Connecting to a network entity based on satellite unavailability

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods, apparatuses, and devices for wireless communication. A user equipment (UE) may receive (902), from a network entity, a configuration via a paging message. The UE may determine (904) an unavailability of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), and establish (906) a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the network entity based on the received configuration and the unavailability of the GNSS.

Description

CONNECTING TO A NETWORK ENTITY BASED ON SATELLITEUNAVAILABILITYTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more specifically to establishing a connection with a network entity based on satellite unavailability.BACKGROUND

[0002] A wireless communications system may include one or multiple network communication devices, which may be otherwise known as network equipment (NE), supporting wireless communications for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE), or other suitable terminology. The wireless communications system may support wireless communications with one or multiple user communication devices by utilizing resources of the wireless communication system (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers, or the like). Additionally, the wireless communications system may support wireless communications across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G)).SUMMARY

[0003] An article “a” before an element is unrestricted and understood to refer to “at least one” of those elements or “one or more” of those elements. The terms “a,” “at least one,” “one or more,” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. 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’ or “one or both 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. Further, as used herein, including in the claims, a “set” may include one or more elements.

[0004] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications. One or more of NE and UE may be configured to, capable of, or operable to perform the operations and signaling described herein. For example, one or more of NE and UE may be configured to, capable of, or operable to manage (e.g., establish) a connection with a terrestrial network entity (e.g., a base station) based on an availability (e.g., unavailability) of a non-terrestrial (NTN) network entity (e.g., a satellite). In some aspects, a UE may be configured to, capable of, or operable to receive, from a network entity, a configuration via a paging message, determine an unavailability of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), and establish a connection (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) connection) with the network entity based on the received configuration and the unavailability of the GNSS.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0006] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a timing relationship in a wireless communications system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0007] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a procedure for postponing periodic registration due to connection issues in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a procedure of network triggered service request signaling with GNSS unavailability knowledge at an access and mobility management function (AMF) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0009] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a procedure of network triggered service request signaling with GNSS unavailability knowledge at a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) node in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 7 illustrates an example of a processor in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0012] Figure 8 illustrates an example of a network equipment (NE) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a NE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] In some wireless communication systems, UEs may rely on satellite systems, such as GNSS to determine a location of the UE for various applications. However, situations may arise where the GNSS becomes unavailable or unreliable, such as areas with significant signal interference. When the GNSS is unavailable, the UE may experience difficulties determining the location of the UE, leading to increased power consumption as the UE continuously attempts to connect to the GNSS. This persistent connection attempt can also degrade overall system performance, negatively impacting an efficiency of the UE and user experience associated with the UE.

[0016] To address the above problem, various aspects of the present disclosure relate to establishing a connection with a network entity based on an availability of the GNSS (also referred to as GNSS unavailability). In some aspects, the UE may be configured to support one or more procedures or be capable of performing one or more procedures to dynamically adjust or delay communication attempts when the GNSS is unavailable. In some aspects, the type of procedure employed may vary based on specific configurations, enabling the UE to intelligently adapt a behavior of the UE. For example, the UE may defer location determination attempts or switch to alternative strategies for location estimation during GNSS outages, thereby conserving resources and improving system operations.

[0017] By managing communication attempts when the GNSS is unavailable, the UE may experience reduced power consumption, extending battery life and extending the usability of the UE. Additionally, by managing communication attempts when the GNSS is unavailable, the UE may minimize unnecessary resource usage, improvingoverall network efficiency. This solution enhances the user experience by maintaining system performance even in challenging environments where the GNSS is unavailable. Additionally, the flexible configuration allows the system to be tailored to various operational scenarios, making it suitable for a wide range of applications in wireless communication systems.

[0018] Aspects of the present disclosure are described in the context of a wireless communications system.

[0019] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more NE 102, one or more UE 104, and a core network (CN) 106. The wireless communications system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 4G network, such as an LTE network or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. In some other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a new radio (NR) network, such as a 5G network, a 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network, or a 5G ultrawideband (5G-UWB) network. In other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a combination of a 4G network and a 5G network, or other suitable radio access technology including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20. The wireless communications system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G, for example, 6G. Additionally, the wireless communications system 100 may support technologies, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), or code division multiple access (CDMA), etc.

[0020] The one or more NE 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communications system 100. One or more of the NE 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a network function, a network entity, a radio access network (RAN), a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), or other suitable terminology. An NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.

[0021] An NE 102 may provide a geographic coverage area for which the NE 102 may support services for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may support wireless communication of signals related to services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc.) according to one or multiple radio access technologies. In some implementations, an NE 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a NTN. In some implementations, different geographic coverage areas associated with the same or different radio access technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas may be associated with different NE 102.

[0022] The one or more UE 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communications system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a subscriber device, a transmitter device, a receiver device, or some other suitable terminology. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 104 may be referred to as an Intemet-of-Things (loT) device, an Intemet-of-Everything (loE) device, or machine-type communication (MTC) device, among other examples.

[0023] A UE 104 may be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link. In some implementations, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) deployments, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments, or cellular-V2X deployments, the communication link may be referred to as a sidelink. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a UE-to-UE interface (PC5 interface).

[0024] An NE 102 may support communications with the CN 106, or with another NE 102, or both. For example, an NE 102 may interface with other NE 102 or the CN 106 through one or more backhaul links (e.g., SI, N2, N2, or network interface). In some implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other directly. In some other implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other or indirectly (e.g., via the CN 106. In some implementations, one or more NE 102 may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of anaccess node controller (ANC). An ANC may communicate with the one or more UEs 104 through one or more other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission -reception points (TRPs).

[0025] The CN 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The CN 106 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), or a 5G core (5GC), which may include a control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management functions (AMF)) and a 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)). In some implementations, the control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management (e.g., data bearers, signal bearers, etc.) for the one or more UEs 104 served by the one or more NE 102 associated with the CN 106.

[0026] The CN 106 may communicate with a packet data network over one or more backhaul links (e.g., via an SI, N2, N2, or another network interface). The packet data network may include an application server. In some implementations, one or more UEs 104 may communicate with the application server. A UE 104 may establish a session (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or the like) with the CN 106 via an NE 102. The CN 106 may route traffic (e.g., control information, data, and the like) between the UE 104 and the application server using the established session (e.g., the established PDU session). The PDU session may be an example of a logical connection between the UE 104 and the CN 106 (e.g., one or more network functions of the CN 106).

[0027] In the wireless communications system 100, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers)) to perform various operations (e.g., wireless communications). In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support a single frame structure. In some other implementations, such as in 5G and among other suitable radio access technologies, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 maysupport various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures). The NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures based on one or more numerologies.

[0028] One or more numerologies may be supported in the wireless communications system 100, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. A first numerology (e.g., jU=O) may be associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. In some implementations, the first numerology (e.g., ^=0) associated with the first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may utilize one slot per subframe. A second numerology (e.g., jU=l) may be associated with a second subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A third numerology (e.g., ^=2) may be associated with a third subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix. A fourth numerology (e.g., ju=3) may be associated with a fourth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 120 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A fifth numerology (e.g., i=4) may be associated with a fifth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 240 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix.

[0029] A time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to frames (also referred to as radio frames). Each frame may have a duration, for example, a 10 millisecond (ms) duration. In some implementations, each frame may include multiple subframes. For example, each frame may include 10 subframes, and each subframe may have a duration, for example, a 1 ms duration. In some implementations, each frame may have the same duration. In some implementations, each subframe of a frame may have the same duration.

[0030] Additionally or alternatively, a time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to slots. For example, a subframe may include a number (e.g., quantity) of slots. The number of slots in each subframe may also depend on the one or more numerologies supported in the wireless communications system 100. For instance, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth numerologies (i.e., / r=0, ju=l, ^=2, [1=3, ^=4) associated with respective subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz may utilize a single slot per subframe, two slots per subframe, four slots per subframe, eight slots per subframe, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. Each slot may include a number (e.g., quantity) of symbols (e.g., orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols). In some implementations, the number (e.g., quantity) of slots for a subframe may depend on anumerology. For a normal cyclic prefix, a slot may include 14 symbols. For an extended cyclic prefix (e.g., applicable for 60 kHz subcarrier spacing), a slot may include 12 symbols. The relationship between the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per subframe, and the number of slots per frame for a normal cyclic prefix and an extended cyclic prefix may depend on a numerology. It should be understood that reference to a first numerology (e.g., i=0) associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may be used interchangeably between subframes and slots.

[0031] In the wireless communications system 100, an electromagnetic (EM) spectrum may be split, based on frequency or wavelength, into various classes, frequency bands, frequency channels, etc. By way of example, the wireless communications system 100 may support one or multiple operating frequency bands, such as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz), FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communications over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communications traffic (e.g., control information, data). In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for short-range, high data rate capabilities.

[0032] FR1 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least three numerologies). For example, FR1 may be associated with a first numerology (e.g., ^=0), which includes 15 kHz subcarrier spacing; a second numerology (e.g., ^=1), which includes 30 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a third numerology (e.g., i=2), which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. FR2 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least 2 numerologies). For example, FR2 may be associated with a third numerology (e.g., ^=2), which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a fourth numerology (e.g., i=3), which includes 120 kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0033] In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be an NR NTN or an loT NTN. A UE 104 may access the NR NTN and / or the loT NTN based on the UE 104 having global navigation satellite system (GNSS) capabilities. The UE 104 may use coordinates of a GNSS to determine a position of the UE 104, whichmay be used to pre-compensate for time and frequency shift. An NR-NTN may use an open-loop timing adjustment procedure for a transparent payload NTN architecture, in which a timing advance (TA) is partitioned into common TA (e.g., corresponding to a feeder link round trip time (RTT)) and a user-specific TA (e.g., corresponding to a two- way transmission delay on a service link). To estimate the user-specific TA, the UE 104 may identify a serving satellite position (e.g., information provided to the UE 104) and determine a location of the UE 104 (e.g., based on GNSS). Because non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites are continuously moving, the UE 104 may have to continuously update the TA and frequency pre-compensation when in a connected mode. Therefore, the UE 104 may require a reliable GNSS connection over a period of time of its entire connectivity to have NTN access.

[0034] Although GNSS provides a highly accurate position and time reference, there may be multiple occasions and / or scenarios when signals from the GNSS may be unavailable for a certain duration. For example, signals from the GNSS may experience outages, be jammed, or be spoofed, leading to an inaccurate position of the UE 104. Thus, this inaccuracy may result in the denial of NTN connectivity, as a user-specific TA derived from an incorrect position of the UE 104 may hinder uplink (UL) communication. Such scenarios may simultaneously impact a group of UEs in a cell for a certain duration. Additionally, there may be occasions when a UE 104 may experience degradation of NTN service due to relatively reduced GNSS location estimates (e.g., accuracy reduced to 300 m). This reduction may stem from various reasons, such as poor GNSS link budget, unavailability of a number of satellites, or a position of the UE 104 (e.g., in pocket, bag, etc.).

[0035] The degradation or denial of NR NTN service, due to temporary unavailability and / or inaccuracy of a GNSS location, may result in excessive power consumption from the UE 104 and an overall degradation in system performance. This is because the UE 104, configured with GNSS capability, may continue to attempt to connect to the GNSS, even when the location of the GNSS is unavailable due to spoofing or jamming. Particularly in the case of a network-triggered service request, the network may transmit multiple requests to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the UE 104, which may be in an idle state and lacks GNSS connectivity for a temporary duration. This situation leads to resource wastage and signaling overhead. If the duration of the temporary GNSS outage is known, this information maybe used to improve the network signaling and UE signaling for a network triggered service request procedure to avoid unnecessary wastage of the network resources. Various aspects may be used to improve both core network-based and UE -based signaling procedures, especially for mobile-terminating calls when the GNSS is temporarily unavailable for a UE 104 or a group of UEs 104 in an idle state.

[0036] Timing adjustments may be made in NT. Moreover, time and frequency synchronization in NTN may be done as described herein.

[0037] Downlink (DL) and UL frames may be aligned at an UL time synchronization reference point (RP) with an offset given by NTAoffSet. To accommodate for propagation delay in NTNs, several timing relationships may be enhanced by a common TA and two offsets Voysetand kmac. A common TA may be a configured timing offset that may be equal to the RTT between a RP and an NTN payload. The Voysetmay be a configured scheduling offset that may be larger or equal to the sum of the service link RTT and the common TA. The kmacmay be a configured offset that may be approximately equal (e.g., when rounded to a whole number, a tenth place, a thousandth place, and so forth) to the RTT between the RP and the gNB.

[0038] The scheduling offset Koj jseLmay be used to allow a UE 104 sufficient processing time between a DL reception and an UL transmission. The offset kmacmay be used to delay an application of a DL configuration indicated by a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and in estimation of UE-gNB RTT. It may be provided by the wireless communication system 100 when DL and UL frame timing are unaligned at a NE 102 (e.g., a base station). The kmacmay also be used during a random access procedure to determine a start time of a random access response (RAR) window and / or a random access message (e.g., a MsgB) window after transmission of another random access message (e.g., Msgl and / or MsgA transmission).

[0039] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a timing relationship in a wireless communications system 200. The wireless communications system 200 may implement or be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100 as described herein with reference to Figure 1. For example, the wireless communications system 200 may include aNE 102-a and aNE 102 -b, which may be examples of a NE 102 as described herein with reference to Figure 1. The wireless communications system 200may include a UE 104-a, which may be examples of a UE 104 as described herein with reference to Figure 1.

[0040] The NE 102-a may be referred to as a NTN network entity and may be, for example, a satellite, which may be any suitable type of communication satellite configured to relay or otherwise support wireless communications between different devices in the wireless communication system 200. In some implementations, the satellite may be in a geosynchronous or geostationary earth orbit, a low earth orbit, or a medium earth orbit. The NE 102-b may be a base station and may be referred to as an NTN gateway. The NE 102-a may perform (e.g., transmit, receive, forward, route) wireless communication with the UE 104-a via a service link RTT 202. Additionally, the UE 104-a may perform (e.g., transmit, receive) wireless communication with the network entity 104-a via the service link RTT 202. The NE 102-a may perform (e.g., transmit, receive, forward, route) wireless communication with the NE 102-b via a feeder link RTT 204.

[0041] The NE 102-b may configure a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) operation. For example, the network may enable or disable DL HARQ feedback per HARQ process. In some implementations, disabling the DL HARQ feedback may allow scheduling a HARQ process before one HARQ RTT has elapsed since a last scheduled HARQ process. The network may also configure an UL HARQ mode (e.g., a HARQ mode A, HARQ mode B) per HARQ process. HARQ mode B may allow scheduling a HARQ process before one HARQ RTT has elapsed since last scheduled HARQ process.

[0042] For the HARQ processes configured with HARQ feedback enabled and / or disabled, the NE 102-b may ensure a proper configuration of HARQ feedback (e.g., either all enabled or all disabled) for HARQ processes used by a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration. For the HARQ processes configured with a HARQ mode, the NE 102-b may ensure a proper configuration of a HARQ mode (e.g., either all HARQ mode A or all HARQ mode B) for HARQ processes used by a configured grant (CG) configuration.

[0043] Some configurations may use TA and frequency pre-compensation. For a serving cell, the NE 102-a and / or NE- 102-b broadcasts valid ephemeris information and common TA parameters. The UE 104-a may have a valid GNSS position as well as ephemeris and common TA before connecting to an NTN cell. To achievesynchronization, before and during connection to an NTN cell, the UE 104-a may compute a RTT between the UE 104-a and the RP based on the GNSS position, the ephemeris, and the common TA parameters, and autonomously pre-compensate a transmission TA (TTA) for the RTT between the UE 104-a and the RP.

[0044] The UE 104-a may compute a frequency Doppler shift of the service link, and autonomously pre-compensate for it in UL transmissions by considering UE 104-a position and the ephemeris. If the UE 104-a does not have a valid GNSS position and / or valid ephemeris and common TA, it may not transmit UL transmissions until both are regained.

[0045] In a connected mode, the UE 104-a may be able to continuously update the TA and frequency pre-compensation. The UE 104-a may be configured to report the TA during random access procedures or in a connected mode. In the connected mode, event-triggered reporting of the TA may be used.

[0046] While the pre-compensation of the instantaneous Doppler shift experienced on the service link is to be performed by the UE 104-a, the management of Doppler shift experienced over the feeder link and transponder frequency error is left to network implementation.

[0047] In various configurations, a transmission timing adjustment procedure for terrestrial network (TN) and NTN may be performed as described herein.

[0048] A UE 104-a may be provided a value NTA o^setof a TA offset for a serving cell by n-TimingAdvanceOffset for the serving cell. If the UE 104-a is not provided n- TimingAdvanceOffset for a serving cell, the UE 104-a determines a default value NTA,offset °f the timing advance offset for the serving cell. If a UE 104-a is configured with two UL carriers for a serving cell, a same TA offset value NTA oj jseLapplies to both carriers.

[0049] Upon reception of a TA command for a TA group (TAG), the UE 104-a adjusts uplink timing for physical uplink shared channel (PUS CH), SRS, and / or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission on all the serving cells in the TAG based on a value NTA o^setthat the UE expects to be same for all the serving cells in the TAG and based on the received timing advance command where the uplinktiming for PUSCH, SRS, and / or PUCCH transmissions is the same for all the serving cells in the TAG.

[0050] For a band with synchronous contiguous intra-band evolved non-standalone dual connectivity (EN-DC) in a band combination with non-applicable maximum transmit timing difference requirements, if the UE 104-a indicates ul- TimingAlignmentEUTRA-NR as 'required' and uplink transmission timing based on timing adjustment indication for a TAG from a master cell group (MCG) and a TAG from a secondary cell group (SCG) are determined to be different by the UE 104-a, the UE 104-a adjusts the transmission timing for PUSCH, SRS, and / or PUCCH transmission on all serving cells part of the band with the synchronous contiguous intra- band EN-DC based on a timing adjustment indication for a TAG from a serving cell in MCG in the band. The UE 104-a is not expected to transmit a PUSCH, SRS, and / or PUCCH in one CG when the PUSCH, SRS, and / or PUCCH is overlapping in time, even partially, with random access preamble transmitted in another CG.

[0051] For a SCS of 2 ■ 15 kHz, the TA command for a TAG indicates the change of the UL timing relative to the current UL timing for the TAG in multiples of 16 ■ 64 ■ TC / 2 . The start timing of the random access preamble may be determined.

[0052] A TA command for a random access response or in an absolute timing advance command MAC CE, TA, for a TAG indicates NTAvalues by index values of TA= 0, 1, 2, ..., 3846, where an amount of the time alignment for the TAG with subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 2 ■ 15 kHz is NTA= TA■ 16 ■ 64 / 2 . NTAis defined and is relative to the SCS of the first UL transmission from the UE 104-a after the reception of the random access response or absolute timing advance command MAC CE.

[0053] In some configurations, a TA command, TA, for a TAG indicates adjustment of a current NTAvalue, NTA old, to the new NTAvalue, NTA_new, by index values of TA= 0, 1, 2,..., 63, where for a SCS of 2 ■ 15 kHz, NTA_new= NTA oid+ (TA— 31) ■ 16 ■ 64 / 2 .

[0054] If a UE 104-a has multiple active UL bandwidth parts (BWPs), in a sameTAG, including UL BWPs in two UL carriers of a serving cell, the timing advance command value is relative to the largest SCS of the multiple active UL BWPs. The applicable NTA_newvalue for an UL BWP with lower SCS may be rounded to align withthe TA granularity for the UL BWP with the lower SCS while satisfying TA accuracy requirements.

[0055] Adjustment of an NTAvalue by a positive or a negative amount indicates advancing or delaying the uplink transmission timing for the TAG by a corresponding amount, respectively.

[0056] For a timing advance command received on uplink slot n and for a transmission other than a PUSCH scheduled by a RAR UL grant or a fallbackRAR UL grant, or a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information in response to a successRAR, the corresponding adjustment of the uplink transmission timing applies from the beginning of uplink slotNT 1is atime duration in msec ofsymbols corresponding to a PDSCH processing time for UE 104-a processing capability 1 when additional PDSCH DM-RS is configured, NT 2is a time duration in msec of N2symbols corresponding to a PUSCH preparation time for UE 104-a processing capability 1, NTAmaxis the maximum timing advance value in msec that can be provided by a TA command field of 12 bits,number of slots per subframe, Tsis the subframe duration of 1 msec, and Koffset= Kcell offset- KUE offset, where Kcell offsetis provided by cellSpecificKoffset and KUE OffSetis provided by a Differential Koffset MAC CE command; otherwise, if not respectively provided, Kcell OffSet= 0 or KUE, off set=0- N- and N2are determined with respect to the minimum SCS among the SCSs of all configured UL BWPs for all uplink carriers in the TAG and of all configured DL BWPs for the corresponding downlink carriers. For fl = 0, the UE assumes N10= 14. Slot n and [\i^bJrame^aredetermined with respect to the minimum SCS among the SCSs of all configured UL BWPs for all uplink carriers in the TAG. NTA maxis determined with respect to the minimum SCS among the SCSs of all configured UL BWPs for all uplink carriers in the TAG and for all configured initial UL BWPs provided by initial UplinkBWP. The uplink slot n is the last slot among uplink slot(s) overlapping with the slot(s) of PDSCH reception assuming TTA= 0, where the PDSCH provides the timing advance command and TTAis defined.

[0057] If a UE 104-a changes an active UL BWP between a time of a TA command reception and a time of applying a corresponding adjustment for the UL transmissiontiming, the UE 104-a determines the TA command value based on the SCS of the new active UL BWP. If the UE 104-a changes an active UL BWP after applying an adjustment for the UL transmission timing, the UE 104-a assumes a same absolute TA command value before and after the active UL BWP change.

[0058] If the received DL timing changes and is not compensated or is only partly compensated by the UL timing adjustment without TA command, the UE changes NTAaccordingly.

[0059] If two adjacent slots overlap due to a TA command, the latter slot is reduced in duration relative to the former slot. The UE does not change NTAduring an actual transmission time window for a PUSCH or a PUCCH transmission.

[0060] Using higher-layer ephemeris parameters for a serving satellite, if provided, a UE 104-a may pre -compensate the two-way transmission delay on the service link based onthat the UE 104-a determines using the serving satellite position and its own position. To pre-compensate the two-way transmission delay between the UL time synchronization reference point and the serving satellite, the UE 104-a determines ^TAadj°nbased on one-way propagation delay Delaycommon(t) that the UE 104-a determines as:

[0062] where T A^ommon, T A^ommonp)ri^, and A QOmmon[yr^Ayarian^ are respectively provided by ta-Common, ta-CommonDrift, and ta-CommonDriftVariant and tepochis provided by epochTime which is the epoch time of ta-Common, ta- CommonDrift, and ta-CommonDriftVariant. Delaycommon(t) provides a distance at time t between the serving satellite and the uplink time synchronization reference point divided by the speed of light. The uplink time synchronization reference point is the point where DL and UL are frame aligned with an offset given by NTAojjseL.

[0063] RRC signaling may be used for TA calculation in NTN. There may be an information element (IE) for NTN configuration (e.g., NTN-Config IE) that contains the essential parameter information needed for calculation of common TA and user specific information. One embodiment of a NTN-Config IE is shown in Table 1, and NTN-Config field descriptions are shown in Table 2.Table 1: NTN-Config IETable 2: NTN-Config Filed DescriptionsEphemerisinfo

[0064] In an NR NTN transparent payload architecture, a UE pre-compensates the two-way transmission delay on the service link based on its TA calculation, which is determined by the UE using the serving satellite position and its own position. For this purpose, the following formula is used to determine the TA (referred to as open loop TA procedure):

[0066] where NTAdenotes the TA component based on accumulating “TA commands” received from the network (e.g., by MAC CE command) and is reset to zero whenever there is a random access channel (RACH) procedure to acquire TA estimates, whileadj denotes the TA component specific to satellite communications and is determined by the UE based on the UE’s own location and the NTN serving satellite’s ephemeris, thus accuracy ofadj depends on the accuracy of the location information.

[0067] In some configurations, NR NTN UE has GNSS capabilities and calculates its own position using GNSS. However, GNSS may be prone to spoofing and jamming, which may either lead to incorrect location reporting and potentially denial of service if there is spoofing or lead to denial of service if there is jamming on a temporary basis (e.g., for the time period of spoofing and jamming). Additionally, natural phenomena, such as solar radiation bursts, which can affect large parts of the earth surface for 10 to 20 minutes, may also result in temporary unavailability of GNSS signals, resulting in denial of service.

[0068] Various embodiments found herein may include procedures to indicate to a network entity or UE to not perform repeated requests for establishing an RRC connection for a UE that is in idle state and has temporary GNSS outage, thus cannot establish a RRC connection. Some embodiments may optimize network and UE signaling for network triggered service request procedures (e.g., mobile terminating calls), and also for optimizing access stratum (AS)- non-access stratum (NAS) signaling to avoid unnecessary signaling during a GNSS outage time period.

[0069] When a UE is in an idle state: 1) network triggered service request signaling may be optimized when GNSS is temporary unavailable and there may be: a, core network signaling enhancements (e.g., an indication of UE unavailability to establish a RRC connection for a time period), and / or b, UE specific signaling enhancement (e.g., a new paging policy when GNSS is not available); and / or 2) an indication of AS to upper layers for not triggering a repeated request to establish a RRC connection for a time duration of GNSS outage.

[0070] In a first embodiment, there may be AS-NAS interaction with a temporary GNSS outage. According to the first embodiment, AS, upon determining a “nonconnection situation” (e.g., a situation when it may not initiate RRC connectionestablishment or RRC connection resume due to GNSS outage for a temporary duration), may inform upper layers (e.g., NAS) that a RRC connection establishment and / or resumption is not possible at the moment. If it is known to the AS how long the situation will persist, it may also indicate the time (e.g., duration) until which the RRC connection can’t be established and / or resumed. With this information, the NAS may do one or more of the following: 1) for a triggering application: inform any application triggering connection (e.g., that has data to transfer) about the current situation (e.g., an inability to make a connection with the network and it may request that the application postpone a launch and / or triggering); and / or 2) NAS signaling: any required NAS procedure (e.g., service request, periodic registrations, protocol data unit (PDU) sessions request and / or modification) may be postponed or not initiated at all (e.g., when periodic registration (routing area update (RAU) and / or tracking area updates(TAUs)) can’t be made). The NAS may wait until the AS reverts indicating that RRC connection establishment and / or resumption is now possible as shown in Figure 3. To accomplish this, in an alternative implementation, a different NAS timer value (e.g., for periodic registrations) may be used when a non-connection situation occurs. The timer may be a UE implementation or may be configured by the network (e.g., using NAS or RRC signaling (including broadcast)).

[0071] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a procedure 300 for postponing periodic registration due to connection issues in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, the procedure 300 may implement, or be implemented by, aspects of the wireless communication system 100 and the wireless communication system 200 as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The procedure 300 may include a UE AS 302 and a UE NAS 304, which may be examples of a UE 104 as described herein. The procedure 300 may also include a CN 306, which may be examples of a CN 106 as described herein. In the following description of the procedure 300, the operations between the UE AS 302, the UE NAS 304, and the CN 306 may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the UE AS 302, the UE NAS 304, and the CN 306 may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the procedure 300, and other operations may be added to the procedure 300.

[0072] At 308, the UE AS 302 may determine a non-connection event. For example, the UE AS 302 may determine that an event occurs when the UE AS 302 is not in a connected state.

[0073] At 310, the UE AS 302 may output (e.g., transmit), to the UE NAS 304, timing information associated with the non-connection event. For example, the timing information may indicate a start time of the non-connection event.

[0074] At 312, the UE NAS 304 may attempt a transmission to the CN 306. In some implementations, in response to obtaining (e.g., receiving), from the UE AS 302, the timing information associated with the non-connection event, the UE NAS 304 may trigger one or more transmissions to the CN 306, for example, to initiate a registration procedure. In some implementations, the one or more transmissions may be periodic. In some implementations, the UE NAS 304 may determine a failure of the one or more transmissions to the CN 306 and, based on the failure to of the one or more transmissions to the CN 306, the UE NAS 304 may pause (e.g., postpone, terminate) a registration procedure.

[0075] At 314, the UE AS 302 may output (e.g., transmit), to the UE NAS 304, an indication of non-connection event end. For example, if an RRC connection establishment or an RRC connection resume are possible, the UE AS 302 may inform the UE NAS 304 accordingly and the UE NAS 304 may assume normal operation.

[0076] At 316, the UE NAS 304 may transmit a registration message to the CN 306.

[0077] In one embodiment, a UE determines a current UE specific TA value (^TA adj) by extrapolating most recent values determined when the UE location was available with required accuracy. This is based on the rate of change of UE specific TA values in the last ‘n’ occasions. This extrapolation is allowed only until a certain time ‘t’ after the determination of a non-connection issue. The variables ‘n’ and ‘t’ may be configured by the network with a transmission to the UE. On top of this, the UE may use its last known location and UE speed and / or direction (e.g., mobility history) to further refine the UE specific TA determined based on the extrapolation.

[0078] In another embodiment, a UE periodically acquires its location, and the UE may initiate RRC connection establishment and / or resumption when required by the upper layer (e.g., NAS) if the accuracy of the acquired location is higher than a certainminimum threshold value. However, if the accuracy of the acquired location is lower than a certain minimum threshold value, the UE may try to acquire the location again before the next periodic occasion to obtain its location. If an accurate-enough location is not available, the UE may first obtain it location. If it fails to obtain its location or if the obtained location is not considered accurate enough, a UE may either not initiate a RRC connection establishment and / or resumption or use a default value of the UE specific TA for the service link. The default value may be configured by the network and may be a function of one or more of the following: 1) the UE’s last known location; and / or 2) the UE’s measurement results of serving and neighboring cells.

[0079] In a second embodiment, there may be paging for mobile terminated (MT) calls with GNSS outage. According to the second embodiment, the network only initiates a paging message when the network has the knowledge that GNSS signals are available to a UE to perform a RACH procedure for mobile terminating calls. For instance, a gNB may not page UEs in locations where the UEs may not have access to GNSS since even if successfully paged, paged UEs can’t really respond to a MT call. Thus, in a new paging policy, paging is performed only when GNSS is back, and a UE may be able to determine the UE specific TA with reliable location estimates (e.g., when either the GNSS signal are available or a sufficient location estimation accuracy may be achieved). The decision to page a UE for MT calls may be carried out by the gNB or the core network.

[0080] In one embodiment, when the AMF has the knowledge of GNSS unavailability and its expected duration, the AMF may not initiate a paging procedure for the UE that is in an idle and / or inactive state, instead the AMF may indicate to the SMF the duration for which the UE would not be available to establish an RRC connection, as shown in Figure 4. For instance, if the AMF has determined that the UE may not be available to establish an RRC connection for the SMF due to GNSS signal unavailability for a certain duration (e.g., because of spoofing or jamming in some area), then the AMF rejects the request from the SMF. In one implementation, the AMF may include in the reject message an indication that the SMF needs to not trigger the Namf_Communication_N lN2MessageTransfer Request to the AMF for a duration of GNSS unavailability, where this duration may be indicated in a Namf_Communication_NlN2MessageTransfer response message. Hence, upon reception of this response message, the SMF refrains from sending a furtherNamf_Communication_N lN2MessageTransfer message for DL data to the AMF while the UE is unreachable for the indicated duration of GNSS unavailability.

[0081] In another embodiment, the SMF may further notify a user plane function (UPF) about a user plane setup failure due to GNSS unavailability of the UE by sending a failure message and may also indicate the cause of failure and the duration of GNSS unavailability. The intention of such indication may be to indicate to the UPF to stop sending data notifications at least for the indicated duration or to stop buffering downlink (DL) data and may discard the buffered data if the duration is large.

[0082] In one implementation, the AMF may send a paging request to the NG-RAN node and may leave the NG-RAN node to decide whether a UE may be able to establish an RRC connection. If the AMF receives any indication as part of a paging response message that a UE may not establish an RRC connection for a time period, the AMF may initiate a response message to the SMF to indicate this. In another implementation, the AMF may not send a response message if it considers that the indicated duration is small, and the data may be buffered for this duration and the UE may be reachable again.

[0083] In a further implementation, the AMF may send a Namf_Communication_N lN2Transfer failure notification message to the SMF to indicate that a UE is not reachable for a duration due to GNSS unavailability.

[0084] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a procedure 400 of network triggered service request signaling with GNSS unavailability knowledge at an AMF in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, the procedure 400 may implement, or be implemented by, aspects of the wireless communication system 100 and the wireless communication system 200 as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The procedure 400 may include a UE 402, which may be examples of a UE 104 as described herein. The procedure 400 may also include an NG-RAN 404, an AMF 406, an SMF 408, and a UPF 410, which may be examples of various NE 102 as described herein. In the following description of the procedure 400, the operations between the UE 402, the NG-RAN 404, the AMF 406, the SMF 408, and the UPF 410 may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the UE 402, the NG-RAN 404, the AMF 406, the SMF 408, and the UPF 410 may be performed in different orders or at different times. Someoperations may also be omitted from the procedure 400, and other operations may be added to the procedure 400.

[0085] At 412, the UPF 410 may receive downlink data.

[0086] Then, at 414, the UPF 410 may transmit a data notification to the SMF 408.

[0087] At 416, the SMF 408 may transmit a data notification acknowledgment to the UPF 410.

[0088] Then, at 418 , the UPF 410 may transmit downlink data to the SMF 408.

[0089] At 420, the SMF 408 may transmit a Namf_Communication_N lN2Transfer message to the AMF 406.

[0090] Then, at 422, there may be no paging initiation made, as this is during a UE 402 time duration 424 of GNSS unavailability.

[0091] At 426, the AMF 406 may transmit a Namf_Communication_N lN2Transfer response message to the SMF 408.

[0092] Then, at 428, the SMF 408 may transmit a failure indication to the UPF 410.

[0093] In one embodiment, a paging strategy may be optimized and configured in the AMF or in the gNB if GNSS is not temporarily unavailable to a UE or a group of UEs in a specific coverage area. For instance, if the NG-RAN node (e.g., gNB) has the knowledge of GNSS unavailability and / or its expected duration, the gNB, upon reception of a paging request from the AMF, may send a response message to the AMF indicating the expected duration for which the UE would not be available to establish a RRC connection or may initiate a paging message transmission to the UE indicating an alternative methodology to be used for user specific TA calculation for GNSS unavailability.

[0094] In another embodiment, upon reception of a paging request message for a UE from an AMF, a NG-RAN node may not initiate a paging message transmission to the UE, but may initiate a response message to the AMF as indicated in Figure 5, where the response message may have fields indicating a cause of the response message, such as unavailability of a GNSS signal and also a duration for which the GNSS signal may not be available. Upon reception of this message, the AMF may wait for an indicated duration and regenerate a new paging request or may send aNamf_Communication_N lN2Transfer failure notification message to the SMF to indicate that a UE is not reachable for a duration due GNSS unavailability.

[0095] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a procedure 500 of network triggered service request signaling with GNSS unavailability knowledge at a NG-RAN node in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, the procedure 500 may implement, or be implemented by, aspects of the wireless communication system 100 and the wireless communication system 200 as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The procedure 500 may include a UE 402, which may be examples of a UE 104 as described herein. The procedure 500 may also include an NG-RAN 504, an AMF 506, an SMF 508, and a UPF 510, which may be examples of various NE 102 as described herein. In the following description of the procedure 500, the operations between the UE 502, the NG-RAN 504, the AMF 506, the SMF 508, and the UPF 510 may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the UE 502, the NG-RAN 504, the AMF 506, the SMF 508, and the UPF 510 may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the procedure 500, and other operations may be added to the procedure 500.

[0096] At 512, the UPF 510 may receive downlink data.

[0097] Then, at 514, the UPF 510 may transmit a data notification to the SMF 508.

[0098] At 516, the SMF 508 may transmit a data notification acknowledgment to the UPF 510.

[0099] Then, at 518, the UPF 510 may transmit downlink data to the SMF 508.

[0100] At 520, the SMF 508 may transmit a Namf_Communication_NlN2Transfer message to the AMF 506.

[0101] Then, at 522, the AMF 506 may transmit a Namf_Communication_N lN2Transfer response message to the SMF 508.

[0102] At 524, the AMF 506 may transmit a next generation application protocol (NGAP) paging request message to the AMF 506.

[0103] Next, at 526, there may be no paging initiation made, as this is during a UE 502 time duration 528 of GNSS unavailability.

[0104] At 530, the NG-RAN 504 may transmit a NGAP paging response failure message to the AMF 506.

[0105] Then, at 532, the SMF 508 may transmit a failure indication to the UPF 510.

[0106] At 534, the AMF 506 may transmit a Namf_Communication_NlN2Transfer failure notification to the SMF 508.

[0107] In one embodiment, upon reception of a paging request message from the NG-RAN node, the NG-RAN node may send a paging indication to the UE even if the GNSS signals are not available, where the NG-RAN node may also indicate to the UE in the same message alternate ways to calculate a user specific TA. The NG-RAN node may decide whether to use alternative methods that may enable strict time synchronization based on an implicit or explicit indication from the AMF. For example, if the paging priority is set to high, then the NG-RAN node may always try to find alternative ways for establishment of an RRC connection for GNSS unavailability on temporary basis. In one example, if an NG-RAN node sends a paging response message to an AMF indicating temporary unavailability of GNSS and its duration, but receives a new paging request message within this duration, then the NG-RAN node may try to find alternative methods for establishment of an RRC connection.

[0108] In another embodiment, the gNB, upon reception of a paging request message from an AMF, may initiate a paging message transmission to the UE. In such an embodiment, an indication is used in the paging message that describes that the UE should establish an RRC connection after a time duration where this duration may correspond to the temporary unavailability duration of the GNSS. The gNB may expect a response from the UE only after the indicated time. If a response is not received after the indicated duration, the gNB may send the paging message again.

[0109] In some embodiments, a gNB repeats a paging message multiple times with an indication about when to respond to increase robustness. In such embodiments, a time gap may be configured in each message to indicate a time that a UE must wait from the reception of the paging message to start a RACH procedure. In one implementation, the AMF may indicate to the gNB, as part of a paging strategy, a paging repetition frequency and time interval for repetition when GNSS is temporarily not available.

[0110] In various embodiments, a gNB indicates to a UE in an idle state not to establish a RRC connection for a time duration, where this time duration corresponds to a duration of GNSS jamming or spoofing and is indicated to the UE through a paging message. When a UE in an idle state receives this information in the idle state, the UE may not try to establish an RRC connection for the configured duration.

[0111] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a UE 600 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 600 may include a processor 602, a memory 604, a controller 606, and a transceiver 608. The processor 602, the memory 604, the controller 606, or the transceiver 608, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

[0112] The processor 602, the memory 604, the controller 606, or the transceiver 608, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0113] The processor 602 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or any combination thereof). In some implementations, the processor 602 may be configured to operate the memory 604. In some other implementations, the memory 604 may be integrated into the processor 602. The processor 602 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 604 to cause the UE 600 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

[0114] The memory 604 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 604 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 602 cause the UE 600 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such the memory 604 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication mediaincluding any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0115] In some implementations, the processor 602 and the memory 604 coupled with the processor 602 may be configured to cause the UE 600 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 602, instructions stored in the memory 604). For example, the processor 602 may support wireless communication at the UE 600 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the processor 602 coupled with the memory 604 may be configured to cause the UE 600 to receive, from a network entity, a configuration via a paging message, determine an unavailability of a GNSS, and establish an RRC connection with the network entity based on the received configuration and the unavailability of the GNSS.

[0116] The controller 606 may manage input and output signals for the UE 600. The controller 606 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the UE 600. In some implementations, the controller 606 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®, WINDOWS®, or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 606 may be implemented as part of the processor 602.

[0117] In some implementations, the UE 600 may include at least one transceiver 608. In some other implementations, the UE 600 may have more than one transceiver 608. The transceiver 608 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 608 may include one or more receiver chains 610, one or more transmitter chains 612, or a combination thereof.

[0118] A receiver chain 610 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 610 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 610 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA)) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 610 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 610 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

[0119] A transmiter chain 612 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets). The transmiter chain 612 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The transmiter chain 612 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmiter chain 612 may also include one or more antennas for transmiting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

[0120] Figure 7 illustrates an example of a processor 700 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The processor 700 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 700 may include a controller 702 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 700 may optionally include at least one memory 704, which may be, for example, an L1 / L2 / L3 cache. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 700 may optionally include one or more arithmetic -logic units (ALUs) 706. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses).

[0121] The processor 700 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmiting, outputing, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 700) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM), flash memory, phase change memory (PCM), and others).

[0122] The controller 702 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 700 to cause the processor 700 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 702 may operate as a control unit of the processor 700, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 700. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

[0123] The controller 702 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 704 and determine subsequent instruction(s) to be executed to cause the processor 700 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 702 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 704. The controller 702 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 702 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 700 to cause the processor 700 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 702 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 700. The controller 702 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs), and other functional units of the processor 700.

[0124] The memory 704 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 700 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementations, the memory 704 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 700). In some other implementations, the memory 704 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 700).

[0125] The memory 704 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 700, cause the processor 700 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non- transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type ofmemory. The controller 702 and / or the processor 700 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 704 to cause the processor 700 to perform various functions. For example, the processor 700 and / or the controller 702 may be coupled with or to the memory 704, the processor 700, the controller 702, and the memory 704 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 700 may include multiple processors and the memory 704 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.

[0126] The one or more ALUs 706 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, the one or more ALUs 706 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 700). In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 706 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 700). One or more ALUs 706 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 706 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 706 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 706 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR), not-OR (NOR), and not-AND (NAND), enabling the one or more ALUs 706 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

[0127] The processor 700 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 700 may be configured to or operable to support a means for: receiving, from a network entity, a configuration via a paging message, determining an unavailability of a GNSS, and establishing a RRC connection with the network entity based on the received configuration and the unavailability of the GNSS.

[0128] Figure 8 illustrates an example of a NE 800 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The NE 800 may include a processor 802, a memory 804, a controller 806, and a transceiver 808. The processor 802, the memory 804, thecontroller 806, or the transceiver 808, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

[0129] The processor 802, the memory 804, the controller 806, or the transceiver 808, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0130] The processor 802 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof). In some implementations, the processor 802 may be configured to operate the memory 804. In some other implementations, the memory 804 may be integrated into the processor 802. The processor 802 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 804 to cause the NE 800 to perform various functions of the present disclosure. For example, the processor 802 coupled with the memory 804 may be configured to cause the NE 800 to: receive, from a second network entity, a request message for establishing an RRC connection with a UE in an idle state; determine an unavailability of a GNSS; determine whether to transmit a paging request message to a third network entity based on the unavailability of the GNSS; in response to determining to transmit the paging request message to the third network entity, transmit the paging request message to the third network entity; and in response to determining not to transmit the paging request message to the third network entity, transmit a response message to the second network entity, wherein the response message comprises an indication that the paging request message was not sent due to the unavailability of the GNSS.

[0131] The memory 804 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 804 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 802 cause the NE 800 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readablemedium such the memory 804 or another type of memory. 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 place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0132] In some implementations, the processor 802 and the memory 804 coupled with the processor 802 may be configured to cause the NE 800 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 802, instructions stored in the memory 804). For example, the processor 802 may support wireless communication at the NE 800 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein.

[0133] The controller 806 may manage input and output signals for the NE 800. The controller 806 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the NE 800. In some implementations, the controller 806 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®, WINDOWS®, or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 806 may be implemented as part of the processor 802.

[0134] In some implementations, the NE 800 may include at least one transceiver 808. In some other implementations, the NE 800 may have more than one transceiver 808. The transceiver 808 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 808 may include one or more receiver chains 810, one or more transmitter chains 812, or a combination thereof.

[0135] A receiver chain 810 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 810 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 810 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA)) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 810 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 810 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

[0136] A transmitter chain 812 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets). The transmitter chain 812 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal fortransmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The transmitter chain 812 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 812 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

[0137] Figure 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method 900 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 900 may be implemented by a UE as described herein. In some implementations, a UE 600 may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of a processor to perform the described functions.

[0138] At 902, the method may include receiving, from a network entity, a configuration via a paging message. The operations of 902 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 902 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0139] At 904, the method may include determining an unavailability of a GNSS. The operations of 904 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 904 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0140] At 906, the method may include establishing a RRC connection with the network entity based on the received configuration and the unavailability of the GNSS. The operations of 906 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 906 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0141] Figure 10 illustrates a flowchart of another method 1000 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1000 may be implemented by a NE as described herein. In some implementations, aNE 800 may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of a processor to perform the described functions.

[0142] At 1002, the method may include receiving, from a second network entity, a request message for establishing a RRC connection with a UE. The operations of 1002 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1002 may be performed by a NE as described with reference to Figure 8.

[0143] At 1004, the method may include determining an unavailability of a GNSS. The operations of 1004 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1004 may be performed by a NE as described with reference to Figure 8.

[0144] At 1006, the method may include determining whether to transmit a paging request message to a third network entity based on the unavailability of the GNSS. The operations of 1006 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1006 may be performed by aNE as described with reference to Figure 8.

[0145] At 1008, the method may include transmitting the paging request message to the third network entity or a response message to the second network entity based on the determination of whether to transmit the paging request message, wherein the response message indicates that the paging request message was not transmitted in response to the unavailability of the GNSS. The operations of 1008 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1008 may be performed by a NE as described with reference to Figure 8.

[0146] 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.

[0147] 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

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive, from a network entity, a configuration via a paging message; determine an unavailability of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); and establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the network entity based on the received configuration and the unavailability of the GNSS.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the configuration indicates a timing for initiating a connection procedure to establish the RRC connection.

3. The UE of claim 2, wherein the configuration comprises an indication to refrain from initiating the connection procedure for a duration.

4. The UE of claim 2, wherein the configuration comprises an indication to use a latest known location estimate of the GNSS for calculating a user-specific timing, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to initiate the connection procedure based on the user-specific timing.

5. The UE of claim 4, wherein the configuration comprises an indication to store one or more location estimates of the GNSS for a duration, and wherein the one or more location estimates of the GNSS correspond to one or more estimated locations of the UE.

6. The UE of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive an indication to use at least one stored location estimate of the GNSS to calculate the user-specific timing.

7. A method performable by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a network entity, a configuration via a paging message; determining an unavailability of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); and establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the network entity based on the received configuration and the unavailability of the GNSS.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration indicates a timing for initiating a connection procedure to establish the RRC connection.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration comprises an indication to refrain from initiating the connection procedure for a duration.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration comprises an indication to use a latest known location estimate of the GNSS for calculating a user-specific timing, wherein the method further comprises initiating the connection procedure based on the user-specific timing.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the configuration comprises an indication to store one or more location estimates of the GNSS for a duration, and wherein the one or more location estimates of the GNSS correspond to one or more estimated locations of the UE.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving an indication to use at least one stored location estimate of the GNSS to calculate the user-specific timing.

13. A first network entity, comprising: at least one memory; andat least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the first network entity to: receive, from a second network entity, a request message for establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a user equipment (UE); determine an unavailability of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); determine whether to transmit a paging request message to a third network entity based on the unavailability of the GNSS; and transmit the paging request message to the third network entity or a response message to the second network entity based on the determination of whether to transmit the paging request message, wherein the response message indicates that the paging request message was not transmitted in response to the unavailability of the GNSS.

14. The first network entity of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to determine to refrain from transmitting the paging request message to the third network entity, and wherein the response message comprises a failure message that indicates a reason for failure to establish the RRC connection.

15. The first network entity of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to determine to refrain from transmitting the paging request message to the third network entity, and wherein the response message further indicates a duration for inhibiting establishing the RRC connection with the UE.

16. The first network entity of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the first network entity to transmit a failure message to a fourth network entity, and wherein the failure message indicates a duration of the unavailability of the GNSS.

17. The first network entity of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the first network entity to refrain from initiating a transmission of the paging request message to the third network entity based on the unavailability of the GNSS.

18. The first network entity of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the first network entity to initiate transmission of the paging request message to the third network entity irrespective of the unavailability of the GNSS.

19. The first network entity of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the first network entity to receive a second response message from the third network entity, wherein the second response message comprises a failure message, and wherein the second response message indicates the unavailability of the GNSS and an expected duration of the unavailability.

20. A method performable by a first network entity, the method comprising: receiving, from a second network entity, a request message for establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a user equipment (UE); determining an unavailability of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); determining whether to transmit a paging request message to a third network entity based on the unavailability of the GNSS; and transmitting the paging request message to the third network entity or a response message to the second network entity based on the determination of whether to transmit the paging request message, wherein the response message indicates that the paging request message was not transmitted in response to the unavailability of the GNSS.

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