Terminal, wireless base station, and wireless communication method

Abstract

This terminal has a plurality of antenna ports and a plurality of transmission systems, and performs switching between the antenna ports and / or the transmission systems on the basis of a first switching mechanism of an uplink. When the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission systems exceeds a threshold value, the terminal applies a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism that is applied when the number is less than or equal to the threshold value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a terminal, a radio base station, and a radio communication method that support uplink switching.

Background Art

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP: registered trademark) has been standardizing the 5th generation mobile communication system (also called 5G, New Radio (NR), or Next Generation (NG)), and is also promoting the standardization of the next generation, such as Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G.

[0003] For example, in 3GPP Release 17, in order to enhance uplink (UL) transmission using multiple carriers, UL Tx switching using two antenna ports and two sets of Tx chains (transmission systems) is defined (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Thereby, while using two frequency bands (which may also be called bands or carriers interchangeably), it is possible to configure supplementary UL (SUL) and carrier aggregation (CA) of UL.

[0004] In 3GPP Release 18, it is being considered to increase the number of supported bands to three or more. As a countermeasure when the number of bands increases, multiple UL Tx switching mechanisms have been proposed, such as a switching mechanism that focuses on throughput improvement or a switching mechanism that takes into account reducing the complexity of the terminal (User Equipment, UE) (Non-Patent Document 2).

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TS 38.214 V17.2.0, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 17), 3GPP, June 2022 [Non-Patent Document 2] "RAN1 Chair's Notes", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #109-e, 3GPP, May 2022 [Overview of the project]

[0006] When switching mechanisms focused on throughput improvement are prioritized for UL Tx switching in 3GPP Release 18, problems remain in terms of reducing UE complexity.

[0007] Therefore, the following disclosure is made in light of these circumstances and aims to provide terminals, wireless base stations, and wireless communication methods to which an appropriate switching mechanism according to the capabilities can be applied.

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure is a terminal (UE200) comprising a transmitting unit (wireless signal transmitting / receiving unit 210) having a plurality of antenna ports and a plurality of transmission systems, which switches the antenna ports and / or the transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism of the uplink, and a control unit (control unit 270) which applies a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism applied when the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system exceeds a threshold, or when the number of carriers exceeds a threshold or is less than or equal to the threshold.

[0009] One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (gNB100) comprising: a transmitting unit (control signal / reference signal processing unit 240) that transmits instruction information to a terminal that switches the antenna ports and / or the transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism of the uplink, the transmission system having a threshold value for the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system, and a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism that is applied when the number of carriers is less than or equal to the threshold value; and a receiving unit (radio signal transmitting / receiving unit 210) that receives an uplink channel from the terminal via the uplink. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall configuration of the wireless communication system 10. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of wireless frames, subframes, and slots used in the wireless communication system 10. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows an example of the UL Tx switching configuration in UE200. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows the functional block diagrams of the gNB100 and UE200. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows the case of UL Tx switching in the case of 3 bands. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows the case of UL Tx switching in the 4-band case. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows an example of the settings for the switching mechanism for UL Tx switching related to Operation Example 1. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows the operation flow of the switching mechanism for UL Tx switching. [Figure 9] Figure 9 shows an example sequence for sending and receiving capability information and instruction information for UL Tx switching. [Figure 10]Figure 10 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the gNB100 and UE200. [Figure 11] Figure 11 shows an example of the configuration of vehicle 2001. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that identical or similar reference numerals are used to denote the same functions and components, and their descriptions will be omitted as appropriate.

[0012] (1) Overall outline of the wireless communication system Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall configuration of the wireless communication system 10 according to this embodiment. The wireless communication system 10 is a wireless communication system that conforms to 5G New Radio (NR) and includes a Next Generation-Radio Access Network 20 (hereinafter referred to as NG-RAN20) and a terminal 200 (hereinafter referred to as UE200, User Equipment, UE). The wireless communication system 10 may also be a wireless communication system that conforms to a method called Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G.

[0013] NG-RAN20 includes a wireless base station 100 (hereinafter referred to as gNB100). The specific configuration of the wireless communication system 10, including the number of gNBs and UEs, is not limited to the example shown in Figure 1.

[0014] NG-RAN20 actually includes multiple NG-RAN Nodes, specifically gNBs (or ng-eNBs), and is connected to a 5G-compliant core network (5GC, not shown). Note that NG-RAN20 and 5GC may also be simply referred to as the "network".

[0015] gNB100 is a radio base station compliant with 5G and performs wireless communication compliant with 5G with UE200. gNB100 and UE200 can support Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) that generates a more directive antenna beam (hereinafter referred to as beam) by controlling radio signals transmitted from a plurality of antenna elements, carrier aggregation (CA) that bundles and uses a plurality of component carriers (CC), and dual connectivity (DC) that simultaneously communicates between the UE and two NG-RAN Nodes respectively.

[0016] Note that the type of DC may be Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) that uses a plurality of radio access technologies, or NR-NR Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) that uses only NR. Also, for MR-DC, it may be E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) in which an eNB constitutes a master node (MN) and a gNB constitutes a secondary node (SN), or vice versa, NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC).

[0017] gNB100 can transmit a plurality of beams with different transmission directions (which may be simply referred to as directions, or radiation directions or coverages, etc.) by spatially and time-division multiplexing. Note that gNB100 may transmit a plurality of beams simultaneously.

[0018] Also, the wireless communication system 10 may correspond to the following plurality of frequency ranges (FR).

[0019] ·FR1: 410 MHz to 7.125 GHz ·FR2-1: 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz In FR1, a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15, 30, or 60 kHz may be used, and a bandwidth (BW) of 5 to 100 MHz may be used. FR2-1 is at a higher frequency than FR1, and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 60 or 120 kHz (240 kHz may be included) may be used, and a bandwidth (BW) of 50 to 400 MHz may be used.

[0020] Note that SCS may also be interpreted as numerology. Numerology is defined in 3GPP TS38.300 and corresponds to a single subcarrier interval in the frequency domain.

[0021] Furthermore, the wireless communication system 10 also supports higher frequency bands than the FR2-1 frequency band. Specifically, the wireless communication system 10 supports frequency bands exceeding 52.6 GHz up to 71 GHz. Such high frequency bands may also be called FR2-2.

[0022] When using bandwidths exceeding 52.6 GHz, Cyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) / Discrete Fourier Transform - Spread (DFT-S-OFDM) with a larger Sub-Carrier Spacing (SCS) may be applied.

[0023] Furthermore, in high-frequency bands such as FR2-2, as mentioned above, the increase in inter-carrier phase noise becomes a problem. For this reason, it may be necessary to apply a larger (wider) SCS or a single-carrier waveform.

[0024] The larger the SCS, the shorter the symbol / CP (Cyclic Prefix) period and slot period (when the 14 symbols / slot configuration is maintained). Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of wireless frames, subframes, and slots used in the wireless communication system 10.

[0025] If the 14 symbol / slot configuration is maintained, the larger (wider) the SCS becomes, the shorter the symbol duration (and slot duration). The symbol duration may also be called the symbol length, time domain, or time-domain. The frequency domain may also be called the frequency domain, resource block, subcarrier, or BWP (Bandwidth part).

[0026] Frequency resources may include component carriers (CC), subcarriers, resource blocks (RB), resource block groups (RBG), and Bandwidth parts (BWP). Time resources may include symbols, slots, minislots, subframes, radio frames, and Discontinuous Reception (DRX) periods.

[0027] Note that the number of symbols constituting one slot does not necessarily have to be 14 (for example, 28 or 56 symbols). Also, the number of slots per subframe may vary depending on the SCS.

[0028] In the wireless communication system 10, an SSB (SS / PBCH Block) consisting of a synchronization signal (SS) and a downlink physical broadcast channel (PBCH) may be used.

[0029] SSB is primarily transmitted periodically from the network by the UE200 at the start of communication to detect the cell ID and reception timing. In NR, SSB is also used to measure the reception quality of each cell. The transmission period (periodicity) of SSB may be specified as 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 milliseconds. Note that the UE200 during initial access may be assumed to have a transmission period of 20 milliseconds.

[0030] Furthermore, the wireless communication system 10 may be enhanced to improve multi-carrier uplink (UL) transmission. Specifically, the UE200 can use multiple antenna ports and multiple Tx chains (transmission systems) in UL Tx switching (uplink switching).

[0031] Figure 3 shows an example configuration of UL Tx switching in UE200. 3GPP Releases 16 and 17 may support UL Tx switching (also called 2Tx-2Tx UL Tx switching), which allows switching UL transmission between two bands (or two carriers). Such UL Tx switching can be suitably used in SUL (Supplementary UL), Inter-band CA, and EN-DC. Note that SUL is associated with a conventional downlink / uplink (DL / UL) carrier pair, and typically uses carriers (bands) operating in lower frequency bands.

[0032] 3GPP Release 18 will further enhance the functionality of UL Tx switching. Specifically, it is planned to allow switching of UL transmission between 3-band or 4-band systems, as shown in Figure 3 (Figure 3 shows an example with 4 bands).

[0033] Specifically, the UE200 features two antenna ports and two sets of Tx chains, and each Tx chain can be switched to one of Bands A, B, C, or D. Such UL Tx switching may also be called 2Tx-2Tx (-2Tx-2Tx) switching.

[0034] Up until 3GPP Release 17, there were limitations such as the restriction that switchable bands were limited to the same band, but these limitations may be resolved. This is expected to lead to a significant improvement in UL's throughput.

[0035] In response to the increase in the number of bands, the wireless communication system 10 may selectively apply multiple UL Tx switching mechanisms, such as a switching mechanism that focuses on improving throughput and a switching mechanism that takes into account the complexity of the UE200.

[0036] A switching mechanism focused on improving throughput may allow free switching between 3 or 4 bands without particular constraints. A switching mechanism designed to reduce complexity in the UE200 is envisioned that allows the number of switchable bands to be set via signaling, or that an anchor band is set, restricting band switching to only through the anchor band. Details of the specific switching mechanism will be described later.

[0037] (2) Functional block configuration of the wireless communication system Next, the functional block configuration of the wireless communication system 10 will be described. Specifically, the functional block configuration of UE200 will be described. Figure 4 is a functional block configuration diagram of gNB100 and UE200.

[0038] As shown in Figure 4, the UE200 comprises a wireless signal transmission / reception unit 210, an amplifier unit 220, a modulation / demodulation unit 230, a control signal / reference signal processing unit 240, an encoding / decoding unit 250, a data transmission / reception unit 260, and a control unit 270.

[0039] Note that Figure 4 only shows the main functional blocks relevant to the description of the embodiment, and the UE200 (gNB100) has other functional blocks (e.g., a power supply unit). Also, Figure 4 shows the functional block configuration of the UE200; please refer to Figure 10 for the hardware configuration.

[0040] The wireless signal transceiver 210 transmits and receives wireless signals in accordance with NR. By controlling the radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted from multiple antenna elements, the wireless signal transceiver 210 can support Massive MIMO, which generates a more directional beam; carrier aggregation (CA), which uses multiple component carriers (CCs) bundled together; and dual connectivity (DC), which enables simultaneous communication between the UE and each of the two NG-RAN Nodes.

[0041] Furthermore, the wireless signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 may have a plurality of antenna ports (Port 1, 2) and a Tx chain (transmission system) as shown in Figure 3. The wireless signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 may switch between the two antenna ports and / or the Tx chain between the two antenna ports and the two Tx chains. In this case, the wireless signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 may constitute a transmitting unit that switches between the antenna ports and / or the Tx chain.

[0042] Specifically, the wireless signal transceiver 210 may switch the antenna port and / or Tx chain based on any of a plurality of switching mechanisms for UL Tx switching. As described above, the switching mechanism may include a switching mechanism focused on improving throughput and a switching mechanism that takes into consideration the reduction of complexity of the UE200. Here, the switching mechanism focused on improving throughput may be referred to as the first switching mechanism for the uplink, and the switching mechanism that takes into consideration the complexity of the UE200 may be referred to as the second switching mechanism.

[0043] Furthermore, the wireless signal transceiver 210 may have an option (Option 1) in which it cannot support simultaneous transmission of two or more carriers using the Tx chain, and an option (Option 2) in which it can simultaneously set (transmit) two or more carriers (which may be interpreted as component carriers).

[0044] The amplifier section 220 consists of components such as a PA (Power Amplifier) ​​and an LNA (Low Noise Amplifier). The amplifier section 220 amplifies the signal output from the modulation / demodulation section 230 to a predetermined power level. The amplifier section 220 also amplifies the RF signal output from the wireless signal transmission / reception section 210.

[0045] The modulation / demodulation unit 230 performs data modulation / demodulation, transmit power setting, and resource block allocation for each predetermined communication destination (such as gNB100). The modulation / demodulation unit 230 may apply Cyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) / Discrete Fourier Transform - Spread (DFT-S-OFDM). Furthermore, DFT-S-OFDM may be used not only for the uplink (UL) but also for the downlink (DL).

[0046] The control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 performs processing related to various control signals transmitted and received by the UE200, and processing related to various reference signals transmitted and received by the UE200.

[0047] Specifically, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 receives various control signals transmitted from the gNB100 via a predetermined control channel, such as control signals for the radio resource control layer (RRC). The control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 also transmits various control signals to the gNB100 via a predetermined control channel.

[0048] The control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 performs processing using reference signals (RS) such as the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) and the Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS).

[0049] DMRS is a terminal-specific, known reference signal (pilot signal) between the base station and the terminal used to estimate the fading channel used for data demodulation. PTRS is a terminal-specific reference signal intended to estimate phase noise, which is a problem in the high-frequency band.

[0050] In addition to DMRS and PTRS, the reference signals may also include Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) for location information.

[0051] Furthermore, channels include control channels and data channels. Control channels may include PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), RACH (Random Access Channel, Downlink Control Information (DCI) including Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI)), and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), among others.

[0052] Furthermore, data channels include PDSCH and PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), among others. "Data" can refer to data transmitted through a data channel.

[0053] Furthermore, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may transmit capability information of the UE200 to the network. In particular, in this embodiment, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 can transmit UE Capability Information related to UL Tx switching to the gNB100.

[0054] Specifically, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may transmit information (UE Capability Information) to the network indicating a threshold for the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the Tx chain. The control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may also transmit information to the network indicating the configuration of the antenna port and / or Tx chain (including whether Option support is available) and its capabilities (such as supported frequency bands and frequency ranges).

[0055] Furthermore, information indicating a threshold for the frequency band or number of carriers supported by the Tx chain may be provided (instructed) from the network. The control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 receives this threshold information from the network. In this embodiment, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a receiving unit that receives the threshold information. This threshold information may be indicated by signaling from a higher layer (e.g., RRC), Downlink Control Information (DCI), or by control elements (CE) of the Media Access Control Layer (MAC).

[0056] Furthermore, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may receive instruction information for the switching mechanism for UL Tx switching from the network. In this embodiment, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a receiving unit for receiving instruction information.

[0057] Specifically, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may receive instruction information for a switching mechanism (for example, a second switching mechanism) to be applied to the UE200 from among a plurality of switching mechanisms. The switching mechanism indicated by this instruction information may be one, or multiple switching mechanisms may be indicated along with the application conditions.

[0058] The encoding / decoding unit 250 performs data splitting / concatenation and channel coding / decoding for each predetermined communication destination (gNB100 or other gNB).

[0059] Specifically, the encoding / decoding unit 250 divides the data output from the data transmission / reception unit 260 into predetermined sizes and performs channel coding on the divided data. The encoding / decoding unit 250 also decodes the data output from the modulation / demodulation unit 230 and concatenates the decoded data.

[0060] The data transmission / reception unit 260 performs the transmission and reception of Protocol Data Units (PDUs) and Service Data Units (SDUs). Specifically, the data transmission / reception unit 260 performs assembly / decomposition of PDUs / SDUs at multiple layers (such as the Media Access Control Layer (MAC), Radio Link Control Layer (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol Layer (PDCP)). In addition, the data transmission / reception unit 260 performs error correction and retransmission control of data based on Hybrid ARQ (Hybrid automatic repeat request).

[0061] The control unit 270 controls each functional block that constitutes the UE200. In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 270 can perform control related to UL Tx switching.

[0062] Specifically, the control unit 270 can select a switching mechanism to be applied to UL Tx switching using the antenna port and Tx chain configuration (2Tx-2Tx) of the wireless signal transmission / reception unit 210.

[0063] The control unit 270 may change the switching mechanism applied to UL Tx switching depending on the frequency band or number of carriers supported by the Tx chain. For example, if the frequency band or number of carriers supported by the Tx chain exceeds a threshold (e.g., 3 bands), the control unit 270 may apply a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism applied when the number of frequency bands or carriers is below the threshold.

[0064] The first switching mechanism may be a switching mechanism that focuses on improving throughput as described above, and the second switching mechanism may be a switching mechanism that takes into account reducing the complexity of the UE200 more than the first switching mechanism, but it does not necessarily have to be a switching mechanism with these characteristics.

[0065] The control unit 270 may, based on the instruction information received by the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240, acquire a second switching mechanism to be applied when the threshold described above is exceeded, and if the threshold is exceeded, apply the second switching mechanism instructed from the network. As described above, the second switching mechanism is, for example, a switching mechanism that allows the number of switchable bands to be set by signaling, or a switching mechanism that sets an anchor band and restricts band switching to be via the anchor band, but specific examples will be described later.

[0066] The second switching mechanism may vary depending on the simultaneous transmission capability of the UE200 via its Tx chain. Simultaneous transmission capability may be interpreted as an option (Option 1) that cannot support simultaneous transmission of two or more carriers using the aforementioned Tx chain, and an option (Option 2) that can simultaneously set (transmit) two or more carriers (which may be interpreted as component carriers). However, the number of carriers (bands) that can be transmitted simultaneously may vary depending on the capabilities of the UE200, such as three or more.

[0067] Furthermore, the UE200 has multiple antenna ports and multiple transmission systems, and the gNB100 (control signal / reference signal processing unit 240) may be configured as a transmitting unit that transmits instruction information to the UE200, which switches antenna ports and / or transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism of the uplink, including at least one of a threshold value for the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system, and a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism that is applied when the number of carriers is less than or equal to the threshold value. Also, the gNB100 (wireless signal transmitting / receiving unit 210) may be configured as a receiving unit that receives the uplink channel from the UE200 via the uplink.

[0068] (3) Operation of the wireless communication system Next, the operation of the wireless communication system 10 will be described. Specifically, the operation of the UE200, which supports multiple switching mechanisms and performs appropriate UL Tx switching according to its capabilities, will be described.

[0069] (3.1) Prerequisites and Issues As mentioned above, 3GPP Release 18 anticipates switching between UL transmissions between 3-band and 4-band (CC) configurations. This increase in the number of switchable bands dramatically increases the number of UL Tx switching patterns.

[0070] Figure 5 shows the UL Tx switching case for a 3-band system. Figure 6 shows the UL Tx switching case for a 4-band system. As shown in Figure 5, in the 3-band case, the maximum number of cases is 6 (Option 2). Also, as shown in Figure 6, in the 4-band case, the maximum number of cases is 10 (Option 2).

[0071] Furthermore, the following three mechanisms have been agreed upon for UL Tx switching when using three or four bands in this manner.

[0072] • (Alt 1): Dynamically selects the band to use for transmission based on UL scheduling, between 3 or 4 bands. • (Alt 2): The network notifies the UE of two of the three or four bands via MAC-CE or DCI, and the UE dynamically selects the bands to use for transmission based on UL scheduling between the two notified bands (similar to 3GPP Release 17). (Alt 3): One of the three or four bands is set as the anchor band, and the selection of the band used for dynamic transmission based on UL scheduling is only possible between the anchor band and non-anchor bands. While simulation results suggest that the Alt 1 switching mechanism could lead to significant throughput improvements, there are concerns about increased UE complexity and / or processing load. Given this situation, a method that takes into account reducing UE complexity (processing load) is needed.

[0073] Therefore, the following describes operational examples in which an appropriate switching mechanism can be applied, taking into account the capabilities of the UE. Specifically, it is possible to configure different switching mechanisms for UL Tx switching depending on the capabilities of the UE (i.e., if UE Complexity is not an issue, UL throughput can be improved by applying the Alt 1 switching mechanism).

[0074] (3.2) Example of operation 1 Figure 7 shows an example of the settings for the switching mechanism for UL Tx switching related to Operation Example 1. The UE can apply a switching mechanism according to the number of bands (or the number of carriers, the same applies hereafter) based on the UE's capabilities (or variable factors such as communication status and communication environment).

[0075] The UE may determine the number of bands (e.g., 3 bands) that will serve as the basis for switching the switching mechanism, and may change the switching mechanism if the number of bands exceeds that number.

[0076] Figure 8 shows the operation flow of the switching mechanism for UL Tx switching. As shown in Figures 7 and 8, for example, if four bands are set as the band combination for UL Tx switching, the UE may change from the Alt 1 switching mechanism to the Alt 2 or Alt 3 switching mechanism. In other words, the Alt 1 switching mechanism is applied for three bands or less, and the Alt 2 or Alt 3 switching mechanism may be applied for four bands.

[0077] Furthermore, the switching mechanism applied depending on the number of bands is illustrative; for example, if the number of bands is less than or equal to the reference number, the Alt 2 switching mechanism may be applied, and if there are 4 bands, the Alt 3 switching mechanism may be applied. Moreover, the reference number of bands does not have to be 3.

[0078] The UE may transmit such UE Capability Information regarding UL Tx switching to the network. The UE may also receive instruction information regarding UL Tx switching from the network. Note that the transmission (reception) timing of the capability information and instruction information is not limited to the sequence shown in Figure 9 and may be reversed.

[0079] Figure 9 shows an example sequence for sending and receiving capability and instruction information for UL Tx switching. For example, the UE may send UE Capability Information to the network, which includes the reference number of bands (threshold), supported switching mechanisms, and options (Option 1, 2) for simultaneous transmission of UL Tx switching.

[0080] Specifically, the UE may notify the network of the reference number of bands (threshold) using an information element (or field) called NumberOfTxswtchingband (tentative name). For example, if NumberOfTxswtchingband=3, the UE may, as described above, apply the Alt 1 switching mechanism when using 3 bands or less, and apply the Alt 2 switching mechanism (or Alt 3 switching mechanism) when using more than 3 bands, such as 4 bands or more.

[0081] In this case, the UL Tx switching capability information may support any of the following:

[0082] • (Alt 1): For bands designated as UL Tx switching target bands (bands for switching), all bands will be included in the reporting.

[0083] • (Alt 2): NumberOfTxswtchingband reports one value for each band combination used for UL Tx switching.

[0084] If the UE does not report the capability information, the network may set a default reference band count (threshold) for the UE.

[0085] The network may also send instruction information to the UE, including a reference band count (threshold). In this case, the UE may assume (expect) that the threshold will be set according to the UE's capabilities.

[0086] Furthermore, the network may send instruction information to the UE, including the switching mechanism to be applied before and / or after exceeding the reference band count (threshold). In this case, the UE may expect that one or more switching mechanisms from those reported as supported switching mechanisms will be indicated. If the UE does not receive such instruction information, it may apply a pre-configured switching mechanism. The UE may also report the applied switching mechanism to the network.

[0087] (3.3) Example of operation 2 This example relates to simultaneous transmission on multiple bands (carriers) using a Tx chain. As mentioned above, regarding simultaneous transmission, there are two options: Option 1, which does not support simultaneous transmission of two or more carriers, and Option 2, which allows setting (transmitting) two or more carriers simultaneously.

[0088] The applicable switching mechanism for UL Tx switching may differ for each Option. In other words, the UE may apply different switching mechanisms depending on the Option.

[0089] The UE may transmit capability information (UE Capability Information) to the network, which includes the applicable switching mechanisms for each option. In this case, the UE Capability Information may include one switching mechanism or multiple switching mechanisms. That is, one or more switching mechanisms may be applicable for each option.

[0090] In this case, the UL Tx switching capability information may support any of the following:

[0091] • (Alt 1): For bands designated as UL Tx switching target bands (bands for switching), all bands will be included in the reporting.

[0092] • (Alt 2): Report at least one for each pair of UL Tx switching bands (e.g., band A and band B). • (Alt 3): Report at least one for each combination of UL Tx switching bands (e.g., three bands A, B, and C). If the UE does not report the capability information, the network may set a default reference band count (threshold) for the UE.

[0093] Furthermore, if the UE sets a different switching mechanism for each option, the switching period of the Tx chain may follow one of the following:

[0094] • (Alt 1): Sets a value for the switching period that is common to the different switching mechanisms. (Alt 2): Different switching period values ​​are set for the different switching mechanisms. The network may also transmit instruction information, including the switching mechanism for each option, to the UE. If the network wants to switch options between band combinations, it may instruct such switching via MAC CE or DCI.

[0095] For example, if, for a band combination (Band A, B, C, D), Option 1 allows the setting of a first switching mechanism (e.g., Alt 1), and Option 2 allows the setting of a second switching mechanism (e.g., Alt 2), then while Option 1 is set in the UE, it may be changed to Option 2 by MAC CE or DCI. In other words, it may be possible to change from the first switching mechanism to the second switching mechanism within the same band combination. Furthermore, the change may also be in the reverse direction.

[0096] Furthermore, the UE may determine the switching mechanism to apply depending on the number of bands for UL Tx switching and the aforementioned Options regarding simultaneous transmission. In this case, the correspondence between the number of bands, Options, and switching mechanism may be predetermined by the 3GPP specification or may be indicated by the network.

[0097] For example, if three or more bands are configured as bands for UL Tx switching and option 1 (simultaneous transmission disabled) is set, the UE may apply the first switching mechanism (e.g., Alt 1). If option 2 (simultaneous transmission enabled) is set, the UE may apply the second switching mechanism (e.g., Alt 2). Also, for example, if four or more bands are configured as bands for UL Tx switching and option 2 (simultaneous transmission enabled) is set, the UE may apply the second switching mechanism (e.g., Alt 2).

[0098] (3.4) Others In the example operation described above, it was assumed that three or four bands would be configured for UL Tx switching (specifically, 2Tx-2Tx (-2Tx-2Tx) switching as defined in 3GPP Release 18), but five or more bands may be configured, and the Tx chain may also have the capability to support five or more bands.

[0099] Furthermore, while the above example assumes a CC count of 1 per band, the following cases may also be included.

[0100] • 1 CC per band: 4 CC total • Cases where 2CC (intra-band) exists for each band. • 2CC across all bands: 8CC total • 1 CC in some bands: 5-7 CC total • Cases where there are 3 or more CCs (intra-band) in each band. Furthermore, the above-described examples of operation may be applied to SUL, non-SUL, or any combination of SUL / non-SUL.

[0101] (4) Action and Effects According to the embodiments described above, the following effects can be obtained. Specifically, if the frequency band or number of carriers supported by the Tx chain exceeds a threshold (e.g., 3 bands), the UE200 can apply a second switching mechanism (e.g., Alt 2 or Alt 3) that is different from the first switching mechanism (e.g., Alt 1) that is applied when it is below the threshold.

[0102] Therefore, the UE200 can apply an appropriate switching mechanism depending on its capabilities, communication status, and communication environment. This allows for flexible selection of the optimal switching mechanism from among those focused on throughput improvement or those that consider reducing the complexity of the UE200, thereby achieving both improved UL throughput and reduced complexity of the UE200.

[0103] Furthermore, the UE200 can send and receive capability and instruction information regarding UL Tx switching with the network. Therefore, it can achieve appropriate UL Tx switching that takes into account the capabilities of the UE200 or the requirements of the network.

[0104] Furthermore, the applicable switching mechanism can vary depending on the option for simultaneous transmission. This allows for more appropriate UL Tx switching, taking into account the capabilities of the UE200 or the requirements of the network.

[0105] (5) Other embodiments Although embodiments have been described above, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to those embodiments described and that various modifications and improvements are possible.

[0106] For example, in the embodiments described above, the UE200 was described on the premise that it sends and receives capability information and instruction information regarding UL Tx switching to and from the network. However, the switching mechanism to be applied may be determined autonomously by the UE200 without receiving instructions from the network.

[0107] Furthermore, in the above description, configure, activate, update, indicate, enable, specify, and select may be interpreted interchangeably. Similarly, link, associate, correspond, and map may be interpreted interchangeably, as may allocate, assign, monitor, and map.

[0108] Furthermore, "specific," "dedicated," "UE specific," and "UE individual" may be interpreted interchangeably. Similarly, "common," "shared," "group-common," "UE common," and "UE shared" may be interpreted interchangeably.

[0109] In this disclosure, terms such as "precoding," "precoder," "weight (precoding weight)," "quasi-co-location (QCL)," "transmission configuration indication state (TCI state)," "spatial relation," "spatial domain filter," "transmit power," "phase rotation," "antenna port," "antenna port group," "layer," "number of layers," "rank," "resource," "resource set," "resource group," "beam," "beam width," "beam angle," "antenna," "antenna element," and "panel" may be used interchangeably.

[0110] Furthermore, the block diagram (Figure 4) used in the description of the embodiments above shows functional units. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Moreover, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or it may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wired or wireless connections). A functional block may also be realized by combining the above one device or the above multiple devices with software.

[0111] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, decision, judgment, calculation, calculation, processing, derivation, investigation, exploration, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, assumption, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating (mapping), and assigning. For example, a functional block (configuration part) that enables transmission is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. In any case, as mentioned above, the method of implementation is not particularly limited.

[0112] Furthermore, the gNB100 and UE200 (the device) described above may function as a computer that processes the wireless communication method of this disclosure. Figure 10 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the device. As shown in Figure 10, the device may be configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, memory 1002, storage 1003, communication device 1004, input device 1005, output device 1006, and bus 1007.

[0113] In the following explanation, the term "device" can be replaced with "circuit," "device," "unit," etc. The hardware configuration of the device may include one or more of the devices shown in the diagram, or it may be configured to omit some of the devices.

[0114] Each functional block of the device (see Figure 4) is implemented by any hardware element of the computer device, or a combination of such hardware elements.

[0115] Furthermore, each function in the device is realized by loading predetermined software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, which allows the processor 1001 to perform calculations, control communication by the communication device 1004, and control at least one of data reading and writing in the memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0116] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer, for example, by running an operating system. The processor 1001 may consist of a central processing unit (CPU) that includes interfaces with peripheral devices, control units, arithmetic units, registers, and so on.

[0117] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads programs (program code), software modules, data, etc., from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002 and executes various processes accordingly. The program used is one that causes the computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above embodiment. Moreover, the above-mentioned various processes may be executed by one processor 1001, or by two or more processors 1001 simultaneously or sequentially. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The program may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

[0118] Memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: Read Only Memory (ROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), etc. Memory 1002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory, etc. Memory 1002 can store a program (program code), software modules, etc., that can execute a method according to one embodiment of this disclosure.

[0119] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: an optical disc such as a Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disc, a digital multipurpose disc, a Blu-ray® disc), a smart card, flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy® disk, a magnetic strip, etc. Storage 1003 may also be called an auxiliary storage device. The recording medium described above may also be, for example, a database, server, or other suitable medium including at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0120] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transceiver / receiver device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, etc.

[0121] The communication device 1004 may be configured to include, for example, a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc., in order to implement at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD).

[0122] The input device 1005 is an input device that accepts input from an external source (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, etc.). The output device 1006 is an output device that outputs to an external source (e.g., a display, speaker, LED lamp, etc.). The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be configured as an integrated unit (e.g., a touch panel).

[0123] Furthermore, each device, such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or different buses may be configured for each device.

[0124] Furthermore, the device may include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of each functional block may be implemented by such hardware. For example, processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these hardware components.

[0125] Furthermore, notification of information is not limited to the embodiments / models described herein and may be carried out by other means. For example, notification of information may be carried out by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB))), other signals, or combinations thereof. RRC signaling may also be called RRC messages, and may be, for example, RRC Connection Setup messages, RRC Connection Reconfiguration messages, etc.

[0126] Each aspect / embodiment described herein may be applied to at least one of systems utilizing Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), xth generation mobile communication system (xG) (where x is, for example, an integer or decimal), Future Radio Access (FRA), New Radio (NR), W-CDMA®, GSM®, CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi®), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX®), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth®, and other appropriate systems, as well as next-generation systems extended based thereon. Furthermore, multiple systems may be applied in combination (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G).

[0127] The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc., of each aspect / embodiment described herein may be reordered, provided they are consistent with each other. For example, the methods described herein present various step elements in an exemplary order and are not limited to that specific order.

[0128] The specific operations described in this disclosure as being performed by a base station may, in some cases, be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with a terminal can be performed by the base station and at least one other network node (for example, an MME or S-GW, but not limited to these). Although the above example illustrates the case where there is one other network node besides the base station, it may also be a combination of multiple other network nodes (for example, an MME and an S-GW).

[0129] Information and signals (such as data) can be output from a higher layer (or lower layer) to a lower layer (or higher layer). Input and output may occur via multiple network nodes.

[0130] Input and output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or managed using a management table. Input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or appended to. Output information may be deleted. Input information may be sent to other devices.

[0131] The determination may be made by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), by a boolean value (true or false), or by a numerical comparison (for example, a comparison with a predetermined value).

[0132] Each aspect / embodiment described herein may be used individually, in combination, or switched between as needed during implementation. Furthermore, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is") is not limited to explicit notification, but may also be implicit (e.g., by not providing such notification).

[0133] Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, and so on, whether they are called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or by any other name.

[0134] Furthermore, software, instructions, information, etc., may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technology (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) and wireless technology (such as infrared or microwave), then at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included in the definition of a transmission medium.

[0135] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of the various different technologies. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0136] In addition, terms used in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of the channel and symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, a signal may be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, cell, frequency carrier, etc.

[0137] The terms “system” and “network” as used in this disclosure are interchangeable.

[0138] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc., described in this disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values ​​from a given value, or corresponding other information. For example, wireless resources may be indicated by an index.

[0139] The names used for the parameters described above are not restrictive in any way. Furthermore, the formulas and other expressions using these parameters may differ from those expressly disclosed in this disclosure. Since various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements can be identified by any suitable name, the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not restrictive in any way.

[0140] In this disclosure, terms such as "Base Station (BS)," "wireless base station," "fixed station," "NodeB," "eNodeB (eNB)," "gNodeB (gNB)," "access point," "transmission point," "reception point," "transmission / reception point," "cell," "sector," "cell group," "carrier," and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. Base stations may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

[0141] A base station can house one or more (e.g., three) cells (also called sectors). If a base station houses multiple cells, the entire coverage area of ​​the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, each of which can also be provided with communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (Remote Radio Head: RRH)).

[0142] The terms "cell" or "sector" refer to a portion or all of the coverage area of ​​at least one of the base stations and base station subsystems that provide communication services in this coverage.

[0143] In this disclosure, the transmission of information by a base station to a terminal may be interpreted as the base station instructing the terminal to perform information-based control or operation.

[0144] In this disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," and "terminal" may be used interchangeably.

[0145] A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other appropriate term.

[0146] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may also be a device mounted on a mobile body, the mobile body itself, etc. The mobile body refers to a movable object, and its speed of movement is arbitrary. This also includes the case when the mobile body is stationary. The mobile body includes, but is not limited to, vehicles, transport vehicles, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, connected cars, excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders, dump trucks, forklifts, trains, buses, handcarts, rickshaws, ships and other watercraft, airplanes, rockets, satellites, drones (registered trademark), multicopters, quadcopters, balloons, and items mounted on them. The mobile body may also be a mobile body that moves autonomously based on operation commands. It may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned mobile body (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). Furthermore, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may include devices that do not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an IoT (Internet of Things) device such as a sensor.

[0147] Furthermore, the term "base station" in this disclosure may be interpreted as "mobile station" (user terminal, hereinafter the same). For example, the various aspects / embodiments of this disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a mobile station is replaced with communication between multiple mobile stations (which may be called, for example, Device-to-Device (D2D), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, the mobile station may have the functions that a base station has. Also, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be interpreted as terms corresponding to terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, "side"). For example, uplink channel, downlink channel, etc. may be interpreted as side channel (or side link).

[0148] Similarly, the term "mobile station" in this disclosure may be interpreted as "base station." In this case, the base station may be configured to have the functions that a mobile station has.

[0149] A wireless frame may consist of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of these one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further consist of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

[0150] Numerology may be communication parameters applied to at least one of the transmission and reception of a signal or channel. Numerology may include, for example, at least one of the following: subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame configuration, specific filtering processes performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, and specific windowing processes performed by the transceiver in the time domain.

[0151] A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbol). A slot may also be a time unit based on neurology.

[0152] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain. Minislots may also be called subslots. Minislots may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called a PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called a PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

[0153] Wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols all represent units of time when transmitting a signal. Different names may be used for each of these terms.

[0154] For example, one subframe may be called a Transmit Time Interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be called a TTI. In other words, at least one of a subframe and a TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc., instead of a subframe.

[0155] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest unit of time for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, the base station schedules each user terminal to allocate wireless resources (such as the frequency bandwidth and transmission power available to each user terminal) in TTI units. However, the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0156] TTI may be a transmission time unit for channel-encoded data packets (transport blocks), code blocks, code words, etc., or it may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. Given a TTI, the actual time interval (e.g., number of symbols) to which the transport block, code block, code word, etc. are mapped may be shorter than the given TTI.

[0157] Furthermore, if one slot or one mini-slot is referred to as TTI, then one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more mini-slots) may constitute the minimum time unit of scheduling. In addition, the number of slots (number of mini-slots) that constitute this minimum time unit of scheduling may be controlled.

[0158] A TTI with a time length of 1ms may also be called a normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may also be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, mini slot, sub slot, slot, etc.

[0159] Furthermore, long TTIs (e.g., normal TTIs, subframes, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a time length exceeding 1 ms, and short TTIs (e.g., shortened TTIs, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a TTI length less than that of a long TTI but 1 ms or more.

[0160] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and in the frequency domain, it may contain one or more consecutive subcarriers. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be the same regardless of the neurology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be determined based on the neurology.

[0161] Furthermore, the time domain of the RB may contain one or more symbols and may be the length of one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI. Each TTI, subframe, etc., may consist of one or more resource blocks.

[0162] One or more RBs may also be called a Physical RB (PRB), Sub-Carrier Group (SCG), Resource Element Group (REG), PRB pair, RB pair, etc.

[0163] Furthermore, a resource block may consist of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource area comprising one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0164] A Bandwidth Part (BWP), also known as a partial bandwidth, may represent a subset of consecutive common resource blocks (RBs) for a given neurology on a given carrier. Here, the common RBs may be identified by an index of the RBs relative to the carrier's common reference point. PRBs may be defined and numbered within a BWP.

[0165] A BWP may include BWPs for UL (UL BWP) and BWPs for DL ​​(DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be set within a single carrier for a UE.

[0166] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE does not need to assume that it will send or receive a given signal / channel outside of the active BWP. In this disclosure, terms such as "cell" and "carrier" may be read as "BWP".

[0167] The structures described above, such as wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols, are merely illustrative. For example, the number of subframes included in a wireless frame, the number of slots per subframe or wireless frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, and the number of symbols, symbol length, and cyclic prefix (CP) length within the TTI can be varied in various ways.

[0168] The terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variation thereof, mean any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are “connected” or “coupled” with each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, “connection” may be reinterpreted as “access.” As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be “connected” or “coupled” with each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, and, in some non-limiting and non-exclusive examples, electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency domain, microwave domain, and optical (both visible and invisible) domain.

[0169] The reference signal can also be abbreviated as Reference Signal (RS), and may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0170] In this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based solely on" unless otherwise specified. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based solely on" and "based at least on."

[0171] In the configuration of each of the above devices, "means" may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

[0172] Any reference to elements using designations such as “First,” “Second,” etc., as used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Accordingly, references to the First and Second elements do not imply that only two elements may be employed therein, or that the First element must precede the Second element in any way.

[0173] Where the terms “include,” “including,” and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, as is the term “comprising.” Furthermore, the term “or” as used in this disclosure is not intended to mean exclusive OR.

[0174] In this disclosure, if articles are added through translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include the fact that the noun following these articles is plural.

[0175] The terms “determining” and “determining” as used in this disclosure may encompass a wide variety of actions. “Determining” and “determining” may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, or inquiring (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), or ascertaining. “Determining” and “determining” may also include, for example, receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), inputting, outputting, or accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory). Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having "judgmented" or "decided" after resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having "judgmented" or "decided" about some action. Also, "judgment (decision)" can be reinterpreted as "assuming," "expecting," or "considering."

[0176] In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combine" may be interpreted similarly to "different."

[0177] Figure 11 shows an example of the configuration of vehicle 2001. As shown in Figure 11, vehicle 2001 includes a drive unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, an electronic control unit 2010, various sensors 2021 to 2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013.

[0178] The drive unit 2002 is composed of, for example, an engine, a motor, or a hybrid of an engine and a motor. The steering unit 2003 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handle) and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the operation of the steering wheel performed by the user. The electronic control unit 2010 consists of a microprocessor 2031, memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and communication ports (IO ports) 2033. Signals from various sensors 2021 to 2027 installed in the vehicle are input to the electronic control unit 2010. The electronic control unit 2010 may also be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

[0179] Signals from various sensors 2021-2028 include current signals from the current sensor 2021 that senses motor current, front and rear wheel rotation speed signals obtained by the rotation speed sensor 2022, front and rear wheel air pressure signals obtained by the air pressure sensor 2023, vehicle speed signals obtained by the vehicle speed sensor 2024, acceleration signals obtained by the acceleration sensor 2025, accelerator pedal depression signals obtained by the accelerator pedal sensor 2029, brake pedal depression signals obtained by the brake pedal sensor 2026, shift lever operation signals obtained by the shift lever sensor 2027, and detection signals obtained by the object detection sensor 2028 for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc.

[0180] The Information Services Unit 2012 consists of various devices for providing (outputting) various types of information such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, including a car navigation system, audio system, speakers, television, and radio, and one or more ECUs that control these devices. The Information Services Unit 2012 uses information acquired from external devices via a communication module 2013, etc., to provide various multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of Vehicle 1.

[0181] Information Services Section 2012 may include input devices that accept input from external sources (e.g., keyboards, mice, microphones, switches, buttons, sensors, touch panels, etc.) and output devices that perform output to external sources (e.g., displays, speakers, LED lamps, touch panels, etc.).

[0182] The driver assistance system unit 2030 consists of various devices that provide functions to prevent accidents or reduce the driver's workload, such as millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), cameras, positioning locators (e.g., GNSS), map information (e.g., high-definition (HD) maps, autonomous vehicle (AV) maps), gyro systems (e.g., IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), INS (Inertial Navigation System)), AI (Artificial Intelligence) chips, and AI processors, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driver assistance system unit 2030 also sends and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize driver assistance functions or autonomous driving functions.

[0183] The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 1 via its communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 sends and receives data via its communication port 2033 between the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, the microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in the electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021 to 2028 provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0184] The communication module 2013 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 2031 of the electronic control unit 2010 and can communicate with external devices. For example, it can send and receive various types of information to and from external devices via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 2010. The external device may be, for example, a base station or a mobile station.

[0185] The communication module 2013 may transmit at least one of the following to an external device via wireless communication: signals from the various sensors 2021 to 2028 input to the electronic control unit 2010, information obtained based on said signals, and information based on input from an external source (user) obtained via the information service unit 2012. The electronic control unit 2010, the various sensors 2021 to 2028, the information service unit 2012, etc., may also be called input units that accept input. For example, the PUSCH transmitted by the communication module 2013 may include information based on the above input.

[0186] The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, signal information, inter-vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from an external device and displays it on the information service unit 2012 installed in the vehicle. The information service unit 2012 may also be called an output unit, which outputs information (for example, outputs information to devices such as displays and speakers based on the PDSCH (or data / information decoded from the PDSCH) received by the communication module 2013). The communication module 2013 also stores the various information received from the external device in memory 2032, which is available to the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in memory 2032, the microprocessor 2031 may control the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, axles 2009, sensors 2021-2028, etc., installed in the vehicle 2001.

[0187] (Note) Furthermore, the disclosures described above may also be expressed as follows:

[0188] The first feature is a transmitting unit having multiple antenna ports and multiple transmission systems, which switches the antenna ports and / or transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism for the uplink. If the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system exceeds a threshold, a control unit applies a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism applied when the number of carriers is below the threshold. A terminal equipped with the following features.

[0189] The second feature is that, in the first feature, the transmitting unit transmits information indicating the threshold to the network.

[0190] The third feature is that, in the first or second feature, it includes a receiving unit that receives information indicating the threshold from the network.

[0191] The fourth feature is that, in the first to third features, it includes a receiving unit that receives instruction information for the second switching mechanism from the network, The control unit applies the second switching mechanism based on the instruction information.

[0192] The fifth feature is that, in the first to fourth features, the second switching mechanism differs depending on the simultaneous transmission capability of the transmission system.

[0193] The sixth feature is a transmission unit that has multiple antenna ports and multiple transmission systems, and transmits instruction information to a terminal that switches the antenna ports and / or the transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism of the uplink, including at least one of a threshold value for the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system, and a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism that is applied when the number of carriers is less than or equal to the threshold value. A receiving unit that receives the uplink channel from the terminal via the uplink. A wireless base station equipped with the necessary equipment.

[0194] The seventh feature is that it has multiple antenna ports and multiple transmission systems, and includes the step of switching the antenna ports and / or transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism for the uplink, If the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system exceeds a threshold, a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism applied when the number of carriers is below the threshold is applied. Wireless communication methods including

[0195] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure may be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the intent and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Accordingly, the descriptions in the present disclosure are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be restrictive in any way. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0196] 10 Wireless communication systems 20 NG-RAN 100 gNB 200 UE 210 Wireless signal transmission and reception unit 220 Amplifier section 230 Modulation / Demodulation Section 240 Control signal / reference signal processing unit 250 Encoding / Decoding Unit 260 Data transmission / reception unit 270 Control Unit 1001 Processor 1002 memory 1003 Storage 1004 Communication device 1005 Input device 1006 Output device 1007 Bus 2001 Vehicle 2002 Drive Unit 2003 Steering Department 2004 Accelerator pedal 2005 Brake pedal 2006 Shift Lever 2007 Left and right front wheels 2008 Left and right rear wheels 2009 Axle 2010 Electronic Control Unit 2012 Information Services Department 2013 Communication Module 2021 Current Sensor 2022 Rotation speed sensor 2023 Pneumatic Sensor 2024 Vehicle Speed ​​Sensor 2025 Accelerometer 2026 Brake Pedal Sensor 2027 Shift lever sensor 2028 Object Detection Sensor 2029 Accelerator pedal sensor 2030 Driver Support Systems Department 2031 Microprocessor 2032 memory (ROM, RAM) 2033 Communication Port

Claims

1. A transmitting unit having multiple antenna ports and multiple transmission systems, which switches the antenna ports and / or transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism of the uplink, If the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system exceeds a threshold, a control unit applies a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism applied when the number of carriers is below the threshold. A terminal equipped with the following features.

2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting unit transmits information indicating the threshold to the network.

3. The terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving unit that receives information indicating the threshold from a network.

4. The second switching mechanism includes a receiving unit that receives instruction information from the network, The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit applies the second switching mechanism based on the instruction information.

5. A transmitting unit that transmits instruction information to a terminal having multiple antenna ports and multiple transmission systems, which switches the antenna ports and / or transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism of the uplink, including a threshold for the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system, and a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism that is applied when the threshold is less than or equal to the threshold, A receiving unit that receives the uplink channel from the terminal via the uplink. A wireless base station equipped with the necessary equipment.

6. The system has multiple antenna ports and multiple transmission systems, and the steps include switching the antenna ports and / or transmission systems based on a first switching mechanism for the uplink, If the number of frequency bands or carriers supported by the transmission system exceeds a threshold, a second switching mechanism different from the first switching mechanism applied when the number of carriers is below the threshold is applied. Wireless communication methods including

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