Cell switching triggered using L1-L2

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a technique for performing cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2 in a wireless communication system. One or more transmit configuration indicator (TCI) states may be activated before the switch. One or more TCIs may be applied after the switch. Zero or more TCIs may be deactivated or activated. An indication of completion of the cell switch may be transmitted.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to systems, apparatuses, and methods for communicating using layer 1 and / or layer 2 triggered cell switching in a wireless communication system.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is increasing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly high-performance. Currently, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices, or UE) not only support telephone calls, but also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of running high-performance applications that utilize these functions. In addition, there exist many different wireless communication technologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH™, and the like.

[0003] The ever-increasing features and functionalities introduced into wireless communication devices also create a continuous need to improve both wireless communication and wireless communication devices. In particular, it is crucial to ensure the accuracy of transmitted and received signals via user equipment (UE) devices, such as cellular phones, base stations, and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications. In addition, increasing the functionality of UE devices can place a significant burden on their battery life. Therefore, it is also very important to reduce the power requirements of UE device designs while ensuring that UE devices maintain good transmit and receive capabilities to improve communication. Thus, improvements in this area are desirable. [Overview of the project]

[0004] This specification presents embodiments of devices, systems, and methods for communications using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2 in wireless communication systems.

[0005] According to one embodiment, the method may include receiving a list of candidate secondary cells from a cellular network, and performing at least one measurement of one or more candidate secondary cells in the list of candidate secondary cells, wherein the at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) measurement or a Layer 2 (L2) measurement. The method may further include reporting the at least one measurement of one or more candidate secondary cells to the cellular network. The method may further include receiving a first indication from the cellular network of at least one activated transmit configuration indication (TCI) state for at least one candidate secondary cell in the list of candidate secondary cells. After receiving the first indication, the method may further include receiving a cell switching command (CSC) signal from the cellular network to switch from the previous secondary cell to a selected secondary cell in the list of candidate secondary cells. The method may further include applying a selected TCI state to the selected secondary cell, wherein the selected TCI state is among at least one activated TCI state.

[0006] A set of embodiments may include a method comprising: performing at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells in a cellular network, wherein at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) or Layer 2 (L2) measurement; and reporting at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells to the cellular network. The method may further include receiving a first indication from the cellular network of a plurality of activated transmit configuration indication (TCI) states for at least one candidate cell. Having received the first indication, the method may further include receiving a cell switch command (CSC) signal from the cellular network, which includes a second indication of a selected TCI state from the plurality of activated TCI states for use after cell switch. After cell switch, the method may further include applying the selected TCI state to the first candidate cell indicated by the CSC signal; and deactivating at least one other activated TCI state from the plurality of activated TCI states.

[0007] A set of embodiments may include a method comprising: performing at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells in a cellular network, wherein at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) or Layer 2 (L2) measurement; and reporting at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells to the cellular network. The method may further include receiving a first indication from the cellular network of a plurality of activated transmit configuration indication (TCI) states for at least one candidate cell. Having received the first indication, the method may further include receiving a cell switch command (CSC) signal from the cellular network, which includes an indication of a selected TCI state from a plurality of activated TCI states for use following a cell switch. After a cell switch, the method may further include selecting a first uplink resource for sending a message indicating that the cell switch operation is complete; and sending the message to the cellular network on the first uplink resource.

[0008] It should be noted that the technologies described herein may be implemented in and / or used in a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, cellular phones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicle controllers, automobiles and / or powered vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0009] This summary of the invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described herein. Therefore, it should be understood that the features described above are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] A better understanding of this subject can be obtained when the following detailed descriptions of various embodiments are considered together with the following drawings.

[0011] [Figure 1] This figure shows an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to several embodiments.

[0012] [Figure 2] An exemplary base station communicating with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device is shown according to several embodiments.

[0013] [Figure 3] An exemplary block diagram of a UE according to several embodiments is shown.

[0014] [Figure 4] This is an exemplary block diagram of a base station according to several embodiments.

[0015] [Figure 5] This is a communication flow diagram illustrating exemplary methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments.

[0016] [Figure 6] The following are exemplary embodiments of various possible methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments. [Figure 7] The following are exemplary embodiments of various possible methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments. [Figure 8] The following are exemplary embodiments of various possible methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments. [Figure 9] The following are exemplary embodiments of various possible methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments. [Figure 10] The following are exemplary embodiments of various possible methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments. [Figure 11] The following are exemplary embodiments of various possible methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments. [Figure 12] The following are exemplary embodiments of various possible methods for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2, according to several embodiments.

[0017] The features described in the present specification are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, and specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather, it is to be understood that the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Acronyms Various acronyms are used generally in the present disclosure. The definitions of the most prominently used acronyms that may appear generally in the present disclosure are as follows. ·UE: User Equipment ·RF: Radio Frequency ·BS: Base Station ·GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications ·UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ·LTE: Long Term Evolution ·NR: New Radio ·TX: Transmit / Transmission ·RX: Receive / Reception ·RAT: Radio Access Technology ·PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel ·TRP: Transmission Reception Point ·TCI: Transmission Configuration Indicator ·QCL: Quasi-Co-Location ·DCI: Downlink Control Information ·CSI: Channel State Information ·CQI: Channel Quality Indicator Terms The following is a description of terms that may appear in the present disclosure.

[0019] Memory medium – any of the various types of non-temporary memory devices or storage devices. The term “storage medium” is intended to include, for example, installation media such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM; non-volatile memory such as flash, hard drives, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements. The storage medium may also include other types of non-temporary memory, or a combination thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located on a first computer system on which a program is executed, or on a second different computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide the first computer system with program instructions to be executed. The term “storage medium” may include two or more storage mediums that may exist in different locations, for example, on different computer systems connected via a network. The storage medium may store program instructions (embodied, for example, as computer programs) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0020] Carrier medium - memory media as described above, as well as physical transmission media such as buses and networks, and / or other physical transmission media that transmit signals such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals, or digital signals.

[0021] Computer system (or computer) – any of the various types of computing or processing systems, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network equipment, internet appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. Generally, the term “computer system” may be broadly defined to include any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0022] User equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of the various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone®, Android®-based phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad®, Samsung Galaxy®), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS®, PlayStation Portable®, Gameboy Advance®, iPhone®), wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and / or powered vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), and unmanned aerial controllers (UACs). In general, the terms "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily carried by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0023] A wireless device is any of the various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communication. A wireless device may be portable (or mobile) or fixed or stationary in a location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0024] A communication device is any of the various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, which may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile) or fixed or permanently installed in a specific location. A wireless device is an example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0025] Base station (BS) - The term "base station" has all of its ordinary meanings and includes at least a radio communication station that is installed in a fixed location and used for communication as part of a radiotelephone system or a radio system.

[0026] Processing element (or processor) refers to various elements or combinations of elements that can perform functions within a device, for example, within a user equipment device or within a cellular network device. Processing elements may include, for example, processors and associated memory, parts or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), programmable hardware elements such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the various combinations of the above.

[0027] The term "Wi-Fi" encompasses the full scope of its ordinary meaning, including at least wireless communication networks or RATs that are serviced by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provide connectivity to the Internet through these access points. Modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi." Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0028] Automatically – This refers to the execution of user input by a computer system (e.g., software run by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuit mechanisms, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.) without the user directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Therefore, the term “automatically” is in contrast to actions performed or specified manually by the user, where the user provides input and directly executes the action. An automated procedure may be initiated by user-provided input, but the subsequent actions performed “automatically” are not specified by the user; that is, each action performed is not “manually” specified by the user. For example, when a user fills out an electronic form by providing input that selects each field and specifies the information (e.g., by typing information, selecting checkboxes, selecting radio selections, etc.), the computer system must update the form in response to the user action, but this is considered manually filling out the form. The form may also be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software run by the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills it out without user input specifying the answers to the fields. As described above, users can invoke form autofill but do not participate in the actual form completion (for example, the user does not manually specify answers in the fields; rather, the answers are completed automatically). This specification provides various examples of actions that are performed automatically in response to actions taken by the user.

[0029] "Configured to" - Various components can be described as "configured to" perform a task. In such contexts, "configured to" is a broad description that generally means "having a structure" that performs a task or a set of tasks during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing that task (for example, a set of conductors may be configured to electrically connect two modules to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" may be a broad description of a structure that generally means "having a circuit" that performs a task or a set of tasks during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Generally, the circuit that forms a structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuits.

[0030] For convenience, various components may be described in this specification as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to perform.” Descriptions of components configured to perform one or more tasks are expressly intended to be exempt from the interpretation of those components under 112, paragraph 6 of the U.S. Patent Act. Figures 1 and 2 - Exemplary Communication System

[0031] Figure 1 shows an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system that can implement aspects of the present disclosure according to several embodiments. Note that the system in Figure 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and embodiments can be implemented in various systems as desired.

[0032] As illustrated, an exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user devices 106A, 106B, etc. ~ 106N via a transmission medium. In this specification, each user device may be referred to as a “user equipment” (UE) or UE device. Thus, user device 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0033] Base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware and / or software that enables wireless communication with UEs 106A to 106N. When base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to instead as "eNodeB" or "eNB". When base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may be referred to instead as "gNodeB" or "gNB". Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (e.g., among various possibilities, the core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet). Thus, base station 102 can facilitate communication between user devices and / or communication between user devices and network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also, as used herein, from the perspective of the UE, the base station may be considered to represent the network as far as the UE's uplink and downlink communications are concerned. Therefore, a UE that communicates with one or more base stations in the network may be interpreted as a UE that communicates with the network.

[0034] The base station 102 and user devices may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using various radio access technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunications standards such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), and Wi-Fi.

[0035] Therefore, other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards as base station 102 may be provided as one or more networks of cells, capable of providing continuous or nearly continuous overlapping services over a geographical area to UE 106 and similar devices via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0036] It should be noted that UE106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP cellular communication standard or the 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, UE106 may be configured to perform techniques for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2 in a wireless communication system, for example, according to the various methods described herein. UE106 may also be configured to communicate using WLAN, BLUETOOTH®, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including three or more wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0037] Figure 2 shows an exemplary user device 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with a base station 102 according to several embodiments. UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, handheld device, wearable device, computer or tablet, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), unmanned aerial vehicle controller (UAC), or substantially any type of wireless device. UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. By executing such stored instructions, UE 106 can perform any of the embodiments of the method described herein. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an integrated circuit, and / or any of the embodiments of the method described herein, or any part of any of the embodiments of the method described herein (e.g., individually or in combination). UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of the following: CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0038] UE106 may include one or more antennas for communication using one or more radio communication protocols conforming to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, UE106 may share one or more parts of the receive chain and / or transmit chain among multiple radio communication standards. A shared radio may include a single antenna or multiple antennas (e.g., multiple input multiple power, i.e., "MIMO") to perform radio communication. Generally, the radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuits (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuits (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the above hardware. For example, UE106 may share one or more parts of the receive and / or transmit chain among multiple radio communication technologies such as the technologies described above.

[0039] In some embodiments, UE106 may include any number of antennas and may be configured to transmit and / or receive directional radio signals (e.g., beams) using the antennas. Similarly, BS102 may include any number of antennas and may be configured to transmit and / or receive directional radio signals (e.g., beams) using the antennas. To receive and / or transmit such directional signals, the antennas of UE106 and / or BS102 may be configured to apply different “weights” to different antennas. The process of applying these different weights may be referred to as “precoding”.

[0040] In some embodiments, UE106 may include a separate transmit and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each radio communication protocol that UE106 is configured to use for communication. Further possibilities include UE106 including one or more radios shared among multiple radio communication protocols and one or more radios used exclusively by a single radio communication protocol. For example, UE106 may include a shared radio for communication using LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR or LTE or GSM) and separate radios for communication using Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH®, respectively. Other configurations are also possible.

[0041] In some embodiments, UE 106 may include multiple subscriber identification modules (SIMs, sometimes called SIM cards). In other words, UE 106 may be a multi-SIM (MUSIM) device, such as a dual-SIM device. Any of the various SIMs may be a physical SIM (e.g., a SIM card) or an embedded (e.g., virtual) SIM. Any combination of physical and / or virtual SIMs may be included. Each SIM can provide various services to the user (e.g., packet-switched services and / or circuit-switched services). In some embodiments, UE 106 may share a common receive (Rx) and / or transmit (Tx) chain for multiple SIMs (e.g., UE 106 may have a dual-SIM dual-standby architecture). Other architectures are also possible. For example, UE 106 may have a dual-SIM dual-active architecture, which may include separate Tx and / or Rx chains for various SIMs, and may include more than two SIMs, and so on.

[0042] Different identification information (e.g., different SIMs) may have different identifiers, such as different UE identification information (UE IDs). For example, International Mobile Subscriber Identification Information (IMSI) may be the identification information associated with a SIM (e.g., in a MUSIM device, each SIM may have its own IMSI). IMSIs may be unique. Similarly, each SIM may have its own unique International Mobile Equipment Identification Information (IMEI). Therefore, IMSI and / or IMEI are examples of possible UE IDs, but other identifiers may be used as UE IDs.

[0043] Different identifiers may have the same or different relationships to various public land mobile networks (PLMNs). For example, a first identifier may have a first home PLMN, while a second identifier may have a different home PLMN. In such a case, one identifier may be camped on a home network (e.g., on a cell provided by BS 102), while another identifier may be roaming (e.g., camped on the same cell provided by BS 102, or on a different cell provided by the same or a different BS 102). In other situations, multiple identifiers may be home simultaneously (e.g., on the same or different cells of the same or different networks), or roaming simultaneously (e.g., on the same or different cells of the same or different networks). As can be understood, numerous combinations are possible. For example, two SIM subscriptions on a MUSIM device may belong to the same equivalent / carrier (e.g., AT&T / AT&T or CMCC / CMCC). As another possible example, SIM-A could roam on SIM-B's network (a SIM-A CMCC user would roam on AT&T, and SIM-B would also be on AT&T). Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0044] Figure 3 shows a block diagram of an exemplary UE106 according to several embodiments. As shown, the UE106 may include a system-on-chip (SOC) 300, which may include parts for various purposes. For example, as shown in the figure, the SOC 300 may include one or more processors 302 that can execute program instructions for the UE106, and a display circuit 304 that can perform graphics processing and supply display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a sensor circuit 370 which may include components for sensing or measuring any of the various possible characteristics or parameters of the UE106. For example, the sensor circuit 370 may include a motion sensing circuit configured to detect the movement of the UE106 using, for example, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or various other motion sensing components. Alternatively, the sensor circuit 370 may include, for example, one or more temperature sensing components for measuring the temperature of one or more antenna panels and / or other components of the UE106. Any of the various other possible types of sensor circuits may be included additionally or alternatively in the UE106 as desired. The processor(s) 302 may be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which receives addresses from the processor(s) 302 and translates those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310), and / or the processor(s) 302 may be configured to be coupled to other circuits or devices such as a display circuit 304, a radio 330, a connector I / F 320, and / or a display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor(s) 302.

[0045] As shown in the figure, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (including, for example, NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (for coupling to, for example, computer systems, docks, charging stations, etc.), a display 360, and a wireless communication circuit 330 (for, for example, LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH®, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include or be coupled to at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and optionally multiple antennas (e.g., illustrated by antennas 335a and 335b), for performing wireless communication with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown as examples, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, one or more of these antennas are collectively referred to as antenna 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use antenna 335 and radio circuit 330 to perform wireless communication. The communication circuit may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration. As described above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards.

[0046] UE106 may include hardware and software components that implement a method for performing a technique for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2 in a wireless communication system, as further described herein. The processor(s) 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to perform part or all of the method described herein by executing program instructions stored in a memory medium (e.g., a non-temporary computer-readable memory medium), for example. In other embodiments, the processor(s) 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Furthermore, the processor(s) 302 may be coupled to and / or interoperable with other components, as shown in Figure 3, to perform a technique for communication using cell switching triggered using Layer 1 and / or Layer 2 in a wireless communication system, according to the various embodiments disclosed herein. Processor(s) 302 may also run various other applications and / or end-user applications that operate on UE106.

[0047] In some embodiments, the radio 330 may include separate controllers dedicated to communication control for various respective RAT standards. For example, as shown in Figure 3, the radio 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and a Bluetooth® controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as separate integrated circuits (abbreviated as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (more specifically with the processor(s) 302). For example, the Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or the Bluetooth® controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments may have fewer or more similar controllers for various RATs that may be implemented in the UE device 106.

[0048] Furthermore, embodiments are conceivable in which the controller can perform functions related to multiple wireless access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, the cellular controller 354 may include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more Wi-Fi-related activities, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection and / or generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communication. Figure 4 - Exemplary base station block diagram

[0049] Figure 4 shows a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to several embodiments. Note that the base station in Figure 4 is only one example of a possible base station. As shown in the figure, the base station 102 may include one or more processors 404 capable of executing program instructions for the base station 102. The processors 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processors 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450) or other circuits or devices.

[0050] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to connect to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network to multiple devices, such as UE devices 106, as described in Figures 1 and 2 above. The network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also, or alternatively, be configured to connect to a cellular network, for example, the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may connect to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (for example, to other UE devices serviced by a cellular service provider).

[0051] In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next-generation base station, for example, a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or a "gNB". In such embodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or an NR core (NRC) network. In addition, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transmit and receive points (TRPs). In addition, UEs capable of operating in accordance with 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs in one or more gNBs.

[0052] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and, if possible, more antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as a radio transceiver and may be further configured by the radio 430 to communicate with the UE device 106. The antenna(s) 434 communicate with the radio 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio 430 may be designed to communicate via a variety of radio communication standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, 5G NR SAT, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, and Wi-Fi.

[0053] Base station 102 may be configured to communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, one possibility is that base station 102 may include an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE, and a 5G NR radio for performing communication according to 5G NR. In such a case, base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. Another possibility is that base station 102 may include a multimode radio, which can perform communication according to any of several wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, 5G NR SAT and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0054] As further described below in this specification, BS102 may include hardware and software components for realizing or supporting implementations thereof of the features described herein. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to perform and / or support some or all of the methods described herein by executing program instructions stored in a memory medium (e.g., a non-temporary computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a combination thereof. In the case of a given RAT, for example Wi-Fi, the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or local area network(s), and may include, for example, at least one Ethernet port, and the radio 430 may be designed to communicate in accordance with the Wi-Fi standard.

[0055] In addition, as described herein, the processor(s) 404 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, the processor(s) 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor(s) 404. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the processor(s) 404.

[0056] Furthermore, as described herein, the radio 430 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, the radio 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the radio 430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the radio 430. Reference signal and measurement

[0057] Wireless devices, such as user equipment, may be configured to perform a variety of tasks, including the use of reference signals (RS) provided by one or more cellular base stations. For example, initial access and beam measurement by a wireless device may be performed at least in part on synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) provided by one or more cells, provided by one or more cellular base stations within the wireless device's communication range. Another type of reference signal commonly provided in cellular communication systems may include channel status information (CSI) RS. Various types of CSI-RS may be provided for tracking (e.g., time and frequency offset tracking), beam management (e.g., with iterations configured to help determine one or more beams to be used for uplink and / or downlink communication), and / or channel measurement (e.g., CSI-RS configured in a resource set to measure the quality of a downlink channel and report information related to this quality measurement to the base station). For example, in the case of a CSI-RS for CSI acquisition, the UE may periodically perform channel measurements and periodically transmit channel status information (CSI) to the BS. The base station can then receive and use this channel status information to determine how to adjust various parameters during communication with the wireless device. In particular, the BS can use the received channel status information to adjust the encoding of the downlink transmission to improve downlink channel quality.

[0058] In many cellular communication systems, base stations can periodically transmit some or all such reference signals (or pilot signals), such as SSB and / or CSI-RS. In some cases, aperiodic reference signals (e.g., for aperiodic CSI reporting) may be provided, either as well or as an alternative.

[0059] As a detailed example, in the 3GPP NR cellular communication standard, according to at least some embodiments, channel status information fed back from the UE based on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition (e.g., transmitted via PUCCH or other signaling / channels) may include one or more of the following: channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), SSBRI (SS / PBCH resource block indicator), and layer indicator (LI).

[0060] Channel quality information may be provided to base stations for link adaptation, for example, to provide guidance on which modulation and coding scheme (MCS) the base station should use when transmitting data. For example, if the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be high, the UE may send an uplink control signal to the base station that includes an indication of a high CQI value, thereby allowing the base station to transmit data using a relatively high modulation order and / or a low channel coding rate. As another example, if the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be low, the UE may send an uplink control signal to the base station that includes an indication of a low CQI value, thereby allowing the base station to transmit data using a relatively low modulation order and / or a high channel coding rate.

[0061] PMI feedback may include preferred precoding matrix information that can be provided to the base station to indicate which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should use. In other words, the UE can measure the quality of the downlink MIMO channel between the base station and the UE based on the received pilot signal on the channel and, through PMI feedback, recommend which MIMO precoding is desirable for the base station to apply. In some cellular systems, the PMI configuration is represented in matrix form that provides linear MIMO precoding. The base station and the UE may share a codebook consisting of multiple precoding matrices, and each MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook may have a unique index. Thus, as part of the channel state information fed back by the UE, the PMI may include an index (or possibly multiple indices) corresponding to the most preferred MIMO precoding matrix(s) in the codebook. This allows the UE to minimize the amount of feedback information. Thus, according to at least some embodiments, the PMI can indicate which precoding matrix from the codebook should be used for transmission to the UE.

[0062] Rank indicator information (RI feedback) can indicate, for example, the number of transmission layers that a base station and UE have determined can be supported by a channel, when the UE has multiple antennas that enable multi-layer transmission via spatial multiplexing. Collectively, RI and PMI can enable the base station to know, for example, which precoding needs to be applied to which layer, depending on the number of transmission layers.

[0063] In some cellular systems, the PMI codebook is defined according to the number of transmit layers. In other words, for R-layer transmits, N Nt × R matrices may be defined (for example, R represents the number of layers, Nt represents the number of transmitter antenna ports, and N represents the size of the codebook). In such a scenario, the number of transmit layers (R) can be fitted to the rank value of the precoding matrix (Nt × R matrix), and therefore, in this context, R can be called the "rank indicator (RI)".

[0064] Therefore, channel status information may include an assigned rank (e.g., a rank indicator, or RI). For example, a MIMO-enabled UE communicating with a BS may include four receiver chains, and for example, four antennas. The BS may also include four or more antennas to enable MIMO communication (e.g., 4x4 MIMO). Thus, the UE may be able to receive up to four (or more) signals (e.g., layers) from the BS simultaneously. Layers may be applied to antenna mapping, for example, each layer may be mapped to any number of antenna ports (e.g., antennas). Each antenna port can transmit and / or receive information associated with one or more layers. The rank may include multiple bits and may indicate the number of signals that the BS can transmit to the UE in the next time period (e.g., during the next transmission time interval or TTI). For example, an indication of rank 4 may indicate that the BS will transmit four signals to the UE. One possibility is that the RI is 2 bits long (e.g., 2 bits are sufficient to distinguish four different rank values). It should be noted that, according to various embodiments, other numbers and / or configurations of antennas (for example, in either or both of the UE or BS), and / or other numbers of data layers are also possible. Cell switching triggered using Figure 5-L1 / L2

[0065] Transmissions to and from UEs and cells may be indicated according to Transmit Configuration Indication (TCI) states. For example, TCI states may correspond to uplink and / or downlink beams. A UE may be configured to use one or more TCI states simultaneously.

[0066] The “joint” TCI state may refer to using the same TCI state for both uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) communication between the UE and the cell. In joint TCI mode, one indicated TCI state can be applied in both directions. Alternatively, in separate TCI modes, the UL TCI state and the DL TCI state can be indicated separately for the same cell.

[0067] Several (e.g., new) mobile services are emerging that benefit from (or in some cases require) low latency and high reliability performance (e.g., ultra-high reliability low latency communication (URLLC)). While the 5G standard is designed from the outset to address these services, the evolution of 5G nu-radio (NR) may strive to enhance mobility robustness performance for these challenging scenarios. For example, at the RAN 94-e plenary meeting, one work item, "NR Mobility Enhancements," was approved for the following objectives: Layer 1 (L1) enhancements for inter-cell beam management, including L1 measurement and reporting, and beam indication. Furthermore, at the RAN2#123 meeting in May, in order to support mobility (LTM) operations triggered using carrier aggregation (CA)-based L1 and Layer 2 (L2) in a single cell group (CG) in Rel-18, the following was agreed: 1) LTM supports the following CA scenarios, namely, LTM changing a primary cell (PCell) without changing a secondary cell (SCell) (or similarly, LTM changing a primary cell group (PCG) without changing a secondary cell group (SCG)); and 2) LTM changing a SCell or SCG without the involvement or modification of a PCell / PCG. LTM may refer to changes between cells and / or cell groups based on L1 and / or L2 measurements.

[0068] It should be understood that LTM may include modifying any combination of primary cells and / or secondary cells and / or cell groups. For example, one may modify PCell / PCG without modifying SCell / SCG, or modify SCell / SCG without modifying PCell / PCG. Both primary cells (or groups) and secondary cells (or groups) may be modified together.

[0069] Furthermore, RAN1 agrees that, in order to reduce latency, the TCI state activation of a candidate cell may be received before the beam indication of the candidate cell is received. In addition, the UE may receive an indication in the cell switching command (CSC) signal that activates a single joint TCI state or a pair of UL / DL TCI states.

[0070] However, in order to enable CA-based LTM operation, it may be desirable to address the following issues: 1) how to indicate the TCI state for SCells in the candidate cell list; 2) how to handle activated TCI states other than the indicated TCI state for candidate cells after receiving a cell switching command; and 3) what resources / occasions should be used for the UE in a Random Access Channel (RACH)-less LTM to send a UL message to the target cell and / or distributed unit (DU) to inform the UE that this UE is coming and that a UL grant should be given to the UE as either a configuration grant (CG) or a dynamic grant (DG). Therefore, it may be beneficial to specify a technique for LTM to address these issues. The method in Figure 5 may be useful in LTM related to CA scenarios, among various possibilities.

[0071] Embodiments of the method shown in Figure 5 are illustrated in various figures herein and may be executed by a wireless device, or more generally, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the figures above, in other devices as desired, such as one or more cells, cellular base stations, and / or transmit / receive points (TRPs), such as UE106 and BS102, as described with respect to those figures. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to execute any combination of the method elements shown in the figures and / or other method elements.

[0072] While at least some elements of the method in Figure 5 are described in relation to the use of communication techniques and / or features associated with 3GPP standards and / or NR standards documents, such descriptions are not intended to limit the disclosure, and it should be noted that embodiments of the method in Figure 5 may be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. In various embodiments, some of the elements of the method shown in the figure may be performed simultaneously, in an order different from that shown in the figure, replaced by other method elements, or omitted. Additional method elements may be implemented as desired. As illustrated, the method in Figure 5 may operate as follows:

[0073] According to some embodiments, the UE may establish a radio link with a cellular network (502). According to some embodiments, the radio link may include a cellular link by 5G NR. For example, the UE may establish a session with an AMF entity of the cellular network via one or more base stations (e.g., TRP and / or gNB, etc.) that provide radio access to the cellular network. Alternatively, the radio link may include a cellular link by LTE. Other types of cellular links are also possible, and the cellular network may operate additionally or alternatively according to other cellular communication technologies (e.g., UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.) according to various embodiments.

[0074] Establishing a radio link may, in at least some embodiments, involve establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a serving cellular base station. Establishing an RRC connection may involve configuring various parameters for communication between the UE and the cellular base station, establishing contextual information for the UE, and / or any of the various other possible features relating to establishing an air interface for the UE, for example, and performing cellular communication with the cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing an RRC connection, the UE can operate in the RRC connected state. In some instances, the RRC connection may also be terminated (e.g., after a certain period of inactivity with respect to data communication), in which case the UE can operate in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state. In some instances, the UE may perform a handover (e.g., while in RRC connected mode) or a cell reselection to a new serving cell (e.g., in RRC idle or RRC inactive mode) due to UE mobility and / or any of the various other possible reasons that change radio medium conditions.

[0075] According to at least some embodiments, a UE can establish multiple radio links with multiple TRPs in a cellular network, for example, according to a multi-TRP configuration. In such a scenario, the UE may be configured with one or more TCIs (e.g., via RRC signaling) that can correspond to various beams that may be used to communicate with the TRPs. Furthermore, one or more configured TCI states may be activated for the UE at a particular time (e.g., by RRC, Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) and / or DCI signaling). For example, multiple TCI states may be activated.

[0076] The wireless link may, according to some embodiments, be associated with a corresponding control resource set (one or more) (CORESET) and / or search space set (one or more) (SSS). For example, a first TCI state may be associated with a first CORESET and / or SSS, among various possibilities.

[0077] In at least some instances, establishing a wireless link(s) may involve the UE providing capability information. Such capability information may include information related to any of the various types of UE functions.

[0078] In at least some instances, establishing a wireless link(s) may involve the UE exchanging configuration information with the network. Among various possibilities, the configuration information may include information related to the LTM. For example, the configuration information may include information about the reference signal (RS), the resources to be used to indicate that cell switching is complete, the configuration of the TCI list, and the selection and / or deselection of TCI(s).

[0079] Configuration information can be exchanged via RRC, among various possibilities.

[0080] In some embodiments, 502 may be omitted or performed later. For example, other aspects of the method in Figure 5 (e.g., 504) may be performed without prior establishment of wireless communication with the relevant cell(s) or network.

[0081] The network and UE can perform various actions to manage the possible mobility of the UE between different cells of the network, according to some embodiments (504).

[0082] Figure 6 illustrates an example in which UE 106 is configured to apply TCI state 0 from cell #1 and TCI state 3 from cell #2, according to several embodiments. Each of these TCI states may be available for DL ​​communication (and possibly for UL in the case of a joint TCI state). As UE 106 moves from coverage area 602 of cell #1 to coverage area 604 of cell #2, the active TCI state(s) may be updated. For example, when UE 106 has moved completely to 604 (and is no longer in 602), the UE may switch to cell #2, and the TCI state(s) associated with cell #1 may be deactivated (e.g., deactivated). One or more TCI states associated with cell #2 (e.g., which may differ from TCI state 3) may be applied.

[0083] As one possible action for managing mobility, according to some embodiments, the UE and network may transmit and / or receive RS (e.g., via any number of cells, BS, and / or TRP, etc.), and perform and / or report measurements of RS (504a). As one possibility, the network may transmit downlink RS (e.g., any of the types described herein, among various possibilities) from one or more serving cells and / or candidate cells (e.g., PCell and / or SCell) to the UE. The UE may receive RS, perform measurements, and report back the measurement results (e.g., in a summarized form or as raw data). For example, the UE may report CSI, CQI, PMI, RI, reference signal received power (RSRP), etc. Similarly, the UE may transmit uplink RS (of any type, singular or plural), and the network may receive them (e.g., via any cell, singular or plural, etc.) and perform measurements. Any of the uplink, downlink, or both types of RS and measurements may be used, for example, at the same or different times and / or frequencies. The measurements may include L1 and / or L2 measurements, among various possibilities, such as being applicable to LTM.

[0084] In the example in Figure 6, the UE may take measurements of cells #1 and #2 as it moves and report them to the network. These measurements may be used, among various possibilities, to select a candidate cell (504b), activate the TCI state (504c), and / or command a cell switch (506).

[0085] As one possible action for managing mobility, according to some embodiments, the network may select candidate cells for UEs (504b). Candidate cells may include candidate PCells and / or candidate SCells. In some embodiments, the network may select candidate cells for UEs based on measurements (e.g., 504a) and / or other information (e.g., location or movement data of a UE with respect to a cell(s)).

[0086] In some embodiments, the network may provide the UE with a list of one or more candidate cells (e.g., once, as needed, and / or periodically). For example, the network may provide such a list to the UE by dedicated RRC signaling such as LTMCandidateToAddModList. Other types of signaling (e.g., MAC) or messages may be used to provide such a list(s) as needed.

[0087] Figure 9 shows an example of a candidate cell list according to several embodiments. As shown, the UE may be provided with up to four cell lists (note: other numbers may be used) (for example, by an IE such as the simultaneous-TCI-UpdateList IE shown). The list may include special cells (SpCells) for simultaneous TCI state indication (e.g., PCells in MCG or pSCells in SCG) and / or SCells. In some embodiments, the simultaneous-TCI-UpdateList may be provided in a candidate cell list configuration associated with one or more target cells.

[0088] Note that an example of simultaneous TCI status indication is further explained below with respect to 506. Various examples of candidate cell lists can be used without simultaneous TCI status indication.

[0089] In the example in Figure 6, cell #2 may be the first candidate cell (for example, added at some point while the UE is at 602). According to some embodiments, cell #1 may become the candidate cell after the UE has switched to cell #2.

[0090] As one possible action for managing mobility, the network may, according to some embodiments, select one or more TCI states to activate and / or deactivate (e.g., deactivate) (504c). A TCI state(s) may be activated or deactivated for PCell and / or SCell, including serving cells and / or candidate cells. In some embodiments, the network may select a TCI state(s) for activation and / or deactivation for a UE based on measurements (e.g., 504a) and / or other information (e.g., location or movement data of the UE regarding cells(s) and / or TCIs, etc.).

[0091] In some embodiments, the network may provide the UE with a list of one or more active TCI states (e.g., once, as needed, and / or periodically). For example, the network may provide such a list (e.g., a similar list with a different name, such as r19 or pointing to a future deactivation) by a dedicated RRC signaling such as ltm-CandidateConfig-r18. Other types of signaling (e.g., RRC) or messages may be used to provide such a list(single or multiple) as desired.

[0092] In some embodiments, for a SCell in the candidate list, up to one TCI state may be activated by MAC-CE before receiving the Cell Switching Command (CSC) MAC-CE. Thus, a single MAC-CE activated TCI state may be applied for the SCell after the cell switch is complete. In other words, for a candidate SCell, exactly one TCI state (e.g., two TCI states in the case of a joint TCI state and a separate UL TCI state and a DL TCI state) may be activated before the CSC, and thus the activated TCI state may be applied following the completion of the cell switch. In some embodiments, this technique may include activating one TCI state per candidate cell (e.g., two TCI states in the case of a joint TCI state and a separate UL TCI state and a DL TCI state) before the CSC, and thus the TCI state corresponding to the target cell for the cell switch may be applied following the cell switch.

[0093] In some embodiments, multiple TCI states may be activated for one or more candidate SCells. For example, more than one TCI state may be activated by the MAC-CE before the CSC MAC-CE for a SCell in the candidate list. RRC signaling may be used to indicate which of the activated TCI states (e.g., separate UL TCI states for joint TCI states and potentially two TCI states for DL ​​TCI states) may be used after the cell switching is complete. Figure 7 shows exemplary ASN.1 code for this technique in some embodiments. In some embodiments, eight TCI states may be activated before the CSC MAC-CE, but other numbers of activated TCI states may be used as needed. As shown in the figure, in the configuration of the list of candidate SCells (e.g., ltm-CandidateConfig-r18), an information element (e.g., "firstActiveTciState") may list the active TCI states to be used for each of the candidate cells. For example, the entry "First" may contain an index for the TCI state to be used when a switch to a first candidate cell occurs, the entry "Second" may contain an index for the TCI state to be used when a switch to a second candidate cell occurs, and so on. The list of candidate SCells (e.g., ltm-CandidateConfig-r18) may be sent by RRC or other forms of signaling. The information element (e.g., "firstActiveTciState") may be sent to the UE before the CSC so that the UE can prepare to quickly apply the appropriate TCI state when a cell switch occurs. However, in some embodiments, the information element (e.g., "firstActiveTciState") may be sent simultaneously with or after the CSC. Further examples of this technique are summarized in the table below. [Table 1]

[0094] As shown in the diagram, three candidate SCells may be listed, each associated with multiple activated TCI states. An information element (e.g., "firstActiveTciState") indicates one of the activated TCI states for each candidate cell. The CSC can instruct the UE to switch to cell 2. Thus, the UE may apply TCI state "e" following the cell switch.

[0095] In various embodiments, it will be understood that the mobility management processes of 504 (and 506, 508, and 510) may be iterative and / or sequential processes. For example, any of 504a, 504b, and 504c may occur simultaneously or in different orders. Similarly, any of 504a, 504b, and 504c may be repeated multiple times (e.g., before and / or after performing 506, 508, and / or 510). Furthermore, according to some embodiments, any of 504a, 504b, and / or 504c may be omitted.

[0096] The network may determine that the mobility of the UE (and / or other factors) justifies switching a cell (e.g., and / or cell group), and therefore, according to some embodiments, may send a command (e.g., a CSC) to the UE 506). The CSC command may also be a command to perform an LTM. The network may decide to send a CSC based on L1 and / or L2 measurements (e.g., as in 504a), and / or other measurements performed by the network and / or the UE, among various possibilities. The CSC may be a command to change one or more of the PCell, PCG, SCell, and / or SCG. The cell or cell group that the UE uses before the switch may be called the source cell, and the cell or cell group that the UE uses after the switch may be called the target cell.

[0097] In some embodiments, the CSC may be equipped with MAC-CE, but other forms of signaling (e.g., DCI) may be used as needed.

[0098] In some embodiments, the CSC may indicate TCI states for use with target SCells and / or SCGs. For example, according to some embodiments, the CSC MAC-CE is further extended to include indicated TCI states for SCells, as shown in Figure 8. A first field Ci may be used to indicate the presence or absence of further configuration information for a candidate cell i. If there is a candidate SCell configured at index i for LTM cell switching (e.g., in a list of candidate cells such as ltm-CandidateConfig-r18), this field Ci may indicate whether a block of information is provided in the CSC for this cell. For example, a value "1" may indicate that information is provided, and a value "0" may indicate that a block of information is not provided. A block of information may be provided for each cell indicated by field Ci having such a block. The information block may be indexed by j, such that block j is the block of the j-th cell indicated by field Ci as having a block. In other words, block j may provide a set of information about LTM candidate ID "j", where j represents its ordinal position among all candidate cells having a field Ci, set to a value (e.g., 1 or true) indicating the existence of the block. Thus, a first candidate cell having a Ci field set to 1 / true may be mapped to block "0", a second candidate cell having a Ci field set to 1 / true may be mapped to block "1", and so on. In some embodiments, only one candidate cell may have a Ci field set to 1 / true. Each block may consist of the following fields for the cell corresponding to block j: TCI state ID, UL TCI state ID (e.g., when operating in separate TCI state modes, when operating with joint TCI, this may be omitted as shown in Figure 8), and Timing Advance Command (TAC). Among various possibilities, each TCI ID may be 3 bits and the TAC may be 12 bits. Thus, the UE may use the block corresponding to the target cell to determine which TCI should be used for that target cell.It will be understood that, according to some embodiments, this method may be used in addition to, or instead of, SCell and / or SCG, with respect to PCell or PCG.

[0099] In some embodiments, group-based TCI status indication may be used. For example, the CSC may indicate the TCI status to be used for all candidate cells in the same candidate cell list (e.g., a simultaneous TCI update list as shown in Figure 9). Figure 10 shows an example of TCI status indication in a CSC MAC-CE applied to all candidate cells in the same candidate cell list configured by a simultaneous-TCI-UpdateList IE, according to some embodiments. As shown, an exemplary new CSC MAC-CE may be as follows: The field CGi may be used to indicate whether a block field is associated with the corresponding cell group CG) list i. For example, if there is a simultaneous-TCI-UpdateList configured for LTM cell switching, this field CGi may indicate whether information is provided. For example, a value of 0 may indicate that the block field is not associated with CG, and a value of 1 may indicate that the block field is associated with CG (again, note that different value schemes may be used). If CGi indicates the existence of a block, the block may contain a TCI state field (or two TCI state fields in the case of separate UL TCI states and DL TCI states). In the example in Figure 10, a joint TCI is assumed. Thus, the TCI state ID field may indicate and activate a joint or DL ​​TCI state for the CG list configured by the simultaneous-TCI-UpdateList IE. In some designs, the TCI state ID field may consist of 3 bits (for example, assuming up to 8 TCI states are activated before the CSC MAC-CE). For separate UL TCI state and DL TCI state operation, the UL TCI state ID field may be included to indicate and activate a UL TCI state for the CG list configured by the simultaneous-TCI-UpdateList IE.

[0100] According to some embodiments, the UE may receive the CSC and complete the cell switchover (508). The UE may initiate communication with the target cell(s) as a serving cell(s) or cease communication with the source cell(s) as a serving cell(s).

[0101] As one possibility, according to some embodiments, completing a cell switchover may include applying one or more TCIs to a target cell(s) (508a). For example, applying a TCI state may include using that TCI state to receive and / or transmit to a target cell(s).

[0102] If the target cell(s) is an SCell(s) and / or SCG(s), the UE may apply the indicated TCI according to any of the methods described above. For example, if only one TCI state (or a pair of states for separate UL / DL TCI modes) is activated (e.g., in 504 before 506), the UE may apply that TCI state(s). As another example, if multiple TCI states(s) are activated, the UE may consider any RRC signaling (e.g., as in Figure 7) indicating which state(s) to use. As yet another example, if multiple TCI states(s) are activated, the UE may consider any information contained in the CSC (e.g., as in Figure 8 or Figure 10). It will be understood that any of these methods may, according to some embodiments, also be applied to, or alternatively to, target PCell(s) and / or PCG(s).

[0103] As one possibility, according to some embodiments, completing a cell switch may include deactivating and / or activating one or more active TCIs associated with one or more candidate cells (508b). For example, deactivating a TCI state may include removing the TCI state configuration from the UE's memory / buffer until the TCI state configuration is reconfigured (e.g., in future instances of 502 or 504). According to certain aspects of the disclosure, various techniques may be used to consider whether any activated TCI states other than any TCI states (one or more) applied to the target cell should be deactivated (e.g., in 508a). Among the various possibilities, any combination of the following techniques may be used:

[0104] One approach is for the UE to deactivate any TCI states (other than any applied states) that were activated before receiving the CSC MAC-CE command. In other words, the UE can deactivate any previously activated TCI states, except for any TCI states applied to the target cell(s). Thus, the UE can deactivate any previously activated TCI states, except for any selected / applied TCI states(s).

[0105] Another approach may involve using RRC (and / or other) signaling to indicate whether other TCI states of a cell should be cleared, or which TCI states of a cell (one or more) should be cleared after the cell switchover is complete. Such signaling may be used individually for each candidate cell or as a group for all candidate cells. The signaling may be transmitted before the 506 CSC, simultaneously with the 506 CSC, or after the 506 CSC.

[0106] In some designs, UE capability may be introduced to report the maximum total number of activated TCI states that the UE can support (e.g., across serving and candidate cells). The UE may provide capability information to the network in configuration information (e.g., during 502 and / or at any time before 510). The UE may provide capability information via RRC or other signaling. Thus, the network may consider this capability when deciding which (if any) cells(s) should deactivate or maintain (e.g., not deactivate) an activated TCI state.

[0107] Another approach may involve candidate cell-dependent TCI state deactivation and / or activation. Activated TCI states may be deactivated based on the candidate cell(s) they are associated with. The UE may maintain activated TCI states for some candidate cells under any of the following conditions:

[0108] Condition 1: The candidate cell becomes the serving cell after the cell switch is complete, or

[0109] Condition 2: After the cell switching is complete, the candidate cell is still in the candidate cell list.

[0110] For candidate cells that do not meet any of those conditions, the UE may deactivate any activated TCI states associated with the candidate cell. In other words, any TCI states associated with any candidate cell(s), whether it is a target cell (condition 1) or remains a candidate cell(s), may be retained as activated TCI states and may not be deactivated following a cell switch.

[0111] In some embodiments, condition 1 can be implemented as follows: Two TCI state lists (for example, for a candidate cell) may exist in the UE. One list may be configured outside the candidate cell configuration (e.g., outside the LTM-Candidate-r18 IE) and may be called "TCI state list #1". The other list may be configured within the candidate cell configuration (e.g., inside the LTM-Candidate-r18 IE) and may be called "TCI state list #2". In other words, TCI state list #1 may be provided outside the candidate cell configuration and used for TCI state activation, so it may be known by the UE before receiving a cell switch command. In contrast, TCI state list #2 may not be known by the UE before receiving a cell switch command and may therefore not be used for earlier TCI state activation before the cell switch command. Both TCI state list #1 and TCI state list #2 may be known by the UE after the cell switch procedure. It will be understood that these labels are examples.

[0112] In some embodiments, according to a first option for condition 1, the UE may expect that TCI state list #1 is the same as or a subset of TCI state list #2. In these embodiments, any TCI states included on TCI state list #1 for the target cell (e.g., the serving cell following a cell switch due to condition 1) may be maintained as the active TCI state following the cell switch.

[0113] In some embodiments, according to a second option for condition 1, the UE (e.g., and network) may perform TCI state list concatenation after cell switching. Figure 11 shows an example of this concatenation and the resulting activation according to some embodiments. This process may proceed as follows:

[0114] Step 1: TCI state list #1 and TCI state list #2 can be constructed independently without restriction. For example, there can be no requirement that list 1 is a subset of list 2. Construction can be performed by RRC signaling (or other signaling) during 502 or 504, or at any time before the completion of 508.

[0115] Step 2: After the UE switches to one or more target candidate cells, the UE may perform a TCI state concatenation operation by sequentially concatenating two TCI state lists. The order of the TCI state concatenation operation may be determined according to radio standards such as NR, or may be provided / negotiated in the configuration information. For example, concatenation may start with TCI state list #1, followed by TCI state list #2. The concatenated TCI state lists are sometimes referred to as the "C-TCI state list".

[0116] Step 3: When the network transmits a unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC-CE and the UE receives it, the "TCI state ID" field may mean a TCI state ID in the new C-TCI state list. Thus, the network may indicate which TCI states should be activated (e.g., and / or deactivated) via this MAC-CE (note: other signaling such as DCI may be used if desired). This signaling may occur concurrently with 506, or, according to some embodiments, at any later point in time.

[0117] Regardless of which option is performed for Condition 1, any TCI status associated with candidate cells that do not satisfy either Condition 1 or Condition 2 may be cleared after the cell switch. For example, any TCI status associated with a cell that is no longer a candidate cell and is not a serving cell may be cleared.

[0118] According to some embodiments, it will be understood that the network may perform actions equivalent to 508, including 508a and / or 508b. For example, the network may decide which TCI states(s) to apply and which TCI states to release.

[0119] It will be understood that, according to some embodiments, the action of 508 (e.g., 508a and / or 508b, etc.) may be omitted.

[0120] According to some embodiments, the UE may send and the network may receive a message indicating that the cell switchover is complete (510). The message may be sent to one or more target cells or any serving cells. The message may be an RRC message, such as RRCReconfigurationComplete, among various possibilities.

[0121] The UE and network (e.g., operating independently in parallel) may determine resources for a message. For example, according to some aspects of this disclosure, when a configuration grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (CG-PUSCH) is used for LTM operation (which may include RACH-less handover), various methods may be considered to determine resources (e.g., the corresponding CG-PUSCH occasion) for sending a message indicating that cell switching is complete.

[0122] One possibility is that a sequential mapping between the SSB (or other RS) resource actually transmitted and the CG-PUSCH occasion (e.g., RRC configured) could be used to determine the resource. In other words, the resource could be selected based on the relationship between the selected TCI state and the uplink resource. For example, the [x*N+K]th CG-PUSCH occasion corresponding to the Kth transmitted SSB is: x = 0, 1, ..., X - 1; K is an integer (for example, K=1, 2, ...), N is the actual number of SSBs transmitted during a time period. For example, N may be determined according to ssb-PositionsInBurst, which may be reported in system information such as SIB1. For example, after a cell switching operation, the UE may use the earliest CG-PUSCH occasion associated with an SSB resource configured as a pseudo-collocation (QCL) source RS for a selected TCI state (e.g., a TCI state indicated by the CSC MAC-CE). In other words, the UE may determine a UL or joint TCI state for a target cell. The UE may then determine an SSB resource that is a QCL for that TCI state. The UE may use the earliest CG-PUSCH for the determined SSB. In other words, the earliest configured grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (CG-PUSCH) for an SSB QCL having a selected TCI state may be used.

[0123] In some embodiments, if a tracking RS (TRS) is configured as a QCL source RS for a TCI state in a CSC MAC-CE, then an SSB configured as a QCL source RS for the TRS may be used to map a CG-PUSCH. In other words, the UE may determine the UL or joint TCI state for the target cell. The UE may then determine the SSB resource which is the QCL for the TRS which is the TCI state. The UE may then use a CG-PUSCH for the determined SSB.

[0124] Alternatively, the earliest CG-PUSCH associated with the target cell's active TCI state may be used to send the message. In other words, once the CSC operation is complete in the UE, the TCI state indicated in the MAC-CE may be used for the earliest CG-PUSCH transmission. In other words, the earliest configuration grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (CG-PUSCH) associated with the selected TCI state may be used.

[0125] In some designs, to minimize cell switching latency for any of the possibilities described above, the UE may initiate monitoring of the RRC configuration search space set for potential dynamic UL grants from the target cell. If such dynamic grants occur, the granted resource(s) may be used for a message indicating that the cell switching is complete (e.g., a first UL message such as RRCReconfigurationComplete). Therefore, transmission may occur before the first CG-PUSCH occasion. In some embodiments, if a dynamic grant occurs and is used for indication, the first CG-PUSCH may not be used for indication (e.g., CG-PUSCH may be omitted if a dynamic UL grant is detected). In some embodiments, if a dynamic grant (DG) occurs and is used for indication, a UL message with indication (e.g., RRCReconfigurationComplete) may be repeatedly transmitted using the first CG-PUSCH occasion, but it may be transmitted earlier using DG-PUSCH.

[0126] Figure 12 provides examples to illustrate alternatives to CG-PUSCH occasion determination assuming four SSBs (indexed 0-3 as shown) according to several embodiments. The example in Figure 12 assumes that the QCL source RS associated with the TCI state indicated by the CSC MAC is SSB #2. As shown, the CSC may occur between SSB 1 and SSB 2, and the cell switch may occur between SSB 2 and SSB 3.

[0127] According to the sequential mapping method described above, the resource to be determined may be the first CG-PUSCH occasion associated with SSB#2. In this example, this method may result in the highest latency.

[0128] An approach using the earliest CG-PUSCH associated with the active TCI state for the target cell may result in resource determination in SSB 3 time. This approach may reduce latency but may rely on coordination / notification between the source cell (or DU) and target cell (or DU) on the switching beam for CG-PUSCH reception.

[0129] Latency can be minimized if the UE immediately monitors a suitable set of search spaces (e.g., RRC-configured) for the DG.

[0130] Therefore, according to at least some embodiments, the method shown in Figure 5 can be used to provide a framework that enables the UE and the network to perform LTM, and thus, in at least some instances, to help the network effectively and efficiently schedule and perform wireless communication with the UE.

[0131] As stated above, the order shown in Figure 5 is merely an example. For example, it will be understood that 504a to 504c may occur in any order and / or simultaneously or overlappingly. Similarly, 508a to 508b may occur simultaneously or in any order. Furthermore, 510 may occur before, after, or simultaneously with 508. Numerous other variations and examples are possible.

[0132] Similarly, any of these steps can be repeated any number of times (for example, when the UE moves).

[0133] The various examples and figures described above may be presented with respect to a single TCI state applied to a cell (e.g., a joint TCI state used for both uplink and downlink communication between the UE and the cell), but it should be understood that these are examples. The techniques disclosed herein may also be applied to isolate TCI states (e.g., a DL TCI state used for communication between the UE and the cell and a potentially different UL TCI state). Accordingly, any of the embodiments and examples herein may be adapted to incorporate such distinct TCI states.

[0134] Further exemplary embodiments may include methods that perform any or all of the above embodiments using a wireless device.

[0135] Another exemplary embodiment includes a device comprising an antenna, a radio coupled to the antenna, and a processing element operably coupled to the radio, the device being configured to implement any or all of the embodiments described above.

[0136] A further exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-temporary computer-accessible memory medium containing program instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform any or all of any of the embodiments described above.

[0137] A further exemplary set of embodiments may include computer programs that include instructions for performing any or all parts of any of the embodiments described above.

[0138] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus that includes means for performing any or all of the elements of any of the embodiments described above.

[0139] A further exemplary set of embodiments may include a device comprising a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all elements of any embodiment of the above-described embodiments.

[0140] It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be governed by privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintended or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to the user.

[0141] Any of the methods described herein for operating user equipment (UE) can form the basis for a corresponding method for operating a base station or cellular network by interpreting each message / signal X received by the UE on the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by the base station or cellular network, and each message / signal Y transmitted by the UE on the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station or cellular network.

[0142] Embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in any of various forms. For example, in some embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented as a method executed on a computer, on a computer-readable storage medium, or on a computer system. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices, such as ASICs. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

[0143] In some embodiments, a non-temporary computer-readable memory medium (e.g., a non-temporary memory element) may store program instructions and / or data, and the program instructions may be configured to cause a computer system, when executed by that computer system, to execute, for example, any embodiment of the method described herein, a combination of embodiments of the method described herein, a subset of embodiments of the method described herein, or a combination of such subsets.

[0144] In some embodiments, the device (e.g., UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory elements), the memory medium storing program instructions, and the processor being configured to read and execute program instructions from the memory medium, the program instructions being executable to perform any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of the various forms.

[0145] Although the embodiments described above are described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art if the above disclosure is fully understood. The following claims are intended to be construed as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. It is a method, Receiving a list of candidate secondary cells from the cellular network, The procedure involves performing at least one measurement of one or more candidate secondary cells in the list of candidate secondary cells, wherein the at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) measurement or a Layer 2 (L2) measurement. Reporting at least one measurement of one or more candidate secondary cells to the cellular network, Receiving a first indication of at least one activated Transmit Configuration Indication (TCI) state for at least one candidate secondary cell from the list of candidate secondary cells from the cellular network, After receiving the first indication, the cellular network receives a cell switching command (CSC) signal to switch from the previous secondary cell to a selected secondary cell from the list of candidate secondary cells, Applying a selected TCI state to the selected secondary cell, wherein the selected TCI state is among the at least one activated TCI state, Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the list of candidate secondary cells is comprised of an LTMCandidateToAddModList information element (IE) in radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one activated TCI state includes only the selected TCI state.

4. The at least one activated TCI state includes a plurality of activated TCI states, The first indication includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), The method further includes receiving a second indication from the cellular network of each of the multiple activated TCI states for each candidate secondary cell of the list of candidate secondary cells, The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected TCI state is indicated by the second indication for the selected secondary cell.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the second indication is provided by radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

6. The at least one activated TCI state includes a plurality of activated TCI states, The first indication includes a first media access control (MAC) control element (CE), The CSC signal includes a second MAC-CE, The method according to claim 1, wherein the second MAC-CE includes a separate indication for at least one individual candidate secondary cell of the list of candidate secondary cells whether an individual information block for the individual candidate secondary cell is included in the second MAC-CE, and the individual information block includes an indication of a selected TCI state for the individual candidate secondary cell.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the individual information block in the second MAC-CE includes indication of a timing advance command for the individual candidate secondary cell.

8. The at least one activated TCI state includes a plurality of activated TCI states, The first indication includes a first media access control (MAC) control element (CE), The method described above is The cellular network receives a second indication of one or more cell group lists, each cell group list containing one or more candidate secondary cells. Receiving a third indication of the first TCI state among the plurality of activated TCI states for the first cell group list from the cellular network, The method according to claim 1, further comprising applying the first TCI state to all cells in the first cell group list.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the one or more cell group lists includes a candidate primary cell.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first TCI state is the selected TCI state.

11. It is a method, A measurement of at least one candidate cell in a cellular network, wherein the at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) or Layer 2 (L2) measurement, Reporting at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells to the cellular network, The cellular network receives a first indication of multiple activated Transmit Configuration Indication (TCI) states for at least one candidate cell, After receiving the first indication, the cellular network receives a cell switching command (CSC) signal, which includes a second indication of a selected TCI state from the plurality of activated TCI states for use after cell switching. After the aforementioned cell switch, Applying the selected TCI state to the first candidate cell indicated by the CSC signal, Deactivating at least one of the multiple activated TCI states, Methods that include...

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the CSC signal includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein deactivating at least one other activated TCI state includes deactivating the TCI state among the plurality of activated TCI states, excluding the selected TCI state.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising receiving a third indication from the cellular network indicating which candidate cell the plurality of activated TCI states should be deactivated by the UE.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the third indication includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein deactivating at least one other activated TCI state includes candidate cell-dependent TCI state deactivation.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the condition for releasing the candidate cell-dependent TCI state includes that the TCI state associated with the candidate cell that becomes a serving cell is not released.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising receiving two TCI state lists for candidate cells from the cellular network.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the first TCI state list among the two TCI state lists is a subset of or the same as the second TCI state list among the two TCI state lists.

20. The method according to claim 18, further comprising concatenating the two TCI state lists after the cell switching to create a concatenated TCI state list.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising receiving a third indication from the cellular network that activates at least one of the plurality of TCI states in the linked TCI state list.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the third indication includes a unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC-CE.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein the third indication refers to the linked TCI status list.

24. The method according to claim 16, wherein the condition for releasing the candidate cell-dependent TCI state includes that the TCI state associated with the candidate cell remaining as a candidate cell after the cell switching is not released.

25. It is a method, A measurement of at least one candidate cell in a cellular network, wherein the at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) or Layer 2 (L2) measurement, Reporting at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells to the cellular network, The cellular network receives a first indication of multiple activated Transmit Configuration Indication (TCI) states for at least one candidate cell, After receiving the first indication, the cellular network receives a cell switching command (CSC) signal which includes an indication of a selected TCI state from the plurality of activated TCI states for use following cell switching, After the aforementioned cell switch, Selecting a first uplink resource to send a message indicating that the cell switching operation has been completed, On the first uplink resource, the message is transmitted to the cellular network, Methods that include...

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the selection of the first uplink resource is based on the relationship between the selected TCI state and the uplink resource.

27. Selecting the first uplink resource means that Determining a first synchronization signal block (SSB) configured as a pseudo-collocation (QCL) source RS for the selected TCI, The method according to claim 25, comprising selecting the earliest configuration grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (CG-PUSCH) associated with the first SSB.

28. The first uplink resource comprises the earliest configured grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (CG-PUSCH) after the cell switchover, The method according to claim 25, wherein the selected TCI state is used to transmit the first uplink resource transmission.

29. Selecting the first uplink resource means that The method according to claim 25, comprising monitoring dynamic grants after the cell switchover, wherein the first uplink resource is scheduled by a dynamic grant signal.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein the monitoring is monitoring a set of configuration search spaces for the target cell of the cell switching.

31. An apparatus comprising a processor configured to cause a user device to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 30.

32. The apparatus according to claim 31, further comprising a wireless device communicatively coupled to the processor.

33. A baseband processor configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 30.

34. A non-temporary computer-readable memory medium comprising program instructions configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 30.

35. It is a method, Sending a list of candidate secondary cells to the user device (UE), The UE receives a report of at least one measurement of one or more candidate secondary cells from the list of candidate secondary cells, wherein the at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) measurement or a Layer 2 (L2) measurement. To transmit to the UE a first indication of at least one activated transmit configuration indication (TCI) state for at least one candidate secondary cell from the list of candidate secondary cells, After transmitting the first indication, the UE is sent a cell switching command (CSC) signal to switch from the previous secondary cell to the selected secondary cell in the list of candidate secondary cells, Applying a selected TCI state, which is a selected TCI state for communication between the UE and the selected secondary cell, wherein the selected TCI state is among the at least one activated TCI state. Methods that include...

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein the list of candidate secondary cells is comprised of an LTMCandidateToAddModList information element (IE) in radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

37. The method according to claim 35, wherein the at least one activated TCI state includes only the selected TCI state.

38. The at least one activated TCI state includes a plurality of activated TCI states, The first indication includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), The method further includes transmitting to the UE a second indication of each of the multiple activated TCI states for individual candidate secondary cells in the list of candidate secondary cells, The method according to claim 35, wherein the selected TCI state is indicated by the second indication for the selected secondary cell.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein the second indication is provided by radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

40. The at least one activated TCI state includes a plurality of activated TCI states, The first indication includes a first media access control (MAC) control element (CE), The CSC signal includes a second MAC-CE, The method according to claim 35, wherein the second MAC-CE includes a separate indication for at least one individual candidate secondary cell of the list of candidate secondary cells whether an individual information block for the individual candidate secondary cell is included in the second MAC-CE, and the individual information block includes an indication of a selected TCI state for the individual candidate secondary cell.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein the individual information block in the second MAC-CE includes indication of a timing advance command for the individual candidate secondary cell.

42. The at least one activated TCI state includes a plurality of activated TCI states, The first indication includes a first media access control (MAC) control element (CE), The method described above is To send to the aforementioned UE a second indication of one or more cell group lists, each cell group list containing one or more candidate secondary cells, To transmit to the UE a third indication of the first TCI state among the plurality of activated TCI states for the first cell group list, The method according to claim 35, further comprising applying the first TCI state to all cells in the first cell group list.

43. The method according to claim 42, wherein at least one of the one or more cell group lists includes a candidate primary cell.

44. The method according to claim 42, wherein the first TCI state is the selected TCI state.

45. It is a method, The user equipment (UE) receives a report of at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells in a cellular network, wherein the at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) or Layer 2 (L2) measurement. To transmit to the UE a first indication of multiple activated transmit configuration indication (TCI) states for at least one candidate cell, After transmitting the first indication, the UE is sent a cell switching command (CSC) signal including a second indication of a selected TCI state from the plurality of activated TCI states for use after cell switching, After the aforementioned cell switch, Applying the selected TCI state for communication between the UE and the first candidate cell indicated by the CSC signal, The UE determines that it is permitted to deactivate at least one other activated TCI state among the plurality of activated TCI states, Methods that include...

46. The method according to claim 45, wherein the CSC signal includes a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

47. The method according to claim 45, wherein deactivating at least one other activated TCI state includes deactivating the TCI state among the plurality of activated TCI states, excluding the selected TCI state.

48. The method of claim 45, further comprising transmitting a third indication to the UE indicating which candidate cell the plurality of activated TCI states should be deactivated by the UE.

49. The method according to claim 48, wherein the third indication includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

50. The method according to claim 45, wherein deactivating at least one other activated TCI state includes candidate cell-dependent TCI state deactivation.

51. The method according to claim 50, wherein the condition for releasing the candidate cell-dependent TCI state includes that the TCI state associated with the candidate cell that becomes a serving cell is not released.

52. The method according to claim 51, further comprising sending two TCI state lists for candidate cells to the UE.

53. The method according to claim 52, wherein the first TCI state list among the two TCI state lists is a subset of or the same as the second TCI state list among the two TCI state lists.

54. The method according to claim 52, further comprising concatenating the two TCI state lists after the cell switching to create a concatenated TCI state list.

55. The method according to claim 54, further comprising sending a third indication to the UE that activates at least one of the plurality of TCI states in the linked TCI state list.

56. The method according to claim 55, wherein the third indication includes a unified TCI state activation / deactivation MAC-CE.

57. The method according to claim 55, wherein the third indication refers to the linked TCI status list.

58. The method according to claim 45, wherein the condition for releasing the candidate cell-dependent TCI state includes that the TCI state associated with the candidate cell remaining as a candidate cell after the cell switching is not released.

59. It is a method, The user equipment (UE) receives a report of at least one measurement of one or more candidate cells in a cellular network, wherein the at least one measurement includes a Layer 1 (L1) or Layer 2 (L2) measurement. To transmit to the UE a first indication of multiple activated transmit configuration indication (TCI) states for at least one candidate cell, After transmitting the first indication, the UE is sent a cell switching command (CSC) signal including an indication of a selected TCI state from the plurality of activated TCI states for use following cell switching, After the aforementioned cell switch, To determine the first uplink resource in order to receive a message indicating that the cell switching operation has been completed, The UE receives the message on the first uplink resource, Methods that include...

60. The method according to claim 59, wherein determining the first uplink resource is based on the relationship between the selected TCI state and the uplink resource.

61. Determining the first uplink resource is Determining a first synchronization signal block (SSB) configured as a pseudo-collocation (QCL) source RS for the selected TCI, The method according to claim 59, comprising determining the earliest configuration grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (CG-PUSCH) associated with the first SSB.

62. The first uplink resource comprises the earliest configured grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (CG-PUSCH) after the cell switchover, The method according to claim 59, wherein the selected TCI state is used to receive the first uplink resource transmission.

63. The method according to claim 59, wherein the first uplink resource is scheduled by a dynamic grant signal.

64. The method according to claim 63, wherein the dynamic grant is transmitted in a configuration search space set for the target cell of the cell switching.

65. An apparatus comprising a processor configured to cause a cellular to perform the method described in any one of claims 35 to 64.

66. A radio and A base station comprising a processor, wherein the radio and the processor are configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 35 to 64.

67. A non-temporary computer-readable memory medium comprising program instructions configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 35 to 64.

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