Cell activation

Abstract

Embodiments of this disclosure disclose apparatus, methods, and devices for cell activation. In these embodiments, a terminal determines that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for a primary cell (SCell) with an uplink, based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report. This measurement report is triggered by a cell activation command. The terminal apparatus then activates the SCell for a first time period based on the determined known PL-RS. In this manner, communication performance related to carrier aggregation (CA) operation can be improved.

Description

Nested grid enabling technology The embodiments disclosed herein are generally related to the telecommunications field, and more particularly to apparatus, methods, devices and computer-readable storage media for cellular activation. With the development of communication technology, carrier aggregation (CA) technology has been introduced to improve spectrum flexibility. CA can further extend transmission bandwidth by aggregating multiple component carriers and using them jointly for transmission in one or more devices. Generally, the term "cell" is used to describe carrier aggregation; that is, a device with carrier aggregation capability can transmit and receive from one or more cells. One of these cells is called the primary cell (PCell). This is the cell that the device initially finds and connects to. After the device is in connected mode, one or more secondary cells (SCells) can be assigned to it. Secondary cells can be enabled or disabled to adapt to changes in traffic patterns. SCells can be configured for downlink reception or uplink transmission on a terminal device. Compared to SCells used only for downlink, additional uplink actions may be required to enable SCells with uplink functionality. Generally speaking, exemplary embodiments of this disclosure provide apparatus, methods, devices, and computer-readable storage media for cellular activation. In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device may include at least one processor; and at least one processor coupled to and configured with the at least one memory to cause the terminal device to: determine, based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report, that a path loss-reference signal (PL-RS) is known for a primary SCell having an uplink. The measurement report is triggered by a SCell enable command. The terminal device is further caused to enable the SCell for a first time period based on the PL-RS determined to be known. In a second aspect, a network device is provided. The network device may include at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to: send a cell enable command for a primary cell to a terminal device. The network device is further caused to receive a measurement report triggered by the cell enable command from the terminal device; and based on the measurement report, determine that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for the cell. In a third aspect, a method implemented at a terminal device is provided. The method includes: determining, by the terminal device, that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for a primary SCell having an uplink, based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report. The measurement report is triggered by a SCell activation command. The method further includes: activating the SCell for a first time period based on the PL-RS being determined to be known. In a fourth aspect, a method implemented at a network device is provided. The method includes: sending a cell enable command for a primary cell (SCell) from the network device to a terminal device. The method further includes: receiving a measurement report triggered by the cell enable command from the terminal device; and determining, based on the measurement report, that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for the SCell. In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: means for determining a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) as known for a primary SCell having an uplink based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report, wherein the measurement report is triggered by a SCell enable command; and means for enabling the SCell for a first time period based on the PL-RS being determined to be known. In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: means for sending a cell activation command for a primary cell to a terminal device; means for receiving a measurement report triggered by the cell activation command from the terminal device; and means for determining, based on the measurement report, that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for the cell. In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, which includes program instructions for causing a device to perform at least the methods according to the third to fourth aspects. In an eighth aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes a determination circuit configured to determine, based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report, that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for a primary SCell having an uplink. The measurement report is triggered by a SCell activation command. The terminal device further includes an activation circuit configured to activate the SCell for a first time period based on the PL-RS being determined to be known. In a ninth aspect, a network apparatus is provided. The network apparatus includes a transmitting circuit configured to transmit a cell enable command for a primary cell to a terminal device; a receiving circuit configured to receive a measurement report triggered by the cell enable command from the terminal device; and a determining circuit configured to determine, based on the measurement report, that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for the cell. It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. The principles of this disclosure will now be illustrated with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only, to help those skilled in the art understand and implement this disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The disclosure contained herein can be implemented in many ways other than those described below. In the following description and scope of the patent application, unless otherwise defined, 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 pertains. In this disclosure, the terms "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," "an exemplary embodiment," and the like indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment is required to include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Also, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is hereby stated that making that feature, structure, or characteristic function in connection with other embodiments falls within the knowledge of those skilled in the art, whether or not it is stated. It is understood that while terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe many elements, those elements should not be limited to these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. When used herein, terms such as "and / or" or "and (or)" include any one or more of the listed items and all combinations thereof. The terminology used herein is intended to describe particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. When used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless otherwise expressly indicated in the context. It will be further understood that, when used herein, the words “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “having,” “including,” and / or “comprising” indicate the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not preclude the addition or presence of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. When used in this application, the term "circuit system" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) a purely hardware circuit implementation (e.g., an implementation only in analog and / or digital circuit systems), and (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software or firmware, and (ii) any part of a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor, software, and memory) with software that works together to enable a device—e.g., a mobile phone or a server—to perform various functions, and (c) hardware circuitry and / or processors that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but may not exist when the software is not required for operation, such as a microprocessor or a part of a microprocessor. This definition of circuit system applies to all uses of the term in this application—including in any claim. As a further example, when used in this application, the term circuit system also covers implementations of a single hardware circuit or processor (or a plurality of processors), or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuit system also covers, 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 networking devices, if applicable to specific claim elements. When used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and others like these. Furthermore, communication between a terminal device and a network device within the communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including but not limited to 3G, 4G, 4.5G, 5G, 5G, and / or later protocols. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be future types of communication technologies and systems that this disclosure can embody. This should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure to the systems mentioned above. When used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which terminal devices access the network and receive services from it. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a B-node (node ​​B, NodeB, or NB), an evolved B-node (eNodeB, eNB, or eNB), an NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a repeater, a low-power node (such as a femtosecond or picosecond), and so on, depending on the terminology system and technology used. The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also 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, cellular 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 (e.g., digital cameras), gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile radios, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB adapters (dongles), smart devices, customer-premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, and head-mounted displays. HMDs, 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 environments), user electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and others of the like. In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communication device," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" may be used interchangeably. In this disclosure, an unknown secondary SCell can refer to an SCell on which the terminal device has not performed sufficient measurements or transmitted any valid measurement reports in the period prior to receiving the SCell activation command. Furthermore, whether a path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) (PL-RS) is known or unknown for a SCell (e.g., an unknown SCell) depends on one or more conditions. In other words, the terms "known" and "unknown" have distinct meanings for "SCell" and "PL-RS". As mentioned earlier, compared to a SCell used only for downlink, additional uplink actions may be required to enable a SCell with an uplink. These include, for example, a random access procedure to obtain the UL timing advance of the SCell, and a PL-RS measurement to determine the UL transmit power used for transmission on the SCell. For unknown SCells configured with an uplink (e.g., unknown physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) SCells, i.e., SCells configured with PUCCH), the terminal device may need to perform one or more additional tasks compared to a known PUCCH SCell. These additional tasks may include, for example, nest detection, automatic gain control (AGC), time or frequency synchronization (or nest detection), and L1 received signal reference power (RSRP) (L1-RSRP) measurement, as well as transmitting beam information to the network via L1-RSRP reporting. Generally, the activation of an unknown SCell can be accomplished by ultimately sending a valid channel state information (CSI) report from the terminal device to the network. To activate a SCell with a PUCCH, a CSI report needs to be sent on that PUCCH SCell. Furthermore, to send a valid CSI report, the terminal device should determine the uplink transmission power, which can be based on a path loss (PL) reference signal (RS) (PL-RS) that is determined to be known for the unknown SCell. Moreover, whether the PL-RS is considered known or unknown depends on whether one or more predefined conditions are met. Therefore, defining the conditions used to determine whether the PL-RS is known is a key aspect to improve the flexibility of SCell activation. For the sake of clarity, some technical details regarding the SCell activation procedure are further discussed with reference to Figures 1B and 1C. In view of the foregoing, to improve the performance of the communication system, a scheme for cell activation is provided. In this scheme, after receiving a cell activation command for a (unknown) SCell configured with an uplink, the terminal device can determine that the path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for the SCell based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report. This measurement report is triggered by a cell activation command; for example, the measurement report may include a first-layer (L1) measurement report and / or a third-layer (L3) measurement report with the at least one measurement result. Then, based on the determination that the PL-RS is known for the SCell, the terminal device activates the SCell within a first time period without any unexpected delay. For example, the terminal device sends a valid CSI report within the first time period. In this way, during the SCell activation process, the terminal device can determine whether the PL-RS is known in a more flexible manner, for example, based on more than one type of measurement report, or even based solely on the measurement results. This improves performance related to SCell activation, for example, by reducing activation latency. The principles and embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1A illustrates a demonstrative network environment 100 in which several demonstrative embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented. Environment 100 may be part of a communication network, which includes terminal devices and network devices. As shown in Figure 1A, network environment 100 may include a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. Without limitation, terminal device 110 and network device 120 may be any other device with similar sensing requirements or functions. For example, terminal device 110 may be an Internet of Things (IoT), user equipment (UE), wireless device, subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile radio (MS), or access terminal (AT) requiring network access. Network device 120 may be a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a B-node (NodeB or NB), evolved B-node (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also known as gNB), remote radio unit (RRU), radio head unit (RH), remote radio head unit (RRH), repeater, and so on. It should be understood that the number of devices shown in Figure 1A is for illustrative purposes only and does not imply any limitation. Network environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and / or terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of this disclosure. Although not shown in the figure, it can be observed that one or more terminal devices may be located within network environment 100. Communication in network environment 100 may be implemented in accordance with any appropriate communication protocol, including but not limited to third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), 5G-Advanced or later (6G), wireless local area network communication protocols (such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and others like these), and / or any other currently known or to be developed in the future. Furthermore, the communication may use any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), Bluetooth, ZigBee, as well as machine-type communication (MTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), and new radio unlicensed (NR-U) technology. Figure 1B illustrates an example of the SCell activation procedure based on the L1 measurement report. As discussed earlier, if a PUCCH is configured on a PUCCH SCell, the terminal device may need to perform additional uplink operations compared to enabling a legacy SCell used only for downlink. A valid CSI report will be sent on the PUCCH SCell to mark the end of the PUCCH SCell activation. To send this valid CSI report, the terminal device should determine the uplink transmit power based on a PL-RS. Furthermore, a PUCCH SCell activation delay requirement (i.e., the first time period mentioned earlier) is defined. This PUCCH SCell activation delay only applies when the determined PL-RS is known (i.e., the valid CSI report can be sent within this activation delay requirement). Otherwise, a longer activation delay is expected. One reason for having the definition of "PL-RS is known" is to ensure that the terminal device knows which PL-RS can be used to determine the DL receive reference signal power to determine the UL Tx power for a given UL space setting or UL TCI state. In detail, we will discuss below how to determine whether PL-RS is "known". Generally, the path loss reference signal is known for an unknown PUCCH SCell during the activation period if the following conditions are met between the last transmission of the reference signal (RS) resource used for L1-RSRP measurement reporting and the completion of PUCCH SCell activation: This RS resource may be the target path loss reference signal or a quasi-located (QCLed) resource in Type D with the target path loss reference signal. These conditions include: Ø Receiving a PUCCH SCell enable command within 1280 ms after the last transmission of RS resources used for L1 reference signal received power (RSRP) (L1-RSRP) measurement reports; Ø The determination of the target path loss reference signal is based on the last L1-RSRP measurement report; Ø The target path loss reference signal remains detectable during PUCCH SCell enable; Ø The SNR of the target path loss reference signal is ≥ -3dB; Ø The relevant SSB of the target path loss reference signal remains detectable during PUCCH SCell enable; and Ø The SNR of the relevant SSB is ≥ -3dB. Otherwise, the PL RS is unknown. The condition of "known PL RS" or "unknown PL RS" will then affect whether the delay requirement should be applied to the SCell activation procedure. Specifically, the aforementioned delay requirement should be applied if: the target path loss reference signal determined during PUCCH SCell activation is known. Otherwise, if the path loss reference signal is unknown, a longer activation time is expected. Random access (RA) on the PUCCH SCell is not interrupted by RA on the main cell (PCell); otherwise, additional delay in SCell activation is expected; and no SRS carrier-based handover or SRS antenna port handover occurs during the SCell activation procedure; otherwise, the PUCCH SCell activation delay may be prolonged. In the specific example shown in Figure 1B, it is assumed that the PUCCH SCell is an FR2 unknown SCell, for example, the terminal device has not transmitted a valid measurement report for some period of time before receiving the SCell enable command. At 120, the terminal device receives a SCell enable command from the network. Therefore, upon receiving the SCell enable command, the terminal device sends a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) to the network. The terminal device can then perform cell detection, time or frequency synchronization, and cell measurement based on reference signals transmitted via the SCell, such as synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (SSB) or channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS). Additionally, the SCell enable command can also trigger an L1-RSRP report. The terminal device includes the measurement results of the reference signal in the L1-RSRP report and transmits the L1-RSRP report at 122. The terminal device can determine whether the PL-RS is known based on the L1-RSRP. Once the network receives the L1-RSRP report, the network can determine the appropriate transmission configuration indicator (TCI) status to be used, including uplink (UL) spatial relationships, based on the L1-RSRP report. The terminal device needs to have appropriate DL measurements for the correct relevant PL-RS. Otherwise, the PL-RS is considered unknown, and the terminal device may need some unexpected time to determine a PL-RS for measurement. When a PL-RS is associated with a UL spatial relationship, that PL-RS can be currently defined as known if it was determined based on the last L1-RSRP measurement report. In cases where the PL-RS is known—that is, it is determined which PL-RS can be used for measurement—the terminal device can further determine the uplink transmit power by measuring further PL-RS samples 124. In other words, the uplink transmit power is determined by the terminal device using that PL-RS; therefore, the terminal device needs to determine the PL-RS before the UE can initiate any UL transmission (the PL-RS must be determined to be known so that nesting can be enabled within a certain time period). Generally, in order to generate a valid CSI report, a certain number of further PL-RS samples, such as five PL-RS samples, need to be measured to determine the uplink transmit power. Based on the path loss assessment derived from the PL-RS, the terminal device can determine the UL transmission power required to send a valid CSI report on the PUCCH SCell. Figure 1B illustrates a scenario where the UE does not have valid time advance (TA), therefore, the terminal device performs a random access procedure to obtain the UL timing before transmitting a valid CSI report. For both valid and invalid TA scenarios, the PL-RS needs to be measured to send a valid CSI report 126 on the PUCCH SCell. In this example, the SCell activation procedure is completed by sending a valid CSI report. In this exemplary procedure, whether the PL-RS is known depends solely on the L1 measurement report, i.e., the L1 RSRP report. To improve SCell activation, an improvement is proposed to enable terminal devices to transmit L3 measurement reports after a (PUCCH) SCell activation command for an unknown SCell. This allows, for example, the terminal device to provide early indication of which DL "beam" is available from the network for scheduling the terminal device. Figure 1C illustrates an example of an L3 measurement report triggered by the SCell enable command. As shown in Figure 1C, the network can notify the terminal device that an SCell has been added for the terminal device, which is initially in a disabled mode. Additionally, the network can send a report configuration for an L3 measurement report triggered by an SCell enable command. Upon receiving this report configuration, the terminal device knows it can send an L3 measurement report in response to the SCell enable command. In this example, after receiving the SCell enable command, the terminal device can include the measurement results in the L3 measurement report to be sent. For example, the terminal device can send an L3 report 130 after the SCell enable command to inform the network of DL beam information. In this example, the network can transmit a TCI enable command based on the L3 report, and the terminal device may not send an L1-RSRP report. In this way, the target PL-RS can actually be determined based on the operation associated with the L3 measurement report. However, in cases where the terminal does not transmit L3 measurement reports to the network triggered by SCell enable, the definition of "PL-RS is known" based on L1 measurement reports may be incorrect and needs to be updated to reflect that the terminal transmits L3 reports after the SCell enable command. Therefore, when an L3 report is triggered due to a SCell enable, consideration should be given to how to define "PL-RS as known" for an unknown PUCCH SCell enable. In this disclosure, when an L3 report is triggered due to a SCell enable command, the terminal device can determine (or select) the target PL-RS based on the measurement results contained in the L3 measurement report. Then, the terminal device should be able to enable the PUCCH SCell for a period of time based on the selected PL-RS, as if the PL-RS were known. Figure 2 illustrates a sample communication processing operation 200 for nested grid activation, based on several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the communication processing operation 200 will be described with reference to Figure 1A. It will be appreciated that although the communication processing operation 200 is described in the communication environment 100 of Figure 1A, this flowchart 200 can also be applied to other communication scenarios. In the communication processing operation 200, network device 120 sends (210) a nest enable command 212 for enabling a SCell (e.g., an unknown PUCCH SCell) to terminal device 110. In one example, network device 120 may send (207) a report configuration 208 for an L3 measurement report that can be triggered by nest enable command 212. After receiving (209) report configuration 208, terminal device 110 learns that it is permitted to send an L3 measurement report in response to command 212, if an L3 measurement report is available. Alternatively, or as another option, report configuration 208 may be directly embedded in SCell enable command 212. Or, terminal device 110 may be made aware of report configuration 208 in any other way. Terminal device 110 accordingly receives (214) nest enable command 212. In some embodiments, the nesting enable command 212 can trigger the corresponding L3 measurement report. In this case, PL-RS can be determined to be known if it is based on the L3 report. Alternatively, or as an alternative, the SCell enable command 212 can trigger both the corresponding L3 measurement report and the corresponding L1 measurement report, such as the L1-RSRP report. In this example, terminal device 110 can perform the SCell enable procedure in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 1B, even if terminal device 110 is configured with an L3 measurement report following the SCell enable command (i.e., the L3 measurement report can be triggered by the SCell enable command 212). For example, if network device 120 does not initiate the TCI enable command immediately after receiving the L3 report, and terminal device 110 has completed the L1-RSRP measurement, it may be able to send the L1-RSRP report following the L3 report before receiving the TCI enable command. In this example, the PL-RS can be determined to be known based on either the L3 report or the L1-RSRP report. To make the discussion clearer, the determination of whether the PL-RS is known will be further discussed using communications (228, 234, and 240). Therefore, upon receiving the SCell enable command 217, the terminal device 110 may send an L1 measurement report or an L3 measurement report, or both. Correspondingly, the network device 120 may determine the TCI status based on the L1 measurement report and / or the L3 measurement report. In particular, if the terminal device 110 only sent an L3 report before receiving the TCI enable command, then the network device 120 may determine the TCI status based on the L3 measurement report. Alternatively, if the UE sent both an L3 report and an L1 report before receiving the TCI enable command, then the network device 120 may determine the TCI status based on either the L3 measurement report or the L1 measurement report. Referring again to Figure 2, in order to enable the unknown SCell based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report, terminal device 110 determines (245) that the path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for this SCell. As mentioned above, the measurement report may be an L3 measurement report containing the at least one measurement result. Alternatively, or as another option, the measurement report may be an L1 measurement report containing the at least one measurement result. In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 2, network device 120 may send (216) a reference signal for the SCell to be enabled—e.g., the unknown PUCCH SCell. In one example, such reference signals may include SSB, CSI-RS, and so on. Therefore, terminal device 110 may perform (220) a measurement to obtain (222) the at least one measurement result. Then, if the L3 measurement report and / or L1 measurement report can be sent, terminal device 110 may include the measurement result in the L3 measurement report and / or L1 measurement report. In this example where the SCell enable command can trigger an L3 measurement report, network device 120 can further send (226) an uplink grant for the L3 measurement report triggered by the SCell enable command 212. After receiving (230) the uplink grant 228, terminal device 110 can send (232) an L3 measurement report 234 containing the measurement results of the RS(etc.). After receiving (236) the L3 measurement report 234, network device 120 can thus determine the TCI status based on the L3 measurement report 234 and transmit (242) a TCI enable command 243. The TCI enable command 243 can explicitly or implicitly indicate the target PL-RS to be used to enable the SCell. Then, if the target PL-RS is based on the sent L3 measurement report 234, terminal device 110 can determine that the PL-RS is known for the SCell to be enabled. In some embodiments, if the L3 measurement report 234 has been transmitted and the TCI enable command 243 has been received, the terminal device 110 may not transmit the L1 measurement report triggered by the SCell enable command 212. That is, the terminal device 110 transmits the L3 report 234 only after the SCell enable command 212 and before the TCI enable command 243. This approach allows for a more flexible determination of the PL-RS as known, reducing the time required for the SCell enable procedure. Furthermore, if the PL-RS is determined to be known based on the L3 measurement report triggered by the SCell enable command 217, the terminal device 110 can determine the uplink transmission power by not performing any measurements on further PL-RS samples, or by performing measurements on a smaller number of PL-RS samples. For clarity, the PL-RS sample measurements related to the L3 measurement report will be discussed further later with reference to communication 203, and will not be discussed here. Alternatively, or as an alternative, terminal device 110 may also send an L1 measurement report. For example, network device 110 does not schedule an L3 measurement report 234, that is, network device 110 does not send an uplink license for an L3 measurement report. In this example, terminal device 110 may send (238) an L1 measurement report 240 with measurement results to network device 120. Furthermore, after receiving (241) the L1 measurement report 240, network device 120 may thus determine a TCI enable command based on the L1 measurement report and send (242) a TCI enable command 243. In this example, it is determined that the PL-RS is known to the SCell to be enabled based on the L1 measurement report 240. Without limitation, terminal device 110 may also send both L3 measurement report 234 and L1 measurement report 240. For example, network device 110 may schedule UL permission for the UE to send L3 measurement report 234, that is, network device 110 sends uplink permission for L3 measurement report. However, for some reason, the network does not transmit TCI enable command. In this case, terminal device 110 may also send (238) L1 measurement report 240 with measurement results to network device 120. Then, after receiving (236 and 241) L3 measurement report 234 and L1 measurement report 240, network device 120 may determine TCI status and accordingly transmit (242) TCI enable command 243 based on L3 report or L1 measurement report. Similarly, terminal device 110 can determine that PL-RS is known for the SCell to be enabled based on the transmitted L3 measurement report 234 and / or L1 measurement report 240. Accordingly, after sending a measurement report (e.g., L1 and / or L3 measurement report) and receiving a TCI enable command, terminal device 110 can know that PL-RS is known for the SCell to be enabled. In addition to, or instead of, measurement reports, in some embodiments, if L3 measurement report 234 and / or L1 measurement report 240 are not sent, terminal device 110 may determine that PL-RS is known based on the measurement results of RS. For example, terminal device 110 may have already performed measurements on RS after or before receiving command 212. However, although the desired measurement results are obtained, terminal device 110 has not received any permission for L3 measurement reports. In this case, terminal device 110 cannot send L3 measurement report 243. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that PL-RS is known based solely on the at least one measurement result, for example, if the target PL-RS derived from the TCI enable command is based on available measurement results at the UE. Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, a PL-RS can be determined to be known if one or more of the following conditions are met: The PL-RS is determined based on a first reference signal (RS) associated with one of the measurement results included in an L3 measurement report. Alternatively, or as another option, the PL-RS is determined based on a second RS associated with at least one of the measurement results included in an L1 measurement report or the L3 measurement report. Alternatively, or as another option, the PL-RS is determined based on at least one of the SSB or CSI-RS associated with the L3 measurement report. Alternatively, or as another option, the PL-RS is quasi-QCLed with at least one of the SSB or CSI-RS associated with the L3 measurement report. Alternatively, or as another option, the nesting enable command is received within a second time period after the last reference signal resource associated with the L3 measurement report, for example, the second time period may be 1280 ms. In one specific example, the one or more conditions used to determine that the PL-RS is known may include that the PL-RS is determined based on a reference signal (RS) used for measurement and therefore included in the L3 report, if the UE reports L3 measurement results after receiving the SCell enable command. Alternatively, if the UE does not report L3 measurement results after receiving the SCell enable command, the PL-RS is determined based on the same RS used for L3 measurement results (if any) or L1-RSRP reporting. Alternatively, the PL-RS is determined based on one of the SSBs or CSI-RSs reported in the L3 report, or the PL-RS is quasi-co-located with one of the SSBs or CSI-RSs reported in the L3 report. Alternatively, the PUCCH SCell enable command is received within a period of time after the last transmission of the RS resource used for L3 reporting. Without limitation, the foregoing embodiments can also be represented in the following manner. After determining (245) that the PL-RS is known, terminal device 110 enables (250) the SCell for a first time period. In one example, the first time period may be the latency requirement associated with SCell activation. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may enable the SCell by sending a valid CSI report 252 to network device 254 on the SCell. Accordingly, network device 120 may receive (254) the valid CSI report 252. As mentioned above, in order to send the CSI report 252, terminal device 110 may calculate the uplink transmission power based on the determined PL-RS. As mentioned above, in order to send a valid CSI report on the SCell, a certain number of further PL-RS samples need to be measured to enable the determination of the UL transmission power. Furthermore, if the PL-RS can be determined to be known based on the L3 measurement report, the uplink transmission power can also be determined directly without further measurement, or with a smaller number of PL-RS samples—for example, three PL-RS samples. This is because the required measurements have already been performed for the L3 measurement report. In some embodiments, if a PL-RS is determined to be known based on an L3 measurement report, further measurements of the PL-RS sample may not be necessary because the L3 measurement report already contains more PL-RS measurements than the L1 measurement report. Alternatively, if a PL-RS is determined to be known based on an L3 measurement report, the terminal device 110 may perform fewer further measurements on the determined PL-RS compared to the L1 measurement report (e.g., only two further PL-RS are required). In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may inform the network device 120 of the required further measurements. For example, terminal device 110 may send (201) a first instruction 203 to network device 205, indicating that if an L3 report is triggered by a lattice enable command, terminal device 110 can or supports enabling a SCell without further PL-RS measurements. In this example, if there is no associated RS required for other purposes, network device 110 will not transmit any associated RS. Alternatively, terminal device 110 may send (201) a second instruction 203 to network device 120, indicating that if an L3 report is triggered by a lattice enable command, terminal device 110 can or supports enabling a SCell with a first number of PL-RS measurements. Furthermore, after receiving (205) the second instruction 203, network device 120 may transmit the first number of further PL-RS (or related RS, e.g., RS co-located with the PL-RS). In this manner, upon receiving (244) a TCI enable command 243 indicating the determined or target PL-RS, the terminal device 110 may, for example, perform a measurement on the first number of PL-RS measurements after receiving the TCI enable command to determine a transmission power. Based on the determined transmission power, the terminal device 110 may send a CSI-RS report on the SCell to enable the SCell. In this manner, since the first number of PL-RS samples is less than the number of further PL-RS samples required for SCell enable as shown in FIG1B, the time required to enable the SCell can be reduced. Simply to make the discussion clearer, a specific example of SCell enablement is illustrated in FIG3. Figure 3 illustrates an example of a SCell activation procedure based on measurement results or at least one of L3 and L1 measurement reports, according to several exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Without limitation, the SCell activation procedure in Figure 3 may be an example of the processing job 200 in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 3, in message 1 (i.e., 1. SCell Addition), the network (e.g., network device 120) configures the SCell as a PUCCH SCell and adds this SCell to the CA operation. In message 2 (i.e., Report Configuration), the network configures an L3 report triggered by SCell activation, such as ReportOnActivation, on the PUCCH SCell. The UE (e.g., terminal device 110) can send an L3 report after receiving the SCell activation command, if there are valid measurement results. Before receiving the SCell activation command, the UE can indicate its ability to skip PL-RS measurements when PL-RS is known (e.g., a first capability indication or a second capability indication), or indicate the number of samples (e.g., the first number of PL-RS) if PL-RS measurements are still required. In message 3 (i.e., SCell enable command), the UE receives the SCell enable command to enable the PUCCH SCell and transmits a HARQ ACK. The UE assesses whether there are valid measurement results available when the SCell enable command is received and prepares an L3 report accordingly. In message 4 (i.e., L3 report), the UE transmits an L3 report based on the received UL clearance. Instead of message 4, if UL clearance cannot be obtained within a certain time frame, the UE cannot transmit an L3 report. The UE can instead transmit an L1-RSRP report. When the UE receives the TCI enable command in message 5, the UE determines that the PL-RS is already included in the L1-RSRP report, or determines that the UE has available PL-RS measurement results, and begins measuring the PL-RS according to its capabilities. In message 5 (i.e., TCI indication), the UE receives a TCI enable command indicating which TCI state to enable. Based on this TCI enable command, the UE can determine the associated PL-RS. The UE determines the PL-RS already included in the L3 report and treats it as known. Furthermore, the UE begins measuring the PL-RS according to its capabilities. In message 6, the network transmits reference signals for channel measurement, such as SP-CSI-RS, and the UE will measure and use the UL Tx power determined from the PL-RS to transmit the CSI report. Simultaneously, the UE can perform a random access procedure to obtain the UL timing if no valid TA is available. It should be understood that the procedure for enabling an unknown PUCCH SCell using the L3 report shown in Figure 3 is merely an example and is not intended to be limiting. In view of the foregoing, there is a proper way to deal with the question of how to determine whether the path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known or unknown when PUCCH SCell is enabled, even when SCell enablement can trigger more than one type of measurement report. Figure 4 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 400 implemented at a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 110) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of discussion, method 400 will be described from the viewpoint of terminal device 110 with reference to Figure 1. In step 410, terminal device 110 determines, based on at least one measurement result or a measurement report, that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for a primary SCell with an uplink. This measurement report is triggered by a SCell activation command. In step 420, terminal device 110 activates the SCell for a first time period based on the PL-RS determined to be known. In some embodiments, the measurement report includes at least one of the following: a third-layer (L3) measurement report containing the at least one measurement result; or a first-layer (L1) measurement report containing the at least one measurement result. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine that the PL-RS is known for the SCell by at least one of the following operations: determining that the PL-RS is known based on an L3 measurement report following a SCell enable command; or determining that the PL-RS is known based on both an L3 measurement report and an L1 measurement report following the SCell enable command. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine that the PL-RS is known for the SCell by: receiving a SCell enable command from a network device; and, in the absence of a measurement report being sent, determining that the PL-RS is known based on the at least one measurement result used for the measurement report. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine that the PL-RS is known based on one or more of the following conditions: the PL-RS is determined based on a first reference signal (RS) associated with a measurement result included in an L3 measurement report; or the PL-RS is determined based on a second RS associated with a measurement result included in at least one of an L1 measurement report or an L3 measurement report. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine that the PL-RS is known based on one or more of the following conditions: the PL-RS is determined based on at least one of a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel (SSB) or a channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) associated with the L3 measurement report; the PL-RS is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with at least one of the SSB or the CSI-RS associated with the L3 measurement report. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine that the PL-RS is known based on the fact that the trellis enable command is received within a second time period after the last reference signal resource associated with the L3 measurement report. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may further receive from a network device a report set for one of the L3 measurement reports triggered by the cell enable command. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may further: send a first indication to a network device, the first indication indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell without further PL-RS measurements; or send a second capability indication to the network device, the second capability indication indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell with a first number of PL-RS measurements. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 sends the second capability indication, and the terminal device 110 may further: perform measurements on the first number of PL-RS measurements to determine a transmission power; and enable the SCell by sending a CSI-RS report with the determined transmission power. In some embodiments, the SCell includes a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) SCell. In some embodiments, the PUCCH SCell is unknown to the terminal device. Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating one example of a method 500 implemented in a network device (e.g., network device 120) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of discussion, method 500 will be described from the viewpoint of network device 120 with reference to Figure 1. In step 510, network device 120 sends a cell enable command for a single cell to terminal device 110. In step 520, network device 120 receives a measurement report triggered by the cell enable command from the terminal device. In step 530, network device 120 determines, based on the measurement report, that the path loss reference signal (PL-RS) for that cell is known. In some embodiments, the measurement report includes at least one of the following: a third-layer (L3) measurement report; or a first-layer (L1) measurement report. In some embodiments, the PL-RS is determined to be known for the SCell based on one or more of the following conditions being met: the PL-RS is determined based on a first reference signal (RS) associated with a measurement result included in an L3 measurement report; or, the PL-RS is determined based on a second RS associated with a measurement result included in at least one of an L1 measurement report or the L3 measurement report. In some embodiments, the PL-RS is determined to be known for the SCell based on one or more of the following conditions being met: the PL-RS is determined based on at least one of a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel (SSB) or a channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) associated with the L3 measurement report; or, the PL-RS is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with at least one of the SSB or the CSI-RS associated with the L3 measurement report. In some embodiments, the PL-RS is determined to be known to the SCell based on the fact that the enable command is received within a second time period after the last reference signal resource associated with the L3 measurement report. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may further: receive a first capability indication from the terminal device, the first capability indication indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell without further PL-RS measurements; or receive a second capability indication from the terminal device, the second capability indication indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell with a first number of PL-RS measurements. In some embodiments, the second capability indication is received, and the network device 120 may further send the first number of PL-RS measurements to the terminal device based on the second capability indication. In some embodiments, the SCell includes a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) SCell. In some embodiments, the PUCCH SCell is unknown to the terminal device. Figure 6 is a simplified block diagram illustrating an apparatus 600 suitable for implementing several embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatus 600 may be provided to implement communication devices, such as the terminal device 110 and network device 120 shown in Figure 1A. As shown, the apparatus 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 640 coupled to the processors 610, and one or more transmitters and / or receivers (TX / RX) 640 coupled to the processors 610. The TX / RX 640 series is used for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 640 has at least one antenna for facilitating communication. The communication interface can represent any interface necessary for communication with other network components. Processor 610 may be of any type suitable for the technology network in this area, and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computer, special purpose computer, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and processor based on a multi-core processor architecture, these examples are not limiting. Device 600 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-subject to a clock calibrated by the main processor. Memory 620 may include one or more non-electrically dependent memories and one or more electrically dependent memories. Examples of non-electrically dependent memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 1324, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact discs (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of electrically dependent memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 622, and other electrically dependent memories that will not persist during power-off periods. Program 630 includes executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. Program 630 may be stored in ROM 624. Processor 610 may perform any appropriate actions and processing operations by loading program 630 into RAM 622. The embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented by means of a program, enabling the device 1300 to perform any processing operations of the disclosure discussed with reference to Figures 2 to 5. The embodiments of this disclosure can also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software. In some exemplary embodiments, program 630 may be tangibly contained in a readable storage medium (e.g., in memory 620) that may be included within device 600, or in other storage devices accessible to device 600. Device 600 may load program 630 from the storage medium into RAM 622 for execution. The storage medium may include any type of tangible non-electrical storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, and others like these. Figure 7 illustrates an example of a storage medium 700 in the form of a CD or DVD. This storage medium stores processor instructions 630. Generally, various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or special-purpose circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software executable by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of this disclosure are illustrated and explained using block diagrams, flowcharts, or other graphical representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein can be implemented in non-limiting examples such as hardware, software, firmware, special-purpose circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof. This disclosure also provides at least one program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory readable storage medium. The program product includes executable instructions, such as those included in a program module, which are executed in a device on a target entity or virtual processor to implement the processing job 200, method 400, or 500 described above with reference to Figures 2 to 5. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, categories, components, data structures, or other such entities that perform a specific task or implement a specific abstract data type. The functionality of program modules can be combined or separated into a plurality of program modules as described in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions for the program modules can be executed locally or in a distributed device. In a distributed device, the program modules can be located in both local and remote storage media. The program code used to implement the methods disclosed herein may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment so that, when executed by the processor or controller, it causes the functions or operations described in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be performed. The program code may be executed entirely on a machine, partially on the machine as a standalone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on the remote machine or server. In the context of this disclosure, code or related data may be carried on any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processing operations and functions described above. Examples of such carriers include signals, readable storage media, and others like these. A readable medium can be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. A readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or apparatuses, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of readable storage media include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, or flash memory), optical fibers, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. When used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not signaling), and not a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM). Furthermore, although the operations have been described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring these operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in a sequential order, or that all illustrated operations must be performed to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multiplexing and parallel processing may be beneficial. Similarly, while some specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure; rather, they are merely descriptions of features that may be specific to certain particular embodiments. Certain features described in the context of several different embodiments may also be combined and implemented in a single embodiment. Conversely, multiple features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments in a separate or any suitable sub-combination manner. Although this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims. 100: Network environment; environment; communication environment 110: Terminal device 120: Network device 124: PL-RS sample 126: Valid CSI report 130: L3 report 200: Transmitting processing operation; flowchart; processing operation 201, 207, 210, 216, 226, 232, 238: Sending 203: Transmitting; first instruction; second instruction 205, 209, 214, 230, 236, 241, 244, 254: Receiving 208: Report assembly 212: Cell activation command; command; SCell activation command 220: Performing 222: Obtaining 228: Transmitting; uplink permission 234: Transmitting; L3 measurement report; L3 report 240: Transmitting; L1 Measurement Report 242: Transmission; Sending 243: TCI Enable Command 245: Judgment 250: Enable 252: Valid CSI Report; CSI Report 400, 500: Demonstration Method; Method 410, 420, 510, 520, 530: Step 600: Device 610: Processor 620: Memory 622: Random Access Memory (RAM) 624: ROM 630: Program; Processor Instructions 640: Transmitter and / or Receiver (TX / RX) 700: Storage Media Now, some exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1A illustrates a demonstration network environment in which several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented; Figure 1B illustrates one example of the SCell activation procedure based on the L1 measurement report; Figure 1C illustrates one example of an L3 measurement report triggered by the SCell enable command; Figure 2 illustrates a sample signaling process for cellular activation, based on several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 3 illustrates an example of a SCell activation procedure based on measurement results or at least one of L3 and L1 measurement reports, according to several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of one method implemented on a terminal device, based on several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of one method implemented in a network device, based on several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of one of the apparatuses suitable for implementing several embodiments of this disclosure; and Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a computer-readable medium based on some embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout these diagrams, the same or similar labels represent the same or similar elements. 400: Demonstration method; method 410, 420: Steps

Claims

1. A terminal device comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to and configured with the at least one memory to cause the terminal device to: receive a cell enable command for a primary cell (SCell), the SCell being unknown to the terminal device; and determine a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) as known for the SCell based at least on a Layer 3 (L3) measurement report, wherein, The L3 measurement report was triggered by the cell activation command; and the SCell was activated within a first time period based on the determination that the PL-RS was known.

2. The terminal device as described in claim 1, wherein, The L3 measurement report contains at least one measurement result.

3. The terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The terminal device is caused to determine that the PL-RS is known for the SCell by: receiving a SCell enable command from a network device; and determining that the PL-RS is known based on at least one measurement result used for the measurement report in the absence of a measurement report being sent.

4. The terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The terminal device is caused to determine that the PL-RS is known based on one or more of the following: the PL-RS is known based on a first reference signal (RS) associated with a measurement result included in the L3 measurement report; the PL-RS is known based on a second RS associated with a measurement result included in at least one of the L1 measurement report or the L3 measurement report; the PL-RS is known based on at least one of a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel (SSB) or a channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) associated with the L3 measurement report; or the PL-RS is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with at least one of the SSB or the CSI-RS associated with the L3 measurement report.

5. The terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The terminal device is caused to determine that the PL-RS is known based on the following condition: the enable command is received within a second time period starting from the last transmission of a reference signal resource associated with the L3 measurement report.

6. The terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The terminal device is further caused to receive a report set from a network device for the L3 measurement report triggered by the cell enable command.

7. The terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The terminal device is further caused to: send a first instruction to a network device indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell without further PL-RS measurements; or send a second instruction to the network device indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell with a first number of PL-RS measurements.

8. The terminal device as claimed in claim 7, wherein, The terminal device is caused to send a second capability indication, and wherein the terminal device is further caused to: perform a measurement on the first number of PL-RS measurements to determine a transmission power; and enable the SCell by sending a CSI-RS report with the determined transmission power.

9. The terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The SCell contains a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) SCell.

10. A network device comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to and configured with the at least one memory to cause the network device to: send a cell enable command to an end device for a one-time cell (SCell), the SCell being unknown to the end device; and receive from the end device a measurement report triggered by the cell enable command; and determine based on the measurement report that a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) is known for the SCell, wherein, The measurement report includes a third-level (L3) measurement report.

11. The network apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein, The PL-RS is determined to be known for the SCell based on one or more of the following conditions: the PL-RS is determined based on a first reference signal (RS) associated with a measurement result included in the L3 measurement report; the PL-RS is determined based on a second RS associated with a measurement result included in at least one of the L1 measurement report or the L3 measurement report; the PL-RS is determined based on at least one of a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel (SSB) or a channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) associated with the L3 measurement report; or the PL-RS is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with at least one of the SSB or the CSI-RS associated with the L3 measurement report.

12. The network apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein, The PL-RS is determined to be known for the SCell based on the following condition: the enable command is received by the terminal device during a second time period starting from the transmission of the last reference signal resource associated with the L3 measurement report.

13. The network apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein, The network device is further caused to: receive a first instruction from the terminal device indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell without further PL-RS measurements; or receive a second instruction from the terminal device indicating that the terminal device supports enabling the SCell with a first number of PL-RS measurements.

14. The network apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein, The second instruction is received, and wherein the network device is further instructed to: send the first number of PL-RS measurements to the terminal device based on the second capability instruction.

15. The network apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein, The SCell contains a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) SCell.

16. A method for communication, comprising: receiving, by a terminal device, a cell enable command for a primary cell, the cell being unknown to the terminal device; and determining, by the terminal device, a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) to be known for the cell, at least based on a Layer 3 (L3) measurement report, wherein... The L3 measurement report was triggered by the cell enable command; and the SCell was enabled within a first time period based on the determination that the PL-RS was known.

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