-DCI mode, two TRPs schedule UEs using the same DCI, while in multi-DCI mode, each TRP schedules UEs using separate DCIs.

[0005] In inter-cell multi-TRP operations, for multi-DCI PDSCH transmissions, one or more TCI states (Transmission Configuration Indicators) can be associated with a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) of a PCI that is different from the serving cell's PCI (Physical Cell Identifier). Active TCI states can only be associated with a maximum of one PCI that is different from the serving cell's PCI, once.

[0006] Furthermore, MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) is one of the key technologies in NR (New Radio, New Air Interface) systems and has been successfully commercialized so far. Rel-15 / 16 / 17 defines the MIMO characteristics of FDD (Frequency Division Duplex / Duplexing) and TDD (Time Division Duplex / Duplexing) systems as research, with the main part being downlink MIMO operation.

[0007] On the other hand, beam-level mobility may occur within a single cell or between cells, the latter being called Inter-cell Beam Management (ICBM). In ICBM, a UE can receive or transmit dedicated channels / signals through a single TRP associated with a PCI different from that of a serving cell, but non-UE dedicated channels / signals can only be received through a single TRP associated with a serving cell's PCI.

[0008] Rel-18 (Release 18) confirms and defines the importance of the enhancements required for uplink MIMO, and states that additional uplink performance enhancements can be provided by facilitating the deployment of uplink multi-TRP through two Timing Advances (TAs). The goal is to study and define two TAs for uplink multi-DCI multi-TRP operations (where reasonable).

[0009] The above-mentioned introduction of background art is intended to clearly and completely explain the proposed technical aspects of the present invention and to make them easily understandable to those skilled in the art. These technical aspects, as described in the background art of the present invention, should not be construed as being well-known to those skilled in the art. [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0010] The inventors discovered the following: In the conventional mechanism, a TAG (Timing Advance Group)-based TA timer for uplink time alignment is maintained for each TAG. When the TA timer expires, the terminal action is applied to all serving cells belonging to the corresponding TAG.

[0011] For multi-DCI multi-TRP operations with two TAs, reusing the conventional mechanism, when one TA timer expires, even if the terminal has uplink time aligned on one TRP of that serving cell, UL (Up-Link) transmission on the serving cell is stopped and the uplink setting is released.

[0012] For example, as shown in Figure 4, TRP1 and TRP2 of a single serving cell belong to TAG1 and TAG2, respectively. According to the conventional mechanism, UL transmission for this serving cell stops when the TA timer associated with one of the TAGs (TAG1 or TAG2) expires. In the example shown in Figure 4, TRP2 belongs to a serving cell, but the present invention is not limited to this, and TRP2 may belong to and be associated with a non-serving cell (in the case of different cells). Also, as shown in Figure 4(b), in the case of CA (carrier aggregation), when the TA timer associated with the primary TAG expires, UL transmission for all serving cells stops and all uplink settings are released. This can reduce network throughput because it reduces uplink coverage.

[0013] In view of at least one of the above-mentioned problems or other similar problems, embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for maintaining uplink time alignment. [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a device for maintaining uplink time alignment is provided, which is installed in terminal equipment, and the device is The processing unit includes a processing unit which maintains the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one or two TA timers, where one of the TA timers is associated with one TAG and the serving cell is associated with two of the TA timers.

[0015] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, a device for maintaining uplink time alignment is provided, which is installed in terminal equipment, and the device is The processing unit includes a processing unit which maintains the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer, of which the TA timer is associated with the serving cell. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] The advantageous effects of the embodiments of the present invention are at least as follows: In the multi-DCI multi-TRP operation with two TAs, the embodiments of the present invention enable terminal equipment to maintain the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one or two TA timers, thereby allowing terminal equipment to continue UL transmission when the uplink is aligned on at least one TRP associated with the serving cell, thereby enhancing uplink coverage and improving user experience and network performance.

[0017] Furthermore, features described and / or shown in one embodiment may be used in the same or similar manner in one or more other embodiments, combined with or replacing features in other embodiments.

[0018] When used herein, terms such as “contains / have” refer to the presence of a feature, element, step, or assembly, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, steps, or assemblies. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0019] The elements and features described in one drawing or one embodiment of an example of the present invention can be combined with the elements and features shown in one or more other drawings or embodiments. Also, in the drawings, like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts in several drawings and are also used to indicate corresponding parts used in multiple embodiments.

[0020] The included drawings are used to provide a further understanding of examples of the present invention. These drawings form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention, and are used to explain the principles of the present invention together with the written description. Also, as is clear, the drawings described below are only for showing some examples of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative effort. [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing providing a TA to a UE by RAR. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing providing a TA to a UE by the MAC payload of MSGB. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing providing a TA to a UE by the MAC payload of MSGB. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing in-cell multi-TRP operation with two TAs. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of an application scenario of an example of the present invention. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing a scenario of an uplink timing alignment maintenance method in an example of the present invention. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing an uplink timing alignment maintenance method in an example of the present invention. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing another scenario of an uplink timing alignment maintenance method in an example of the present invention. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing another uplink timing alignment maintenance method in an example of the present invention. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an uplink timing alignment maintenance apparatus in an example of the present invention. [Figure 11] This figure shows another uplink time alignment maintenance device in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] This figure shows a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0021] The aforementioned and other features of the present invention will become clear by referring to the attached drawings and the following description. While the specification and drawings disclose specific embodiments of the present invention, these represent only a limited number of embodiments in which the principles of the present invention can be employed. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but rather includes all modifications, variations, and substitutions within the scope of the attached claims.

[0022] In embodiments of the present invention, the terms "communication network" or "wireless communication network" may refer to a network conforming to any communication standard such as NR (New Radio), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), HSPA (High-Speed ​​Packet Access), etc.

[0023] Furthermore, communication between devices in a communication system may be carried out according to any stage of communication protocol, and may include, but is not limited to, the following communication protocols: namely, 1G (generation), 2G, 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, 4G, 4.5G, 5G, New Radio (NR), and / or other conventional or future-developed communication protocols.

[0024] In embodiments of the present invention, the term "network device" refers, for example, to a device in a communication system that connects terminal devices to a communication network and provides services to said terminal devices. Network devices may include, but are not limited to, the following: nodes and / or donors in an IAB architecture, base stations (BS), access points (AP), transmission and reception points (TRP), broadcast transmitters, mobile management entities (MME), network gateways, servers, radio network controllers (RNC), base station controllers (BSC), etc.

[0025] Base stations may include, but are not limited to, Node B (NodeB or NB), Evolutionary Node B (eNodeB or eNB), 5G base stations (gNB), and may also include RRH (Remote Radio Head), RRU (Remote Radio Unit), relay, or low-power nodes (e.g., femto, pico). The term “base station” may also include some or all of these functions, and each base station can provide communication coverage to a specific geographic area. The term “cell” may refer to a base station and / or the area it covers, which depends on the context in which the term is used.

[0026] In embodiments of the present invention, the terms "User Equipment" (UE) or "Terminal Equipment" (TE) refer to, for example, a device that accesses a communication network via network equipment and receives services from the network. User equipment may be fixed or mobile, and may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), terminal, subscriber station (SS), access terminal (AT), station, etc.

[0027] User devices may include, but are not limited to, the following: cellular phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, mobile devices, machine-type communication devices, laptop computers, cordless phones, smartphones, smartwatches, digital cameras, etc.

[0028] Furthermore, in scenarios such as IoT (Internet of Things), user devices may also be monitoring or measuring equipment or devices, and may include, but are not limited to, the following: machine-type communication (MTC) terminals, in-vehicle communication terminals, D2D (device-to-device) terminals, M2M (machine-to-machine) terminals, etc.

[0029] Furthermore, the terms “network side” or “network equipment side” refer to the network side, or may be a base station, and may include one or more network devices as described above. The terms “user side” or “terminal side” or “terminal equipment side” refer to the user or terminal side, or may be a UE, and may include one or more terminal devices as described above. Unless otherwise specified, “equipment” here may refer to network equipment or terminal equipment.

[0030] In embodiments of the present invention, conventional traffic (business) or future traffic may occur between network devices and terminal devices. For example, these traffics include, but are not limited to, eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), mMTC (massive Machine Type Communication), and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication).

[0031] In the RRC connection state, the gNB is responsible for maintaining the TA and maintaining L1 synchronization. Serving cells that have the same TA applied to them and use the same timing reference cell are grouped into one TAG. Each TAG contains at least one serving cell to which an uplink is configured, and the mapping from serving cells to TAGs is configured by the RRC.

[0032] A TAG includes a Primary TAG (PTAG) and a Secondary TAG (STAG). A Primary TAG is a timing advance group that includes special cells (SpCell). For a Primary TAG, the UE uses the PCell (Primary Cell) as the timing reference cell, and, except for shared frequency channel access, may also use the SCell (Secondary Cell) as the timing reference cell in some cases. In a Secondary TAG, the UE may use any one active Secondary Cell in that Secondary TAG as the timing reference cell, but this will not be changed unless necessary.

[0033] TA updates are notified to the UE by the gNB via a MAC CE (MAC Control Element) instruction. This instruction restarts a timer dedicated to one TAG, which indicates L1 synchronization or asynchronous / out-of-sync. If this timer is running, it is considered L1 synchronization; otherwise, it is considered L1 asynchronous. In the case of asynchronous, uplink transmissions can only be sent by MSG1 (Message 1) / MSGA (Message A).

[0034] Furthermore, RRC maintains UL time alignment by setting the following parameters, namely, - timeAlignmentTimer(per TAG): Controls the time considered to be the upstream link time alignment of the serving cell belonging to the TAG to which the MAC entity is associated.

[0035] When a single TAC (Timing Advance Command) MAC CE is received, and the specified TAG is one N TA If maintained, the MAC entity can start or restart the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this specified TAG.

[0036] When a TAC is received in a RAR message of a serving cell belonging to one TAG, or in an MSGB (Message B) of a special cell, If the random access preamble is not selected by the MAC entity from among the conflict-based random access preambles, the MAC entity may start or restart the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG; otherwise, if the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG is not running, it will start the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG; if it considers the conflict resolution to have failed (not succeeded), or if it considers the conflict resolution requested by the SI (System Information) to have succeeded after sending HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat-reQuest) feedback for the MAC PDU containing the UE conflict resolution ID MAC CE, it will stop the timeAlignmentTimer for this TAG; otherwise, it will ignore this received TAC.

[0037] When an Absolute Timing Advance Command is received in response to a single MSGA (Message A) transmission containing a C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier) ​​MAC CE, the MAC entity can activate or restart the timeAlignmentTimer associated with the PTAG (Primary Timing Advance Group).

[0038] When one timeAlignmentTimer expires, When this timeAlignmentTimer is associated with a PTAG, the MAC entity refreshes all HARQ buffers for all serving cells; notifies the RRC to release PUCCH for all serving cells (if configured); notifies the RRC to release SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for all serving cells (if configured); clears all configured downlink allocations and configured uplink grants; clears all PUSCH resources for semi-persistent CSI (Channel State Information) reporting; considers all running timeAlignmentTimers to have expired; and clears all N TAGs TA Maintain, Otherwise, if this timeAlignmentTimer is associated with a single STAG, for all serving cells belonging to this TAG, the MAC entity will refresh all HARQ buffers; notify the RRC of the release of PUCCH (if configured); notify the RRC of the release of SRS (if configured); clear all configured downlink allocations and configured uplink grants; clear all PUSCH resources for semi-persistent CSI reporting; and maintain the NTA for this TAG.

[0039] Figure 5 shows an example of an application scenario for an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 5, the scenario relates to a multi-DCI multi-TRP operation with two TAs, where the TRP is part of a gNB that receives signals from and / or transmits signals to a terminal UE. Of these, the two TRPs may belong to the same cell or to different cells. When the two TRPs belong to the same cell, it is referred to as a multi-DCI based intra-cell multi-TRP operation with two TAs, and when the two TRPs belong to different cells, it is referred to as a multi-DCI based inter-cell multi-TRP operation with two TAs.

[0040] The following describes various embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings. These embodiments are merely illustrative and do not limit the present invention. In the following description, expressions such as "in the case of..." and "when..." have the same meaning and can be used interchangeably. Also, expressions such as "...is" may be replaced with "...includes..." or "...equivalent to...".

[0041] <Example of the first side view> An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for maintaining uplink time alignment, which will be described from the perspective of terminal equipment.

[0042] Figure 6 shows a scenario of an uplink time alignment maintenance method in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 6, in the non-CA scenario (Figure 6(a)), a serving cell is associated with two TRPs, each TRP is associated with one TAG, and each TAG is associated with one TA timer. In the CA scenario (Figure 6(b)), a serving cell includes a primary cell and at least one secondary cell (secondary cell 1), where the primary cell is associated with TRP1 and TRP2, secondary cell 1 is also associated with TRP1 and TRP2, TRP1 and TRP2 associated with the primary cell are associated with TAG1 and TAG2 respectively, TRP1 associated with the secondary cell is associated with TAG1, TRP2 associated with the secondary cell is associated with TAG3, and each TAG is associated with one TA timer.

[0043] Figure 7 shows a method for maintaining uplink time alignment in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 7, the method includes the following: 701: A terminal device maintains the uplink time alignment of a serving cell based on one or two TA timers, wherein one of the TA timers is associated with one TAG, and the serving cell is associated with two of the TA timers.

[0044] Figure 7 above is provided to illustrate an embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, several other operations (steps) can be appropriately added. Those skilled in the art can appropriately modify the above description without being limited to Figure 7.

[0045] As demonstrated in the above embodiment, in a multi-DCI multi-TRP operation with two TAs, terminal equipment can maintain uplink time alignment according to each TRP of the serving cell, rather than the serving cell itself, based on the state of the TA timer of each TAG. This allows terminal equipment to continue UL transmission when the uplink is aligned with at least one TRP associated with the serving cell, thereby enhancing uplink coverage and improving user experience and network performance.

[0046] In the embodiments described above, one TA timer being associated with one TAG may mean any of the following: one TA timer being associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relation or spatial relation group; one TA timer being associated with one CORESET (Control Resource Set) or CORESET Pool; one TA timer being associated with one DL RS (Downlink Reference Signal) or DL ​​RS group; one TA timer being associated with one PCI or one PCI group different from the PCI of the serving cell; or any combination thereof.

[0047] In some embodiments, maintaining the uplink time alignment of a serving cell means that the terminal equipment activates or restarts the TA timers corresponding to one or more TAGs when at least one of several conditions is met. These conditions include, but are not limited to, the following: The Timing Advance Instruction (TAC) MAC CE has been received; A RAR message has been received, and the RAR message includes the TAC of a special cell; The MSGB is being received, and the MSGB includes the TAC of a special cell; A response message for an MSGA transmission containing C-RNTI MAC CE has been received, and the response message contains an absolute TAC; and An RRC signaling signal is being received, and the RRC signaling indicates a TAG ID.

[0048] For example, when a terminal device receives a TAC MAC CE, it starts or restarts the corresponding TA timer, that is, it starts the TA timer corresponding to the TAG associated with the TAC MAC CE.

[0049] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives a TAC of a special cell in a RAR message, or receives a TAC of a special cell in an MSGB, it starts or restarts the corresponding TA timer, i.e., the TA timer indicated by the RAR message or MSGB. In some implementations, the above-mentioned RAR message may include the TAG ID of one or more TAGs, or may be associated with one or more TAGs, and the terminal device can start or restart the TA timer corresponding to the TAG based on this. Similarly, the above-mentioned MSGB may include the TAG ID of one or more TAGs, or may be associated with one or more TAGs, and the terminal device can start or restart the TA timer corresponding to the TAG based on this. Note that the above are merely examples, and the above-mentioned RAR message or MSGB may be associated with TAGs in other ways.

[0050] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives an absolute TAC in a response message of an MSGA transmission including a C-RNTI MAC CE, it activates or restarts the corresponding TA timer, i.e., the TA timer indicated by the response message. In some implementations, the above-mentioned response message may include the TAG ID of one or more TAGs, or may be associated with one or more TAGs, and the terminal device may activate the TA timer corresponding to the TAG based on this.

[0051] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives an RRC signaling indicating a TAG ID, it starts or restarts the corresponding TA timer for the TAG corresponding to that TAG ID.

[0052] In each of the embodiments described above, "associated with one TAG" may mean any of the following: associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relation or spatial relation group; associated with one CORESET or CORESET Pool; associated with one DL RS or DL ​​RS group; or associated with one PCI or PCI group different from the PCI of the serving cell. The meaning of "associated with multiple TAGs" is similar, and a detailed explanation is omitted here.

[0053] In some other embodiments, maintaining the uplink time alignment of a serving cell means that the terminal equipment stops the corresponding TA timer if at least one of several conditions is met. These conditions include, but are not limited to, the following: The conflict resolution is considered to have failed (unsuccessful); and After sending HARQ feedback including the terminal device conflict resolution ID MAC CE, the conflict resolution for the SI request will be considered successful.

[0054] For example, a terminal device may stop the corresponding TA timer when it deems a conflict resolution unsuccessful, or it may stop the corresponding TA timer when it deems a conflict resolution successful for an SI request after sending HARQ feedback containing the UE conflict resolution ID MAC CE. Note that these are merely examples, and the terminal device may stop the corresponding TA timer in other cases.

[0055] In some embodiments, when the serving cell is a special cell, the aforementioned TAG is a primary TAG, and there are two such primary TAGs. That is, one MAC entity has two TAGs, including a special cell, and both of these TAGs are primary TAGs.

[0056] In the above embodiment, the special cell may belong to the two primary TAGs described above.

[0057] In some embodiments, when a serving cell is a secondary cell, the secondary cell may belong to two TAGs.

[0058] In the above embodiment, both of these tags may be primary tags, or both may be secondary tags, or one of them may be a primary tag and the other a secondary tag.

[0059] In some embodiments, the maintenance of an uplink time alignment of a serving cell by a terminal device based on a single TA timer means that when the aforementioned TA timer expires, the terminal device performs at least one of several actions, which include, but are not limited to, the following: The uplink transmission associated with the aforementioned TA timer (e.g., all uplink transmissions) will not transmit / perform or will be stopped; The uplink transmission (e.g., all uplink transmissions) corresponding to the TAG associated with the TA timer mentioned above will not be performed or will be stopped; Clear the configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants associated with the TA timer mentioned above (for example, all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants); Clear the configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants (for example, all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants) corresponding to the TAG associated with the TA timer mentioned above; Clear the PUSCH resources (e.g., all PUSCH resources) for semi-persistent CSI reports associated with the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the PUSCH resources for semi-sustaining CSI reporting (e.g., all PUSCH resources); Flush the HARQ buffers (e.g., all HARQ buffers) corresponding to the TAG associated with the TA timer mentioned above; and The HARQ buffer associated with the aforementioned TA timer (e.g., all HARQ buffers) is flushed.

[0060] In the above example, "one TA timer has gone off" means that one of the two TA timers has gone off, but the other TA timer is still running.

[0061] In the embodiments described above, the uplink transmission is, for example, PUCCH, SRS, configured UL grant transmission, CSI reporting, etc., but the present invention is not limited to these.

[0062] Based on the above-described embodiment, for example, the relevant description in the standard may be modified as follows:

[0063] [Table 1] In some embodiments, the maintenance of the uplink time alignment of a serving cell by a terminal device based on two TA timers means that when the two TA timers associated with the secondary cell expire, the terminal device performs at least one of several actions, which include, but are not limited to, the following: Notify RRC of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell mentioned above; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants for the secondary cell mentioned above; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cells; and All HARQ buffers in the aforementioned secondary cell will be refreshed.

[0064] In the embodiments described above, the uplink setting is, for example, a PUCCH setting (if set) and, for example, an SRS setting (if set), and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0065] In the embodiments described above, at least one TA timer associated with a special cell or primary TAG is not deactivated or is running.

[0066] Based on the above-described embodiment, for example, the relevant description in the standard may be modified as follows:

[0067] [Table 2] The above description is merely illustrative, and for example, "TRP" may be replaced with other expressions; the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0068] In some other embodiments, the terminal device maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on two TA timers means that when all two TA timers associated with a special cell and / or primary TAG have expired, the terminal device performs at least one of several actions, which include, but are not limited to, the following: Notify RRC to release the uplink settings for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding semi-sustaining CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and Refresh all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

[0069] In the embodiments described above, the uplink setting is, for example, a PUCCH setting (if set) and, for example, an SRS setting (if set), and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0070] Based on the above-described embodiment, for example, the relevant description in the standard may be modified as follows:

[0071] [Table 3] The embodiments described above are for illustrative purposes to illustrate embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and appropriate modifications may be made based on the embodiments described above. For example, the embodiments described above may be used individually, or a combination of several of the embodiments described above may be used.

[0072] The method in the embodiment of the present invention, in the operation of a multi-DCI multi-TRP with two TAs, allows terminal equipment to maintain uplink time alignment according to each TRP of the serving cell, rather than the serving cell, based on the state of the TA timer of each TAG, thereby enabling terminal equipment to continue UL transmission when the uplink is aligned on at least one TRP associated with the serving cell, thereby enhancing uplink coverage and improving user experience and network performance.

[0073] <Example of the second aspect> An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for maintaining uplink time alignment, which will be described from the perspective of terminal equipment.

[0074] Figure 8 shows a scenario of an uplink time alignment maintenance method in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 8, in the non-CA scenario (Figure 8(a)), the serving cell is associated with two TRPs, each TRP is associated with one TAG, and these two TAGs are associated with the same TA timer, i.e., TA Timer 1. In the CA scenario (Figure 8(b)), the serving cell includes a primary cell and at least one secondary cell (secondary cell 1), the primary cell is associated with TRP1 and TRP2, TRP1 is associated with TAG1, TRP2 is associated with TAG2, and these two TAGs are associated with the same TA timer, i.e., TA Timer 1. Secondary cell 1 is also associated with TRP1 and TRP2, TRP1 is associated with TAG1, TRP2 is associated with TAG3, and these two TAGs are associated with the same TA timer, i.e., TA Timer 2.

[0075] Figure 9 shows a method for maintaining uplink time alignment in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 9, the method includes the following, namely: 901: A terminal device maintains the uplink time alignment of a serving cell based on the state of a TA timer, the TA timer being associated with the serving cell.

[0076] Figure 9 above is provided to illustrate an embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, several other operations (steps) can be appropriately added. Those skilled in the art can appropriately modify the above description without being limited to Figure 9.

[0077] As demonstrated in the above embodiment, in a multi-DCI multi-TRP operation with two TAs, terminal equipment maintains uplink time alignment according to each serving cell based on the state of the TA timers, and one TA timer is associated with two or more TAGs, thereby enabling terminal equipment to continue UL transmission when the uplink is aligned on at least one TRP associated with the serving cell, thereby enhancing uplink coverage and improving user experience and network performance.

[0078] In some embodiments, the TA timer described above is associated with two or more TAGs, for example, the TA timer is associated with two or more TCI states or TCI state groups or spatial relationships or spatial relationship groups, for example, the TA timer is associated with two or more CORESETs or CORESET Pools, for example, the TA timer is associated with two or more DL RSs or DL ​​RS groups, for example, the TA timer is associated with two or more PCIs or PCI groups that are different from the PCI of the serving cell.

[0079] In some embodiments, maintaining the uplink time alignment of a serving cell means that the terminal equipment activates or restarts the TA timer described above when at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these conditions include, but are not limited to, the following: The Timing Advance Instruction (TAC) MAC CE has been received; A RAR message has been received, and the RAR message includes the TAC of a special cell; The MSGB is being received, and the MSGB includes the TAC of a special cell; A response message for an MSGA transmission containing C-RNTI MAC CE has been received, and the response message contains an absolute TAC; and The system is receiving RRC signaling, and the RRC signaling indicates a TAG ID or serving cell information.

[0080] For example, the aforementioned TAC MAC CE includes a TAG ID, and when a terminal device receives the TAC MAC CE, it starts or restarts the TA timers associated with all serving cells included in the TAG corresponding to that TAG ID.

[0081] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives a TAC for a special cell in a RAR message, it starts or restarts the TA timer associated with that special cell.

[0082] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives a TAC for a special cell in MSGB, it activates or restarts the TA timer associated with that special cell.

[0083] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives an absolute TAC in a response message of an MSGA transmission that includes a C-RNTI MAC CE, it activates or restarts the TA timer associated with the serving cell, and the C-RNTI included in the MSGA transmission is the identifier (ID) of the terminal device in the serving cell.

[0084] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives an RRC signaling indicating a TAG ID or serving cell information, it starts or restarts the TA timers associated with all serving cells included in the TAG corresponding to the TAG ID; or starts or restarts the TA timer associated with the serving cell.

[0085] In some other embodiments, maintaining the uplink time alignment of a serving cell means that the terminal equipment stops the corresponding TA timer if at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these conditions include, but are not limited to, the following: The conflict resolution is considered to have failed (unsuccessful); and After sending HARQ feedback including the terminal device conflict resolution ID MAC CE, the conflict resolution for the SI request will be considered successful.

[0086] For example, a terminal device may stop the corresponding TA timer when it deems a conflict resolution unsuccessful, or it may stop the corresponding TA timer when it deems a conflict resolution successful for an SI request after sending HARQ feedback containing the UE conflict resolution ID MAC CE. Note that these are merely examples, and the terminal device may stop the corresponding TA timer in other cases.

[0087] In each of the embodiments described above, the relevant descriptions in the standard regarding the activation / restart / stopping of the TA timer by the terminal equipment may be modified as follows, for example.

[0088] [Table 4] In some embodiments, the statement that a terminal device maintains the uplink time alignment of a serving cell based on the state of a TA timer means that when the aforementioned TA timer is off and the serving cell is a special cell, the terminal device performs at least one of several actions, which include, but are not limited to, the following: Notify RRC to release the uplink configuration for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding semi-sustaining CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and Refresh all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

[0089] In the embodiments described above, the uplink setting may be, for example, a PUCCH setting (if set), or it may be, for example, an SRS setting (if set), and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0090] In some embodiments, the statement that a terminal device maintains the uplink time alignment of a serving cell based on the state of a TA timer means that when the TA timer is deactivated and the serving cell is a secondary cell, the terminal device performs at least one of several actions, which include, but are not limited to, the following: Notify RRC of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell; Clear all set downlink assignments and set uplink grants of the aforementioned secondary cell; Clear all PUSCH resources for the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cell; and All HARQ buffers in the aforementioned secondary cell will be refreshed.

[0091] In the embodiments described above, the uplink setting is, for example, a PUCCH setting (if set) and, for example, an SRS setting (if set), and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0092] In the above embodiment, the TA timer associated with the special cell is not deactivated or is running. Here, the special cell may be located in the same cell group as the secondary cell described above, or may belong to the same MAC entity.

[0093] Based on the embodiments described above, regarding the terminal actions when the TA timer expires, the relevant description in the standard may be changed as follows, for example.

[0094] [Table 5] The embodiments described above are for illustrative purposes to illustrate embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and appropriate modifications may be made based on the embodiments described above. For example, the embodiments described above may be used individually, or a combination of several of the embodiments described above may be used.

[0095] In the method described in the embodiment of the present invention, network equipment maintains uplink time alignment according to each serving cell based on the state of the TA timer, and one TA timer is associated with two or more TAGs, thereby resolving uplink time alignment issues, avoiding transmission interruptions, and improving network performance.

[0096] <Example of the third side> An embodiment of the present invention provides a device for maintaining uplink time alignment. The device may be, for example, a terminal device, or one or more parts or assemblies installed on the terminal device. Since the principle by which the device solves the problem is the same as the method in the embodiment of the first aspect, its specific implementation can be found by referring to the implementation of the method in the embodiment of the first aspect, and redundant explanations will be omitted here.

[0097] Figure 10 shows an uplink time alignment maintenance device in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10, the uplink time alignment maintenance device 1000 includes the following, namely: Processing unit 1001: Maintains the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one or two TA timers, wherein one of the TA timers is associated with one TAG and the serving cell is associated with two of the TA timers.

[0098] In some embodiments, “one TA timer is associated with one TAG” includes at least one of the following: One TA timer is associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relationship or spatial relationship group; One TA timer is associated with one CORESET or CORESET Pool; One TA timer is associated with one DL RS or one DL RS group; and One TA timer is associated with a PCI or PCI group different from the PCI of the serving cell.

[0099] In some embodiments, the processing unit 1001 maintaining the uplink time alignment of a serving cell includes the following: If at least one of several conditions is met, the TA timer corresponding to one or more TAGs is started or restarted, and these conditions include, namely, The terminal device has received a Timing Advance Instruction (TAC) MAC CE; The terminal device has received a RAR message, and the RAR message includes a TAC for a special cell; The terminal device receives MSGB, and the MSGB includes the TAC of a special cell; The terminal device has received a response message for MSGA transmission that includes C-RNTI MAC CE, and the response message includes absolute TAC; and The terminal device is receiving RRC signaling, and the RRC signaling is indicating a TAG ID.

[0100] In the embodiments described above, the RAR message described above may include the TAG ID of one or more of the above-described TAGs, or may be associated with one or more of the above-described TAGs.

[0101] In the embodiments described above, the MSGB may include the TAG ID of one or more of the above-described TAGs, or may be associated with one or more of the above-described TAGs.

[0102] In the embodiments described above, the response message may include the TAG ID of one or more of the above-described TAGs, or may be associated with one or more of the above-described TAGs.

[0103] In the embodiments described above, “associated with one TAG” includes at least one of the following: Associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relation or spatial relation group; Associated with one CORESET or CORESET Pool; Associated with one DL RS or DL ​​RS group; and It is associated with a PCI or PCI group different from the PCI of the serving cell.

[0104] In some embodiments, “maintaining the uplink time alignment of a single serving cell” includes, namely, The processing unit 1001 stops the corresponding TA timer if at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these conditions include: The terminal device considers the conflict resolution to have failed (not succeeded); and A conflict resolution for an SI request is considered successful after the terminal device sends HARQ feedback including the terminal device conflict resolution ID MAC CE.

[0105] In some embodiments, when the serving cell is a special cell, the above-mentioned TAG is the primary TAG, and there are two primary TAGs.

[0106] In the above embodiment, the special cell may belong to two primary tags.

[0107] In some embodiments, when the serving cell is a secondary cell, the secondary cell belongs to two TAGs.

[0108] In the above-described embodiment, both of the above-described TAGs are primary TAGs, or both of the above-described TAGs are secondary TAGs, or one of the above-described TAGs is a primary TAG and the other is a secondary TAG.

[0109] In some embodiments, the processing unit 1001 maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one TA timer includes, namely, When the aforementioned TA timer expires, the processing unit 1001 performs at least one of the following actions, namely, The uplink transmission associated with the aforementioned TA timer is not performed or is stopped; The uplink transmission corresponding to the TAG associated with the TA timer is not performed or is stopped; Clear the downlink assignment and uplink grant associated with the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the configured downlink assignment and configured uplink grant corresponding to the TAG associated with the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the PUSCH resources for semi-persistent CSI reporting associated with the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the PUSCH resources for semi-sustaining CSI reporting; The HARQ buffer corresponding to the TAG associated with the aforementioned TA timer is refreshed (flushed); and The HARQ buffer associated with the aforementioned TA timer is refreshed (flushed).

[0110] In the above embodiment, "one TA timer has gone off" includes the following: One of the two TA timers mentioned above has gone out, but the other TA timer is still running.

[0111] In some embodiments, the processing unit 1001 maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on two TA timers includes, namely, When the two TA timers associated with the secondary cell expire, the processing unit 1001 performs at least one of the following actions, namely: Notify RRC of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell mentioned above; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants for the secondary cell mentioned above; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cells; and Refresh all HARQ buffers in the secondary cells mentioned above.

[0112] In the embodiments described above, at least one TA timer associated with a special cell or primary TAG is not off or is running.

[0113] In some embodiments, the processing unit 1001 maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on two TA timers includes, namely, When all two TA timers associated with the special cell and / or primary TAG have expired, the processing unit 1001 performs at least one of the following actions, namely: Notify RRC to release the uplink settings for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding semi-sustaining CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and Refresh all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

[0114] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for maintaining uplink time alignment. The device may be, for example, a terminal device, or one or more components or assemblies installed on the terminal device. Since the principle by which the device solves the problem is the same as the method in the embodiment of the second aspect, a specific implementation can be found by referring to the implementation of the method in the embodiment of the second aspect, and redundant explanations will be omitted here.

[0115] Figure 11 shows another uplink time alignment maintenance device in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 11, the uplink time alignment maintenance device 1100 includes the following: Processing unit 1101: Maintains the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer, of which the TA timer is associated with the serving cell.

[0116] In some embodiments, the TA timer described above is associated with two or more TAGs.

[0117] In the embodiments described above, the association of the TA timer with two or more TAGs includes at least one of the following: The aforementioned TA timers are associated with two or more TCI states or TCI state groups or spatial relationships or spatial relationship groups; Two or more of the above-mentioned TA timers are associated with CORESET or CORESET Pool; Two or more of the aforementioned TA timers are associated with DL RS or DL ​​RS groups; and The aforementioned TA timer is associated with two or more PCIs or PCI groups that are different from the PCI of the serving cell.

[0118] In some embodiments, "maintaining the uplink time alignment of a single serving cell" includes, namely, The processing unit 1101 starts or restarts the TA timer when at least one of a plurality of conditions is satisfied, and these plurality of conditions include, namely, The terminal device has received a Timing Advance Instruction (TAC) MAC CE; The terminal device has received a RAR message, and the RAR message includes a TAC for a special cell; The terminal device is receiving MSGB, and the MSGB includes the TAC of a special cell; The terminal device has received a response message for an MSGA transmission that includes a C-RNTI MAC CE, and the response message includes an absolute TAC; and The terminal device is receiving RRC signaling, and the RRC signaling indicates a TAG ID or serving cell information.

[0119] For example, the TAC MAC CE includes a TAG ID, and when the terminal device receives the TAC MAC CE, the processing unit 1101 starts or restarts the TA timer associated with all serving cells that include the TAG corresponding to the TAG ID.

[0120] Furthermore, for example, when the terminal device receives the RAR message, the processing unit 1101 starts or restarts the TA timer associated with the special cell described above.

[0121] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives the MSGB, the processing unit 1101 starts or restarts the TA timer associated with the special cell described above.

[0122] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives a response message of an MSGA transmission including the aforementioned C-RNTI MAC CE, the processing unit 1101 starts or restarts the TA timer associated with the serving cell, and the C-RNTI included in the MSGA transmission is an identifier for the terminal device in the serving cell.

[0123] Furthermore, for example, when a terminal device receives the RRC signaling described above, the processing unit 1101 starts or restarts the TA timers associated with all serving cells included in the TAG corresponding to the TAG ID described above; or starts or restarts the TA timer associated with a serving cell.

[0124] In some embodiments, “maintaining the uplink time alignment of a single serving cell” includes, namely, The processing unit 1101 stops the corresponding TA timer if at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these conditions include, namely, The terminal device considers the conflict resolution to have failed (not succeeded); and A conflict resolution for an SI request is considered successful after the terminal device sends HARQ feedback including the terminal device conflict resolution ID MAC CE.

[0125] In some embodiments, the processing unit 1101 maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer includes, namely, When the aforementioned TA timer has expired and the serving cell is a special cell, the processing unit 1101 performs at least one of the following actions, namely, Notify RRC to release the uplink settings for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding semi-sustaining CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and Refresh all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

[0126] In some embodiments, the processing unit 1101 maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer includes, namely, When the aforementioned TA timer has expired and the serving cell is a secondary cell, the processing unit 1101 performs at least one of the following actions, namely, Notify RRC of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell; Clear all set downlink assignments and set uplink grants of the aforementioned secondary cell; Clear all PUSCH resources for the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cell; and All HARQ buffers in the aforementioned secondary cell will be refreshed.

[0127] In the above embodiment, the TA timer associated with the special cell is either not off or running.

[0128] Although only the components or modules of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these. The apparatus 1000 and 1100 in the embodiments of the present invention may further include other components or modules, and the specific details of these components or modules can be found in the relevant technologies.

[0129] Furthermore, for convenience, Figure 10 only shows the connection relationships or signal directions between each component or module, but various related technologies such as bus connections may be employed so that those skilled in the art can understand them. Moreover, each of the above-mentioned components or modules may be realized by hardware such as processors, memory devices, transmitters, and receivers, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to these.

[0130] The apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention enables terminal equipment to continue UL transmission when the uplink is aligned with at least one TRP associated with the serving cell, thereby enhancing uplink coverage and improving user experience and network performance.

[0131] <Example of the fourth side view> In embodiments of the present invention, a communication system is provided, which includes terminal equipment and network equipment, wherein the terminal equipment is configured to perform the methods described in the embodiments of the first or second aspect, and the network equipment is configured to perform network-side content corresponding to the methods described in the embodiments of the first or second aspect. The actions of the terminal equipment are described in detail in the embodiments of the first and second aspects, and are therefore combined here, and a detailed explanation is omitted. Furthermore, the actions of the network equipment can be found in reference to related technologies.

[0132] In embodiments of the present invention, a terminal device is further provided, which includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to realize the method described in the embodiment of the first or second aspect.

[0133] Figure 12 shows a terminal device in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 12, the terminal device 1200 may include a processor 1201 and a memory unit 1202. The memory unit 1202 stores data and programs and is connected to the processor 1201. Note that this figure is merely illustrative, and other types of structures may be used to supplement or replace this structure in order to realize telecommunications or other functions.

[0134] For example, the processor 1201 may be configured to execute a program to implement the method described in the first or second embodiment.

[0135] As shown in Figure 12, the terminal device 1200 may further include a communication module 1203, an input unit 1204, a display unit 1205, a power supply 1206, and the like. Since the functions of these components are the same as in the prior art, a detailed explanation is omitted here. Note that the terminal device 1200 does not need to include all the components shown in Figure 12, and the above-mentioned components are not necessarily required. Furthermore, the terminal device 1200 may also include components not shown in Figure 12, for which prior art can be referenced.

[0136] In embodiments of the present invention, a computer-readable program is further provided, wherein when the program is executed on a terminal device, the program causes the computer to execute the method described in the first or second embodiment on the terminal device.

[0137] In embodiments of the present invention, a storage medium storing a computer-readable program is further provided, wherein the computer-readable program causes a computer to execute the method described in the first or second embodiment on a terminal device.

[0138] Furthermore, the above-described apparatus and method may be implemented by software or hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software. The present invention also relates to a computer-readable program, such as the following, which, when executed by a logic component, causes the logic component to implement the above-described apparatus or component, or to the logic component to implement each of the above-described methods or steps. The logic component may be, for example, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), a microprocessor, or a processor used in a computer. The present invention also relates to a storage medium storing the above-described program, such as a hard disk, magnetic disk, optical hard disk, DVD, or flash memory.

[0139] Furthermore, one or more combinations of the functional blocks shown in the drawings and / or one or more combinations of functional blocks may be implemented as a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic component, discrete gate or transistor logic component, discrete hardware assembly or any other suitable combination for performing the functions described herein. Also, one or more combinations of the functional blocks shown in the drawings and / or one or more combinations of functional blocks may further be configured as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors connected to a DSP by communication or any other combination of configurations.

[0140] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and any modifications to the present invention that do not deviate from the spirit of the invention fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0141] Furthermore, the following additional information is disclosed regarding the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0142] (Note 1) A method for maintaining the uplink time alignment, the method being: This includes the terminal equipment maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one or two TA timers, In this configuration, one TA timer is associated with one TAG, and the serving cell is associated with two TA timers.

[0143] (Note 2) The method described in Appendix 1, Maintaining the uplink time alignment of the aforementioned serving cell includes, namely, The terminal device starts or restarts the TA timer corresponding to one or more TAGs when at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these several conditions include, namely, The Timing Advance Instruction (TAC) MAC CE has been received; A RAR message has been received, and the RAR message includes the TAC of a special cell; The system receives MSGB, and the MSGB includes the TAC of a special cell; A response message for an MSGA transmission containing C-RNTI MAC CE has been received, and the response message contains an absolute TAC; and A device that receives RRC signaling and whose RRC signaling indicates a TAG ID.

[0144] (Note 3) The method described in Appendix 2, The RAR message includes or is associated with one or more of the TAG IDs.

[0145] (Note 4) The method described in Appendix 2, The MSGB includes or is associated with one or more of the TAG IDs.

[0146] (Note 5) The method described in Appendix 2, The response message includes or is associated with one or more of the TAG IDs.

[0147] (Note 6) The method described in Appendix 1, The association of one TA timer with one TAG includes at least one of the following: One TA timer is associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relationship or spatial relationship group; One TA timer is associated with one CORESET or CORESET Pool; One TA timer is associated with one DL RS or one DL RS group; and A TA timer is associated with a PCI or PCI group different from the PCI of the serving cell.

[0148] (Note 7) A method described in any one of the items in Appendix 3-5, Being associated with one of the aforementioned TAGs includes at least one of the following: Associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relation or spatial relation group; Associated with one CORESET or CORESET Pool; Associated with one DL RS or DL ​​RS group; and One associated with a PCI or PCI group different from the PCI of the serving cell.

[0149] (Note 8) The method described in Appendix 1, Maintaining the uplink time alignment of the aforementioned serving cell includes, namely, The terminal device stops the corresponding TA timer when at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these conditions include, namely, The conflict resolution is considered to have failed (unsuccessful); and This means that after sending HARQ feedback including the terminal device conflict resolution ID MAC CE, the conflict resolution for the SI request is considered successful.

[0150] (Note 9) The method described in Appendix 1, When the serving cell is a special cell, the TAG is a primary TAG, and the number of primary TAGs is two.

[0151] (Note 10) The method described in Appendix 9, The aforementioned special cell belongs to one of two primary tags.

[0152] (Note 11) The method described in Appendix 1, When the serving cell is a secondary cell, the secondary cell belongs to two TAGs.

[0153] (Note 12) The method described in Appendix 11, The two aforementioned tags are both primary tags, or both aforementioned tags are secondary tags, or one of the two aforementioned tags is a primary tag and the other is a secondary tag.

[0154] (Note 13) The method described in Appendix 1, The terminal device maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one TA timer includes the following: When the aforementioned TA timer expires, the terminal device performs at least one of the following actions, namely, The uplink transmission associated with the aforementioned TA timer is not performed or is stopped; The uplink transmission corresponding to the TAG associated with the TA timer is not performed or is stopped; Clear the downlink assignment and uplink grant set in relation to the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the downlink assignment and uplink grant set for the TAG associated with the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the PUSCH resources for semi-persistent CSI reports associated with the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the PUSCH resources for semi-sustaining CSI reporting; The HARQ buffer corresponding to the TAG associated with the aforementioned TA timer is refreshed (flushed); and This function refreshes (flushes) the HARQ buffer associated with the aforementioned TA timer.

[0155] (Note 14) The method described in Appendix 13, The failure of the aforementioned TA timer includes the following: One of the two TA timers has expired, but the other TA timer is still running.

[0156] (Note 15) The method described in Appendix 1, The terminal device maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on two TA timers includes the following: When the two TA timers associated with the secondary cell expire, the terminal device performs at least one of the following actions, namely, Notify RRC of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell; Clear all set downlink assignments and set uplink grants of the aforementioned secondary cell; Clear all PUSCH resources for the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cell; and This completely overhauls all HARQ buffers in the aforementioned secondary cell.

[0157] (Note 16) The method described in Appendix 15, At least one TA timer associated with a special cell or primary TAG is not off or is running.

[0158] (Note 17) The method described in Appendix 1, The terminal device maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on two TA timers includes the following: When both TA timers associated with a special cell and / or primary TAG have expired, the terminal device performs at least one of the following actions, namely: Notify RRC to release the uplink settings for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding semi-sustaining CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and This will refresh all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

[0159] (Note 18) A method for maintaining the uplink time alignment, the method being: This includes the terminal equipment maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer, In one of these, the TA timer is associated with the serving cell.

[0160] (Note 19) The method described in Appendix 18, The aforementioned TA timer is associated with two or more TAGs.

[0161] (Note 20) The method described in Appendix 19, The association of the TA timer with two or more TAGs includes at least one of the following: The TA timer is associated with two or more TCI states or TCI state groups or spatial relationships or spatial relationship groups; The aforementioned TA timers are associated with two or more CORESET or CORESET Pools; The aforementioned TA timers are associated with two or more DL RS or DL ​​RS groups; and The TA timer is associated with two or more PCIs or PCI groups that are different from the PCI of the serving cell.

[0162] (Note 21) A method described in any one of the appendices 18-20, Maintaining the uplink time alignment of the aforementioned serving cell includes, namely, The terminal device starts or restarts the TA timer when at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these several conditions include, namely, The Timing Advance Instruction (TAC) MAC CE has been received; A RAR message has been received, and the RAR message includes the TAC of a special cell; The system receives MSGB, and the MSGB includes the TAC of a special cell; A response message for an MSGA transmission containing C-RNTI MAC CE has been received, and the response message contains an absolute TAC; and A device that receives RRC signaling, and in which the RRC signaling indicates a TAG ID or serving cell information.

[0163] (Note 21a) The method described in Appendix 21, The TAC MAC CE includes a TAG ID, and when the terminal device receives the TAC MAC CE, it starts or restarts the TA timers associated with all serving cells included in the TAG corresponding to the TAG ID.

[0164] (Note 21b) The method described in Appendix 21, The terminal device, upon receiving the RAR message, activates or restarts the TA timer associated with the special cell.

[0165] (Note 21c) The method described in Appendix 21, The terminal device activates or restarts the TA timer associated with the special cell when it receives the MSGB.

[0166] (Note 21d) The method described in Appendix 21, The terminal device activates or restarts the TA timer associated with the serving cell when it receives a response message of the MSGA transmission including the C-RNTI MAC CE, and the C-RNTI included in the MSGA transmission is an identifier for the terminal device in the serving cell.

[0167] (Note 21e) The method described in Appendix 21, The terminal device, upon receiving the RRC signaling, activates or restarts the TA timers associated with all serving cells included in the TAG corresponding to the TAG ID; or activates or restarts the TA timer associated with the serving cell.

[0168] (Note 22) A method described in any one of the appendices 18-20, Maintaining the uplink time alignment of the aforementioned serving cell includes, namely, The terminal device stops the corresponding TA timer when at least one of several conditions is satisfied, and these conditions include, namely, The conflict resolution is considered to have failed (unsuccessful); and This means that after sending HARQ feedback including the terminal device conflict resolution ID MAC CE, the conflict resolution for the SI request is considered successful.

[0169] (Note 23) A method described in any one of the appendices 18-22, The terminal device maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer includes the following: When the TA timer has expired and the serving cell is a special cell, the terminal device performs at least one of the following actions, namely, Notify RRC to release the uplink settings for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding semi-sustaining CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and This will refresh all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

[0170] (Note 24) A method described in any one of the appendices 18-23, The terminal device maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer includes the following: When the TA timer is off and the serving cell is a secondary cell, the terminal device performs at least one of the following actions, namely, Notify RRC of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell; Clear all set downlink assignments and set uplink grants of the aforementioned secondary cell; Clear all PUSCH resources for the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cell; and This completely overhauls all HARQ buffers in the aforementioned secondary cell.

[0171] (Note 25) The method described in Appendix 24, The TA timer associated with the special cell is either not expired or is running.

[0172] (Note 26) Terminal device, Including memory and processing units, The aforementioned memory device stores computer programs, The processor is configured to execute the computer program and implement the method described in any one of the appendices 1 to 25.

[0173] (Note 27) It is a communication system, Including terminal equipment and network equipment, The aforementioned terminal device is configured to perform the method described in any one of the appendices 1 to 25.

Claims

1. A device for maintaining uplink time alignment, which is installed in terminal equipment, and the device is It includes a processing unit which maintains the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one or two timing advance (TA) timers. An apparatus in which one of the TA timers is associated with one timing advance group (TAG), and the serving cell is associated with two of the TA timers.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, Maintaining the upstream link time alignment of a single serving cell by the processing unit includes the following: The processing unit starts or restarts a TA timer corresponding to one or more TAGs when at least one of a plurality of conditions is satisfied, and these plurality of conditions include, namely, The Timing Advance Instruction (TAC) Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) has been received; A Random Access Response (RAR) message has been received, and the RAR message includes the TAC of a special cell; Message B (MSGB) has been received, and the MSGB includes the TAC of a special cell; A response message for a message A (MSGA) transmission containing a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE has been received, and the response message contains an absolute TAC; and A device that receives a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and in which the RRC signaling indicates a TAG marker (ID).

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, The RAR message includes one or more TAG IDs of the TAGs, or is associated with one or more TAGs, in the device.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, The device wherein the MSGB includes one or more TAG IDs of the TAGs, or is associated with one or more of the TAGs.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, The device wherein the response message includes one or more TAG IDs of the TAGs, or is associated with one or more of the TAGs.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, The association of one TA timer with one TAG includes at least one of the following: One TA timer is associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relationship or spatial relationship group; One TA timer is associated with one control resource set (CORESET) or control resource set pool (CORESET Pool); One TA timer is associated with one downlink reference signal (DLRS) or one DLRS group; and A device in which one TA timer is associated with one PCI or one PCI group that is different from the serving cell physical cell identifier (PCI).

7. The apparatus according to claim 3, Being associated with one of the aforementioned TAGs includes at least one of the following: Associated with one TCI state or TCI state group or spatial relationship or spatial relationship group; Associated with one CORESET or CORESET Pool; Associated with one DL RS or DL ​​RS group; and A device associated with a PCI or PCI group different from the PCI of the serving cell.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, An apparatus in which, when the serving cell is a special cell, the TAG is a primary TAG, and the number of primary TAGs is two.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, The processing unit maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one TA timer includes the following: When the aforementioned TA timer expires, the processing unit performs at least one of the following actions, namely, The uplink transmission associated with the TA timer is not performed or is stopped; The uplink transmission corresponding to the TAG associated with the TA timer is not performed or is stopped; Clear the downlink assignment and uplink grant associated with the aforementioned TA timer; Clear the downlink assignment and uplink grant set for the TAG associated with the TA timer; Clear the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources reported by the semi-persistent channel status information (CSI) associated with the TA timer; Clear the PUCH resources for semi-sustaining CSI reporting; The hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) buffer corresponding to the TAG associated with the TA timer is refreshed; and A device for refreshing (flushing) the HARQ buffer associated with the aforementioned TA timer.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, The failure of the aforementioned TA timer includes the following: A device in which one of the two TA timers is turned off, and the other of the two TA timers is running.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, The processing unit maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on two TA timers includes the following: When the two TA timers associated with the secondary cell expire, the processing unit performs at least one of the following actions, namely, The RRC is notified of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell; Clear all set downlink assignments and set uplink grants of the aforementioned secondary cell; Clear all PUSCH resources for the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cell; and A device for replacing all HARQ buffers in the aforementioned secondary cell.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, An apparatus in which at least one TA timer associated with a special cell or primary TAG is not off or is running.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, The processing unit maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on two TA timers includes the following: When both TA timers associated with a special cell and / or primary TAG expire, the processing unit performs at least one of the following actions: Notify the RRC to release the uplink settings for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUCH resources regarding semi-sustainable CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and A device that replaces all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

14. A device for maintaining uplink time alignment, which is installed in terminal equipment, and the device is It includes a processing unit which maintains the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer. A device in which the TA timer is associated with the serving cell.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, The TA timer is associated with two or more TAGs in the device.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, The association of the TA timer with two or more TAGs includes at least one of the following: The TA timer is associated with two or more TCI states or TCI state groups or spatial relationships or spatial relationship groups; The aforementioned TA timers are associated with two or more CORESET or CORESET Pools; The TA timers are associated with two or more DL RS or DL ​​RS groups; and A device in which the TA timer is associated with two or more PCIs or PCI groups different from the PCI of the serving cell.

17. The apparatus according to claim 14, The processing unit maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer includes the following: When the TA timer is off and the serving cell is a special cell, the processing unit performs at least one of the following actions, namely, Notify the RRC to release the uplink settings for all serving cells; Clear all configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; Clear all PUCH resources regarding semi-sustainable CSI reporting; All TA timers during running are considered to have expired; and A device that replaces all HARQ buffers in all serving cells.

18. The apparatus according to claim 14, The processing unit maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on the state of one TA timer includes the following: When the TA timer is off and the serving cell is a secondary cell, the processing unit performs at least one of the following actions, namely, The RRC is notified of the release of the uplink setting for the secondary cell; Clear all set downlink assignments and set uplink grants of the aforementioned secondary cell; Clear all PUSCH resources regarding the semi-sustained CSI reporting of the aforementioned secondary cell; and A device for replacing all HARQ buffers in the aforementioned secondary cell.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, A device in which the TA timer associated with a special cell is not off or is running.

20. Terminal device, Including memory and processing units, The aforementioned memory device stores computer programs, The processor is configured to execute the computer program to achieve the following, namely, Maintaining the uplink time alignment of one serving cell based on one or two TA timers, wherein one of the TA timers is associated with one TAG and the serving cell is associated with two of the TA timers; or A device that maintains the uplink time alignment of a serving cell based on the state of a single TA timer, wherein the TA timer is associated with the serving cell.

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