Random access in communication systems

Abstract

To provide random access in a communication system.SOLUTION: A first device determines whether contention free random access resources are allocated from a second device for a first random access type. In accordance with the determination that contention free random access resources are allocated, the first device compares a target transport block size corresponding to the contention free random access resource to a first transport block size configured for a first group of available preambles for the first random access type, and performs random access to the second device on the basis of the result of the comparison.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly, to methods, devices, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for random access in a communication system. [Background technology]

[0002] Various wireless communication systems have been developed to meet the increasing demand for communication services. Before a terminal device can receive communication services from a wireless communication system, the terminal device must establish a connection with a network.

[0003] A random access (RA) procedure refers to a procedure by which a terminal device establishes or re-establishes a connection with a network device, such as a next-generation Node B (gNB). Either contention-free random access (CFRA) or contention-based random access (CBRA) can be used to perform the RA procedure. CFRA refers to the use of dedicated RA resources, while CBRA refers to the use of shared RA resources. Once a connection is established and / or re-established, the network device can allocate resources to a particular terminal device in support of further communication with the network device. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for random access.

[0005] In a first aspect, a first device is provided, the first device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to: cause, with the at least one processor, the first device to determine whether a contention-free random access resource is allocated from a second device for a first random access type according to a determination that a contention-free random access resource is allocated, compare a target transport block size corresponding to the contention-free random access resource with a first transport block size configured for a first group of available preambles for the first random access type, and perform a random access to the second device based on a result of the comparison.

[0006] In a second aspect, a method is provided, comprising: determining, at a first device, whether a contention-free random access resource is allocated from a second device for a first random access type, and, according to a determination that the contention-free random access resource is allocated, comparing a target transport block size corresponding to the contention-free random access resource with a first transport block size configured for a first group of preambles available for the first random access type, and performing random access to the second device based on a result of the comparison.

[0007] In a third aspect, a first device is provided, comprising: means for determining whether a contention-free random access resource is allocated from a second device for a first random access type, and according to a determination that the contention-free random access resource is allocated, comparing a target transport block size corresponding to the contention-free random access resource with a first transport block size configured for a first group of preambles available for the first random access type, and performing random access to the second device based on a result of the comparison.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to carry out at least one of the methods according to the second aspect above.

[0009] It should be understood that the Summary of the Invention section is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent from the following description. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] Several example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow for random access according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented in a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for practicing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5]FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0011] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Next, the principles of the present disclosure will be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only, to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, and are not intended to imply any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the present invention can be implemented in various forms other than those described below.

[0013] Unless otherwise defined in the following description and claims, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0014] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "one embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," and the like indicate that the embodiment being described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need to include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0015] Although terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various elements, it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element can be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element can be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0016] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It is understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements.

[0017] As used in this application, the term "circuit" means (a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., analog and / or digital-only circuit implementations); and (b) (where applicable) any combination of hardware circuitry and software; (i) A combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; and (ii) any portion of software (including digital signal processors), hardware processors having software and memory that cooperate to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or a server, to perform various functions; (c) may refer to one or more or all of a hardware circuitry and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or part of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation. However, the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0018] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses merely a hardware circuitry or processor (or processors), or a portion of a hardware circuitry or processor, and its (or their) associated software and / or firmware implementation. The term circuitry also encompasses, for example, baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices, where applicable to certain claim elements.

[0019] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable first generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) and / or other protocols known or to be developed in the future. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Considering the rapid development in communication, there are of course future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be implemented. The technical scope of the present disclosure should not be considered as being limited only to the above-mentioned systems.

[0020] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), e.g., a Node B (Node B or NB), an evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), an NR NB (also called gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as femto, pico, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied.

[0021] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cell phones, smartphones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback equipment, vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (loT) devices, watches or other wearables, head mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain contexts), electronic devices that may include consumer, commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0022] 1 illustrates an example communication system 100 in which an example embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented. The system 100 includes a first device 110 and a second device 120 that may communicate with each other. In this example, the first device 110 is illustrated as a terminal device, and the second device 120 is illustrated as a network device serving the terminal device. Thus, the serving area of ​​the second device 120 is referred to as a cell 102.

[0023] It should be understood that the number of first and second devices is for illustrative purposes only, without implying any limitation. The communication system 100 may include any suitable number of first and second devices adapted to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it will be understood that one or more additional devices may be located within the cell 102 and served by the second device 120.

[0024] Communications in the communications system 100 may be implemented according to any suitable communications protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communications protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G) and fifth generation (5G), wireless local network communications protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocols now known or to be developed in the future. Furthermore, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communications technology, including, but not limited to, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technology now known or to be developed in the future.

[0025] In the communication system 100, the first device 110 and the second device 120 can communicate data and control information with each other. When the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device, the link from the second device 120 to the first device 110 is called a downlink (DL) and the link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 is called an uplink (UL). In the DL, the second device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter) and the first device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, the first device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter) and the second device 120 is a RX device (or receiver).

[0026] Typically, to communicate data with the second device 120, the first device 110 may initiate an RA procedure to establish a connection with the second device 120. The RA procedure may be triggered by several events, such as initial access to the second device 120 from an idle state, a connection re-establishment procedure, DL or UL data arrival during connected mode when the UL synchronization state is "unsynchronized", UL data arrival during connected mode when no physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources are available for a scheduling request (SR), an SR failure, a request by radio resource control (RRC) upon synchronization reconfiguration (e.g., handover), a transition from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, establishing time alignment for a secondary timing advance group (TAG), a request for other system information (SI), beam failure recovery (BFR), etc. In some cases, the first device 110 may have to attempt multiple times to transmit an RA preamble before the second device 120 can successfully detect the RA preamble.

[0027] Either Contention-Free Random Access (CFRA) or Contention-Based Random Access (CBRA) can be used. CFRA refers to the use of dedicated RA resources, while CBRA refers to the use of shared RA resources. CBRA can lead to a situation where multiple terminal devices attempt to use the same RA resources to access the network device through their respective RA procedures, thus requiring contention resolution. CFRA is performed without contention with other terminal devices, based on specific random access resources assigned by the network device.

[0028] The RA resources may, for example, include at least an RA preamble (or preamble for short) and possibly time-frequency resources in the uplink for message transmission. Depending on the messages needed to be exchanged between the first device 110 and the second device 120, the RA procedure may include a slow RA type, a fast RA type, etc.

[0029] An example of a slow RA type includes a four-step RA (or 4-step RA), in which the first device 110 transmits an RA preamble in a first message (sometimes referred to as "MSG1") to the second device 120, and then the following steps are performed depending on whether the RA procedure is contention-based (i.e., CBRA) or contention-free (i.e., CFRA). For example, if a four-step CBRA is performed, at least three additional messages are exchanged between the first device 110 and the second device 120. If a four-step CFRA is performed, the first device 110 may transmit one additional message in response to MSG1. Exemplary procedures for four-step CBRA and four-step CFRA are further introduced below.

[0030] An example of a quick RA type includes a two-step RA (or two-step RA), in which the first device 110 transmits both the RA preamble and payload in one message (sometimes denoted as "MSGA") to the second device 120. The second device 120 generally transmits one response message (sometimes denoted as "MSGB") to the MSGA in either a contention-based or CFRA procedure. The MSGB may include a response (one or more) for contention resolution, a fallback indication (one or more), or a backoff indication. Thus, the time spent to complete a two-step RA is generally shorter than the time to complete a four-step RA. Recently, a quick RA type has been proposed to enable fast access from a first device (e.g., a terminal device) to a second device (e.g., a network device). In some cases, two-step CFRA is supported for handover.

[0031] It is agreed that the first device 110 can select the type of RA (e.g., quick RA or slow RA, or 2-step RA or 4-step RA) at the beginning of a random access procedure based on a network configuration, for example. In some implementations, if a CFRA resource is not configured, a signal quality threshold (such as an RSRP threshold) is used by the first device 110 to select between a quick RA type (e.g., 2-step RA type) and a slow RA type (e.g., 4-step RA type). In some implementations, if a CFRA resource for a slow RA type is configured, the UE selects the slow RA type, and if a CFRA resource for a fast RA type is configured, the UE selects the fast RA type. The second network device 120 may not configure CFRA resources for a quick RA type and a slow RA type for a bandwidth part (BWP) at the same time.

[0032] In some implementations, for RA in a cell configured with a supplemental uplink (SUL), the second device 120 may explicitly signal which carrier to use (UL or SUL). Otherwise, the first device 110 may select the SUL carrier only if the measured quality of the DL is below a broadcast threshold. The first device 110 may perform carrier selection before selecting between multiple RA types. The RSRP threshold for selecting between quick and slow RA types may be configured separately for UL and SUL. After carrier selection, uplink transmission of the RA procedure remains on the selected carrier.

[0033] In some implementations where carrier aggregation (CA) is configured, an RA procedure with a quick RA type (e.g., a two-step RA type) may be configured to be performed only on a primary cell (PCell) or a primary secondary cell (PSCell). For an RA procedure with a slow RA type (e.g., a four-step RA type), the first three steps of CBRA may always occur on the PCell, but contention resolution (the fourth step) may be cross-scheduled by the PCell. The three steps of CFRA initiated on the PCell remain on the PCell. CFRA on a secondary cell (SCell) may be initiated only by the second device 120 to establish a timing advance for the secondary TAG, where the procedure is initiated by the second device 120 with a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order transmitted on a scheduling cell of an activated SCell of the secondary TAG, the preamble transmission is performed on the indicated SCell, and the RAR is performed on the PCell.

[0034] During the RA procedure, the first device 110 monitors for a response from the second device 120 within a configured window after the RA preamble is transmitted (e.g., in MSG1 of a 4-step RA) or after the RA preamble and payload are transmitted (e.g., in MSGA of a 2-step RA). In the case of CFRA, the first device 110 terminates the RA procedure upon receiving a response from the second device 120. In the case of 2-step CBRA, the first device 110 terminates the RA procedure upon receiving a response from the second device 120 if the contention resolution is successful. Otherwise, the first device 110 may need to switch between a slow RA type and a fast RA type (e.g., from a 2-step RA to a 4-step RA) or fall back from one type of RA to the other type of RA (e.g., from a fast RA to a slow RA).

[0035] For example, if the 2-step RA procedure is not completed successfully after transmitting MSGA a number of times ("N" times), the first device 110 may switch to 4-step RA. Note that the number "N" may be set by the second device 120. If the second device 120 receives only the preamble portion of the MSGA, it may send a fallback instruction to the first device 110 based on the preamble identification. In case of fallback, the first device 110 may perform MSG3 transmission and monitor contention resolution. If contention resolution is not successful after MSG3 (re)transmission, the first device 110 may return to MSGA transmission. If the 2-step RA is not completed successfully after several MSGA transmissions and no fallback instruction is received from the second device 120, the first device 110 may be configured to switch to 4-step CBRA.

[0036] Typically, to perform an RA procedure, the first device may select a preamble for transmission. In a four-step RA procedure, the first device may select between random access preamble groups A and B based on the condition of the radio connection with the second device and the available data in the buffer, or alternatively, based only on the size of a common control channel (CCCH) service data unit (SDU) in the buffer. For example, as specified in 3GPP TS 38.321, the UE may select between random access preamble groups A and B according to the specifications in Table 1 as follows: [Table 1]

[0037] From the above specification, a threshold of available data in the buffer (e.g., parameter ra-Msg3SizeGroupA) and a threshold of path loss (e.g., a threshold represented by “PCMAX(of the serving cell performing the random access procedure)-preambleReceivedTargetPower-msg3-DeltaPreamble-messagePowerOffsetGroupB”) are used to decide the selection between random access preamble group B and random access preamble group A. Thus, by detecting a preamble from either random access preamble group B or random access preamble group A from the UE, the network device can roughly determine the amount of data to transmit and the state of the radio connection with the UE, and can decide the resources to allocate to the UE based on this.

[0038] Recently, it has been agreed to introduce multiple groups of preambles for quick RA types, e.g., 2-step RA, and the same selection method (e.g., comparison based on thresholds ra-Msg3SizeGroupA and "PCMAX-preambleReceivedTargetPower-msg3-DeltaPreamble-messagePowerOffsetGroupB" of the serving cell performing the random access procedure) as used in 4-step RA may be applied to select between groups of preambles for quick RA types. It is also agreed that the transport block size (TB size) allowed in slow RA types (e.g., 4-step RA) is the same as the TB size configured for the fast RA type when the first device switches from the fast RA type to the slow RA type.

[0039] However, when allocating CFRA resources to quick RA, it is problematic to always apply the same selection method used for 4-step RA, since the first device may switch between quick RA and slow RA. A possible solution is proposed to allow the second device to configure along with the allocation of CFRA resources which group of preambles should always be used by the first device when CBRA is triggered for RA procedure. Such a solution requires additional signaling by the second device. As an alternative, CFRA resources can be allocated, but it can be specified which group should always be used when CBRA is triggered for RA procedure. For example, the first group of preambles is always used, since it is always configured for the first device, or the second group of preambles is always used when configured. This alternative solution limits the flexibility of the second device in using the TB size for the first group or the second group to allocate CFRA resources.

[0040] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a solution for performing RA is provided. In this solution, when a CFRA resource is allocated from a second device to a first device for an RA type (e.g., a quick RA type), the first device compares a target transport block (TB) size corresponding to the CFRA resource with a TB size configured for an available group of preambles for an RA type. The first device performs RA to the second device based on the result of the comparison. Thus, depending on whether the TB size for the CFRA matches or does not match the TB size configured for the available group of preambles, the first device can properly perform a preamble group selection or a selection between CFRA and CBRA without requiring additional signaling from the second device. The second device does not have any restriction on resource allocation because the first device is still allowed to perform the selection under different conditions.

[0041] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates a signaling flow 200 for RA according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the signaling flow 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The signaling flow 200 may include a first device 110 and a second device 120 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0042] In the signaling flow 200, the first device 110 determines (210) whether CFRA resources are allocated from the second device 120 for a certain RA type (sometimes referred to herein as the “first RA type” for ease of explanation).

[0043] There may be multiple RA types used by the first device 110, with different RA types requiring different messaging procedures between the first device 110 and the second device 120. The RA types may include one or more relatively fast RA types and one or more relatively slow RA types. A quick RA type generally requires fewer messages to be exchanged between the two devices than a slow RA type. An example of a quick RA type is a so-called two-step RA, which typically requires two messages to be exchanged between the first device 110 and the second device 120 to complete the RA. An exemplary slow RA type is a so-called four-step RA, which typically requires up to four messages to be exchanged between the first device 110 and the second device 120 to complete a CBRA, or fewer messages in a CFRA.

[0044] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may use information about whether the CFRA resources are allocated for a quick RA type (in a particular example, a two-step RA type) to determine how the RA is to be performed, as described below.

[0045] The second device 120 may allocate one or more CFRA resources for one or more RA types potentially selected by the first device 110. Typically, a CFRA resource is assigned by the second device 120 for a particular RA type. By using the CFRA resource, the first device 110 can implement CFRA without contention with other devices. The CFRA resource may include a dedicated preamble assigned to the first device 110. In some exemplary embodiments, the CFRA resource may also include a time-frequency resource for transmission of the dedicated preamble. In general, the preamble is transmitted in a physical random access channel (PRACH), and thus the time-frequency resource may be a PRACH resource. The time-frequency resource may not be specifically assigned via dynamic resource assignment from the second device 120, but may be assigned to the first device 110 via dynamic resource assignment. For example, it may be implicitly determined from other configuration information such as an index of a dedicated RA preamble. If the CFRA resource is allocated to a quick RA type (such as a two-step RA type) that requires a preamble and payload to be transmitted in one message (i.e., "MSGA"), the CFRA resource may further include a time-frequency resource for transmission of the payload of the first device 110. The payload may be transmitted in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in some examples, and thus the time-frequency resource may be a PUSCH resource. The payload may include an identification, control information, and / or data of the first device 110.

[0046] If the second device 120 allocates 205 a CFRA resource for the first RA type to the first device 110 and the first device 110 can determine that the CFRA resource is allocated, the first device 110 further compares 220 a TB size corresponding to the allocated CFRA resource with a TB size configured for the group of available preambles for the first RA type. The TB size corresponding to the CFRA resource indicates the size of the payload that can be transmitted to the second device 120 using the CFRA resource. In the two-step RA, the CFRA resource is allocated for the transmission of the MSGA, and the TB size indicates the size of the payload transmitted on the PUSCH in the MSGA.

[0047] The first device 110 may be configured by the second device 120 with one or more groups of preambles for CBRA having a first RA type. The first device 110 may select a preamble from one of the groups of preambles for transmission to the second device 120. In addition to the preambles, the second device 120 may configure a TB size for each of the groups of preambles and one or more preconfigured parameters for selecting each of the groups of preambles (such as a threshold for available data in a buffer (represented as ra-MsgASizeGroupA)) and parameters related to thresholds for path loss (such as parameters PCMAX, preambleReceivedTargetPower, msg3-DeltaPreamble, and messagePowerOffsetGroupB). The TB size configured for a group of preambles indicates the size of the payload that can be transmitted to the second device 120 with the preambles in that group of preambles (e.g., in MSGA for 2-step RA). In CBRA, the payload may be transmitted using a PUSCH resource.

[0048] In some exemplary embodiments, for a quick RA type, the first device 110 may be configured with random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B. Respective TB sizes may be configured for random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B. It will be appreciated that more than two groups of preambles for an RA type may also be configured in the first device 110.

[0049] For ease of explanation, the TB size compared to the target TB size may be referred to as a first TB size, and the associated group of preambles may be referred to as a first group of preambles. Upon comparing the target TB size to the first TB size, the first device 110 performs RA to the second device 120 based on the result of the comparison (230).

[0050] In performing RA, the first device 110 may select a preamble group for performing RA, or select between CFRA and CBRA, based on at least the result of the comparison. Some exemplary embodiments related to RA performed based on the result of the comparison will be described in detail below.

[0051] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device 110 selects a group of preambles for performing RA based on the result of the comparison. Specifically, if the first device 110 determines that the target TB size matches the first TB size configured for the first group of preambles, the first device 110 may perform RA based on the first group of preambles. In other words, when the CFRA resource is allocated, the first device 110 may use the group of preambles having a TB size that matches the target TB size to determine how to perform RA, e.g., how to perform CBRA. As used herein, the term "match" means that the two magnitudes are equal or substantially equal to each other. In exemplary embodiments, if the first device 110 may be configured with multiple groups of preambles for the first RA type, the first device 110 may compare multiple TB sizes configured for multiple respective groups of preambles (including the first TB size) with the target TB size corresponding to the allocated CFRA resource. The comparison may be performed one by one for multiple respective groups of preambles. By allowing the first device 110 to select a group of preambles having a configured TB size that matches the target TB size of the CFRA resource, the first device 110 can easily switch between CFRA and CBRA.

[0052] It should be noted that in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, using a configured TB size for a first RA type compared to a target TB size does not mean that the first device 110 will always select the first RA type for performing the RA. If the first device 110 is permitted to select between the first RA type and one or more other RA types (such as a second RA type), the first device 110 may still follow the RA type selection criteria to determine which RA type is selected for use.

[0053] If the first TB size matches the target TB size and the first RA type is used, the first device 110 may perform a CBRA attempt with the first RA type based on the first group of corresponding preambles. In some examples, the first group of preambles with the matching TB size may be either random access preamble group A or random access preamble group B for the two-step RA type. When performing a CBRA attempt using the first RA type, the first device 110 may select a preamble from the first group of preambles and transmit the selected preamble (e.g., in a PRACH) and a payload of the first TB size (e.g., in a PUSCH) to the second device 120.

[0054] If the first TB size matches the target TB size and a different RA type (e.g., a second RA type) other than the first RA type is used (e.g., the two-step RA procedure is not completed successfully even after sending the MSGA multiple times ("N")), the first device 110 may switch to a four-step RA, and the first device 110 may perform a CBRA attempt with the second RA type and determine whether it can perform a CBRA attempt with the second RA type using a group of preambles configured for the second RA type and corresponding to the first group of preambles of the first RA type. In some examples, the first group of preambles with the matching TB size may be either random access preamble group A or random access preamble group B for the two-step RA type, and the group of preambles corresponding to the first group of preambles for the two-step RA type may be either random access preamble group A or random access preamble group B for the four-step RA, respectively. When performing a CBRA attempt with the second RA type, the first device 110 may select a preamble from a group of preambles configured for the second RA type and corresponding to the first group of preambles for the first RA type, and transmit the selected preamble (e.g., in a PRACH) to the second device 120. Some example embodiments in which the second RA type is used are described in further detail below.

[0055] In some demonstrative embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the target TB size does not match the TB size configured for any other group of preambles, the first device 110 may determine to perform an RA based on a predetermined group of preambles available for the first RA type (sometimes referred to as a "third group of preambles"). For example, the first device 110 may be configured with two groups of preambles (such as random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B), and the first device 110 may first determine whether the target TB size matches the TB size configured for random access preamble group B. If a mismatch is found (i.e., the target TB size does not match the TB size configured for random access preamble group B), the first device 110 may directly decide to perform RA based on random access preamble group A. Alternatively, the first device 110 may compare the TB size configured for random access preamble group A with the target TB size, and if a mismatch is found, it may use random access preamble group B to perform RA.

[0056] Because the TB size for the preamble group may be configured in the first device 110 by the second device 120 before the CFRA resources are allocated to the first device 110, in some exemplary embodiments, the second device 120 may allocate CFRA resources based on the TB size configured for the preamble group, such that the target TB size of the allocated CFRA may always match the TB size configured for one of the preamble groups.

[0057] In some demonstrative embodiments, if CFRA resources are not allocated to the first device 110 and the first device 110 determines to perform an RA using the first RA type, the first device 110 may select a group of preambles for the CBRA of the first RA type based on configured parameters, including thresholds for available data in the buffer (such as ra-MsgASizeGroupA) and parameters related to thresholds for path loss (such as PCMAX, preambleReceivedTargetPower, msg3-DeltaPreamble, messagePowerOffsetGroupB), similar to the selection method specified for the four-step RA.

[0058] In some exemplary embodiments, since selection of a group of preambles is generally required when CBRA is triggered, if a CFRA resource is determined to be allocated, prior to the comparison of TB sizes, the first device 110 may determine whether a transmission on the allocated CFRA resource is available. If a transmission on the allocated CFRA resource is available, the first device 110 may execute a CFRA having a first RA type using the allocated CFRA resource. If a transmission on the allocated CFRA is unavailable, the first device 110 may determine that CBRA should be executed and thus initiate a comparison of TB sizes to determine which group of preambles is used for CBRA. The availability of a transmission on the allocated CFRA resource may depend on the availability of a beam associated with the CFRA resource, which may depend, for example, on a beam reference signal received power (RSRP) being above a configured RSRP threshold, and if there is no available beam on the CFRA resource, the first device 110 may determine that the allocated CFRA resource is unavailable for transmission.

[0059] In some exemplary embodiments, the selection of a group of preambles and the corresponding TB size is determined before the first CBRA attempt begins.

[0060] Thus, prior to comparing the TB sizes, the first device 110 may determine whether a previous CBRA attempt has been performed. If no previous CBRA attempt has been performed, the first device 110 may begin comparing the TB sizes to determine which group of preambles is to be used for CBRA.

[0061] It should be noted that in an example embodiment relating to the selection of a group of preambles, the first RA attempt of the first device 110 may be a CFRA using the allocated CFRA resources or a CBRA, as described above, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0062] As an example, the selection between the groups of preambles according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in a media access control (MAC) entity of the first device 110. Operations related to the selection between the groups of preambles may be summarized in Table 2 as follows: [Table 2]

[0063] As described above, the first device 110 may decide to select a different second RA type to perform the RA. The result of the comparison between the target TB size and the first TB size configured for the first group of preambles for the first RA type may still be used to guide how the first device 110 performs the CBRA attempt using the second RA type. In some exemplary embodiments, when the first device 110 detects a trigger for switching from the first RA type to the second RA type, it may decide to perform the RA with the second RA type. The trigger for switching from the first RA type to the second RA type may be, for example, the number of RA attempts (CFRA or CBRA or both) of the first RA type reaching a predetermined threshold. For example, before selecting the second RA type, the first device 110 may perform some CFRA attempts or some CBRA attempts using the first RA type. For example, in the case of a quick RA, such as a 2-step RA, if the first device 110 transmits an MSGA (including a preamble and a payload) to the second device 120 for up to N times and does not receive a response from the second device 120, the first device 110 may switch from the 2-step RA to another RA type, such as a 4-step RA. It will be understood that other triggers for switching from the first RA type to the second RA type are also possible.

[0064] In some demonstrative embodiments, if a trigger to switch from a first RA type to a second RA type is detected, the first device 110 may determine whether a group of preambles for the second RA type (which may be referred to as a “second group of preambles” for ease of explanation) is available for the first device 110 (e.g., configured in the first device 110 by the second device 120). Depending on the availability of the second group of preambles, the first device 110 may determine how the RA will proceed.

[0065] The first RA type may be a quick RA type, such as a two-step RA type, and the second RA type may be a slow RA type, such as a four-step RA type. There may be multiple groups of preambles for the second RA type, and the second device 120 may configure one or more of the multiple groups of preambles to the first device 110. In an example where the second RA type requires the preamble and payload to be transmitted in separate messages (MSG1 and MSG3), the allowable TB size for the transmission of the payload is dynamically configured by the second device 120. In particular, the second device 120 allocates resources for the transmission of the payload in a grant after successfully decoding the preamble from the first device 110. Therefore, the first device 110 cannot predict the TB size allowed for the transmission of the payload in the second RA type.

[0066] The second group of preambles for the second RA type may be determined as corresponding to the first group of preambles for the first RA type. That is, the first group of preambles for the first RA type having a TB size matching the target TB size may be used by the first device 110 to determine which group of preambles for the second RA type is selected when performing CBRA with the second RA type. There may be a correspondence between the groups of preambles for the respective first and second RA types that may be known by both the first and second devices 110, 120. For example, random access preamble group A for the quick RA type may correspond to random access preamble group A for the slow RA type, and random access preamble group B for the quick RA type may correspond to random access preamble group B. In some exemplary embodiments, when performing an RA based on a group of preambles for the second RA type, the second device 120 may allocate resources to the first device 110 corresponding to the same TB size as configured for the corresponding preamble group for the first RA type. For example, if a first TB size was previously configured for a first group of preambles for a first RA type, upon receiving a preamble selected from a second group of preambles from a second RA type, the second device 120 may allocate resources that can be used to transmit the first TB size for the first device 110.

[0067] In some exemplary embodiments, if the second group of preambles is available, the first device 110 may perform a further CBRA attempt using a second RA type based on the second group of preambles, e.g., by sending a preamble selected from the second group of preambles. If the second group of preambles is unavailable, the first device 110 may determine that the RA to the second device 120 fails. That is, in this case, the first device 110 is not allowed to switch to the second RA type. For example, in such a case, the random access problem may be indicated to a higher layer, such as an RRC layer, by the MAC entity of the first device 110.

[0068] As a specific example, the first device 110 may be configured with random access preamble groups A and B for a fast RA type and only random access preamble group A for a slow RA type. If the first device 110 performs a CBRA attempt using a quick RA type based on its random access preamble group B according to the TB size comparison as described above, it means that the TB size used is the TB size configured for the random access preamble group B of the first RA type (equal to the target TB size). In this case, the first device 110 is not allowed to switch to the slow RA type because sending a preamble from the available random access preamble group A for the slow RA type to the second device 120 may trigger the second device 120 to allocate resources having a TB size different from the TB size configured for the random access preamble group B of the first RA type.

[0069] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may only determine whether the slow RA type random access preamble group B is available, since the slow RA type random access preamble group A is always configured in the first device 110.

[0070] As an example, the decision to switch between the first RA type and the second RA type according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in a MAC entity of the first device 110. The corresponding operations may be summarized in the description of Table 3 below. [Table 3-1] [Table 3-2]

[0071] As mentioned above, in some exemplary embodiments, the result of the TB size comparison may be used to select between CFRA and CBRA, for example, when CFRA is permitted to be performed. In such exemplary embodiments, if the first device 110 is performing a CBRA attempt based on a first group of preambles for a first RA type (because a beam with an assigned CFRA resource is unavailable), and the CBRA attempt fails, and if a beam with an assigned CFRA resource becomes available for transmission, the first device 110 may determine in the signaling flow 200 to compare a target TB size corresponding to the assigned CFRA resource with a first TB size configured for the first group of preambles at 230. If the target TB size is inconsistent with the first TB size, the first device 110 may not perform a CFRA attempt using the CFRA resource because the size of the buffered blocks in the first device 110 does not match the target TB size even through the corresponding CFRA resource (the beam may be a synchronization signal block (SSB) beam or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) beam). The first device 110 may be restricted to CBRA in subsequent RA procedures. The first device 110 may instead continue to perform further CBRA attempts using the first RA type based on the first group of preambles and the first TB size, for example, by transmitting to the payload device 120 a preamble selected from the first group of preambles and the first transport block size.

[0072] In this case, the first group of preambles may be selected for use according to a selection method based on preconfigured parameters instead of based on comparing the TB size configured for the available group of preambles with the target TB size. The first group of preambles is obtained as one of the random access preamble group A and the random access preamble group B for the first RA type. For example, for a quick RA type, if the potential payload size in the MSGA (UL data available for transmission + MAC header, and MAC CE, if needed) is larger than ra-MsgASizeGroupA and the path loss is smaller than PCMAX-preambleReceivedTargetPower-msgA-DeltaPreamble-messagePowerOffsetGroupB (of the serving cell performing the random access procedure) or the random access procedure is initiated for the CCCH logical channel and the CCCH SDU size + MAC subheader is larger than ra-MsgASizeGroupA, then the random access preamble group B is selected. Otherwise, the random access preamble group A is selected.

[0073] 3 shows a flowchart of an example method 300 implemented in a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the method 300 is described from the perspective of the first device 110 with reference to FIG.

[0074] In block 310, the first device 110 determines whether a contention-free random access resource is allocated from the second device for the first random access type. In accordance with the determination that a contention-free random access resource is allocated, in block 320, the first device 110 compares a target transport block size corresponding to the contention-free random access resource with a first transport block size configured for a first group of preambles available for the first random access type. In block 330, the first device 110 performs random access to the second device based on a result of the comparison.

[0075] In some example embodiments, performing random access comprises performing random access based on the first group of preambles in accordance with a determination that the target transport block size matches the first transport block size.

[0076] In some example embodiments, performing random access based on the first group of preambles comprises performing a contention-based random access attempt using the first random access type by transmitting a preamble selected from the first group of preambles of the first transport block size and a payload in accordance with the determination that the first random access type is used.

[0077] In some example embodiments, performing random access based on the first group of preambles comprises selecting, in accordance with a trigger for switching from the first random access type to the second random access type, a second group of preambles for the second random access type corresponding to the first group of preambles, and performing a further contention-based random access attempt in the second random access type by transmitting a preamble selected from the second group of preambles in accordance with the selection of the second group of preambles.

[0078] In some exemplary embodiments, selecting the second group of preambles comprises determining whether the second group of preambles is available for the first device in accordance with triggering a switch from the first random access type to the second random access type, and selecting the second group of preambles in accordance with a determination that the second group of preambles is available. In some exemplary embodiments, the method further includes determining that the random access fails without performing a contention-based random access attempt with the second random access type in accordance with a determination that the second group of preambles is unavailable.

[0079] In some exemplary embodiments, the second random access type is a slow random access type. In some exemplary embodiments, the second random access type is a four-step random access type.

[0080] In some example embodiments, comparing the target transport block size to the first transport block size comprises determining whether transmission on the contention-free random access resource is available, and, in accordance with a determination that transmission on the contention-free random access resource is unavailable, comparing the target transport block size to the first transport block size.

[0081] In some example embodiments, performing the random access comprises performing the random access based on a third group of preambles available for the first random access type in accordance with a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size.

[0082] In some exemplary embodiments, the third group of preambles comprises one of random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B for the first random access type.

[0083] In some example embodiments, comparing the target transport block size to the first transport block size comprises determining whether a transmission on a contention-free random access resource is available in accordance with a determination that a previous contention-based random access attempt using a preamble selected from the first group of preambles fails, and comparing the target transport block size to the first transport block size in accordance with the transmission on the contention-free random access resource being available.

[0084] In some exemplary embodiments, comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size comprises determining whether a previous contention-based random access attempt to the second device has been performed, and comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size in accordance with a determination that a previous contention-based random access attempt has not been performed.

[0085] In some demonstrative embodiments, performing the random access includes preventing a contention-free random access attempt from being performed pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size.

[0086] In some example embodiments, performing the random access comprises, pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size, performing a further contention based random access attempt with the first random access type based on the first group of preambles and the first transport block size.

[0087] In some exemplary embodiments, the first group of preambles comprises one of random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B for the first random access type.

[0088] In some exemplary embodiments, the first random access type is a fast random access type. In some exemplary embodiments, the first random access type is a two-step random access type.

[0089] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

[0090] In some demonstrative embodiments, a first apparatus (e.g., first device 110) capable of performing any of methods 300 may comprise means for performing each step of method 300. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module. The first device may be implemented as or included within first device 110.

[0091] In some example embodiments, the method comprises means for the first device to determine whether a contention-free random access resource is allocated from the second device for a first random access type, and, according to a determination that the contention-free random access resource is allocated, comparing a target transport block size corresponding to the contention-free random access resource with a first transport block size configured for a first group of preambles available for the first random access type, and performing random access to the second device based on a result of the comparison.

[0092] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access comprises means for performing random access based on the first group of preambles pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size matches the first transport block size.

[0093] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access based on a first group of preambles comprises means for performing a contention-based random access attempt using a first random access type by transmitting a preamble selected from the first group of preambles and a payload of the first transport block size in accordance with a determination that a first random access type is to be used.

[0094] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access based on the first group of preambles comprises means for selecting, in accordance with triggering a switch from the first random access type to the second random access type, a second group of preambles for the second random access type corresponding to the first group of preambles, and means for performing a further contention based random access attempt with the second random access type by transmitting a preamble selected from the second group of preambles in accordance with the selection of the second group of preambles.

[0095] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for selecting the second group of preambles comprises means for determining whether the second group of preambles is available for the first device in accordance with triggering a switch from the first random access type to the second random access type, and selecting the second group of preambles in accordance with a determination that the second group of preambles is available. In some exemplary embodiments, the method further includes determining that the random access fails without performing a contention-based random access attempt with the second random access type in accordance with a determination that the second group of preambles is unavailable.

[0096] In some exemplary embodiments, the second random access type is a slow random access type. In some exemplary embodiments, the second random access type is a four-step random access type.

[0097] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size comprises means for determining whether transmission on the contention-free random access resource is available, and means for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size in accordance with a determination that transmission on the contention-free random access resource is unavailable.

[0098] In some exemplary embodiments, comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size comprises determining whether a previous contention-based random access attempt to the second device has been performed, and comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size in accordance with a determination that a previous contention-based random access attempt has not been performed.

[0099] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access comprises means for performing random access based on a third group of preambles available for the first random access type pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size.

[0100] In some exemplary embodiments, the third group of preambles comprises one of random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B for the first random access type.

[0101] In some example embodiments, the means for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size comprises means for determining whether a transmission on a contention-free random access resource is available in accordance with a determination that a previous contention-based random access attempt using a preamble selected from the first group of preambles fails, and for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size in accordance with a transmission on the contention-free random access resource being available.

[0102] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access comprises means for preventing a contention-free random access attempt from being performed in accordance with a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size.

[0103] In some demonstrative embodiments, performing the random access includes preventing a contention-free random access attempt from being performed pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size.

[0104] In some example embodiments, performing the random access comprises, pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size, performing a further contention based random access attempt with the first random access type based on the first group of preambles and the first transport block size.

[0105] In some exemplary embodiments, the first group of preambles comprises one of random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B for the first random access type.

[0106] In some exemplary embodiments, the first random access type is a fast random access type. In some exemplary embodiments, the first random access type is a two-step random access type.

[0107] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

[0108] In some demonstrative embodiments, a first apparatus (e.g., first device 110) capable of performing any of methods 300 may comprise means for performing each step of method 300. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module. The first device may be implemented as or included within first device 110.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the method comprises means for the first device to determine whether a contention-free random access resource is allocated from the second device for a first random access type, and, according to a determination that the contention-free random access resource is allocated, comparing a target transport block size corresponding to the contention-free random access resource with a first transport block size configured for a first group of preambles available for the first random access type, and performing random access to the second device based on a result of the comparison.

[0110] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access comprises means for performing random access based on the first group of preambles pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size matches the first transport block size.

[0111] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access based on a first group of preambles comprises means for performing a contention-based random access attempt using a first random access type by transmitting a preamble selected from the first group of preambles and a payload of the first transport block size in accordance with a determination that a first random access type is to be used.

[0112] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access based on the first group of preambles comprises means for selecting, in accordance with triggering a switch from the first random access type to the second random access type, a second group of preambles for the second random access type corresponding to the first group of preambles, and means for performing a further contention based random access attempt with the second random access type by transmitting a preamble selected from the second group of preambles in accordance with the selection of the second group of preambles.

[0113] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for selecting the second group of preambles comprises means for determining whether the second group of preambles is available for the first device in accordance with triggering a switch from the first random access type to the second random access type, and selecting the second group of preambles in accordance with a determination that the second group of preambles is available. In some exemplary embodiments, the method further includes determining that the random access fails without performing a contention-based random access attempt with the second random access type in accordance with a determination that the second group of preambles is unavailable.

[0114] In some exemplary embodiments, the second random access type is a slow random access type. In some exemplary embodiments, the second random access type is a four-step random access type.

[0115] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size comprises means for determining whether transmission on the contention-free random access resource is available, and means for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size in accordance with a determination that transmission on the contention-free random access resource is unavailable.

[0116] In some exemplary embodiments, comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size comprises determining whether a previous contention-based random access attempt to the second device has been performed, and comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size in accordance with a determination that a previous contention-based random access attempt has not been performed.

[0117] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access comprises means for performing random access based on a third group of preambles available for the first random access type pursuant to a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size.

[0118] In some exemplary embodiments, the third group of preambles comprises one of random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B for the first random access type.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the means for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size comprises means for determining whether a transmission on a contention-free random access resource is available in accordance with a determination that a previous contention-based random access attempt using a preamble selected from the first group of preambles fails, and for comparing the target transport block size with the first transport block size in accordance with a transmission on the contention-free random access resource being available.

[0120] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access comprises means for preventing a contention-free random access attempt from being performed in accordance with a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size.

[0121] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for performing random access further comprises, in response to a determination that the target transport block size is inconsistent with the first transport block size: Means are provided for performing a further contention based random access attempt using the first random access type based on the first preamble group and the first transport block size.

[0122] In some exemplary embodiments, the first group of preambles comprises one of random access preamble group A and random access preamble group B for the first random access type.

[0123] In some exemplary embodiments, the first random access type is a fast random access type. In some exemplary embodiments, the first random access type is a two-step random access type.

[0124] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

[0125] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device further includes means for performing other steps in some exemplary embodiments of method 300. In some exemplary embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured in conjunction with the at least one processor to cause performance of the first device.

[0126] 4 is a simplified block diagram of a device 400 suitable for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 400 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as the first device 110 or the second device 120, as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 400 includes one or more processors 410, one or more memories 420 coupled to the processor 410, and one or more communication modules 440 coupled to the processor 410.

[0127] The communication module 440 is for bidirectional communication. The communication module 440 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements.

[0128] The processor 410 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting examples, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 400 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0129] The memory 420 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM) 424, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), or a digital video disk (DVD). Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 422 and other volatile memory that does not last during a power supply period.

[0130] The computer program 430 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 410. The program 430 may be stored in a memory, for example, in the ROM 424. The processor 410 may load the program 430 into the RAM 422 to perform any suitable operations and processes.

[0131] The exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of a program 430 such that the device 400 can execute any process of the present disclosure described in relation to Figures 2-3. The exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0132] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 430 may be tangibly included in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 400 (such as memory 420) or other storage device accessible by the device 400. The device 400 may load the program 430 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 422 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 5 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 500 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer-readable medium has the program 430 stored thereon.

[0133] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controller, or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0134] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in a program module, that execute on a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform any of the methods described above with reference to Figures 2-3. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split among program modules as desired in various aspects. Machine-executable instructions for a program module may be executed in a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0135] The program codes for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when executed by the processor or controller, the program codes cause the processor or controller to implement the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program codes may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine, partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0136] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0137] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the above. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0138] Furthermore, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order depicted, or in sequential order, or that all depicted operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while some specific implementation details are included in the above description, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable combination.

[0139] Although this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, It is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment (110), means for determining that a plurality of resources for a two-step contention-free random access have been configured for the user equipment by a network device, the plurality of resources including a preamble and a time-frequency resource including a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource for a payload of the two-step contention-free random access; A means for selecting a preamble group among a plurality of preamble groups configured for the user equipment (110) for a two-step contention-based random access message, comprising: when the plurality of resources for the two-step contention-free random access are configured, the selecting means is configured to select the preamble group for the two-step contention-based random access message based on whether a first transport block size, indicating a size of the payload that can be transmitted using the time-frequency resources for the two-step contention-free random access, corresponds to a second transport block size configured for the preamble group; if the plurality of resources for the two-step contention-free random access have not been configured, the selecting means is configured to select the preamble group for the two-step contention-based random access message based on a threshold for available data in a buffer of the user equipment and a threshold for a path loss between the user equipment and the network device. The selecting means; A user equipment (110) comprising means for transmitting the two-step contention-based random access message to the network device (120) using a preamble from the selected preamble group.

2. the plurality of preamble groups includes at least a preamble group A and a preamble group B; 2. The user equipment (110) of claim 1, wherein, when the plurality of resources for two-step contention-free random access are configured, the selecting means is configured to select the preamble group B if the first transport block size corresponds to the second transport block size.

3. 3. The user equipment (110) of claim 2, wherein when switching from a two-step contention-free random access to a four-step contention-based random access, the selecting means is configured to select the preamble group B if the first transport block size corresponds to the second transport block size.

4. 3. The user equipment (110) of claim 2, wherein when the plurality of resources for two-step contention-free random access are configured, the selecting means is configured to select the preamble group A if the first transport block size does not correspond to the second transport block size.

5. 5. The user equipment (110) of claim 4, wherein when switching from a two-step contention-free random access to a four-step contention-based random access, the selecting means is configured to select the preamble group A if the first transport block size does not correspond to the second transport block size.

6. the plurality of preamble groups includes at least a preamble group A and a preamble group B; If the plurality of resources for the two-step contention-free random access have not been configured, the means for selecting comprises: a payload of data available in the buffer of the user equipment is greater than the threshold for data available in the buffer of the user equipment; and if the path loss between the user equipment and the network device is less than the threshold for path loss between the user equipment and the network device; The user equipment (110) of claim 1 configured to select the preamble group B.

7. 7. The user equipment (110) of claim 6, wherein the threshold for available data in the buffer of the user equipment is ra-MsgASizeGroupA and the threshold for path loss between the user equipment and the network device is represented by PCMAX-preambleReceivedTarget-msgA-DeltaPreamble-messagePowerOffsetGroupB.

8. A method performed by a user equipment (110), comprising: determining that a plurality of resources for a two-step contention-free random access has been configured for the user equipment by a network device (120), the plurality of resources including a preamble and a time-frequency resource including a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource for a payload of the two-step contention-free random access; selecting a preamble group among a plurality of preamble groups configured for the user equipment (110) for a two-step contention-based random access message, When the plurality of resources for the two-step contention-free random access are configured, selecting the preamble group for the two-step contention-based random access message is based on whether a first transport block size indicating a size of the payload that can be transmitted using the time-frequency resources for the two-step contention-free random access corresponds to a second transport block size configured for the preamble group, If the resources for the two-step contention-free random access are not configured, selecting the preamble group for the two-step contention-based random access message is based on a threshold for available data in a buffer of the user equipment and a threshold for a path loss between the user equipment and the network device. said selecting; transmitting the two-step contention-based random access message to the network device (120) using a preamble from the selected preamble group.

9. the plurality of preamble groups includes at least a preamble group A and a preamble group B; When the plurality of resources for the two-step contention free random access are configured, the method includes selecting the preamble group B if the first transport block size corresponds to the second transport block size. The method according to claim 8.

10. 10. The method of claim 9, when switching from a two-step contention-free random access to a four-step contention-based random access, the method comprising selecting the preamble group B if the first transport block size corresponds to the second transport block size.

11. 10. The method of claim 9, when the plurality of resources for the two-step contention-free random access are configured, the method comprising selecting the preamble group A if the first transport block size does not correspond to the second transport block size.

12. 12. The method of claim 11, when switching from a two-step contention-free random access to a four-step contention-based random access, the method comprising selecting the preamble group A if the first transport block size does not correspond to the second transport block size.

13. the plurality of preamble groups includes at least a preamble group A and a preamble group B; If the plurality of resources for the two-step contention-free random access has not been configured, the method further comprises: a payload of data available in the buffer of the user equipment is greater than the threshold for data available in the buffer of the user equipment; and if the path loss between the user equipment and the network device is less than the threshold for path loss between the user equipment and the network device; The method of claim 8 comprising selecting the preamble group B.

14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the threshold for available data in the buffer of the user equipment is ra-MsgASizeGroupA, and the threshold for path loss between the user equipment and the network device is represented by PCMAX-preambleReceivedTarget-msgA-DeltaPreamble-messagePowerOffsetGroupB.

15. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to carry out the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

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