Timing advance timer expiration handling in multi transmission and reception point operation with multiple timing advance groups
The described techniques address the challenge of TAT expiration in multi-TRP operations with multiple TAGs by defining specific UE and network behaviors, ensuring seamless communication and efficient resource management.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/CN2023/123035
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-09-29
- Publication Date
- 2025-04-03
AI Technical Summary
Existing wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently handling timing advance timer (TAT) expiration in multi-transmission and reception point (TRP) operations with multiple timing advance groups (TAGs), leading to potential disruptions in communication alignment and resource management.
The proposed solution involves defining user equipment (UE) and network behavior for handling TAT expiration in scenarios with multiple TAGs and TRPs. This includes specific actions such as releasing uplink channels, flushing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) buffers, and resetting TATs based on the expiration of TATs associated with different TAGs.
This approach ensures seamless communication by maintaining proper timing alignment and resource management even after TAT expiration, reducing the likelihood of communication disruptions and improving overall system efficiency.
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Figure CN2023123035_03042025_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
TIMING ADVANCE TIMER EXPIRATION HANDLING IN MULTI TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION POINT OPERATION WITH MULTIPLE TIMING ADVANCE GROUPS
[0001] FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY
[0002] The following relates to wireless communications, including timing advance timer expiration handling in multi transmission and reception point operation with multiple timing advance groups.BACKGROUND
[0003] Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) , or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) . A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations, each supporting wireless communication for communication devices, which may be known as user equipment (UE) .SUMMARY
[0004] The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support timing advance timer (TAT) expiration handling in multi transmission and reception point (multi-TRP) operation with multiple timing advance groups (TAGs) . A timing advance timer may also be referred to as a timing alignment timer. For example, the described techniques may define user equipment (UE) and network behavior in the case that a single serving cell is associated with two TAGs (e.g., the UE may communicate with the same serving cell via two TRPs) and two corresponding TATs. For example, a UE may communicate with a single serving cell (e.g., a special cell (SpCell) or a secondary cell (SCell) ) via two TRPs, and accordingly, the same serving cell may be associated with two TAGs to account for the different propagation delays for the two TRPs. A primary TAG (PTAG) refers to the TAG that includes the special cell (SpCell) , and a secondary TAG (STAG) refers to other TAGs. The two TAGs may be two PTAGs (e.g., if the serving cell is an SpCell) , two STAGs, or an PTAG and an STAG. Each TAG may have a respective TAT. Aspects of this disclosure may define UE and network behavior in cases where one TAT expires and one TAT is running for a serving cell, in cases where both TATs expire, in cases where both TATs are associated with PTAGs, in cases where both TATs are associated with STAGs, and in cases where one TAT is associated with an STAG and one TAT is associated with a PTAG.
[0005] A method for wireless communications by a UE is described. The method may include receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and releasing , while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT .
[0006] A UE for wireless communications is described. The UE may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to receive control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and release , while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT .
[0007] Another UE for wireless communications is described. The UE may include means for receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT .
[0008] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and release , while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT .
[0009] Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT may be running, an uplink communication to the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG.
[0010] In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the uplink communication may include operations, features, means, or instructions for retransmitting buffered data associated with the first TRP to the serving cell via the second TRP based on the expiration of the first TAT.
[0011] In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, releasing the uplink channel may include operations, features, means, or instructions for releasing a physical uplink control channel configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, releasing a sounding reference signal configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for channel state information reporting configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, or a combination thereof.
[0012] Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for flushing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell and releasing, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and configured each uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where the first TAG may be a first PTAG and the second TAG may be a second PTAG.
[0013] Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for flushing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell and releasing, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where at least one of the first TAG and the second TAG may be a STAG , where the control signaling configures two PTAGs, and where a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs may be running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT.
[0014] Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for flushing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell and releasing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where the first TAG may be a PTAG, and where the control signaling configures a single PTAG.
[0015] Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, after the expiration of the first TAT, a downlink control channel order that triggers a contention free random access procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell, performing the contention free random access procedure in response to the downlink control channel order, and resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the contention free random access procedure.
[0016] In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, performing the contention free random access procedure may include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0017] Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for performing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, a contention based random access procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell and resetting the first TAT in response to performing the contention based random access procedure.
[0018] In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, performing the contention based random access procedure may include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0019] Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a timing advance command for the second TAG and resetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second TAT.
[0020] A method for wireless communications by a network entity is described. The method may include transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0021] A network entity for wireless communications is described. The network entity may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to transmit, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and release, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0022] Another network entity for wireless communications is described. The network entity may include means for transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0023] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to transmit, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT and release, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0024] Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the UE after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT may be running, an uplink communication for the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG.
[0025] In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, receiving the uplink communication may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a retransmission of buffered data associated with the first TRP for the serving cell via the second TRP based on the expiration of the first TAT.
[0026] In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, releasing the uplink channel may include operations, features, means, or instructions for releasing a physical uplink control channel configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, releasing a sounding reference signal configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for channel state information reporting configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, or a combination thereof.
[0027] Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for releasing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, and where the first TAG may be a first PTAG and the second TAG may be a second PTAG.
[0028] Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for releasing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, where the control signaling configures two PTAGs, and where a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs may be running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT.
[0029] Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for releasing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of set of configured serving cells for the UE, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, where the first TAG may be a PTAG, and where the control signaling configures a single PTAG.
[0030] Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the UE after the expiration of the first TAT, a downlink control channel order that triggers a contention free random access procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell, performing, with the UE, the contention free random access procedure in response to the downlink control channel order, and resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the contention free random access procedure.
[0031] In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, performing the contention free random access procedure may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0032] Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for performing, with the UE and in response to the expiration of the first TAT, a contention based random access procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell and resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the contention based random access procedure.
[0033] In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, performing the contention based random access procedure may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0034] Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the UE, a timing advance command for the second TAG and resetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second TAT.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0035] FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system that supports timing advance timer (TAT) expiration handling in multi transmission and reception point (TRP) operation with multiple timing advance groups (TAGs) in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0036] FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0037] FIG. 3 shows an example of a process flow that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0038] FIGs. 4 and 5 show block diagrams of devices that support TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0039] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0040] FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0041] FIGs. 8 and 9 show block diagrams of devices that support TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0042] FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0043] FIG. 11 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0044] FIGs. 12 through 15 show flowcharts illustrating methods that support TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0045] In some wireless communications systems, a user equipment (UE) may support multi-panel communication with a network entity via multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) . To increase the likelihood for successful communications between the UE and the multiple TRPs associated with the network entity, the UE may adjust the timing of uplink transmissions from the UE such that uplink transmissions from the UE are received by each TRP aligned with a downlink frame at the TRP. The UE may adjust the timing of an uplink transmission to a TRP by applying a timing advance (e.g., a timing advance value) to the uplink transmission. The network may configure groups of serving cells for a UE, which may include a master cell group (MCG) . In dual connectivity, the UE may communicate with a first network entity via a MCG and a second network entity via a secondary cell group (SCG) . An MCG may include a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (SCells) . An SCG may include a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and one or more SCells. In dual connectivity (e.g., when a UE is configured with a MCG and an SCG) , a special cell (SpCell) may refer to the PCell for the MCG or the PSCell for the SCG. For communications with a single network entity (e.g., when so SCG is configured) , the SpCell may refer to the PCell.
[0046] A group of serving cells that use the same timing reference cell and the same timing advance value may be referred to as a timing advance group (TAG) . A primary TAG (PTAG) refers to the TAG that includes the special cell (SpCell) , and a secondary TAG (STAG) refers to other TAGs. The UE may maintain a timing alignment timer (TAT) for each TAG. TATs may be reset based on radio resource control (RRC) signaling or timing advance commands received from the network via a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) . A TAT may also be referred to as a timing advance timer. In some examples, where each serving cell is associated with a single TAG, when the TAT expires for a PTAG, the UE may perform one or more actions. The one or more actions may include: flushing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) buffers for all serving cells, releasing uplink channels for all serving cells, clearing configured uplink and downlink assignments for all serving cells, and considering all TATs as expired. In some examples, where each serving cell is associated with a single TAG, when the TAT expires for an STAG, the UE may perform one or more actions that may include: flushing HARQ buffers for the serving cells belonging to that STAG; releasing uplink channels for that STAG, and clearing configured uplink and downlink assignments.
[0047] In some examples, however, a UE may communicate with a single serving cell (e.g., an SpCell or an SCell) via two TRPs, and accordingly the same serving cell may be associated with two TAGs to account for the different propagation delays for the two TRPs. For example, the two TAGs may be two PTAGs (e.g., if the serving cell is an SpCell) , two STAGs, or a PTAG and an STAG. Each TAG may have a respective TAT. Aspects of this disclosure may define UE and network behavior in the case that a single serving cell is associated with two TAGs (e.g., the UE may communicate with the same serving cell via two TRPs) and two corresponding TATs.
[0048] For example, in the case that both TAGs are PTAGs and both TATs expire, the UE may flush all HARQ buffers for all serving cells, release uplink channels for all serving cells, clear configured uplink and downlink assignments for all serving cells, and consider all TATs as expired. In the case that both TAGs are STAGs and both TATs expire, the UE may flush HARQ buffers for the serving cells including both these STAGs, may clear configured uplink and downlink assignments for the serving cells including both these STAGs, and may release uplink channels for those STAGs. In the case that one TAG is an STAG and the other is a PTAG, and both TATs expire but another TAT for a second PTAG is still running, the UE may flush HARQ buffers for the serving cells including these STAG and PTAG with the TATs that expired, may clear configured uplink and downlink assignments for the serving cells including these STAG and PTAG with the TATs that expired, and may release uplink channels for the STAG and PTAG with the TATs that expired. In the case that the SpCell is associated with two PTAGs and one TAT expires for the serving cell, the UE may release the channels associated with the TAG with the expired TAT and may clear configured uplink and downlink assignments associated with the TAG with the expired TAT but may not flush HARQ buffers as the UE may retransmit buffered data through the other TRP (associated with the TAG with the timing alignment tag that is not expired) . In the case that a single PTAG is associated with the SpCell, and the TAT associated with the single PTAG expires, the UE may flush all HARQ buffers for all serving cells, release uplink channels for all serving cells, clear configured upland and downlink assignments for all serving cells, and consider all TATs as expired.
[0049] Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to process flows, apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs.
[0050] FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating in accordance with other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.
[0051] The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communications system 100 and may include devices in different forms or having different capabilities. In various examples, a network entity 105 may be referred to as a network element, a mobility element, a radio access network (RAN) node, or network equipment, among other nomenclature. In some examples, network entities 105 and UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) access link) . For example, a network entity 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) over which the UEs 115 and the network entity 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which a network entity 105 and a UE 115 may support the communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs) .
[0052] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communications with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 or network entities 105, as shown in FIG. 1.
[0053] As described herein, a node of the wireless communications system 100, which may be referred to as a network node, or a wireless node, may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein) , a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein) , a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a node may be a UE 115. As another example, a node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In yet other aspects of this example, the first, second, and third nodes may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, reference to a UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like may include disclosure of the UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like being a node. For example, disclosure that a UE 115 is configured to receive information from a network entity 105 also discloses that a first node is configured to receive information from a second node.
[0054] In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or with one another, or both. For example, network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130 via one or more backhaul communication links 120 (e.g., in accordance with an S1, N2, N3, or other interface protocol) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via a backhaul communication link 120 (e.g., in accordance with an X2, Xn, or other interface protocol) either directly (e.g., directly between network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via a core network 130) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., in accordance with a midhaul interface protocol) or a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., in accordance with a fronthaul interface protocol) , or any combination thereof. The backhaul communication links 120, midhaul communication links 162, or fronthaul communication links 168 may be or include one or more wired links (e.g., an electrical link, an optical fiber link) , one or more wireless links (e.g., a radio link, a wireless optical link) , among other examples or various combinations thereof. A UE 115 may communicate with the core network 130 via a communication link 155.
[0055] One or more of the network entities 105 described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB or a giga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB) , a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB) , a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology) . In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in an aggregated (e.g., monolithic, standalone) base station architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single network entity 105 (e.g., a single RAN node, such as a base station 140) .
[0056] In some examples, a network entity 105 may be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) , which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more network entities 105, such as an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) , or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN) ) . For example, a network entity 105 may include one or more of a central unit (CU) 160, a distributed unit (DU) 165, a radio unit (RU) 170, a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 175 (e.g., a Near-Real Time RIC (Near-RT RIC) , a Non-Real Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) ) , a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) 180 system, or any combination thereof. An RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , or a TRP. One or more components of the network entities 105 in a disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entities 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations) . In some examples, one or more network entities 105 of a disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual CU (VCU) , a virtual DU (VDU) , a virtual RU (VRU) ) .
[0057] The split of functionality between a CU 160, a DU 165, and an RU 170 is flexible and may support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, and any combinations thereof) are performed at a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between a CU 160 and a DU 165 such that the CU 160 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the DU 165 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some examples, the CU 160 may host upper protocol layer (e.g., layer 3 (L3) , layer 2 (L2) ) functionality and signaling (e.g., RRC, service data adaption protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) ) . The CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170, and the one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170 may host lower protocol layers, such as layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, MAC layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally, or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between a DU 165 and an RU 170 such that the DU 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU 165 may support one or multiple different cells (e.g., via one or more RUs 170) . In some cases, a functional split between a CU 160 and a DU 165, or between a DU 165 and an RU 170 may be within a protocol layer (e.g., some functions for a protocol layer may be performed by one of a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of the CU 160, the DU 165, or the RU 170) . A CU 160 may be functionally split further into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. A CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u) , and a DU 165 may be connected to one or more RUs 170 via a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface) . In some examples, a midhaul communication link 162 or a fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented in accordance with an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities 105 that are in communication via such communication links.
[0058] In wireless communications systems (e.g., wireless communications system 100) , infrastructure and spectral resources for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to a core network 130) . In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) may be partially controlled by each other. One or more IAB nodes 104 may be referred to as a donor entity or an IAB donor. One or more DUs 165 or one or more RUs 170 may be partially controlled by one or more CUs 160 associated with a donor network entity 105 (e.g., a donor base station 140) . The one or more donor network entities 105 (e.g., IAB donors) may be in communication with one or more additional network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication links 120) . IAB nodes 104 may include an IAB mobile termination (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by DUs 165 of a coupled IAB donor. An IAB-MT may include an independent set of antennas for relay of communications with UEs 115, or may share the same antennas (e.g., of an RU 170) of an IAB node 104 used for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node 104 (e.g., referred to as virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT) ) . In some examples, the IAB nodes 104 may include DUs 165 that support communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB nodes 104, UEs 115) within the relay chain or configuration of the access network (e.g., downstream) . In such cases, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., one or more IAB nodes 104 or components of IAB nodes 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.
[0059] In the case of the techniques described herein applied in the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally, or alternatively, be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., IAB nodes 104, DUs 165, CUs 160, RUs 170, RIC 175, SMO 180) .
[0060] A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances, or vehicles, meters, among other examples.
[0061] The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relays as well as the network entities 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.
[0062] The UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may wirelessly communicate with one another via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., an access link) using resources associated with one or more carriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication links 125. For example, a carrier used for a communication link 125 may include a portion of a RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP) ) that is operated according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR) . Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information) , control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) component carriers. Communication between a network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between the devices and any portion (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of a network entity 105. For example, the terms “transmitting, ” “receiving, ” or “communicating, ” when referring to a network entity 105, may refer to any portion of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a CU 160, a DU 165, a RU 170) of a RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities 105) .
[0063] In some examples, such as in a carrier aggregation configuration, a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates operations for other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an evolved universal mobile telecommunication system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) absolute RF channel number (EARFCN) ) and may be identified according to a channel raster for discovery by the UEs 115. A carrier may be operated in a standalone mode, in which case initial acquisition and connection may be conducted by the UEs 115 via the carrier, or the carrier may be operated in a non-standalone mode, in which case a connection is anchored using a different carrier (e.g., of the same or a different radio access technology) .
[0064] The communication links 125 shown in the wireless communications system 100 may include downlink transmissions (e.g., forward link transmissions) from a network entity 105 to a UE 115, uplink transmissions (e.g., return link transmissions) from a UE 115 to a network entity 105, or both, among other configurations of transmissions. Carriers may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in an FDD mode) or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in a TDD mode) .
[0065] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the RF spectrum and, in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wireless communications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a set of bandwidths for carriers of a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHz) ) . Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., the network entities 105, the UEs 115, or both) may have hardware configurations that support communications using a particular carrier bandwidth or may be configurable to support communications using one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may include network entities 105 or UEs 115 that support concurrent communications using carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured for operating using portions (e.g., a sub-band, a BWP) or all of a carrier bandwidth.
[0066] Signal waveforms transmitted via a carrier may be made up of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) ) . In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may refer to resources of one symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The quantity of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both) , such that a relatively higher quantity of resource elements (e.g., in a transmission duration) and a relatively higher order of a modulation scheme may correspond to a relatively higher rate of communication. A wireless communications resource may refer to a combination of an RF spectrum resource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., a spatial layer, a beam) , and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.
[0067] One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same or different numerologies. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time and communications for the UE 115 may be restricted to one or more active BWPs.
[0068] The time intervals for the network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of Ts=1 / (Δfmax·Nf) seconds, for which Δfmax may represent a supported subcarrier spacing, and Nf may represent a supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms) ) . Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023) .
[0069] Each frame may include multiple consecutively-numbered subframes or slots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a quantity of slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable quantity of slots, and the quantity of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a quantity of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period) . In some wireless communications systems 100, a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots associated with one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may be associated with one or more (e.g., Nf) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation.
[0070] A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI) . In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., a quantity of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally, or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) ) .
[0071] Physical channels may be multiplexed for communication using a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed for signaling via a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET) ) for a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 may monitor or search control regions for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate may refer to an amount of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs) ) associated with encoded information for a control information format having a given payload size. Search space sets may include common search space sets configured for sending control information to multiple UEs 115 and UE-specific search space sets for sending control information to a specific UE 115.
[0072] A network entity 105 may provide communication coverage via one or more cells, for example a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or any combination thereof. The term “cell” may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a network entity 105 (e.g., using a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID) , a virtual cell identifier (VCID) , or others) . In some examples, a cell also may refer to a coverage area 110 or a portion of a coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over which the logical communication entity operates. Such cells may range from smaller areas (e.g., a structure, a subset of structure) to larger areas depending on various factors such as the capabilities of the network entity 105. For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subset of a building, or exterior spaces between or overlapping with coverage areas 110, among other examples.
[0073] A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider supporting the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower-powered network entity 105 (e.g., a lower-powered base station 140) , as compared with a macro cell, and a small cell may operate using the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider or may provide restricted access to the UEs 115 having an association with the small cell (e.g., the UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , the UEs 115 associated with users in a home or office) . A network entity 105 may support one or multiple cells and may also support communications via the one or more cells using one or multiple component carriers.
[0074] In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) ) that may provide access for different types of devices.
[0075] In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) may be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving coverage area 110. In some examples, different coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same network entity 105. In some other examples, the overlapping coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by different network entities 105. The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of the network entities 105 provide coverage for various coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.
[0076] The wireless communications system 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) may have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different network entities 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, network entities 105 may have different frame timings, and transmissions from different network entities 105 may, in some examples, not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operations.
[0077] The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) . The UEs 115 may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communications may include private communication or group communication and may be supported by one or more services such as push-to-talk, video, or data. Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.
[0078] In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured to support communicating directly with other UEs 115 via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (e.g., in accordance with a peer-to-peer (P2P) , D2D, or sidelink protocol) . In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of a group that are performing D2D communications may be within the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) , which may support aspects of such D2D communications being configured by (e.g., scheduled by) the network entity 105. In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of such a group may be outside the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 or may be otherwise unable to or not configured to receive transmissions from a network entity 105. In some examples, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may support a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to each of the other UEs 115 in the group. In some examples, a network entity 105 may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In some other examples, D2D communications may be carried out between the UEs 115 without an involvement of a network entity 105.
[0079] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC) , which may include at least one control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management function (AMF) ) and at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for the UEs 115 served by the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services 150 for one or more network operators. The IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, Intranet (s) , an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) , or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.
[0080] The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, which may be in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz) . Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, which may be referred to as clusters, but the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 located indoors. Communications using UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to communications using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.
[0081] The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA) , LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology using an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. While operating using unlicensed RF spectrum bands, devices such as the network entities 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations using unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriers operating using a licensed band (e.g., LAA) . Operations using unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among other examples.
[0082] A network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of a network entity 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a network entity 105 may be located at diverse geographic locations. A network entity 105 may include an antenna array with a set of rows and columns of antenna ports that the network entity 105 may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally, or alternatively, an antenna panel may support RF beamforming for a signal transmitted via an antenna port.
[0083] The network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may use MIMO communications to exploit multipath signal propagation and increase spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such techniques may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, be transmitted by the transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals may be received by the receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry information associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords) . Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports used for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) , for which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) , for which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.
[0084] Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagating along particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation) .
[0085] A network entity 105 or a UE 115 may use beam sweeping techniques as part of beamforming operations. For example, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by a network entity 105 multiple times along different directions. For example, the network entity 105 may transmit a signal according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. Transmissions along different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by a transmitting device, such as a network entity 105, or by a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for later transmission or reception by the network entity 105.
[0086] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by transmitting device (e.g., a transmitting network entity 105, a transmitting UE 115) along a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device, such as a receiving network entity 105 or a receiving UE 115) . In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based on a signal that was transmitted along one or more beam directions. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the network entity 105 along different directions and may report to the network entity 105 an indication of the signal that the UE 115 received with a highest signal quality or an otherwise acceptable signal quality.
[0087] In some examples, transmissions by a device (e.g., by a network entity 105 or a UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from a network entity 105 to a UE 115) . The UE 115 may report feedback that indicates precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured set of beams across a system bandwidth or one or more sub-bands. The network entity 105 may transmit a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) , a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) ) , which may be precoded or unprecoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook) . Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted along one or more directions by a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) , a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times along different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115) or for transmitting a signal along a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device) .
[0088] A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115) may perform reception operations in accordance with multiple receive configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals from a transmitting device (e.g., a network entity 105) , such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. For example, a receiving device may perform reception in accordance with multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets (e.g., different directional listening weight sets) applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing received signals according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as “listening” according to different receive configurations or receive directions. In some examples, a receiving device may use a single receive configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal) . The single receive configuration may be aligned along a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receive configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have a highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , or otherwise acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions) .
[0089] The wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or PDCP layer may be IP-based. An RLC layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate via logical channels. A MAC layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer also may implement error detection techniques, error correction techniques, or both to support retransmissions to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, an RRC layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a network entity 105 or a core network 130 supporting radio bearers for user plane data. A PHY layer may map transport channels to physical channels.
[0090] The UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may support retransmissions of data to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully. HARQ feedback is one technique for increasing the likelihood that data is received correctly via a communication link (e.g., a communication link 125, a D2D communication link 135) . HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) ) , forward error correction (FEC) , and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ) ) . HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise conditions) . In some examples, a device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, in which case the device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received via a previous symbol in the slot. In some other examples, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot, or according to some other time interval.
[0091] The network may configure groups of serving cells for a UE 115, which may include an MCG. In dual connectivity, the UE 115 may communicate with a first network entity 105 via an MCG and a second network entity 105 via an SCG. An MCG may include a PCell and one or more SCells. An SCG may include a PSCell and one or more SCells. In dual connectivity (e.g., when a UE 115 is configured with a MCG and an SCG) , an SpCell may refer to the PCell for the MCG or the PSCell for the SCG. For communications with a single network entity, the SpCell may refer to the PCell.
[0092] To increase the likelihood for successful communications between the UE 115 the network entity 105, the UE 115 may adjust the timing of uplink transmissions from the UE 115 such that uplink transmissions from the UE are received by each TRP aligned with a downlink frame. The UE 115 may adjust the timing of an uplink transmission to the network entity 105 by applying a timing advance (e.g., a timing advance value) to the uplink transmission. A TAG may be defined as a group of serving cells configured by RRC that use the same timing reference cell and the same timing advance value. The UE 115 may maintain a TAT for each TAG. For example, RRC may include a field timeAlignmentTimer for each TAG that configures the length of the TAT for the TAG. TATs may be reset based on performance of random access channel procedures with a cell in a TAG, based on RRC signaling, or based on timing advance commands received from the network via a MAC-CE. The UE 115 may perform defined behaviors when the TAT expires for a TAG (e.g., reaches zero before being reset) . When each serving cell is associated with a single TAG, a UE 115 may perform similar behaviors for all serving cells or for concerned serving cells when the TAG is a PTAG or an STAG, respectively. Further, the UE may consider all running TATs as expired if the TAT associated with a PTAG expires when each serving cell is associated with a single TAG. In scenarios where each serving cell is associated with a single TAG, for a UE 115 there may be a single PTAG (e.g., the TAG that includes the SpCell) , and one or more STAGs.
[0093] For example, when a TAT that is associated with a PTAG expires and each serving cell is associated with a single TAG for a UE, the UE 115 may: flush all HARQ buffers for all serving cells, notify RRC to release physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for all serving cells, if configured; notify RRC to release sounding reference signals (SRSs) for all serving cells, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignment and configured uplink grants; clear any physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource for semi-persistent channel state information (CSI) reporting; consider all running TATs as expired, and maintain NTA of all TAGs. NTA may refer to the timing advance value that the UE 115 may apply for uplink communications for a given TAG. For example, the UE 115 may maintain NTA in order to apply the maintained NTA to an uplink transmission to a cell as part of a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the cell to re-establish connection and timing with the cell after expiration of a TAT associated with the TAG in which the cell is included. As another example, when a TAT that is associated with an STAG expires and each serving cell is associated with a single TAG for the UE, then for all serving cells belonging to the STAG, the UE 115 may: flush all HARQ buffers; notify RRC to release PUCCH, if configured; notify RRC to release SRS, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignment and configured uplink grants; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting; and maintain NTA. Based on expiration of a TAT when each serving cell is associated with a single TAG, the MAC entity of a UE 115 may not perform any uplink transmissions on a serving cell belonging to the TAG associated with the expired TAT except for a random access preamble and MsgA (e.g., when the TAT associated with a TAG which includes the serving cell is not running) . The network entity 105 may also maintain a corresponding TAT for each TAG for the UE, and thus may perform corresponding actions based on expiration of a TAT for a PTAG or STAG.
[0094] As described herein, a UE 115 may support multi-panel communication with a network entity 105 via multiple TRPs. In some examples, a UE 115 may communicate with a single serving cell (e.g., an SpCell or an SCell) via two TRPs. For example, a network entity 105 may support multi downlink control information (DCI) based multi-TRP operation, where a single serving cell may transmit a first DCI via a first TRP that schedules a communication between the UE 115 and the cell via the first TRP and a second DCI via a second TRP that schedules a communication between the UE 115 and the cell via the second TRP. In such examples where a UE 115 may communicate with a single serving cell via two TRPs, the network entity 105 may support different downlink timing for the two TRPs due to imperfect time synchronization and the same serving cell may be associated with two TAGs to account for the different propagation delays for the two TRPs. For example, the two TAGs may be two PTAGs (e.g., if the serving cell is an SpCell) , two STAGs, or an PTAG and an STAG. Each TAG may have a respective TAT. Aspects of this disclosure may define UE 115 and network behavior in the case that a single serving cell is associated with two TAGs (e.g., the UE 115 may communicate with the same serving cell via two TRPs) and two corresponding TATs for the UE.
[0095] For example, in the case that both TAGs are PTAGs and both TATs expire, the UE 115 may flush all HARQ buffers for all serving cells, release uplink channels for all serving cells, clear configured uplink and downlink assignments for all serving cells, and consider all TATs as expired. In the case that both TAGs are STAGs and both TATs expire, the UE 115 may flush HARQ buffers for the serving cells belonging to the STAGs, may clear configured uplink and downlink assignments for the serving cells belonging to the STAGs, and may release uplink channels for those STAGs. In the case that one TAG is an STAG and the other is a PTAG, and both TATs expire but another TAT for a second PTAG is still running, the UE 115 may flush HARQ buffers for the serving cells belonging to the STAG and PTAG with the TATs that expired, may clear configured uplink and downlink assignments for the serving cells belonging to the STAG and PTAG with the TATs that expired, and may release uplink channels for the STAG and PTAG with the TATs that expired. In the case that the SpCell is associated with two PTAGs and one TAT expires for the serving cell, the UE 115 may release the channels associated with the TAG with the expired TAT and may clear configured uplink and downlink assignments associated with the TAG with the expired TAT but may not flush HARQ buffers as the UE 115 may retransmit buffered data through the other TRP (associated with the TAG with the timing alignment tag that is not expired) . In the case that a single PTAG is associated with the SpCell, and the TAT associated with the single PTAG expires, the UE 115 may flush all HARQ buffers for all serving cells, release uplink channels for all serving cells, clear configured upland and downlink assignments for all serving cells, and consider all TATs as expired.
[0096] FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system 200 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 200 may implement or may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100. For example, the wireless communications system 200 may include a UE 115-a which may be an example of a UE 115 as described herein. The wireless communications system 200 may include a network entity 105-a, which may be an example of a network entity 105 as described herein. The network entity 105-a may support multi-TRP operation. For example, the network entity 105-a may include a first TRP 205-a and a second TRP 205-b.
[0097] The UE 115-a may communicate with the network entity 105-b via the first TRP 205-a and the second TRP 205-b. In some examples, the UE 115-a may be capable of communicating simultaneously with the network entity 105-a via the first TRP 205-a and the second TRP 205-b (such as using a same set of time resources, or a same set of frequency resource, or both, but different spatial resources) . The UE 115-a may communicate with the network entity 105-a via the first TRP 205-a using a communication link 125-a. The UE 115-a may communicate with the network entity 105-a via the second TRP 205-b using a communication link 125-b. The communication link 125-a and the communication link 125-b may include bi-directional links that enable both uplink and downlink communication. For example, the network entity 105-a may transmit downlink signals 210-a via the first TRP 205-a to the UE 115-a using the communication link 125-a, and the UE 115-a may transmit uplink signals 215-a to the network entity 105-a via the first TRP 205-a using the communication link 125-a. As another example, the network entity 105-a may transmit downlink signals 210-b via the second TRP 205-b to the UE 115-a using the communication link 125-b, and the UE 115-a may transmit uplink signals 215-b to the network entity 105-a via the second TRP 205-b using the communication link 125-b.
[0098] The network entity 105-a may transmit control signaling 225 that indicates a first TAG associated with the first TRP 205-a for a serving cell and a second TAG associated with the second TRP 205-b for the same serving cell. The control signaling 225 may configure a first TAT for the first TAG and a second TAT for the second TAG. In some examples, the control signaling 225 may be RRC signaling.
[0099] In some examples, the UE 115-a may receive a downlink communication 230-a from the serving cell via the first TRP 205-a and the UE 115-a may receive a downlink communication 230-b from the serving cell via the second TRP 205-b. The UE 115-a may transmit an uplink communication 235-a to the serving cell via the first TRP 205-a in accordance with the timing advance associated with the first TAG, and the UE 115-a may transmit an uplink communication 235-b to the serving cell via the second TRP 205-b in accordance with the timing advance associated with the second TAG. For example, as shown in timing diagram 220-a, the UE 115-a may apply a first timing advance (TA1) to transmission of the uplink communication 235-a with respect to a downlink frame used to receive the downlink communication 230-a. Similarly, as shown in the timing diagram 220-b, the UE 115-a may apply a second timing advance (TA2) to transmission of the uplink communication 235-b with respect to a downlink frame used to receive the downlink communication 230-b.
[0100] In some cases, the SpCell may be configured (e.g., in the control signaling 225) with two PTAGs, and the first TAG and the second TAG may both be PTAGs. In such examples, based on expiration of both TATs associated with the first TAG and the second TAG (e.g., both PTAGs) the UE 115-a may: flush all HARQ buffers for all serving cells; notify RRC to release PUCCH for all serving cells, if configured; notify RRC to release SRS for all serving Cells, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting; consider all running TATs as expired; maintain NTA of all TAGs; and not perform (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE 115-a may not perform) any uplink transmission on a serving cell except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission. Similarly, based on expiration of both TATs associated with the first TAG and second TAG, when both are PTAGs, the network entity 105-a may expect the UE 115-a to perform these actions, and accordingly the network entity 105-a may: not expect any HARQ retransmissions from the UE 115-a; release PUCCH for all serving cells for the UE, if configured; release SRS for all serving cells for the UE 115-a, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants for all serving cells for the UE 115-a; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting for the UE 115-a; consider all running TATs as expired for the UE 115-a; and not expect any uplink transmission on a serving cell from the UE 115-a except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission.
[0101] In some cases, the SpCell may be configured (e.g., in the control signaling 225) with two PTAGs, and the first TAG and the second TAG may both be STAGs in one serving cell (e.g., this serving cell may be an SCell) . In such examples, based on expiration of both TATs associated with the first TAG and the second TAG (e.g., both STAGs) , for all serving cells that include both these STAGs, the UE 115-a may: flush all HARQ buffers; notify RRC to release PUCCH, if configured; notify RRC to release SRS, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting; maintain NTA of these STAGs; and not perform (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE 115-a may not perform) any uplink transmission on a serving cell included in both STAGs except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission. Similarly, based on expiration of both TATs associated with the first TAG and second TAG, when both are STAGs, and the SpCell is configured with two PTAGs, the network entity 105-a may expect the UE 115-a to perform these actions, and accordingly for all serving cells that include both STAGs, the network entity 105-a may: not expect any HARQ retransmissions from the UE 115-a; release PUCCH for the UE 115-a, if configured; release SRS for the UE 115-a, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants for the UE 115-a; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting for the UE 115-a; and not expect any uplink transmission on a serving cell including both STAGs from the UE 115-a except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission.
[0102] In some cases, the SpCell may be configured (e.g., in the control signaling 225) with two PTAGs, and the first TAG may be a PTAG and the second TAG may be an STAG in one serving cell (e.g., this serving cell may be an SCell) . In such examples, based on expiration of both TATs associated with the first TAG and the second TAG, and assuming that the TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs for the SpCell is still running, then for all serving cells that include both this PTAG and STAG, the UE 115-a may: flush all HARQ buffers; notify RRC to release PUCCH, if configured; notify RRC to release SRS, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting; maintain NTA of the first TAG and the second TAG; and not perform (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE 115-a may not perform) any uplink transmission on a serving cell included in both the first TAG and the second TAG except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission. Similarly, based on expiration of both TATs associated with the first TAG and second TAG, when both are the first TAG is a PTAG and the second TAG is an STAG, and the SpCell is configured with two PTAGs, the network entity 105-a may expect the UE 115-a to perform these actions, and accordingly for all serving cells that include both the first TAG and the second TAG, the network entity 105-a may: not expect any HARQ retransmissions from the UE 115-a; release PUCCH for the UE 115-a, if configured; release SRS for the UE 115-a, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants for the UE 115-a; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting for the UE 115-a; and not expect any uplink transmission on a serving cell including both the first TAG and the second TAG from the UE 115-a except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission.
[0103] In some cases, the SpCell may be configured (e.g., in the control signaling 225) with two PTAGs, and the TAT associated with the first TAG associated with the first TRP 205-a may expire while the TAT associated with the second TAG associated with the second TRP 205-b is still running. In such a scenario, the first TAG may be a PTAG and the second TAG may be a PTAG or an STAG (e.g., the serving cell may be an SpCell or an SCell) , or the first TAG may be an STAG and the second TAG may be an STAG (e.g., the serving cell may be an SCell) . In such scenarios, where one TAT associated with a TAG for the serving cell is still running, then for all serving cells including the TAG with the TAT expired (e.g., the first TAG) , the UE 115-a may: notify RRC to release PUCCH configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired, if configured; notify RRC to release SRS configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired; maintain NTA of the TAG with the expired TAT; and not perform (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE 115-a may not perform) any uplink transmission on a TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired. The UE 115-a may not flush HARQ buffers as long as one TAT associated with one TAG of a serving cell is running, as the UE 115-a may retransmit buffered data through the other TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT that is still running. Similarly, based on expiration of both TATs associated with the first TAG and second TAG, when two PTAGs are configured for the SpCell, and the TAT associated with the first TAG associated with the first TRP 205-a may expire while the TAT associated with the second TAG associated with the second TRP 205-b is still running, the network entity 105-a may expect the UE 115-a to perform these actions, and accordingly for all serving cells that include the TAG with the TAT that is expired, the network entity 105-a may: expect to receive retransmitted data through the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT that is still running; release PUCCH configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired, if configured; release SRS configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting configured for the TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired; and not expect any uplink transmission on a TRP associated with the TAG with the TAT expired.
[0104] For example, in the case where two PTAGs are configured for the SpCell, the TAT for the first TAG associated with the first TRP 205-a expires, and the TAT for the second TAG associated with the second TRP 205-b is still running, the UE 115-a may notify RRC to release PUCCH configured for the first TRP 205-a associated with the first TAG, if configured; notify RRC to release SRS configured for the first TRP 205-a, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP 205-a; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting configured for the first TRP 205-a; maintain NTA of the first TAG; and not perform (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE 115-a may not perform) any uplink transmission on the first TRP 205-a. The UE 115-a may perform, after the first TAT associated with the first TAG has expired and while the second TAT associated with the second TAG is running, an uplink transmission 240 to the serving cell via the second TRP 205-b in accordance with a timing advance (e.g., an NTA) for the second TAG. For example, the UE 115-a may retransmit buffered data for the first TRP 205-a to the serving cell via the second TRP 205-b in the uplink transmission 240.
[0105] In some cases, the SpCell may be configured (e.g., in the control signaling 225) with a single PTAG and an SCell may be configured with two TAGs (e.g., either two STAGs or the PTAG and an STAG) . For example, the serving cell may be an SCell, and the first TRP 205-a may be associated with the PTAG and the second TRP 205-b may be associated with an STAG. In such cases, if the TAT for the PTAG expires, even if the TAT for the STAG is still running, the UE 115-a may: flush all HARQ buffers for all serving cells; notify RRC to release PUCCH for all serving Cells, if configured; notify RRC to release SRS for all Serving Cells, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting; consider all running TATs as expired; maintain NTA of all TAGs; and not perform (e.g., the MAC entity of the UE 115-a may not perform) any uplink transmission on a serving cell except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission. Similarly, based on expiration of the PTAG, the network entity 105-a may expect the UE 115-a to perform these actions, and accordingly the network entity 105-a may: not expect any HARQ retransmissions from the UE 115-a; release PUCCH for all serving cells for the UE, if configured; release SRS for all serving cells for the UE 115-a, if configured; clear any configured downlink assignments and configured uplink grants for all serving cells for the UE 115-a; clear any PUSCH resource for semi-persistent CSI reporting for the UE 115-a; consider all running TATs as expired for the UE 115-a; and not expect any uplink transmission on a serving cell from the UE 115-a except for a random access preamble or MsgA transmission.
[0106] As described herein, based on expiration of a TAT associated with a TAG, the UE 115-a may perform a random access procedure to re-establish connection and timing with the serving cell (s) included in the TAG. For example, in response to expiration of the TAT associated with the first TAG associated with the first TRP 205-a, the UE 115-a may transmit a RACH message 255 (e.g., a RACH preamble or a MsgA) to the serving cell via the first TRP 205-a, and the UE 115-a and the network entity 105-a may accordingly perform a RACH procedure to re-establish connection and timing for the serving cell via the first TRP 205-a. In some cases, the RACH procedure may be a contention free random access (CFRA) procedure triggered by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order 250 from the network entity 105-a that triggers the UE 115-a to transmit the RACH message 255. In some cases, the RACH procedure may be a contention based random access (CBRA) procedure that the UE 115-a performs without waiting for a PDCCH order from the network entity 105-a. As described herein, upon performance of the RACH procedure with the serving cell for the first TRP 205-a, the first TAT associated with the first TAG associated with the first TRP 205-a may be reset.
[0107] In some examples, the network entity 105-a may transmit a timing advance command 245-a to the UE 115-a via the first TRP 205-a that may indicate an update to the timing advance value associated with the first TAG. The timing advance command 245-a may be received via a MAC-CE. Reception of the timing advance command 245-a may reset the first TAT associated with the first TAG. Similarly, in some examples, the network entity 105-a may transmit a timing advance command 245-b to the UE 115-a via the second TRP 205-b that may indicate an update to the timing advance value associated with the second TAG. The timing advance command 245-b may be received via a MAC-CE. Reception of the timing advance command 245-b may reset the second TAT associated with the second TAG.
[0108] FIG. 3 shows an example of a process flow 300 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The process flow 300 may include a UE 115-b, which may be an example of a UE 115 as described herein. The process flow 300 may include a network entity 105-b, which may be an example of a network entity 105 as described herein. The network entity 105-b may include multiple TRPs 205 to support multi-TRP operation with the UE 115-b. For example, the network entity 105-b may include a first TRP 205-c and a second TRP 205-d. In the following description of the process flow 300, the operations between the network entity 105-b and the UE 115-b may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the network entity 105-b and the UE 115-b may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the process flow 300, and other operations may be added to the process flow 300.
[0109] At 305, the network entity 105-b may transmit, to the UE 115-b, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with the first TRP 205-c of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP 205-d of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT.
[0110] At 310, the UE 115-b may release, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP 205-c in response to an expiration of the first TAT. At 315, the network entity 105-b may release, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP 205-c in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0111] In some examples, the UE 115-b may transmit, after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT is running, an uplink communication to the serving cell of the network entity 105-b via the second TRP 205-d and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG. In some examples, the uplink communication may include a retransmission of buffered data associated with the first TRP 205-c based on the expiration of the first TAT.
[0112] In some examples, based on the expiration of the first TAT, the UE 115-b may: release a PUCCH configured for the first TRP 205-c for the serving cell including the first TAG, release a SRS configured for the first TRP 205-c associated with each serving cell including the first TAG, clear one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP 205-c associated with each serving cell including the first TAG, clear one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP 205-c for the serving cell including the first TAG, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for CSI reporting configured for the first TRP 205-c for the serving cell including the first TAG, or a combination thereof. In some examples, based on the expiration of the first TAT, the network entity 105-b may release a PUCCH configured for the first TRP 205-c for the serving cell including the first TAG, release a SRS configured for the first TRP 205-c associated with each serving cell including the first TAG, clear one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP 205-c associated with each serving cell including the first TAG, clear one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP 205-c associated with each serving cell including the first TAG, clear an uplink shared channel resource for CSI reporting configured for the first TRP 205-c associated with each serving cell including the first TAG, or a combination thereof.
[0113] In some examples, the UE 115-b may flush, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE 115-b included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell; and release, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where at least one of the first TAG and the second TAG is an STAG, where the control signaling at 305 configures two PTAGs, and where a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs is running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT. In some examples, the network entity 105-b may release, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE 115-b, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, and where the first TAG is a first PTAG and the second TAG is a second PTAG.
[0114] In some examples, the UE 115-b may flush, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE 115-b included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell; and release, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where at least one of the first TAG and the second TAG is a STAG, where the control signaling at 305 configures two PTAGs, and where a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs is running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT. In some examples, the network entity 105-b may release, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE 115-b included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, where the control signaling configures two PTAGs, and where a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs is running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT.
[0115] In some examples, the UE 115-b may flush, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE 115-b, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell; and release, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where the first TAG is a PTAG, and where the control signaling configures a single PTAG. In some examples, the network entity 105-b may release, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of set of configured serving cells for the UE 115-b, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, where the first TAG is a PTAG, and where the control signaling configures a single PTAG.
[0116] In some examples, the UE 115-b may receive, after the expiration of the first TAT, a downlink control channel order (e.g., a PDCCH order) that triggers a CFRA procedure for the first TRP 205-c of the serving cell. The UE 115-b and the network entity 105-b may perform the CFRA procedure in response to the downlink control channel order, and may reset the first TAT in response to performance of the CFRA procedure. In some examples, performing the CFRA procedure may include the UE 115-b transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP 205-c of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0117] In some examples, the UE 115-b and the network entity 105-b may perform, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, a CBRA procedure for the first TRP 205-c of the serving cell, and may reset the first TAT in response to performance of the CBRA procedure. In some examples, performing the CBRA procedure may include the UE 115-b transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP 205-c of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0118] In some examples, the UE 115-b may receive, from the network entity 105-b, timing advance command for the second TAG (e.g., via a MAC-CE) . The UE 115-b and the network entity 105-b may reset, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second TAT.
[0119] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram 400 of a device 405 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 405 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 405 may include a receiver 410, a transmitter 415, and a communications manager 420. The device 405, or one or more components of the device 405 (e.g., the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, and the communications manager 420) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0120] The receiver 410 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 405. The receiver 410 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0121] The transmitter 415 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 405. For example, the transmitter 415 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs) . In some examples, the transmitter 415 may be co-located with a receiver 410 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 415 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0122] The communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein. For example, the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.
[0123] In some examples, the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .
[0124] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor. If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .
[0125] In some examples, the communications manager 420 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or both. For example, the communications manager 420 may receive information from the receiver 410, send information to the transmitter 415, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0126] The communications manager 420 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 420 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The communications manager 420 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0127] By including or configuring the communications manager 420 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 405 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, the communications manager 420, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for more efficient utilization of communication resources.
[0128] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram 500 of a device 505 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of a device 405 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a transmitter 515, and a communications manager 520. The device 505, or one or more components of the device 505 (e.g., the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, and the communications manager 520) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0129] The receiver 510 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 505. The receiver 510 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0130] The transmitter 515 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 505. For example, the transmitter 515 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs) . In some examples, the transmitter 515 may be co-located with a receiver 510 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 515 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0131] The device 505, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein. For example, the communications manager 520 may include a multi-TRP manager 525 a TAT expiration manager 530, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 520 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 420 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 520, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or both. For example, the communications manager 520 may receive information from the receiver 510, send information to the transmitter 515, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0132] The communications manager 520 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The multi-TRP manager 525 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The TAT expiration manager 530 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0133] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram 600 of a communications manager 620 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 620 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 420, a communications manager 520, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 620, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein. For example, the communications manager 620 may include a multi-TRP manager 625, a TAT expiration manager 630, an uplink communication manager 635, an HARQ buffer manager 640, a communications resource manager 645, a random access procedure trigger manager 650, a random access procedure manager 655, a TAT manager 660, a timing advance command manager 665, a retransmission manager 670, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0134] The communications manager 620 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The multi-TRP manager 625 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The TAT expiration manager 630 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0135] In some examples, the uplink communication manager 635 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT is running, an uplink communication to the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG.
[0136] In some examples, to support transmitting the uplink communication, the retransmission manager 670 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for retransmitting buffered data associated with the first TRP to the serving cell via the second TRP based on the expiration of the first TAT.
[0137] In some examples, to support releasing the uplink channel, the TAT expiration manager 630 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing a PUCCH configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, releasing a SRS configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for CSI reporting configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, or a combination thereof.
[0138] In some examples, the HARQ buffer manager 640 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for flushing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell. In some examples, the communications resource manager 645 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and configured each uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where the first TAG is a first PTAG and the second TAG is a second PTAG.
[0139] In some examples, the HARQ buffer manager 640 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for flushing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell. In some examples, the communications resource manager 645 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where at least one of the first TAG and the second TAG is a STAG, where the control signaling configures two PTAGs, and where a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs is running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT.
[0140] In some examples, the HARQ buffer manager 640 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for flushing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells including the serving cell. In some examples, the communications resource manager 645 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, where the first TAG is a PTAG, and where the control signaling configures a single PTAG.
[0141] In some examples, the random access procedure trigger manager 650 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, after the expiration of the first TAT, a downlink control channel order that triggers a CFRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell. In some examples, the random access procedure manager 655 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing the CFRA procedure in response to the downlink control channel order. In some examples, the TAT manager 660 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the CFRA procedure.
[0142] In some examples, to support performing the CFRA procedure, the random access procedure manager 655 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0143] In some examples, the random access procedure manager 655 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, a CBRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell. In some examples, the TAT manager 660 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for resetting the first TAT in response to performing the CBRA procedure.
[0144] In some examples, to support performing the CBRA procedure, the random access procedure manager 655 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0145] In some examples, the timing advance command manager 665 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a timing advance command for the second TAG. In some examples, the TAT manager 660 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for resetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second TAT.
[0146] FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a system 700 including a device 705 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 705 may be an example of or include the components of a device 405, a device 505, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 705 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof. The device 705 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 720, an input / output (I / O) controller 710, a transceiver 715, an antenna 725, at least one memory 730, code 735, and at least one processor 740. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 745) .
[0147] The I / O controller 710 may manage input and output signals for the device 705. The I / O controller 710 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 705. In some cases, the I / O controller 710 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, the I / O controller 710 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally, or alternatively, the I / O controller 710 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I / O controller 710 may be implemented as part of one or more processors, such as the at least one processor 740. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 705 via the I / O controller 710 or via hardware components controlled by the I / O controller 710.
[0148] In some cases, the device 705 may include a single antenna 725. However, in some other cases, the device 705 may have more than one antenna 725, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 715 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 725, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 715 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 715 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 725 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 725. The transceiver 715, or the transceiver 715 and one or more antennas 725, may be an example of a transmitter 415, a transmitter 515, a receiver 410, a receiver 510, or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein.
[0149] The at least one memory 730 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The at least one memory 730 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 735 including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 740, cause the device 705 to perform various functions described herein. The code 735 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 735 may not be directly executable by the at least one processor 740 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 730 may contain, among other things, a basic I / O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.
[0150] The at least one processor 740 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 740 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the at least one processor 740. The at least one processor 740 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the at least one memory 730) to cause the device 705 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs) . For example, the device 705 or a component of the device 705 may include at least one processor 740 and at least one memory 730 coupled with or to the at least one processor 740, the at least one processor 740 and at least one memory 730 configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 740 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 730 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 740 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 740) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 730) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. As such, the at least one processor 740 or a processing system including the at least one processor 740 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 705 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 730 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.
[0151] The communications manager 720 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 720 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The communications manager 720 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0152] By including or configuring the communications manager 720 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 705 may support techniques for improved communication reliability, reduced latency, and more efficient utilization of communication resources.
[0153] In some examples, the communications manager 720 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 715, the one or more antennas 725, or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 720 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 720 may be supported by or performed by the at least one processor 740, the at least one memory 730, the code 735, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 735 may include instructions executable by the at least one processor 740 to cause the device 705 to perform various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein, or the at least one processor 740 and the at least one memory 730 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.
[0154] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of a device 805 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 805 may be an example of aspects of a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 805 may include a receiver 810, a transmitter 815, and a communications manager 820. The device 805, or one or more components of the device 805 (e.g., the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, and the communications manager 820) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0155] The receiver 810 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 805. In some examples, the receiver 810 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 810 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.
[0156] The transmitter 815 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 805. For example, the transmitter 815 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 815 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 815 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 815 and the receiver 810 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.
[0157] The communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein. For example, the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.
[0158] In some examples, the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .
[0159] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor. If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .
[0160] In some examples, the communications manager 820 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or both. For example, the communications manager 820 may receive information from the receiver 810, send information to the transmitter 815, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0161] The communications manager 820 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0162] By including or configuring the communications manager 820 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 805 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, the communications manager 820, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for more efficient utilization of communication resources.
[0163] FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a device 905 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a device 805 or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a transmitter 915, and a communications manager 920. The device 905, or one or more components of the device 905 (e.g., the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, and the communications manager 920) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0164] The receiver 910 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 905. In some examples, the receiver 910 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 910 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.
[0165] The transmitter 915 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 905. For example, the transmitter 915 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 915 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 915 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 915 and the receiver 910 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.
[0166] The device 905, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein. For example, the communications manager 920 may include a multi-TRP manager 925 a TAT expiration manager 930, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 920 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 820 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 920, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both. For example, the communications manager 920 may receive information from the receiver 910, send information to the transmitter 915, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0167] The communications manager 920 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The multi-TRP manager 925 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The TAT expiration manager 930 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0168] FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a communications manager 1020 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1020 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 820, a communications manager 920, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 1020, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1020 may include a multi-TRP manager 1025, a TAT expiration manager 1030, an uplink communication manager 1035, a communications resource manager 1040, a random access procedure trigger manager 1045, a random access procedure manager 1050, a TAT manager 1055, a timing advance command manager 1060, a retransmission manager 1065, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) which may include communications within a protocol layer of a protocol stack, communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack, within a device, component, or virtualized component associated with a network entity 105, between devices, components, or virtualized components associated with a network entity 105) , or any combination thereof.
[0169] The communications manager 1020 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The multi-TRP manager 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The TAT expiration manager 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0170] In some examples, the uplink communication manager 1035 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the UE after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT is running, an uplink communication for the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG.
[0171] In some examples, to support receiving the uplink communication, the retransmission manager 1065 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a retransmission of buffered data associated with the first TRP for the serving cell via the second TRP based on the expiration of the first TAT.
[0172] In some examples, to support releasing the uplink channel, the TAT expiration manager 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing a PUCCH configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, releasing a SRS configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for CSI reporting configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, or a combination thereof.
[0173] In some examples, the communications resource manager 1040 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, and where the first TAG is a first PTAG and the second TAG is a second PTAG.
[0174] In some examples, the communications resource manager 1040 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, where the control signaling configures two PTAGs, and where a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs is running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT.
[0175] In some examples, the communications resource manager 1040 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each SRS, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of set of configured serving cells for the UE, where the set of configured serving cells includes the serving cell, where the first TAG is a PTAG, and where the control signaling configures a single PTAG.
[0176] In some examples, the random access procedure trigger manager 1045 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the UE after the expiration of the first TAT, a downlink control channel order that triggers a CFRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell. In some examples, the random access procedure manager 1050 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing, with the UE, the CFRA procedure in response to the downlink control channel order. In some examples, the TAT manager 1055 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the CFRA procedure.
[0177] In some examples, to support performing the CFRA procedure, the random access procedure manager 1050 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0178] In some examples, the random access procedure manager 1050 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing, with the UE and in response to the expiration of the first TAT, a CBRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell. In some examples, the TAT manager 1055 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the CBRA procedure.
[0179] In some examples, to support performing the CBRA procedure, the random access procedure manager 1050 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0180] In some examples, the timing advance command manager 1060 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the UE, a timing advance command for the second TAG. In some examples, the TAT manager 1055 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for resetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second TAT.
[0181] FIG. 11 shows a diagram of a system 1100 including a device 1105 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1105 may be an example of or include the components of a device 805, a device 905, or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1105 may communicate with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof, which may include communications over one or more wired interfaces, over one or more wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. The device 1105 may include components that support outputting and obtaining communications, such as a communications manager 1120, a transceiver 1110, an antenna 1115, at least one memory 1125, code 1130, and at least one processor 1135. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1140) .
[0182] The transceiver 1110 may support bi-directional communications via wired links, wireless links, or both as described herein. In some examples, the transceiver 1110 may include a wired transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wired transceiver. Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples, the transceiver 1110 may include a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. In some examples, the device 1105 may include one or more antennas 1115, which may be capable of transmitting or receiving wireless transmissions (e.g., concurrently) . The transceiver 1110 may also include a modem to modulate signals, to provide the modulated signals for transmission (e.g., by one or more antennas 1115, by a wired transmitter) , to receive modulated signals (e.g., from one or more antennas 1115, from a wired receiver) , and to demodulate signals. In some implementations, the transceiver 1110 may include one or more interfaces, such as one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1115 that are configured to support various receiving or obtaining operations, or one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1115 that are configured to support various transmitting or outputting operations, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1110 may include or be configured for coupling with one or more processors or one or more memory components that are operable to perform or support operations based on received or obtained information or signals, or to generate information or other signals for transmission or other outputting, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1110, or the transceiver 1110 and the one or more antennas 1115, or the transceiver 1110 and the one or more antennas 1115 and one or more processors or one or more memory components (e.g., the at least one processor 1135, the at least one memory 1125, or both) , may be included in a chip or chip assembly that is installed in the device 1105. In some examples, the transceiver 1110 may be operable to support communications via one or more communications links (e.g., a communication link 125, a backhaul communication link 120, a midhaul communication link 162, a fronthaul communication link 168) .
[0183] The at least one memory 1125 may include RAM, ROM, or any combination thereof. The at least one memory 1125 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1130 including instructions that, when executed by one or more of the at least one processor 1135, cause the device 1105 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1130 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1130 may not be directly executable by a processor of the at least one processor 1135 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 1125 may contain, among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. In some examples, the at least one processor 1135 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1125 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein (for example, as part of a processing system) .
[0184] The at least one processor 1135 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 1135 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into one or more of the at least one processor 1135. The at least one processor 1135 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., one or more of the at least one memory 1125) to cause the device 1105 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs) . For example, the device 1105 or a component of the device 1105 may include at least one processor 1135 and at least one memory 1125 coupled with one or more of the at least one processor 1135, the at least one processor 1135 and the at least one memory 1125 configured to perform various functions described herein. The at least one processor 1135 may be an example of a cloud-computing platform (e.g., one or more physical nodes and supporting software such as operating systems, virtual machines, or container instances) that may host the functions (e.g., by executing code 1130) to perform the functions of the device 1105. The at least one processor 1135 may be any one or more suitable processors capable of executing scripts or instructions of one or more software programs stored in the device 1105 (such as within one or more of the at least one memory 1125) . In some examples, the at least one processor 1135 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1125 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 1135 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 1135) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 1125) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. As such, the at least one processor 1135 or a processing system including the at least one processor 1135 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 1105 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 1125 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.
[0185] In some examples, a bus 1140 may support communications of (e.g., within) a protocol layer of a protocol stack. In some examples, a bus 1140 may support communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack) , which may include communications performed within a component of the device 1105, or between different components of the device 1105 that may be co-located or located in different locations (e.g., where the device 1105 may refer to a system in which one or more of the communications manager 1120, the transceiver 1110, the at least one memory 1125, the code 1130, and the at least one processor 1135 may be located in one of the different components or divided between different components) .
[0186] In some examples, the communications manager 1120 may manage aspects of communications with a core network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links) . For example, the communications manager 1120 may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115. In some examples, the communications manager 1120 may manage communications with other network entities 105, and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with other network entities 105. In some examples, the communications manager 1120 may support an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communications network technology to provide communication between network entities 105.
[0187] The communications manager 1120 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1120 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The communications manager 1120 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0188] By including or configuring the communications manager 1120 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1105 may support techniques for improved communication reliability, reduced latency, and more efficient utilization of communication resources.
[0189] In some examples, the communications manager 1120 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1110, the one or more antennas 1115 (e.g., where applicable) , or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 1120 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 1120 may be supported by or performed by the transceiver 1110, one or more of the at least one processor 1135, one or more of the at least one memory 1125, the code 1130, or any combination thereof (for example, by a processing system including at least a portion of the at least one processor 1135, the at least one memory 1125, the code 1130, or any combination thereof) . For example, the code 1130 may include instructions executable by one or more of the at least one processor 1135 to cause the device 1105 to perform various aspects of TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs as described herein, or the at least one processor 1135 and the at least one memory 1125 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.
[0190] FIG. 12 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1200 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1200 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 7. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.
[0191] At 1205, the method may include receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The operations of block 1205 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1205 may be performed by a multi-TRP manager 625 as described with reference to FIG. 6.
[0192] At 1210, the method may include releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT . The operations of block 1210 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1210 may be performed by a TAT expiration manager 630 as described with reference to FIG. 6.
[0193] FIG. 13 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1300 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 7. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.
[0194] At 1305, the method may include receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The operations of block 1305 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1305 may be performed by a multi-TRP manager 625 as described with reference to FIG. 6.
[0195] At 1310, the method may include releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT . The operations of block 1310 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be performed by a TAT expiration manager 630 as described with reference to FIG. 6.
[0196] At 1315, the method may include transmitting, after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT is running, an uplink communication to the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG. The operations of block 1315 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1315 may be performed by an uplink communication manager 635 as described with reference to FIG. 6.
[0197] FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 3 and 8 through 11. In some examples, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.
[0198] At 1405, the method may include transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The operations of block 1405 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed by a multi-TRP manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.
[0199] At 1410, the method may include releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT. The operations of block 1410 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed by a TAT expiration manager 1030 as described with reference to FIG. 10.
[0200] FIG. 15 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 that supports TAT expiration handling in multi-TRP operation with multiple TAGs in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 3 and 8 through 11. In some examples, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.
[0201] At 1505, the method may include transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, where the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT. The operations of block 1505 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed by a multi-TRP manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.
[0202] At 1510, the method may include releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT. The operations of block 1510 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed by a TAT expiration manager 1030 as described with reference to FIG. 10.
[0203] At 1515, the method may include receiving, from the UE after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT is running, an uplink communication for the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG. The operations of block 1515 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be performed by an uplink communication manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.
[0204] The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:
[0205] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communications at a UE, comprising: receiving control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, wherein the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT; and releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT .
[0206] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further comprising: transmitting, after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT is running, an uplink communication to the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG.
[0207] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein transmitting the uplink communication comprises: retransmitting buffered data associated with the first TRP to the serving cell via the second TRP based at least in part on the expiration of the first TAT.
[0208] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 through 3, wherein releasing the uplink channel comprises: releasing a PUCCH configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, releasing an SRS configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for CSI reporting configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, or a combination thereof.
[0209] Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising: flushing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; and releasing, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and configured each uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein the first TAG is a first PTAG and the second TAG is a second PTAG.
[0210] Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising: flushing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; and releasing, in response to the expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein at least one of the first TAG and the second TAG is a secondary TAG, wherein the control signaling configures two PTAGs, and wherein a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs is running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT.
[0211] Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising: flushing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each HARQ buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; and releasing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein the first TAG is a PTAG, and wherein the control signaling configures a single PTAG.
[0212] Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1 through 7, further comprising: receiving, after the expiration of the first TAT, a downlink control channel order that triggers a CFRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell; performing the CFRA procedure in response to the downlink control channel order; and resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the CFRA procedure.
[0213] Aspect 9: The method of aspect 8, wherein performing the CFRA procedure comprises: transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0214] Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 1 through 7, further comprising: performing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, a CBRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell; and resetting the first TAT in response to performing the CBRA procedure.
[0215] Aspect 11: The method of aspect 10, wherein performing the CBRA procedure comprises: transmitting an uplink message to the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0216] Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, further comprising: receiving a timing advance command for the second TAG; and resetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second TAT.
[0217] Aspect 13: A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising: transmitting, to a UE, control signaling indicating a first TAG associated with a first TRP of a serving cell and a second TAG associated with a second TRP of the serving cell, wherein the first TAG is associated with a first TAT and the second TAG is associated with a second TAT; and releasing, while the second TAT is running, an uplink channel associated with the first TRP in response to an expiration of the first TAT.
[0218] Aspect 14: The method of aspect 13, further comprising: receiving, from the UE after the expiration of the first TAT and while the second TAT is running, an uplink communication for the serving cell via the second TRP and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second TAG.
[0219] Aspect 15: The method of aspect 14, wherein receiving the uplink communication comprises: receiving a retransmission of buffered data associated with the first TRP for the serving cell via the second TRP based at least in part on the expiration of the first TAT.
[0220] Aspect 16: The method of any of aspects 13 through 15, wherein releasing the uplink channel comprises: releasing a PUCCH configured for the first TRP for the serving cell, releasing an SRS configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for CSI reporting configured for the first TRP associated with each serving cell included in the first TAG, or a combination thereof.
[0221] Aspect 17: The method of any of aspects 13 through 16, further comprising: releasing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, and wherein the first TAG is a first PTAG and the second TAG is a second PTAG.
[0222] Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 13 through 16, further comprising: releasing, in response to an expiration of the second TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first TAG and the second TAG, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, wherein the control signaling configures two PTAGs, and wherein a third TAT associated with one of the two PTAGs is running at a time of the expiration of the second TAT.
[0223] Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 13 through 16, further comprising: releasing, in response to the expiration of the first TAT, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of set of configured serving cells for the UE, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, wherein the first TAG is a PTAG, and wherein the control signaling configures a single PTAG.
[0224] Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 13 through 19, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE after the expiration of the first TAT, a downlink control channel order that triggers a CFRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell; performing, with the UE, the CFRA procedure in response to the downlink control channel order; and resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the CFRA procedure.
[0225] Aspect 21: The method of aspect 20, wherein performing the CFRA procedure comprises: receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0226] Aspect 22: The method of any of aspects 13 through 19, further comprising: performing, with the UE and in response to the expiration of the first TAT, a CBRA procedure for the first TRP of the serving cell; and resetting the first TAT in response to performance of the CBRA procedure.
[0227] Aspect 23: The method of aspect 22, wherein performing the CBRA procedure comprises: receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first TRP of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first TAG.
[0228] Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 13 through 23, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, a timing advance command for the second TAG; and resetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second TAT.
[0229] Aspect 25: A UE for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 12.
[0230] Aspect 26: A UE for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 12.
[0231] Aspect 27: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 12.
[0232] Aspect 28: A network entity for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to perform a method of any of aspects 13 through 24.
[0233] Aspect 29: A network entity for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 13 through 24.
[0234] Aspect 30: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 13 through 24.
[0235] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.
[0236] Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communications systems such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, as well as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.
[0237] Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
[0238] The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor but, in the alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration) . Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a processor may be performed by multiple processors that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.
[0239] The functions described herein may be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored as or transmitted using one or more instructions or code of a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.
[0240] Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) , or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and Blu-ray disc. Disks may reproduce data magnetically, and discs may reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media. Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a memory may be performed by multiple memories that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.
[0241] As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. ”
[0242] As used herein, including in the claims, the article “a” before a noun is open-ended and understood to refer to “at least one” of those nouns or “one or more” of those nouns. Thus, the terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. For example, if a claim recites “a component” that performs one or more functions, each of the individual functions may be performed by a single component or by any combination of multiple components. Thus, the term “a component” having characteristics or performing functions may refer to “at least one of one or more components” having a particular characteristic or performing a particular function. Subsequent reference to a component introduced with the article “a” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, a component introduced with the article “a” may be understood to mean “one or more components, ” and referring to “the component” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ” Similarly, subsequent reference to a component introduced as “one or more components” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, referring to “the one or more components” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ”
[0243] The term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database or another data structure) , ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information) , accessing (e.g., accessing data stored in memory) and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, obtaining, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.
[0244] In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label, or other subsequent reference label.
[0245] The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration, ” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples. ” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.
[0246] The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Claims
1.A user equipment (UE) , comprising:one or more memories storing processor-executable code; andone or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:receive control signaling indicating a first timing advance group associated with a first transmission and reception point of a serving cell and a second timing advance group associated with a second transmission and reception point of the serving cell, wherein the first timing advance group is associated with a first timing alignment timer and the second timing advance group is associated with a second timing alignment timer; andrelease, while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink channel associated with the first transmission and reception point in response to an expiration of the first timing alignment timer.2.The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:transmit, after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer and while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink communication to the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second timing advance group.3.The UE of claim 2, wherein, to transmit the uplink communication, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:retransmit buffered data associated with the first transmission and reception point to the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point based at least in part on the expiration of the first timing alignment timer.4.The UE of claim 1, wherein, to release the uplink channel, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:release a physical uplink control channel configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, release a sounding reference signal configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clear one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clear one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, clear an uplink shared channel resource for channel state information reporting configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, or a combination thereof.5.The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:flush, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; andrelease, in response to the expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and configured each uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein the first timing advance group is a first primary timing advance group and the second timing advance group is a second primary timing advance group.6.The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:flush, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first timing advance group and the second timing advance group, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; andrelease, in response to the expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein at least one of the first timing advance group and the second timing advance group is a secondary timing advance group, wherein the control signaling configures two primary timing advance groups, and wherein a third timing alignment timer associated with one of the two primary timing advance groups is running at a time of the expiration of the second timing alignment timer.7.The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:flush, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; andrelease, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein the first timing advance group is a primary timing advance group, and wherein the control signaling configures a single primary timing advance group.8.The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:receive, after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a downlink control channel order that triggers a contention free random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell;perform the contention free random access procedure in response to the downlink control channel order; andreset the first timing alignment timer in response to performance of the contention free random access procedure.9.The UE of claim 8, wherein, to perform the contention free random access procedure, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:transmit an uplink message to the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.10.The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:perform, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a contention based random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell; andreset the first timing alignment timer in response to performing the contention based random access procedure.11.The UE of claim 10, wherein, to perform the contention based random access procedure, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:transmit an uplink message to the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.12.The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:receive a timing advance command for the second timing advance group; andresetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second timing alignment timer.13.A network entity, comprising:one or more memories storing processor-executable code; andone or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:transmit, to a user equipment (UE) , control signaling indicating a first timing advance group associated with a first transmission and reception point of a serving cell and a second timing advance group associated with a second transmission and reception point of the serving cell, wherein the first timing advance group is associated with a first timing alignment timer and the second timing advance group is associated with a second timing alignment timer; andrelease, while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink channel associated with the first transmission and reception point in response to an expiration of the first timing alignment timer.14.The network entity of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:receive, from the UE after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer and while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink communication for the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second timing advance group.15.The network entity of claim 14, wherein, to receive the uplink communication, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:receive a retransmission of buffered data associated with the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point based at least in part on the expiration of the first timing alignment timer.16.The network entity of claim 13, wherein, to release the uplink channel, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:release a physical uplink control channel configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, releas a sounding reference signal configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clear one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clear one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clear an uplink shared channel resource for channel state information reporting configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, or a combination thereof.17.The network entity of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:release, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, and wherein the first timing advance group is a first primary timing advance group and the second timing advance group is a second primary timing advance group.18.The network entity of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:release, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first timing advance group and the second timing advance group, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, wherein the control signaling configures two primary timing advance groups, and wherein a third timing alignment timer associated with one of the two primary timing advance groups is running at a time of the expiration of the second timing alignment timer.19.The network entity of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:release, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of set of configured serving cells for the UE, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, wherein the first timing advance group is a primary timing advance group, and wherein the control signaling configures a single primary timing advance group.20.The network entity of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:transmit, to the UE after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a downlink control channel order that triggers a contention free random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell;perform, with the UE, the contention free random access procedure in response to the downlink control channel order; andreset the first timing alignment timer in response to performance of the contention free random access procedure.21.The network entity of claim 20, wherein, to perform the contention free random access procedure, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:receive, from the UE, an uplink message via the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.22.The network entity of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:perform, with the UE and in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a contention based random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell; andreset the first timing alignment timer in response to performance of the contention based random access procedure.23.The network entity of claim 22, wherein, to perform the contention based random access procedure, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:receive, from the UE, an uplink message via the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.24.The network entity of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:transmit, to the UE, a timing advance command for the second timing advance group; andresetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second timing alignment timer.25.A method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) , comprising:receiving control signaling indicating a first timing advance group associated with a first transmission and reception point of a serving cell and a second timing advance group associated with a second transmission and reception point of the serving cell, wherein the first timing advance group is associated with a first timing alignment timer and the second timing advance group is associated with a second timing alignment timer; andreleasing, while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink channel associated with the first transmission and reception point in response to an expiration of the first timing alignment timer.26.The method of claim 25, further comprising:transmitting, after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer and while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink communication to the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second timing advance group.27.The method of claim 26, wherein transmitting the uplink communication comprises:retransmitting buffered data associated with the first transmission and reception point to the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point based at least in part on the expiration of the first timing alignment timer.28.The method of claim 25, wherein releasing the uplink channel comprises:releasing a physical uplink control channel configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, releasing a sounding reference signal configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for channel state information reporting configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, or a combination thereof.29.The method of claim 25, further comprising:flushing, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; andreleasing, in response to the expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and configured each uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein the first timing advance group is a first primary timing advance group and the second timing advance group is a second primary timing advance group.30.The method of claim 25, further comprising:flushing, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first timing advance group and the second timing advance group, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; andreleasing, in response to the expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein at least one of the first timing advance group and the second timing advance group is a secondary timing advance group, wherein the control signaling configures two primary timing advance groups, and wherein a third timing alignment timer associated with one of the two primary timing advance groups is running at a time of the expiration of the second timing alignment timer.31.The method of claim 25, further comprising:flushing, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, each hybrid automatic repeat request buffer for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, the set of configured serving cells comprising the serving cell; andreleasing, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of the set of configured serving cells, wherein the first timing advance group is a primary timing advance group, and wherein the control signaling configures a single primary timing advance group.32.The method of claim 25, further comprising:receiving, after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a downlink control channel order that triggers a contention free random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell;performing the contention free random access procedure in response to the downlink control channel order; andresetting the first timing alignment timer in response to performance of the contention free random access procedure.33.The method of claim 32, wherein performing the contention free random access procedure comprises:transmitting an uplink message to the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.34.The method of claim 25, further comprising:performing, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a contention based random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell; andresetting the first timing alignment timer in response to performing the contention based random access procedure.35.The method of claim 34, wherein performing the contention based random access procedure comprises:transmitting an uplink message to the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.36.The method of claim 25, further comprising:receiving a timing advance command for the second timing advance group; andresetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second timing alignment timer.37.A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising:transmitting, to a user equipment (UE) , control signaling indicating a first timing advance group associated with a first transmission and reception point of a serving cell and a second timing advance group associated with a second transmission and reception point of the serving cell, wherein the first timing advance group is associated with a first timing alignment timer and the second timing advance group is associated with a second timing alignment timer; andreleasing, while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink channel associated with the first transmission and reception point in response to an expiration of the first timing alignment timer.38.The method of claim 37, further comprising:receiving, from the UE after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer and while the second timing alignment timer is running, an uplink communication for the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point and in accordance with a timing advance associated with the second timing advance group.39.The method of claim 38, wherein receiving the uplink communication comprises:receiving a retransmission of buffered data associated with the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell via the second transmission and reception point based at least in part on the expiration of the first timing alignment timer.40.The method of claim 37, wherein releasing the uplink channel comprises:releasing a physical uplink control channel configured for the first transmission and reception point for the serving cell, releasing a sounding reference signal configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clearing one or more configured downlink assignments configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clearing one or more configured uplink grants configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, clearing an uplink shared channel resource for channel state information reporting configured for the first transmission and reception point associated with each serving cell included in the first timing advance group, or a combination thereof.41.The method of claim 37, further comprising:releasing, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, and wherein the first timing advance group is a first primary timing advance group and the second timing advance group is a second primary timing advance group.42.The method of claim 37, further comprising:releasing, in response to an expiration of the second timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of a set of configured serving cells for the UE included in both the first timing advance group and the second timing advance group, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, wherein the control signaling configures two primary timing advance groups, and wherein a third timing alignment timer associated with one of the two primary timing advance groups is running at a time of the expiration of the second timing alignment timer.43.The method of claim 37, further comprising:releasing, in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, each uplink control channel, each sounding reference signal, each configured downlink assignment, and each configured uplink grant for each of set of configured serving cells for the UE, wherein the set of configured serving cells comprises the serving cell, wherein the first timing advance group is a primary timing advance group, and wherein the control signaling configures a single primary timing advance group.44.The method of claim 37, further comprising:transmitting, to the UE after the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a downlink control channel order that triggers a contention free random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell;performing, with the UE, the contention free random access procedure in response to the downlink control channel order; andresetting the first timing alignment timer in response to performance of the contention free random access procedure.45.The method of claim 44, wherein performing the contention free random access procedure comprises:receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.46.The method of claim 37, further comprising:performing, with the UE and in response to the expiration of the first timing alignment timer, a contention based random access procedure for the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell; andresetting the first timing alignment timer in response to performance of the contention based random access procedure.47.The method of claim 46, wherein performing the contention based random access procedure comprises:receiving, from the UE, an uplink message via the first transmission and reception point of the serving cell using a timing advance value associated with the first timing advance group.48.The method of claim 37, further comprising:transmitting, to the UE, a timing advance command for the second timing advance group; andresetting, in response to reception of the timing advance command, the second timing alignment timer.
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