On demand SSB based scell activation

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for SCell activation or deactivation. Certain embodiments describe on-demand SSB provision mechanisms in an SCell, where activation-related operations, such as measurement reporting prior to SCell configuration or sending a command that activates the SCell for a UE which has been configured, are used as triggers for "on-demand" SSB transmission, and indications to the UE of these operations contain or imply on-demand SSB activation indications.

Description

ON DEMAND SSB BASED SCELL ACTIVATIONCROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED INFORMATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of United States of America priority application No.63 / 550,391 filed on February 6, 2024, titled “On Demand SSB Based SCell Activation.”TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for SCell operations.BACKGROUND

[0003] 3 GPP Release 19 has a work item on enhancements of network energy savings. The 3 GPP Release 19 Work Item includes the following objective related to on-demand SSB transmission:1. Specify procedures and signaling method(s) to support on-demand SSBSCell operation for UEs in connected mode configured with CA, for both intra- / inter-band CA. [RAN1 / 2 / 3 / 4]• Specify triggering method(s) (select from UE uplink wake-up-signal using an existing signal / channel, cell on / ojf indication via backhaul, Scell activation / deactivation signaling)• Notel: On-demand SSB transmission can be used by UE for at least SCell time / frequency synchronization, L1 / L3 measurements and SCell activation, and is supported for FR1 and FR2 in non-shared spectrum.3GPP Work Item Description: “Enhancements of network energy savings for NR,” 3GPP RP- 234065, December 2023.SCell Activation / De- Activation MAC CEs

[0004] The SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE of one octet is identified by a MAC subheader with LCID as specified in Table 6.2.1-1 of TS 38.321. It has a fixed size and consists of a single octet containing seven C-fields and one R-field (Reserve field). The SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE with one octet is defined as shown in Figure 1, which represents Figure 6.1.3.10-1 of TS 38.321. There is another MAC CE of four octets that can support up-to 31 SCell. In this MAC CE signalling, network has to indicate clearly the wanted activation status for each configured SCell.

[0005] The octet of Figure 1 includes Ci and R. Ci: If there is an SCell configured for the MAC entity with SCelllndex i as specified in TS 38.331, this field indicates the activation / deactivation status of the SCell with SCelllndex i, else the MAC entity shall ignore the Ci field. The Ci field is set to 1 to indicate that the SCell with SCelllndex i shall be activated. The Ci field is set to 0 to indicate that the SCell with SCelllndex i shall be deactivated. R: Reserved bit, set to 0.Known Cell Condition

[0006] The known SCell activation procedure will be executed if UE meets the known cell condition which is defined in section 8.3.2 TS38.133 vl8.4.0 as follows.

[0007] SCell in FR1 is known if it has been meeting the following conditions:• During the period equal to max(5 *measCycleSCell, 5 *DRX cycles) for FR1 before the reception of the SCell activation command: a. the UE has sent a valid measurement report for the SCell being activated and b. the SSB measured remains detectable according to the cell identification conditions specified in clause 9.2 and 9.3.• the SSB measured during the period equal to max(5*measCycleSCell, 5*DRX cycles) also remains detectable during the SCell activation delay according to the cell identification conditions specified in clause 9.2 and 9.3.

[0008] Otherwise SCell in FR1 is unknown.

[0009] For the first SCell activation in FR2 bands, the SCell is known if it has been meeting the following conditions:• During the period equal to 4s for UE supporting power class 1 / 5 and 3s for UE supporting power class 2 / 3 / 4 before UE receives the last activation command for PDCCH TCI, PDSCH TCI (when applicable) and semi -persistent CSI-RS for CQI reporting (when applicable): a. the UE has sent a valid L3-RSRP measurement report with SSB index b. SCell activation command is received after L3-RSRP reporting and no later than the time when UE receives MAC-CE command for TCI activation• During the period from L3-RSRP reporting to the valid CQI reporting, the reported SSBs with indexes remain detectable according to the cell identification conditionsspecified in clauses 9.2 and 9.3, and the TCI state is selected based on one of the latest reported SSB indexes.

[0010] Otherwise, the first SCell in FR2 band is unknown.Known SCell Activation

[0011] In TS38.133 vl8.4.0, some known SCell activation delay requirements for both FR1 and FR2 are defined.

[0012] If the SCell is known and belongs to FR1, T activation _time is:• TrirstssB+ 5ms, if the measurement period of the SCell being activated is equal to or smaller than 2400ms.• TrirstssB MAX + Trs + 5ms, if the measurement period of the SCell being activated is larger than 2400ms.

[0013] If the SCell being activated belongs to FR2 and if there is no active serving cell on that FR2 band provided that PCell or PSCell is in FR1 or in FR2:• If the target SCell is known to UE and semi-persistent CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, then Tactivation time is: 3ms + max(Tuncertainty MAC + TpineTiming + 2mS, Tuncertainty SP), where Tuncertainty MAC=0 and Tuncertainty _SP=0 if UE receives the SCell activation command, semi-persistent CSI-RS activation command and TCI state activation command at the same time.• If the target SCell is known to UE and periodic CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, then Tactivation time is: max(Tuncertainty MAC + 5mS + TpineTiming, Tuncertainty RRC + TRRC delay- THARQ), where Tuncertainty MAC=0 if UE receives the SCell activation command and TCI state activation commands at the same time.Unknown SCell Activation

[0014] In TS38.133 vl8.4.0, some unknown SCell activation delay requirement for both FR1 and FR2 are defined.

[0015] If the SCell is unknown and belongs to FR1, and if one of the following conditions is met:• ‘ssb-PositionlnBursf indicates only one SSB is being actually transmitted, or• ‘ssb-PositionlnBursf indicates multiple SSBs and TCI indication is provided in same MAC PDU with SCell activation,provided that the side condition Es / Iot > -2dB is fulfilled, T activation _time is:• TrirstssB MAX + TSMTC_MAX + Trs + 5ms, if the following conditions are met, a. the SCell is contiguous to an active serving cell in the same band, and b. its ssb-PositionlnBurst is same as the one of contiguous FR1 active serving cell, and c. its SMTC offset is same as the one of contiguous FR1 active serving cell, and d. its RTD with contiguous FR1 active serving cell is smaller than or equal to 260ns with respect to the to-be-activated SCell ’s SSB numerology, and its reception power difference with contiguous FR1 active serving cell is smaller than or equal to 6dB;• otherwise.Otherwise, provided that the side condition Es / Iot > -2dB is fulfilled, Tactivation time is:• 6mS + TFirstSSB MAX + TSMTC MAX + Trs + TLI-RSRP, measure + TLI-RSRP, report + THARQ + max(Tuncertainty MAC + TFineTiming + 2ms, Tuncertainty_sp), if semi-persistent CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting,• 3ms + TFirstSSB MAX + TSMTC MAX + Trs + TLI-RSRP, measure + TLI-RSRP, report + max(THARQ + Tuncertainty MAC + 5mS + TFineTiming, Tuncertainty RRC + TRRC delay), if periodic CSI-RS is USed for CSI reporting.

[0016] If the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are configured as FR1-FR2-1 CA or if the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are in a FR2-1 band pair with independent beam management, and the target SCell is unknown to UE and semi-persistent CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, provided that the side condition Es / Iot > -2dB is fulfilled, then Tactivation time is: 6ms + TrirstssB MAX + 15 *TsMTC_MAX + 8*Trs"t TLI-RSRP, measure + TLI-RSRP, report + THARQ + max(Tuncertainty MAC + TFineTiming + 2mS, Tuncertainty SP).

[0017] If the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are configured as FR1-FR2-2 CA or if the PCell / PSCell and the target SCell are in a FR2-2 band pair with independent beam management, and the target SCell is unknown to UE and semi-persistent CSI-RS is used for CSI reporting, provided that the side condition Es / Iot > -2dB is fulfilled, then Tactivation time is: 6ms + TrirstssB MAX + 23 *TSMTC_MAX + 12*Trs + TLI-RSRP, measure + TLI-RSRP, report + THARQ + max(Tuncertainty MAC + TFineTiming + 2m S, Tuncertainty _SP).SSB-MTC

[0018] NR synchronization signal (SS) consists of primary SS (PSS) and secondary SS (SSS). NR physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carries the very basic system information. In NR PSS, PBCH and SSS are always transmitted together and the combination of PSS, SSS and PBCH is referred as SSB in NR. Multiple SSBs are transmitted in a localized burst set. Within an SS burst set, multiple SSBs can be transmitted in different beams. The transmission of SSBs within a localized burst set is confined to a 5 ms window and the SSB and SSB burst set are repeated in a periodic manner. The SSB periodicity can be configured from the value set {5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160} ms.

[0019] SSB is primarily used for performing the Radio resource Management (RRM) measurements, beam measurements, synchronization measurements, etc., Since SSB periodicity can be as low as 5ms, UE do not need to perform RRM measurements or beam management measurements or synchronization measurements with the periodicity of SSB. To inform the UE about the SSB measurement periodicity, in NR SSB measurement time configuration (SMTC) is introduced. SMTC consists of SMTC periodicity and SMTC window length. In NR, since different beams can be configured to cover different spatial implementation, UE do not need to measure all the spatial directions. The beams to be measured can be controlled or configurable through SMTC window. SMTC window length indicates the location of the SSB to be measured within the SSB burst set. The signaling of SMTC window informs the UE of the timing and periodicity of SSBs that the UE can use for measurements. The SMTC window periodicity can be configured from the value set {5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160} ms, matching the possible SSB periodicities. The SMTC window duration can be configured from the value set { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} ms. The SMTC window duration may also be simply called as SMTC duration or SMTC length or SMTC occasion duration or SMTC occasion length etc. Figure 2 provides an illustration of SSB, SMTC window.

[0020] There currently exist certain challenges. Network energy saving, being of great importance for environmental sustainability, to reduce environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions) and for operational cost savings, has been studied from Rel-18. Regarding those promising techniques which were raised but not specified, it is agreed that WI, RP-234065, in Rel- 19 aims to study and specify them including on-demand SSB and on-demand SIB1 transmissions, as well as adaptation of common signal / channel transmissions. Among them, on-demand SSB isconsidered to be an enhancement to SCell activation operation, the relevant objective is cited as follows.

[0021] However, it is unclear how the on-demand SSB can work together with SCell activation. Given that, it’s desirable to exploit the mechanism applying on-demand SSB in SCell activation operation.SUMMARY

[0022] One embodiment under the present disclosure comprises a method performed in a UE for Scell activation / deactivation. The method includes: receiving one or more configurations for one or more on-demand SSB operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; receiving a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; receiving one or more on-demand SSBs according to the one or more configurations; and performing the one or more operations using the one or more on-demand SSBs.

[0023] Another embodiment of a method under the present disclosure is a method performed by a network node for SCell activation or deactivation in a UE. The method includes: transmitting, to the UE, one or more configurations for one or more SSB operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; transmitting a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; and transmitting, to the UE, one or more on-demand SSBs, according to the one or more configurations.

[0024] Another embodiment can comprise a UE for Scell activation / deactivation. The UE comprises processing circuitry and a memory. The memory stores instructions whereby the processing circuitry is operable to perform the steps of: receiving one or more configurations for one or more on-demand SSB operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; receiving a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; receiving one or more on-demand SSBs according to the one or more configurations; and performing the one or more operations using the one or more on-demand SSBs

[0025] Another embodiment comprises a network node for SCell activation or deactivation in a UE. The network node comprises processing circuitry and a memory. The memory stores instructions whereby the processing circuitry is operable to perform the steps of: transmitting, to the UE, one or more configurations for one or more SSB operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; transmitting a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; and transmitting, to the UE, one or more on-demand SSBs, according to the one or more configurations.

[0026] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an indication of the scope of the claimed subject matter.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0028] Fig. 1 illustrates SCell Activation / Deactivation MAC CE;

[0029] Fig. 2 illustrates SSB and SMTC;

[0030] Fig. 3 illustrates a flow-chart of a method embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0031] Fig. 4 illustrates an On-demand SSB Scell activation procedure (SSB ON / OFF);

[0032] Fig. 5 illustrates an On-demand SSB Scell activation procedure (SSB sparse / dens);

[0033] Fig. 6 illustrates a flow-chart of a method embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0034] Fig. 7 illustrates a flow-chart of a method embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0035] Fig. 8 shows a schematic of a communication system embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0036] Fig. 9 shows a schematic of a user equipment embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0037] Fig. 10 shows a schematic of a network node embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0038] Fig. 11 shows a schematic of a host embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0039] Fig. 12 shows a schematic of a virtualization environment embodiment under the present disclosure; and

[0040] Fig. 13 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of communication amongst nodes, hosts, and user equipment under the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Before describing various embodiments of the present disclosure in detail, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the parameters of the particularly exemplified systems, methods, apparatus, products, processes, and / or kits, which may, of course, vary. Thus, while certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail, with reference to specific configurations, parameters, components, elements, etc., the descriptions are illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed embodiments. In addition, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments and is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claimed embodiments.

[0042] As described above, there currently exist certain challenges. It is unclear how the on- demand SSB can work together with SCell activation. Given that, it’s desirable to exploit the mechanism applying on-demand SSB in SCell activation operation.

[0043] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Certain embodiments describe on-demand SSB provision mechanisms in an Scell, where activation-related operations, such as measurement reporting prior to Scell configuration or sending a command that activates the Scell for a UE which has been configured, are used as triggers for “on-demand” SSB transmission, and indications to the UE of these operations contain or imply on-demand SSB activation indications. In this context “on-demand” refers to signalling that is provided based on the need. It comprises a method at a User Equipment (UE) in which the UE receives at least one indication / command indicating SSB transmission in the SCell to be activated before / along with SCell activation command. After measuring SSB, the UE then is able to activate a TCI state of the SCell with respect to the rules which are introduced in this disclosure, before / along with / after SCell activation command. In this way, the UE may shorten the latency caused by waiting for SSB for measurement and while network power saving can be achieved during SCell de / activation operation by not broadcasting SSBs when it is not necessary.

[0044] In certain embodiments, several kinds of on-demand SSB SCell activation mechanisms are introduced. When NW indicates Scell activation, the on-demand SSB is also activated, and the SSB transmission periodicity will switch from low rate to high rate or is turned from SSB off-stateto on-state. On-demand SSB activation can be configured to occur e.g., in connection with following operations:

[0045] Certain embodiments introduce on-demand SSB relevant configurations, targeting shortening Scell activation delay, or maintaining a short delay also in the absence of static SSB transmissions or when the static SSB transmissions have a long periodicity. Some embodiments can define set of rules that UE shall apply to measure on-demand SSB with respect to the corresponding configurations in SCell activation operation.

[0046] One embodiment can be summarized in the following method 500, shown in Figure 3. Method 500 comprises a method performed in a UE for Scell activation / deactivation. Step 510 is receiving one or more configurations for one or more on-demand SSB operations related to SCell activation or deactivation. Step 520 receiving a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations. Step 530 is receiving one or more on-demand SSBs according to the one or more configurations. Step 540 is performing the one or more operations using the one or more on- demand SSBs.

[0047] Method 500 can comprise a variety of additional, optional, or alternative steps. In some variations, the method can utilize on-demand SSB type and parameters - period, offset, duration or number of SSB instances, SSB resources / structure / contents. Typically, the on-demand SSB configuration can be different with the SSB configuration when SCelll addition. Some variations comprise the UE receiving different one on-demand SSB configurations at different time. At least one of the on-demand SSB type and parameters - period, offset, duration or number of SSB instances, SSB resources / structure / contents can be different for different on-demand SSB configurations. Some embodiments can comprise a time distance between the SSB occasions / the first SSB occasion and the indication / command of SCell activation is configured. In some embodiments an absolute time instant can be configured. UE shall initiate SSB measurement or SCell activation prior to or from the time instant. In some embodiments the indication / command doesn’t define part or all of on-demand SSB configuration, it only indicates the UE of enabling receiving on-demand SSB. In this case, the legacy SSB configuration may be used by the UE for determining on-demand SSB. In some embodiments the on-demand SSB configuration can only indicate the sub-set of the changes / difference of the legacy SSB configuration other than the all set of SSB configuration. In some embodiments the on-demand SSB configuration is instead provided by a RRC message by extension of current RRC message or introduction of a new RRCmessage. In some embodiments the on-demand SSB configuration can be provided before the SCell activation command and UE shall immediately start measurement on on-demand SSB. In some embodiments the on-demand SSB configuration can be provided at the same time with the SCell activation command and UE shall immediately start SCell activation on on-demand SSB. In some embodiments the on-demand SSB configuration can be provided after the SCell activation command, the UE needs to wait for the indication / command before starting measurement / SCell activation on on-demand SSB. In some embodiments multiple on-demand SSB configurations can be configured to UE and further enable / activate one of them through indication on MAC-CE or DCI. In some embodiments the on-demand SSB configuration is typically shorter than the legacy SSB configuration, such as 5ms. In some embodiments the UE can notify the NW whether it needs on-demand SSB. In one typical case, UE can indicate not to expect to receive on-demand SSB further. In some variations multiple on-demand SSB configurations can be provided sequentially together with the valid time. In one example, UE may receive multiple on-demand SSB configurations and indication containing time information indicating when to apply each on- demand SSB in advance, when the time is reached, the UE shall apply measurement on the corresponding SSB. In other variation, the UE can report failure information to NW due to lacking SSBs. Additionally, UE can report a preliminary measurement report together. Optionally, UE can request the number of SSBs. In some embodiments the NW will suspend / stop the on-demand SSB operation and fallback to legacy SSB transmission if receiving the failure information or poor quality. In some cases the NW will suspend / stop the on-demand SSB operation and fallback to legacy SSB transmission if the SCell deactivation timer sCellDeactivationTimer expires. In some variation the NW will suspend / stop the on-demand SSB operation and fallback to legacy SSB transmission if the SCell deactivation command is indicated. In other embodiments, when NW restarts the SCell activation after the initial SCell activation, NW can optionally not configure the on-demand SSB configuration. UE will assume to reuse the on-demand SSB configuration configured together with the initial SCell activation command. In other embodiments, when sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation. In some embodiments, when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation. In some variations, when sCellDeactivationTimerassociated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the On-demand SSB with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation. Generally, the update SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during SCell activation. In other variations, when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the On-demand SSB with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation. Generally, the update SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during SCell activation.

[0048] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. Firstly, since SSB transmission can be triggered when they are needed (i.e. on-demand), the default periodic SSB transmissions of the SCell can be more sparse, or entirely removed, which enables longer sleep periods and energy savings in the NW. Secondly, NW can avoid activating an unknown SCell even when that cell does not transmit static SSB. Third, the UE can also achieve power saving based on on-demand SSB. Fourth, Scell activation delay is kept low for SSB-less Scells, including when no co-location with other cells may be assumed. Fifth, transmission of separate indications for on-demand SSB activation / deactivation are not required; these are contained / implied in measurement reporting configuration and / or Scell activation / deactivation signaling.

[0049] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.Terminology

[0050] Examples of network nodes are NodeB, base station (BS), multi -standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB, MeNB, SeNB, location measurement unit (LMU), integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), Central Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Distributed Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Baseband Unit, Centralized Baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, transmission reception point (TRP), RRU, RRH, nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. MSC, MME etc), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC),etc.

[0051] The non-limiting term UE refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, vehicular to vehicular (V2V), machine type UE, MTC UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0052] The term radio access technology, or RAT, may refer to any RAT e.g. UTRA, E-UTRA, narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT, New Radio (NR), 4G, 5G, etc. Any of the equipment denoted by the term node, network node or radio network node may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

[0053] The term signal or radio signal used herein can be any physical signal or physical channel. Examples of DL physical signals are reference signal (RS) such as PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS signals in SS / PBCH block (SSB), discovery reference signal (DRS), CRS, PRS etc. RS may be periodic e.g. RS occasion carrying one or more RSs may occur with certain periodicity e.g. 20 ms, 40 ms etc. The RS may also be aperiodic. Each SSB carries NR-PSS, NR-SSS and NR-PBCH in 4 successive symbols. One or multiple SSBs are transmit in one SSB burst which is repeated with certain periodicity e.g. 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms. The UE is configured with information about SSB on cells of certain carrier frequency by one or more SS / PBCH block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configurations. The SMTC configuration comprising parameters such as SMTC periodicity, SMTC occasion length in time or duration, SMTC time offset wrt reference time (e.g. serving cell’s SFN) etc. Therefore, SMTC occasion may also occur with certain periodicity e.g. 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms. Examples of UL physical signals are reference signal such as SRS, DMRS etc. The term physical channel refers to any channel carrying higher layer information e.g. data, control etc. Examples of physical channels are PBCH, NPBCH, PDCCH, PDSCH, sPUCCH, sPDSCH, sPUCCH, sPUSCH, MPDCCH, NPDCCH, NPDSCH, E-PDCCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, NPUSCH etc.

[0054] The term A-TRS Aperiodic-temporary reference symbol used herein is a Rel-17 application of the CSI-RS for the UE measurement to settle the AGC (automatic gain control) during the secondary cell activation timeline. A-TRS can be typical NZP CSI-RS which follow the configuration from higher layer.

[0055] The term time resource used herein may correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time. Examples of time resources are: symbol, time slot, subframe, radio frame, TTI, interleaving time, slot, sub-slot, mini-slot, system frame number (SFN) cycle, hyper-SFN (H-SFN) cycle etc.Example Embodiments

[0056] In a high-level embodiment, a network cell can be configured with on-demand SSB transmissions.

[0057] In a NES-based SCell, the NW configures a UE of SSB configuration with a low-rate SSB periodicity when Scell is deactivated. In a typical case, low-rate SSB periodicity can be a periodicity as 160ms, or any value configured by NW. In another typical case, low-rate SSB periodicity can be believed as SSB OFF.

[0058] To facilitate Scell activation operation, the NW may indicate the SSB configuration e.g., SSB periodicity with a high-rate, prior to, along with or after SCell activation command. In a typical case, high-rate SSB periodicity can be a periodicity as 20ms, or any value configured by NW.

[0059] On-demand SSB adaption can be believed as a SSB periodicity adaption from low-rate SSB to high-rate SSB, such as low-rate SSB transmission during deactivated SCell and high-rate SSB transmission during or prior to or after SCell activation. In a specific case, On-demand SSB adaption can be believed as SSB transmission OFF during the deactivated Scell, and SSB transmission ON during or prior to or after Scell activation.

[0060] For the present disclosure, On-demand SSB also is referred as SSB with higher-rate, compared to / changed from SSB with lower-rate, or referred as SSB ON compared to / changed from SSB OFF.

[0061] For the present disclosure, legacy or static SSB is referred as SSB with lower-rate compared to On-demand SSB or SSB OFF. Typically, the UE is configured to measure legacy or static SSB if configured before receiving indication to receive On-demand SSB.

[0062] In this following description, it mainly focuses on SSB ON / OFF scenarios, but it can also apply to the case of SSB periodicity switching between sparse / dense.SCell Activation Based On UE L3 Measurement Reporting

[0063] When NW plans to activate the Scell for a UE, NW will firstly trigger the UE, on the PCell serving the UE, to perform Scell measurement to check the cell quality. At the same time, NW will switch the SSB transmission on the SCell to a high-rate. The deactivated Scell measurement can be L3 measurement or LI measurement.

[0064] After receiving the quality report, NW will further decide to activate the Scell if the Scell quality is good enough, otherwise keep the candidate Scell deactivated and immediately switch the SSB transmission periodicity to low rate or mute the SSB.

[0065] The On-demand SSB wise Scell activation steps can be as follows.• Step 1 : When SCell is deactivated, NW configures to mute the SSB transmission or transmits SSB with a low-rate periodicity. a. In one example, when NW configures the UE of SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission periodicity with 0ms. It means no SSB transmission. b. In another example, when NW configures the UE of SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission with a sparse periodicity, such as 160ms. c. At the same time, NW can optionally indicate the UE to suspend the measurement.• Step 2: NW indicates the UE to start the measurement on SSBs for the deactivated Scell to evaluate if the target SCell should be activated. a. Optionally, NW transmits SSB with a high-rate once NW indicates starting measurement to speed up the procedure. b. In one example, NW indicates a new SSB periodicity and SMTC periodicity to UE, such as SSB periodicity with 20ms, e.g., in the same indication or in another signaling or with respect to a pre-defined rule.• Step 3 : The UE performs measurement for the deactivated Scell and report the measurement results, e.g., signal strength or signal quality about the Scell.• Step 4: When the NW receives the UE’s measurement report a. Alternative 1 : When NW receives the UE’ s measurement report of the deactivated Scell with a poor radio condition, e.g., signal strength or signal quality is lower than a predefined or configurable thereshod,the Scell is not be activated.i. In this case, NW may switch the SSB transmission back to a low-rate or mute the SSB. In one example, NW will indicate the UE to apply the SSB transmission same as the original periodicity in deactivated SCell. ii. In another example, when the UE sends NW of the measurement report concerning a poor radio condition, UE is expected to reuse the SSB transmission with sparse periodicity b. Alternative 2: When NW receives the UE’s measurement report of the deactivated Scell with good-enough radio conditions, in this case NW further indicates the Scell activation to the UE, e.g. via Scell activation MAC-CE command. NW transmits SSB with a high-rate once NW indicates the Scell activation. i. In one example, if the SCell activation MAC-CE is configured, NW indicates a new SSB transmission rate together. ii. In another example, the UE is assumed to use the same SSB / SMTC transmission periodicity as the deactivated SCell measurement if NW doesn’t indicate the new SSB / SMTC periodicity.• Step 5: (Following step 4, Alternative 2) the UE performs Scell activation and reports the valid CSI reporting. Optionally, NW further configures the UE of a low-rate periodicity for SSB transmission after receiving the CSI reporting.

[0066] Figure 4 illustrates an On-demand SSB Scell activation procedure (SSB ON / OFF). Figure 5 illustrates an On-demand SSB Scell activation procedure (SSB sparse / dens).SCell Activation Without UE L3 Measurement Reporting

[0067] When NW plans to activate the Scell for a UE, NW can indicate the SCell activation command directly to the UE. At the same time, NW will switch the SSB transmission to a high- rate.

[0068] The On-demand SSB Scell activation steps can be as follows:• Step 1 : When Scell is addition and deactivated, NW configures to mute the SSB transmission or transmits SSB with a low-rate periodicity. a. In one example, when NW configures SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission periodicity with 0ms. It means no SSB transmission.b. In another example, when NW configures SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission with a sparse periodicity, such as 160ms. c. At the same time, NW can optionally indicate the UE to suspend the measurement.• Step 2: When NW indicates the Scell activation, NW will also transmit SSB with a high-rate. In one example, if the SCell activation MAC-CE is configured, NW indicates a new SSB transmission rate together.• Step 3: If NW receives the valid CSI reporting from the UE, NW can indicate to update SSB transmission configuration to the UE, such as with a low-rate SSB periodicity. a. In another example, NW will not further indicate SSB transmission configuration update to the UE. b. If NW doesn’t receive the valid CSI reporting, NW will indicate to update SSB transmission configuration to the UE, such as to mute the SSB transmission.On-demand SSB Based SCell Activation

[0069] The UE that should perform measurements on on-demand SSB transmissions from a deactivated SCell need to be informed about the on-demand SSB configuration of the SCell so that it can find the signals.

[0070] In a high level embodiment, one or multiple on-demand SSB configuration(s) of a deactivated SCell is provided to the UE from the PCell or any other activated cell by NW. It may be a standalone MAC-CE command, Ll-DCI signaling, or it may be comprised in the same SCell activation MAC-CE command. Variations of such an embodiment could comprise, e.g.:• In a detailed embodiment the on-demand SSB configuration is provided as assistance data and it is up to the UE how to use it.• In a detailed embodiment, a measurement request is sent to the UE including the on-demand SSB configuration of the SCell.• In a detailed embodiment, the assistance data or measurement request may include the on-demand SSB configuration in its entirety or any subset of it.• In another embodiment, the on-demand SSB configuration of a deactivated Scell is provided to the UE indicating the start time with respect to a reference point, e.g., SFN in the PCell, and the duration, e.g., an absolute duration in time with respect to a starting point, or an end point with respect to a reference point, e.g., SFN in the PCell

[0071] To serve the purpose, the UE may be provided of at least one indication / command to receive on-demand SSB with a low-rate periodicity on the SCell to be activated for SCell activation operation more efficiently.

[0072] In one embodiment, a UE to activate SCell is provided of an indication / command when / how long to receive on-demand SSB (it may be a standalone MAC-CE command, Ll-DCI signaling, or it may be comprised in the same SCell activation MAC-CE command) with respect to or carrying at least one of the below by the serving NW. Variations of such embodiments could comprise, e.g.:• In one example, the information contains on-demand SSB configuration including: SSB periodicity, duration, the ssb-PositionsInBurst (e.g., SSB indexes to be used).• The duration may be either expressed as a number of occasions, a time period or a start- and stop-time. When the duration has passed, the semi-persistent configuration is removed.• In one embodiment, the on-demand SSB transmissions can be periodic or semi- persistent or aperiodic.• In one embodiment, semi-persistent on-demand SSB transmissions can be configured with a start time, a duration and an SSB periodicity. The duration may be either expressed as a number of occasions, a time period or a start- and stop-time. When the duration has passed, the semi-persistent configuration is removed.• In one embodiment, periodic on-demand SSB transmission can be configured with a start time and a periodicity.• In one example, the information contains a time distance between the SSB occasions / the first SSB occasion and the indication / command or SCell activation command or any other command by the NW after specifying. With respect to the time distance, the UE is able to determine when to detect the SSB occasions upon receiving the indication / command or SCell activation command or any other command by the NW after specifying. The time distance may be defined at the order of symbol, slots etc. It may be exactly ended at the first symbol occupied by the on-demand SSB or it may accommodate certain tolerance for the UE to guarantee initiating SSB measurement before SSB arrives at the UE. Furthermore, the information may also contain the number of SSB occasions or the time period accommodating the number of SSB occasions.• In one example, the information contains an absolute time instant, e.g., a UTC timestamp, or any suitable combination of one or more of H-SFN, SFN, subframe number, slot number and symbol number (of the serving cell) - all optionally combined with a time reference. For instance: H-SFN + SFN, H-SFN + SFN + subframe number, H-SFN + SFN + slot number, SFN + subframe number, SFN + slot number. The UE shall accordingly initiate SSB measurement prior to or from the time instant.• In one example, the indication / command doesn’t define part or all of on-demand SSB configuration, it only indicates the UE of enabling receiving on-demand SSB. In this case, the legacy SSB configuration may be used by the UE for determining on-demand SSB.• In one example, the indication / command indicates the change / difference of on- demand SSB from the legacy SSB, not indicate the common part of on-demand SSB and the legacy SSB.

[0073] By this, the UE is aware of the on-demand SSB to be measured, e.g., when to start, how long / how many SSB occasions to be measured, when to complete.

[0074] In one alternative option, the indication / command, e.g., aforementioned on-demand SSB configuration is instead provided by a RRC message by extension of current RRC message or introduction of a new RRC message, related with SCell activation, e.g. the message indicating that the SCell is to be activated or the message indicating that the SCell is to be configured but deactivated.

[0075] In another alternative option, the indication / command is provided before the SCell activation command. It may be specified that the UE shall immediately start measurement on on- demand SSB from the time when receiving the SCell activation command or. Or it may be specified that the UE shall start measurement immediately after receiving indication / command even before receiving the SCell activation command. It’s not precluded that the indication / command is provided after the SCell activation command, the UE may wait for the indication / command before starting measurement on on-demand SSB.

[0076] In a further alternative option, there are more than one on-demand SSB configurations, a NW may provide a set of on-demand SSB configurations to the UE and enable / activate one of them through indication on MAC-CE or DCI.

[0077] In one embodiment, NW configures at least an on-demand SSB configuration and a legacy / static SSB configuration. NW will indicate to replace a static SSB configuration of the cell with on-demand SSB configuration.

[0078] In an alternative embodiment, there can be one or more on-demand SSB configurations and a static SSB configuration of the cell at the same time. NW will indicate to switch among different on-demand SSB configurations. Such embodiments can comprise variations, such as:• In one embodiment, the on-demand SSB configuration details the specific beams on which SSB should be transmitted,• In an alternative embodiment, the on-demand SSB configuration applies to all SSB beams.

[0079] It’s worth noting that the on-demand SSB may keep the legacy SSB format for the UE to receive it without any implementation change. But, since the on-demand SSB is mainly for SCell activation, shorter measurement time is one of important metrics, so on-demand SSB doesn’t need to be same as the legacy SSB configuration, e.g., in RRC meassage: ServingCellConfigCommon, for the SCell provided the legacy SSB is configured for the SCell. One typical difference or enhancement is the on-demand SSB may be defined with shorter periodicity than the latter SSB, e.g., 5ms, it may be pre-defined or configurable.

[0080] One aspect of the embodiment is that if the UE detects legacy SSB before receiving the indication / command in or not in SCell activation command, the UE may assume no on-demand SSB mechanism works.

[0081] Another aspect is that if the UE detects legacy SSB before receiving the indication / command in or not in SCell activation command, the UE shall apply on-demand SSB mechanism replacing the legacy SSB. Yet another aspect is that UE shall apply and measure the legacy SSB after accomplishment of measurement on on-demand SSB if there is legacy SSB configuration.

[0082] In an additional embodiment, the UE may receive another indication indicating no on- demand SSB is transmitted by the NW and the UE doesn’t expect to receive on-demand SSB further.

[0083] In an additional embodiment, there may be more than one SSB indication indicating transmitting / not transmitting on-demand SSB with different SSB configuration, on one cell for theUE, e.g., each SSB indication (index) is associated with one SSB configuration. Such embodiments can comprise variations, such as:• In one example, at a time instant, tl, the UE may receive the first SSB indication, indication 1, and measure on-demand SSB with respect to indication 1; later on, at a time instant, t2, the UE may receive the second SSB indication, indication 2, in one option, the UE may switch measurement with respect to indication 2; in another option, the UE may measure on-demand SSB with respect to indication 1 and indication 2 both.• In one example, the UE may receive SSB indication containing time information indicating when to apply each on-demand SSB in advance, when the time is reached, the UE shall apply measurement on the corresponding SSB.

[0084] In one embodiment, the UE shall initiate and complete SSB measurement with respect to the on-demand SSB information in the indication / command, which may happen before SCell activation command or along with SCell activation command or after receiving SCell activation command.

[0085] In one option, the on-demand SSB measurement is defined as L3 measurement. The UE shall report L3-RSRP with SSB indexes. The NW then in turn send TCI indication command to the UE, the TCI state herein is selected based on one of the latest reported SSB indexes. Alternatively, the UE may only report L3-RSRP with one SSB index which has the highest RSRP, the UE may wait for the TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index. Yet alternatively again, the UE may only determine and report L3-RSRP with one SSB index whose RSRP is higher than a threshold, the UE may wait for the TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index.

[0086] In another option, the on-demand SSB measurement is defined as LI measurement. The UE shall report Ll-RSRP with SSB indexes. The NW then in turn send TCI indication command to the UE, the TCI state herein is selected based on one of the latest reported SSB indexes. Alternatively, the UE may only report Ll-RSRP with one SSB index which has the highest RSRP, the UE may wait for the TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index. Yet alternatively again, the UE may only determine and report Ll-RSRP with one SSB index whose RSRP is higher than a threshold, the UE may wait forthe TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index.

[0087] In an additional embodiment, fine time tracking may be conducted by the UE after L1 / L3 measurement and getting TCI state. The fine time tracking may rely on SSB or TRS which up to the NW’s implementation. In one option, the SSB or TRS for the fine time tracking shall be taken into account of the information introduced in the first embodiment: the time of measuring signal for time tracking may be added into the total time duration for measuring in the information, or it may be specified that measuring for time tracking shall be expected and conducted by the UE autonomously after the time duration. For SSB case, an extra SSB occasion after L1 / L3 measurements is added to be measured. For TRS case, the UE may assume / expect that a TRS shall occur directly after receiving SSB occasions, or by contrast, the TRS measurement may triggered by an additional command by the NW with DCI or MAC-CE.

[0088] In an additional embodiment, the UE shall skip measurement on on-demand SSB after completing SCell activation operation. Despite of that, the UE may alternatively determine and trigger measurement on the legacy SSB after completing SCell activation operation provided the legacy SSB is configured for the SCell.

[0089] In an additional embodiment, if the UE cannot complete L1 / L3 measurement or fine time tracking, the UE may send a failure message to the NW indicating that the SCell activation cannot completed due to lacking SSBs / undetectable SSBs for measurement or fine time tracking. In one option, the UE may report any preliminary (not entirely completed) measurement reports additionally if the UE has. In another option, the UE may report the number of measured SSB occasions and / or the left SSB occasions to be measured.

[0090] As a response of the failure message, in one option, the NW may suspend / stop on-demand SSB operation / scheme and transmit legacy SSB periodically from now on. In another option, the NW may transmit more SSB occasions, e.g., a new turn of on-demand SSB, for the UE to receive. In yet another option, the NW may restart SCell activation by sending Scell activation command with or without (i.e., start legacy SSB transmitting at the least before Scell activation command) on-demand SSB indication.

[0091] At the moment, since the SCell activation isn’t ready, the UE may send the failure message on PUCCH / PUSCH in SCell provided there is any known / assumed TCI state / UL spatial relation for the PUCCH / PUSCH in SCell. Or the UE may send the failure message onPUCCH / PUSCH in PCell. Or the UE may contain the failure message in a RACH or RACH-like procedure to the NW.

[0092] As mentioned above, when NW doesn’t configure the UE of the deactivated SCell measurement but activate the SCell directly, the SCell activation will be called as unknown SCell activation. The UE needs to perform cell search, AGC retuning and fine timing tracking. Additionally, the UE needs to search the reasonable TCI and wait NW’s further TCI indication, especially in FR2.

[0093] When NW configures the UE of the deactivated SCell measurement firstly and then activate the SCell, the SCell activation will be called as known SCell activation. The UE will only perform fine timing tracking and activate the SCell fast.

[0094] Figure 6 illustrates one example workflow under the present disclosure. For sake of simplification, only the essential parts are listed, more options can be found in the detailed description. Method 700 is a method performed by a UE for SSB operation. Step 710 is receiving on-demand SSB information. Step 720 is receives a SCell activation command. Step 730 is performing SSB measurement with respect to on-demand SSB information. Step 740 is reporting with SSB indexes. Step 750 is indicating TCI state. Step 760 is performing fine time tracking with respect to on-demand SSB information. Method 700 can comprise a variety of additional, alternative, and / or additional steps or variations.On-demand SSB Based SCell Deactivation

[0095] In one example, when the UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation.

[0096] In another example, when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to fall back to the legacy SSB transmission rate in slot n+k which is configured when SCell addition, where k depends on the minimum requirement of Scell deactivation. Generally, the legacy SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during Scell activation.

[0097] In another example, when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the update On-demand SSB configuration with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of Scell deactivation. Generally, theupdate SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during Scell activation.

[0098] In one example, the update On-demand SSB transmission configuration is indicated separately with the SSB deactivation command.

[0099] In another example, the update On-demand SSB transmission configuration is indicated together with the SSB deactivation command.

[0100] In another example, the update On-demand SSB transmission configuration is implicitly same as SSB transmission in legacy SSB configuration.

[0101] In one example, when sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation.

[0102] In another example, when sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the On-demand SSB with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation. Generally, the update SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during SCell activation.

[0103] In another example, the UE is assumed to reuse the SSB transmission configuration configured for deactivated SCell once the sCellDeactivationTimer expires.

[0104] It's worth noting that the issues, solutions, examples in the present disclsoure assume or hypothesize explicitly or implicitly that before and after on-demand SSB transmission, there is not any SSB is transmitted on SCell by the NW and received by the UE. However, the solutions, examples described herein also can be applied in the case that there is legacy SSB transmission before on-demand SSB transmission. In some particular examples, the legacy SSB has longer periodicity than the on-demand SSB.Coupling On-demand SSB Activation with SCell Activation / D eactivation Commands

[0105] In one set of embodiments, the UE is informed that a certain SSB pattern is going to be activated / deactivated via additional associations or modifications added to legacy SCell activation / deactivation signaling, or via additional signaling. The signaling may be UE-specific or group signaling. Some examples are given below.

[0106] Certain embodiments can utilize predetermined or pre-configured SSB patterns and legacy or modified commands:• In one type of solutions, the UE is previously configured with one or more SSB patterns, e.g. one or more associated with Scell measurements, and one or more associated with Scell sync acquisition. The configuration info may include SSB parameters (type, period, offset, ect.) and / or transmission parameters (start time or start delay after indication, duration, etc.) When the UE is instructed to perform measurements, or measurements are triggered based on a criterion, e.g. when the Scell is added, the gNB provides on-demand SSBs according to the measurement-related configuration. When the Scell is activated for the UE, the gNB provides on-demand SSBs according to the sync-related configuration. The measurement- and sync-related configurations may be the same or different.• In one embodiment, one or more on-demand SSB pattern configurations are provided in specification documents. In another embodiment, one or more on-demand SSB pattern configurations are provided via L2 / L3 signaling, e.g. a separate RRC message or MAC-CE message. The configuration may also be provided e.g. as an extension to the legacy RRC measurement object / reporting configuration message.• Subsequent addition and activation commands, e.g. RRC Scell add message or MAC-CE Scell activation message, may refer to one of these SSB configurations. Forthat, an additional IE may be added to legacy message structures, If a single on-demand SSB configuration is provided for each message type, the addition or activation command does not need to be modified but the UE knows, by virtue of receiving the command, that the on-demand SSB will be activated / available according to the associated configuration.

[0107] Certain embodiments can utilize SSB patterns provided in modified commands:• In another type of solutions, one or more on-demand SSB configuration parameters are provided explicitly in the Scell addition or Scell activation command.• For example, the RRC Scell addition command may include additional IES containing one or more on-demand SSB configuration parameters, indicating a configuration to be used for measurements and / or transmission start time and duration info. Similarly, the MAC-CE Scell activation command may include additional IEs containing one or more on-demand SSB configuration and transmission parameters, indicating a configuration to be used for synchronization.

[0108] Certain embodiments can utilize lower-layer indication of on-demand SSB availability:• In yet another type of solution, separate signaling may be used to indicate on- demand SSB availability. The SSB configurations may be provided as described in the section “Predetermined or pre-configured SSB patterns and legacy or modified commands”, However, instead of the addition or activation commands carrying the SSB availability indication, separate lower-layer signaling, e.g. a DCI or a MAC CE, is transmitted to indicate it. These commands may indicate an index to a previously provided configuration, or if a single configuration was provided, a flag that the SSBs are available.• The indication may be carried in a new DCI, in a PDCCH scrambled with a new on-demand S SB-related group RNTI, or with the C-RNTI of a specific targeted UE.

[0109] Certain embodiments can utilize on-demand SSB deactivation indication via legacy commands. In one embodiment, the UE is configured to treat the legacy MAC CE Scell deactivation command as an indication that on-demand SSB transmission has been deactivated, or that it should not assume that the SSBs are available. Similarly the RRC SCell removal command may carry this indication.

[0110] Certain embodiments can utilize on-demand SSB deactivation indication via lower-layer signaling. In one embodiment, the UE receives a lower-layer signaling indicating the deactivation of the SSBs. E.g. the above described new DCI may be used for such indication.Additional Embodiments[OHl] Another possible method embodiment under the present disclosure is shown in Figure 7. Method 900 comprises a method performed by a network node for SCell activation or deactivation in a UE. Step 910 is transmitting, to the UE, one or more configurations for one or more SSB operations related to SCell activation or deactivation. Step 920 is transmitting a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations. Step 930 is transmitting, to the UE, one or more on-demand SSBs, according to the one or more configurations. Method 900 can comprise a variety of additional, alternative, and / or additional steps or variations.

[0112] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system 2100 in accordance with some embodiments. In the example, the communication system 2100 includes a telecommunication network 2102 that includes an access network 2104, such as a RAN, and a core network 2106, which includes one or more core network nodes 2108. The access network 2104 includes one ormore access network nodes, such as network nodes 2110a and 2110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 2110), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network nodes 2110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of UE, such as by connecting UEs 2112a, 2112b, 2112c, and 2112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 2112) to the core network 2106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0113] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 1100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 2100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0114] The UEs 2112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 2110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 2110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 2112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 2102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 2102.

[0115] In the depicted example, the core network 2106 connects the network nodes 2110 to one or more hosts, such as host 2116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 2106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 2108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 2108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server(HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0116] The host 2116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 2104 and / or the telecommunication network 2102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 2116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0117] As a whole, the communication system 2100 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0118] In some examples, the telecommunication network 2102 is a cellular network that implements 3 GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 2102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 2102. For example, the telecommunications network 2102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0119] In some examples, the UEs 2112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 2104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 2104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -RAT or multi -standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0120] In the example, the hub 2114 communicates with the access network 2104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 2112c and / or 2112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 2110b). In some examples, the hub 2114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 2114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 2106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 2114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 2110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 2114. As another example, the hub 2114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 2114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 2114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 2114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 2114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0121] The hub 2114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 2110b. The hub 2114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 2114 and UEs (e.g., UE 2112c and / or 2112d), and between the hub 2114 and the core network 2106. In other examples, the hub 2114 is connected to the core network 2106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 2114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 1104 and / or to another UE over a directconnection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 2110 while still connected via the hub 2114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 2114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 2110b. In other embodiments, the hub 2114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 2110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0122] Figure 9 shows a UE 2200 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0123] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehi cl e-to- vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to- everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0124] The UE 2200 includes processing circuitry 2202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 2204 to an input / output interface 2206, a power source 2208, a memory 2210, a communication interface 2212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 10. The level of integration between thecomponents may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0125] The processing circuitry 2202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 2210. The processing circuitry 2202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 2202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0126] In the example, the input / output interface 2206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 2200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0127] In some embodiments, the power source 2208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 2208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 2208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 2200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 2208. Powercircuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 2208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 2200 to which power is supplied.

[0128] The memory 2210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 2210 includes one or more application programs 2214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 2216. The memory 2210 may store, for use by the UE 2200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0129] The memory 2210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 2210 may allow the UE 2200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 2210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0130] The processing circuitry 2202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 2212. The communication interface 2212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 2222. The communication interface 2212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a networknode in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 2218 and / or a receiver 2220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 2218 and receiver 2220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 2222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0131] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 2212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0132] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 2212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0133] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0134] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearabletechnology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or itemtracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 2200 shown in Figure 10.

[0135] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0136] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0137] Figure 10 shows a network node 3300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NRNodeBs (gNBs)).

[0138] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0139] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi -standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi -cell / multi cast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0140] The network node 3300 includes a processing circuitry 3302, a memory 3304, a communication interface 3306, and a power source 3308. The network node 3300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 3300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB s. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1300 may beconfigured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 3304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 3310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 3300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1300.

[0141] The processing circuitry 3302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 3300 components, such as the memory 3304, to provide network node 3300 functionality.

[0142] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 3302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 3302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 3312 and baseband processing circuitry 3314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 3312 and the baseband processing circuitry 3314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 3312 and baseband processing circuitry 3314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0143] The memory 3304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 3302. The memory 3304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 3302 and utilized by the networknode 3300. The memory 3304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 3302 and / or any data received via the communication interface 3306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 3302 and memory 3304 is integrated.

[0144] The communication interface 3306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 3306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 3316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 3306 also includes radio front-end circuitry 3318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 3310. Radio front-end circuitry 3318 comprises filters 3320 and amplifiers 3322. The radio front-end circuitry 3318 may be connected to an antenna 3310 and processing circuitry 3302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 3310 and processing circuitry 3302. The radio front-end circuitry 3318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio frontend circuitry 3318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 3320 and / or amplifiers 3322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 3310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 3310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 3318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 3302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0145] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 3300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 3318, instead, the processing circuitry 3302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 3310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 3312 is part of the communication interface 3306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 3306 includes one or more ports or terminals 3316, the radio front-end circuitry 3318, and the RF transceiver circuitry 3312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 3306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 3314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0146] The antenna 3310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 3310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 3318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / orsignals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 3310 is separate from the network node 3300 and connectable to the network node 3300 through an interface or port.

[0147] The antenna 3310, communication interface 3306, and / or the processing circuitry 3302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 3310, the communication interface 3306, and / or the processing circuitry 3302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0148] The power source 3308 provides power to the various components of network node 3300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 3308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 3300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 3300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 3308. As a further example, the power source 3308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0149] Embodiments of the network node 3300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 3300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 3300 and to allow output of information from the network node 3300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 3300.

[0150] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host 4400, which may be an embodiment of the host 2116 of Figure 8, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 4400 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standaloneserver, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 4400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0151] The host 4400 includes processing circuitry 4402 that is operatively coupled via a bus 4404 to an input / output interface 4406, a network interface 4408, a power source 4410, and a memory 4412. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 9 and 10, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 4400.

[0152] The memory 4412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 4414 and data 4416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 4400 or data generated by the host 4400 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 4400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 4414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 4414 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 4400 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 4414 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0153] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 5500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or morevirtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 5500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

[0154] Applications 5502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 5500 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0155] Hardware 5504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 5506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 5508a and 5508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 5508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 5506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 5508.

[0156] The VMs 5508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 5506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 5502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 5508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0157] In the context of NFV, a VM 5508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 5508, and that part of hardware 5504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtualnetwork elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 5508 on top of the hardware 5504 and corresponds to the application 5502.

[0158] Hardware 5504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 5504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 5504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 5510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 5502. In some embodiments, hardware 5504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 5512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0159] Figure 13 shows a communication diagram of a host 6602 communicating via a network node 6604 with a UE 6606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 2112a of Figure 8 and / or UE 2200 of Figure 9), network node (such as network node 2110a of Figure 8 and / or network node 3300 of Figure 10), and host (such as host 2116 of Figure 8 and / or host 4400 of Figure 11) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 13.

[0160] Like host 4400, embodiments of host 6602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 6602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 6602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 6606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 6650 extending between the UE 6606 and host 6602. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 6650.

[0161] The network node 6604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 6602 and UE 6606. The connection 6660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like corenetwork 2106 of Figure 8) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0162] The UE 6606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 6606 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 6606 with the support of the host 6602. In the host 6602, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 6650 terminating at the UE 6606 and host 6602. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 6650 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 6650.

[0163] The OTT connection 6650 may extend via a connection 6660 between the host 6602 and the network node 6604 and via a wireless connection 6670 between the network node 6604 and the UE 6606 to provide the connection between the host 6602 and the UE 6606. The connection 6660 and wireless connection 6670, over which the OTT connection 6650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 6602 and the UE 1606 via the network node 6604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0164] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 6650, in step 6608, the host 6602 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 6606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 6606 that shares data with the host 6602 without explicit human interaction. In step 6610, the host 6602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 6606. The host 6602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 6606. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 6606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 6606. The transmission may pass via the network node 6604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 6612, the network node 6604 transmits to the UE 6606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 6602 initiated, in accordancewith the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 6614, the UE 6606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 6606 associated with the host application executed by the host 6602.

[0165] In some examples, the UE 6606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 6602. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 6602. Accordingly, in step 6616, the UE 6606 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 6606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 6606 initiates, in step 6618, transmission of the user data towards the host 6602 via the network node 6604. In step 6620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 6604 receives user data from the UE 6606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 6602. In step 6622, the host 6602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 6606.

[0166] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 6606 using the OTT connection 6650, in which the wireless connection 6670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery lifetime.

[0167] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 6602. As another example, the host 6602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 6602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 6602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 6602 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 6602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. fromdata collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0168] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 6650 between the host 6602 and UE 6606, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 6602 and / or UE 6606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 6650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 6650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 6604. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 6602. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 6650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0169] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested withinmultiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0170] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0171] It will be appreciated that computer systems are increasingly taking a wide variety of forms. In this description and in the claims, the terms “controller,” “computer system,” or “computing system” are defined broadly as including any device or system — or combination thereof — that includes at least one physical and tangible processor and a physical and tangible memory capable of having thereon computer-executable instructions that may be executed by a processor. By way of example, not limitation, the term “computer system” or “computing system,” as used herein is intended to include personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, hand-held devices (e.g., mobile telephones, PDAs, pagers), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, multi-processor systems, network PCs, distributed computing systems, datacenters, message processors, routers, switches, and even devices that conventionally have not been considered a computing system, such as wearables (e.g., glasses).

[0172] The computing system also has thereon multiple structures often referred to as an “executable component.” For instance, the memory of a computing system can include an executable component. The term “executable component” is the name for a structure that is well understood to one of ordinary skill in the art in the field of computing as being a structure that can be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For instance, when implemented in software, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the structure of an executable component may include software objects, routines, methods, and so forth, that may be executed by one or more processors on the computing system, whether such an executable component exists in the heap of a computing system, or whether the executable component exists on computer-readable storage media. The structure of the executable component exists on a computer-readable medium in such a form that it is operable, when executed by one or more processors of the computing system, to cause the computing system to perform one or more functions, such as the functions and methods described herein. Such a structure may be computer-readable directly by a processor — as is the case if the executable component were binary. Alternatively, the structure may be structured to be interpretable and / or compiled — whether in a single stage or in multiple stages — so as to generate such binary that is directly interpretable by a processor.

[0173] The terms “component,” “service,” “engine,” “module,” “control,” “generator,” or the like may also be used in this description. As used in this description and in this case, these terms — whether expressed with or without a modifying clause — are also intended to be synonymous with the term “executable component” and thus also have a structure that is well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of computing.

[0174] In terms of computer implementation, a computer is generally understood to comprise one or more processors or one or more controllers, and the terms computer, processor, and controller may be employed interchangeably. When provided by a computer, processor, or controller, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated computer or processor or controller, by a single shared computer or processor or controller, or by a plurality of individual computers or processors or controllers, some of which may be shared or distributed. Moreover, the term “processor” or “controller” also refers to other hardware capable of performing such functions and / or executing software, such as the example hardware recited above.

[0175] In general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose chips, circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, someaspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0176] While not all computing systems require a user interface, in some embodiments a computing system includes a user interface for use in communicating information from / to a user. The user interface may include output mechanisms as well as input mechanisms. The principles described herein are not limited to the precise output mechanisms or input mechanisms as such will depend on the nature of the device. However, output mechanisms might include, for instance, speakers, displays, tactile output, projections, holograms, and so forth. Examples of input mechanisms might include, for instance, microphones, touchscreens, projections, holograms, cameras, keyboards, stylus, mouse, or other pointer input, sensors of any type, and so forth.Abbreviations and Defined Terms

[0177] To assist in understanding the scope and content of this written description and the appended claims, a select few terms are defined directly below. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.

[0178] The terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially,” as used herein, represent an amount or condition close to the specific stated amount or condition that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount or condition that deviates by less than 10%, or by less than 5%, or by less than 1%, or by less than 0.1%, or by less than 0.01% from a specifically stated amount or condition.

[0179] Various aspects of the present disclosure, including devices, systems, and methods may be illustrated with reference to one or more embodiments or implementations, which are exemplary in nature. As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments disclosed herein. In addition, reference to an “implementation” of the present disclosure or embodiments includes a specific reference to one or more embodiments thereof, and vice versa, and is intended to provide illustrative examples without limiting the scope of the present disclosure, which is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the present description.

[0180] As used in the specification, a word appearing in the singular encompasses its plural counterpart, and a word appearing in the plural encompasses its singular counterpart, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated otherwise. Thus, it will be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, reference to a singular referent (e.g., “a widget”) includes one, two, or more referents unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated otherwise. Similarly, reference to a plurality of referents should be interpreted as comprising a single referent and / or a plurality of referents unless the content and / or context clearly dictate otherwise. For example, reference to referents in the plural form (e.g., “widgets”) does not necessarily require a plurality of such referents. Instead, it will be appreciated that independent of the inferred number of referents, one or more referents are contemplated herein unless stated otherwise.

[0181] References in the specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment, " and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0182] It shall be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departingfrom the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0183] It will be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including", when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.Conclusion

[0184] The present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or any generalization thereof. Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0185] It is understood that for any given component or embodiment described herein, any of the possible candidates or alternatives listed for that component may generally be used individually or in combination with one another, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated otherwise. Additionally, it will be understood that any list of such candidates or alternatives is merely illustrative, not limiting, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated otherwise.

[0186] In addition, unless otherwise indicated, numbers expressing quantities, constituents, distances, or other measurements used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified by the term “about,” as that term is defined herein. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the subject matter presented herein. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the subject matter presented herein are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical values, however, inherentlycontain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.

[0187] Any headings and subheadings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, it should be understood that although the present disclosure has been specifically disclosed in part by certain embodiments, and optional features, modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this present description.

[0188] It will also be appreciated that systems, devices, products, kits, methods, and / or processes, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure may include, incorporate, or otherwise comprise properties or features (e.g., components, members, elements, parts, and / or portions) described in other embodiments disclosed and / or described herein. Accordingly, the various features of certain embodiments can be compatible with, combined with, included in, and / or incorporated into other embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, disclosure of certain features relative to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting application or inclusion of said features to the specific embodiment. Rather, it will be appreciated that other embodiments can also include said features, members, elements, parts, and / or portions without necessarily departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0189] Moreover, unless a feature is described as requiring another feature in combination therewith, any feature herein may be combined with any other feature of a same or different embodiment disclosed herein. Furthermore, various well-known aspects of illustrative systems, methods, apparatus, and the like are not described herein in particular detail in order to avoid obscuring aspects of the example embodiments. Such aspects are, however, also contemplated herein.

[0190] It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that methods, devices, device elements, materials, procedures, and techniques other than those specifically described herein can be applied to the practice of the described embodiments as broadly disclosed herein without resortto undue experimentation. All art-known functional equivalents of methods, devices, device elements, materials, procedures, and techniques specifically described herein are intended to be encompassed by this present disclosure.

[0191] When a group of materials, compositions, components, or compounds is disclosed herein, it is understood that all individual members of those groups and all subgroups thereof are disclosed separately. When a Markush group or other grouping is used herein, all individual members of the group and all combinations and sub-combinations possible of the group are intended to be individually included in the disclosure.

[0192] The above-described embodiments are examples only. Alterations, modifications, and variations may be effected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the description, which is defined solely by the appended claims.Numbered Embodiments

[0193] Listed below are a variety of possible, but non-limiting, examples of embodiments under the present disclosure.Embodiment 1 : One possible embodiment is a method performed by a user equipment for Scell activation / deactivation, the method comprising: receiving a configuration for an operation related to Scell activation, including e.g., measurements, activation, etc. and e.g., associated on-demand SSB transmission including e.g., turn on, adapt to shorter period, period / offset parameters, etc.; observing a trigger for the operation related to Scell activation / deactivation, including e.g., receiving measurement command, receiving activation / deactivation indication; and receiving the on-demand SSB according to the configuration and performing receiver operations using these SSBs.Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1, wherein configuration comprises at least one of: on-demand SSB type and parameters; period; offset; duration or number of SSB instances; SSB resources / structure / contents.Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 1 or 2, wherein a / the on-demand SSB configuration is different than a / the SSB configuration when SCelll addition.Embodiment 4: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein further comprising the LTE receiving different on-demand SSB configurations at different time.Embodiment 5: The method of embodiment 4, wherein at least one of the on-demand SSB type and parameters - period, offset, duration or number of SSB instances, SSB resources / structure / contents can be different for different on-demand SSB configurations.Embodiment 6: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the configuration comprises a time distance between the SSB occasions / the first SSB occasion and the indication / command of SCell activation is configured.Embodiment 7: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the configuration configures an absolute time instant.Embodiment 8: The method of embodiment 7, wherein the UE initiates SSB measurement or SCell activation prior to or from the time instant.Embodiment 9: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein a / the configuration / trigger / SSB / command / indication doesn’t define part or all of on-demand SSB configuration, it only indicates the UE of enabling receiving on-demand SSB.Embodiment 10: The method of embodiment 9, wherein a / the legacy SSB configuration may be used by the UE for determining on-demand SSB.Embodiment 11 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 10, wherein a / the on-demand SSB configuration can only indicate the sub-set of the changes / difference of the legacy SSB configuration other than the all set of SSB configuration.Embodiment 12: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 11, wherein the on-demand SSB configuration is instead provided by a RRC message by extension of current RRC message or introduction of a new RRC message.Embodiment 13: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the on-demand SSB configuration can be provided before the SCell activation command and UE shall immediately start measurement on on-demand SSB.Embodiment 14: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 13, wherein the on-demand SSB configuration can be provided at the same time with the SCell activation command and UE shall immediately start SCell activation on on-demand SSB.Embodiment 15: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 14, wherein the on-demand SSB configuration can be provided after the SCell activation command, and the UE can wait for the indication / command before starting measurement / SCell activation on on-demand SSB.Embodiment 16: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 15, wherein multiple on-demand SSB configurations can be configured to UE and further enable / activate one of them through indication on MAC-CE or DCI.Embodiment 17: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 16, wherein the on-demand SSB configuration is typically shorter than the legacy SSB configuration, such as 5ms.Embodiment 18: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 17, wherein the UE can notify the NW whether it needs on-demand SSB.Embodiment 19: The method of embodiment 18, wherein the UE can indicate not to expect to receive on-demand SSB further.Embodiment 20: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 19, wherein multiple on-demand SSB configurations can be provided sequentially together with the valid time.Embodiment 21 : The method of embodiment 20, wherein the UE may receive multiple on-demand SSB configurations and indication containing time information indicating when to apply each on- demand SSB in advance, when the time is reached, the UE shall apply measurement on the corresponding SSB.Embodiment 22: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 21, wherein the UE can report failure information to NW due to lacking SSBs.Embodiment 23: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 22, further comprising the UE reporting a preliminary measurement report together.Embodiment 24: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 23, further comprising the UE requesting the number of SSBs.Embodiment 25: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 24, wherein the NW will suspend / stop the on-demand SSB operation and fallback to legacy SSB transmission if receiving the failure information or poor quality.Embodiment 26: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 25, wherein the NW will suspend / stop the on-demand SSB operation and fallback to legacy SSB transmission if the SCell deactivation timer sCellDeactivationTimer expires.Embodiment 27: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 26, wherein the NW will suspend / stop the on-demand SSB operation and fallback to legacy SSB transmission if the SCell deactivation command is indicated.Embodiment 28: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 27, wherein when NW restarts the SCell activation after the initial SCell activation, NW can optionally not configure the on-demand SSB configuration.Embodiment 29: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 28, wherein the UE will assume to reuse the on-demand SSB configuration configured together with the initial SCell activation command. Embodiment 30: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 29, wherein when sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation.Embodiment 31 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 30, wherein when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation.Embodiment 32: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 31, wherein when sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the On-demand SSB with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation.Embodiment 33: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 32, wherein when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the On-demand SSB with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation. Embodiment 34: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 33, wherein the update SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during SCell activation.Embodiment 35: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 32, wherein the update SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during SCell activation.Embodiment 36: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 35, wherein one or multiple on-demand SSB configuration(s) of a deactivated SCell is provided to the UE from the PCell or any other activated cell by NW. It may be a standalone MAC-CE command, Ll-DCI signaling, or it may be comprised in the same SCell activation MAC-CE command. Variations of such an embodiment could comprise, e.g.:• In a detailed embodiment the on-demand SSB configuration is provided as assistance data and it is up to the UE how to use it.• In a detailed embodiment, a measurement request is sent to the UE including the on-demand SSB configuration of the SCell.• In a detailed embodiment, the assistance data or measurement request may include the on-demand SSB configuration in its entirety or any subset of it.• In another embodiment, the on-demand SSB configuration of a deactivated Scell is provided to the UE indicating the start time with respect to a reference point, e.g., SFN in the PCell, and the duration, e.g., an absolute duration in time with respect to a starting point, or an end point with respect to a reference point, e.g., SFN in the PCell.Embodiment 37: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 36, wherein to serve the purpose, the UE may be provided of at least one indication / command to receive on-demand SSB with a low- rate periodicity on the SCell to be activated for SCell activation operation more efficiently.Embodiment 38: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 37, wherein a UE to activate SCell is provided of an indication / command when / how long to receive on-demand SSB (it may be a standalone MAC-CE command, Ll-DCI signaling, or it may be comprised in the same SCell activation MAC-CE command) with respect to or carrying at least one of the below by the serving NW. Variations of such embodiments could comprise, e.g.:• In one example, the information contains on-demand SSB configuration including: SSB periodicity, duration, the ssb-PositionsInBurst (e.g., SSB indexes to be used).• The duration may be either expressed as a number of occasions, a time period or a start- and stop-time. When the duration has passed, the semi-persistent configuration is removed.• In one embodiment, the on-demand SSB transmissions can be periodic or semi- persistent or aperiodic.• In one embodiment, semi-persistent on-demand SSB transmissions can be configured with a start time, a duration and an SSB periodicity. The duration may be either expressed as a number of occasions, a time period or a start- and stop-time. When the duration has passed, the semi-persistent configuration is removed.• In one embodiment, periodic on-demand SSB transmission can be configured with a start time and a periodicity.• In one example, the information contains a time distance between the SSB occasions / the first SSB occasion and the indication / command or SCell activation commandor any other command by the NW after specifying. With respect to the time distance, the UE is able to determine when to detect the SSB occasions upon receiving the indication / command or SCell activation command or any other command by the NW after specifying. The time distance may be defined at the order of symbol, slots etc. It may be exactly ended at the first symbol occupied by the on-demand SSB or it may accommodate certain tolerance for the UE to guarantee initiating SSB measurement before SSB arrives at the UE. Furthermore, the information may also contain the number of SSB occasions or the time period accommodating the number of SSB occasions.• In one example, the information contains an absolute time instant, e.g., a UTC timestamp, or any suitable combination of one or more of H-SFN, SFN, subframe number, slot number and symbol number (of the serving cell) - all optionally combined with a time reference. For instance: H-SFN + SFN, H-SFN + SFN + subframe number, H-SFN + SFN + slot number, SFN + subframe number, SFN + slot number. The UE shall accordingly initiate SSB measurement prior to or from the time instant.• In one example, the indication / command doesn’t define part or all of on-demand SSB configuration, it only indicates the UE of enabling receiving on-demand SSB. In this case, the legacy SSB configuration may be used by the UE for determining on-demand SSB.• In one example, the indication / command indicates the change / difference of on- demand SSB from the legacy SSB, not indicate the common part of on-demand SSB and the legacy SSB.Embodiment 39: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 37, wherein the indication / command, e.g., aforementioned on-demand SSB configuration is instead provided by a RRC message by extension of current RRC message or introduction of a new RRC message, related with SCell activation, e.g. the message indicating that the SCell is to be activated or the message indicating that the SCell is to be configured but deactivated.Embodiment 40: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 39, wherein the indication / command is provided before the SCell activation command. It may be specified that the UE shall immediately start measurement on on-demand SSB from the time when receiving the SCell activation command or. Or it may be specified that the UE shall startmeasurement immediately after receiving indication / command even before receiving the SCell activation command. It’ s not precluded that the indication / command is provided after the SCell activation command, the UE may wait for the indication / command before starting measurement on on-demand SSB.Embodiment 41 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 40, wherein there are more than one on-demand SSB configurations, a NW may provide a set of on-demand SSB configurations to the UE and enable / activate one of them through indication on MAC-CE or DCI.Embodiment 42: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 41, wherein the NW configures at least an on-demand SSB configuration and a legacy / static SSB configuration. NW will indicate to replace a static SSB configuration of the cell with on-demand SSB configuration.Embodiment 43 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 42, wherein there can be one or more on-demand SSB configurations and a static SSB configuration of the cell at the same time. NW will indicate to switch among different on-demand SSB configurations. Such embodiments can comprise variations, such as:• In one embodiment, the on-demand SSB configuration details the specific beams on which SSB should be transmitted,• In an alternative embodiment, the on-demand SSB configuration applies to all SSB beams.Embodiment 44: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 43, wherein the on-demand SSB may keep the legacy SSB format for the UE to receive it without any implementation change. But, since the on-demand SSB is mainly for SCell activation, shorter measurement time is one of important metrics, so on-demand SSB doesn’t need to be same as the legacy SSB configuration, e.g., in RRC meassage: ServingCellConfigCommon, for the SCell provided the legacy SSB is configured for the SCell. One typical difference or enhancement is the on-demand SSB may be defined with shorter periodicity than the latter SSB, e.g., 5ms, it may be pre-defined or configurable.Embodiment 45: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 44, wherein if the UE detects legacy SSB before receiving the indication / command in or not in SCell activation command, the UE may assume no on-demand SSB mechanism works.Embodiment 46: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 45, wherein if the UE detects legacy SSB before receiving the indication / command in or not in SCell activation command, the UE shallapply on-demand SSB mechanism replacing the legacy SSB. Yet another aspect is that UE shall apply and measure the legacy SSB after accomplishment of measurement on on-demand SSB if there is legacy SSB configuration.Embodiment 47: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 46, wherein the UE may receive another indication indicating no on-demand SSB is transmitted by the NW and the UE doesn’t expect to receive on-demand SSB further.Embodiment 48: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 47, wherein there may be more than one SSB indication indicating transmitting / not transmitting on-demand SSB with different SSB configuration, on one cell for the UE, e.g., each SSB indication (index) is associated with one SSB configuration. Such embodiments can comprise variations, such as:• In one example, at a time instant, tl, the UE may receive the first SSB indication, indication 1, and measure on-demand SSB with respect to indication 1; later on, at a time instant, t2, the UE may receive the second SSB indication, indication 2, in one option, the UE may switch measurement with respect to indication 2; in another option, the UE may measure on-demand SSB with respect to indication 1 and indication 2 both.• In one example, the UE may receive SSB indication containing time information indicating when to apply each on-demand SSB in advance, when the time is reached, the UE shall apply measurement on the corresponding SSB.Embodiment 49: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 48, wherein the UE shall initiate and complete SSB measurement with respect to the on-demand SSB information in the indication / command, which may happen before SCell activation command or along with SCell activation command or after receiving SCell activation command.Embodiment 50: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 49, wherein the on-demand SSB measurement is defined as L3 measurement. The UE shall report L3-RSRP with SSB indexes. The NW then in turn send TCI indication command to the UE, the TCI state herein is selected based on one of the latest reported SSB indexes. Alternatively, the UE may only report L3-RSRP with one SSB index which has the highest RSRP, the UE may wait for the TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index. Yet alternatively again, the UE may only determine and report L3-RSRP with one SSB index whose RSRP is higher than a threshold, the UE may wait for the TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index.Embodiment 51 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 50, wherein the on-demand SSB measurement is defined as LI measurement. The UE shall report Ll-RSRP with SSB indexes. The NW then in turn send TCI indication command to the UE, the TCI state herein is selected based on one of the latest reported SSB indexes. Alternatively, the UE may only report Ll-RSRP with one SSB index which has the highest RSRP, the UE may wait for the TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index. Yet alternatively again, the UE may only determine and report Ll-RSRP with one SSB index whose RSRP is higher than a threshold, the UE may wait for the TCI indication command to indicate the SSB index or the UE may autonomously indicate the SSB index.Embodiment 52: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 51, wherein fine time tracking may be conducted by the UE after L1 / L3 measurement and getting TCI state. The fine time tracking may rely on SSB or TRS which up to the NW’s implementation. In one option, the SSB or TRS for the fine time tracking shall be taken into account of the information introduced in the first embodiment: the time of measuring signal for time tracking may be added into the total time duration for measuring in the information, or it may be specified that measuring for time tracking shall be expected and conducted by the UE autonomously after the time duration. For SSB case, an extra SSB occasion after L1 / L3 measurements is added to be measured. For TRS case, the UE may assume / expect that a TRS shall occur directly after receiving SSB occasions, or by contrast, the TRS measurement may triggered by an additional command by the NW with DCI or MAC- CE.Embodiment 53: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 52, wherein the UE shall skip measurement on on-demand SSB after completing SCell activation operation. Despite of that, the UE may alternatively determine and trigger measurement on the legacy SSB after completing SCell activation operation provided the legacy SSB is configured for the SCell.Embodiment 54: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 53, wherein if the UE cannot complete L1 / L3 measurement or fine time tracking, the UE may send a failure message to the NW indicating that the SCell activation cannot completed due to lacking SSBs / undetectable SSBs for measurement or fine time tracking. In one option, the UE may report any preliminary (not entirely completed) measurement reports additionally if the UE has. In another option, the UE may report the number of measured SSB occasions and / or the left SSB occasions to be measured.Embodiment 55: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 54, wherein as a response of the failure message, in one option, the NW may suspend / stop on-demand SSB operation / scheme and transmit legacy SSB periodically from now on. In another option, the NW may transmit more SSB occasions, e.g., a new turn of on-demand SSB, for the UE to receive. In yet another option, the NW may restart SCell activation by sending Scell activation command with or without (i.e., start legacy SSB transmitting at the least before Scell activation command) on-demand SSB indication. Embodiment 56: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 55, wherein if the SCell activation isn’t ready, the UE may send the failure message on PUCCH / PUSCH in SCell provided there is any known / assumed TCI state / UL spatial relation for the PUCCH / PUSCH in SCell. Or the UE may send the failure message on PUCCH / PUSCH in PCell. Or the UE may contain the failure message in a RACH or RACH-like procedure to the NW.Embodiment 57: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 56, wherein if NW doesn’t configure the UE of the deactivated SCell measurement but activate the SCell directly, the SCell activation will be called as unknown SCell activation. The UE needs to perform cell search, AGC retuning and fine timing tracking. Additionally, the UE needs to search the reasonable TCI and wait NW’s further TCI indication, especially in FR2.Embodiment 58: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 57, wherein when the NW configures the UE of the deactivated SCell measurement firstly and then activate the SCell, the SCell activation will be called as known SCell activation. The UE will only perform fine timing tracking and activate the SCell fast.Embodiment 59: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 58, wherein when the UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation.Embodiment 60: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 59, wherein when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to fall back to the legacy SSB transmission rate in slot n+k which is configured when SCell addition, where k depends on the minimum requirement of Scell deactivation. Generally, the legacy SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during Scell activation.Embodiment 61 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 60, when UE receives the deactivated command in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the update On-demand SSB configuration with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of Scelldeactivation. Generally, the update SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during Scell activation.Embodiment 62: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 61, wherein the update On-demand SSB transmission configuration is indicated separately with the SSB deactivation command.Embodiment 63: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 62, wherein the update On-demand SSB transmission configuration is indicated together with the SSB deactivation command.Embodiment 64: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 63, wherein the update On-demand SSB transmission configuration is implicitly same as SSB transmission in legacy SSB configuration.Embodiment 65: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 64, wherein when sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to not receive the On-demand SSB in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation.Embodiment 66: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 65, wherein when sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell expires in slot n, the UE is expected to receive the On-demand SSB with an update transmission rate in slot n+k, where k depends on the minimum requirement of SCell deactivation. Generally, the update SSB transmission rate will be a low rate compared with the SSB transmission rate during SCell activation.Embodiment 67: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 66, wherein the UE is assumed to reuse the SSB transmission configuration configured for deactivated SCell once the sCellDeactivationTimer expires.Embodiment 68: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 67, wherein the UE is informed that a certain SSB pattern is going to be activated / deactivated via additional associations or modifications added to legacy SCell activation / deactivation signaling, or via additional signaling. The signaling may be UE-specific or group signaling. Some examples are given below.Embodiment 69: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 68, wherein certain embodiments can utilize predetermined or pre-configured SSB patterns and legacy or modified commands:• In one type of solutions, the UE is previously configured with one or more SSB patterns, e.g. one or more associated with Scell measurements, and one or more associated with Scell sync acquisition. The configuration info may include SSB parameters (type, period, offset, ect.) and / or transmission parameters (start time or start delay after indication, duration, etc.) When the UE is instructed to perform measurements, or measurements aretriggered based on a criterion, e.g. when the Scell is added, the gNB provides on-demand SSBs according to the measurement-related configuration. When the Scell is activated for the UE, the gNB provides on-demand SSBs according to the sync-related configuration. The measurement- and sync-related configurations may be the same or different.• In one embodiment, one or more on-demand SSB pattern configurations are provided in specification documents. In another embodiment, one or more on-demand SSB pattern configurations are provided via L2 / L3 signaling, e.g. a separate RRC message or MAC-CE message. The configuration may also be provided e.g. as an extension to the legacy RRC measurement object / reporting configuration message.• Subsequent addition and activation commands, e.g. RRC Scell add message or MAC-CE Scell activation message, may refer to one of these SSB configurations. Forthat, an additional IE may be added to legacy message structures, If a single on-demand SSB configuration is provided for each message type, the addition or activation command does not need to be modified but the UE knows, by virtue of receiving the command, that the on-demand SSB will be activated / available according to the associated configuration.Embodiment 70: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 69, wherein certain embodiments can utilize SSB patterns provided in modified commands:• In another type of solutions, one or more on-demand SSB configuration parameters are provided explicitly in the Scell addition or Scell activation command.• For example, the RRC Scell addition command may include additional IES containing one or more on-demand SSB configuration parameters, indicating a configuration to be used for measurements and / or transmission start time and duration info. Similarly, the MAC-CE Scell activation command may include additional IEs containing one or more on-demand SSB configuration and transmission parameters, indicating a configuration to be used for synchronization.Embodiment 71 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 70, wherein certain embodiments can utilize lower-layer indication of on-demand SSB availability:• In yet another type of solution, separate signaling may be used to indicate on- demand SSB availability. The SSB configurations may be provided as described in the section “Predetermined or pre-configured SSB patterns and legacy or modified commands”, However, instead of the addition or activation commands carrying the SSBavailability indication, separate lower-layer signaling, e.g. a DCI or a MAC CE, is transmitted to indicate it. These commands may indicate an index to a previously provided configuration, or if a single configuration was provided, a flag that the SSBs are available. • The indication may be carried in a new DCI, in a PDCCH scrambled with a new on-demand S SB-related group RNTI, or with the C-RNTI of a specific targeted UE.Embodiment 72: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 71, wherein certain embodiments can utilize on-demand SSB deactivation indication via legacy commands. In one embodiment, the UE is configured to treat the legacy MAC CE Scell deactivation command as an indication that on- demand SSB transmission has been deactivated, or that it should not assume that the SSBs are available. Similarly the RRC Scell removal command may carry this indication.Embodiment 73: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 72, wherein certain embodiments can utilize on-demand SSB deactivation indication via lower-layer signaling. In one embodiment, the UE receives a lower-layer signaling indicating the deactivation of the SSBs. E.g. the above described new DCI may be used for such indication.Embodiment 74: One example embodiment is a method performed by a network node for Scell activation / deactivation, the method comprising: transmitting, to a UE, a configuration for an operation related to Scell activation, including e.g., measurements, activation, etc. and e.g., associated on-demand SSB transmission including e.g., turn on, adapt to shorter period, period / offset parameters, etc.; and transmitting (after occurrence of a trigger for the operation related to Scell activation / deactivation, including e.g., receiving measurement command, receiving activation / deactivation indication) the on-demand SSB according to the configuration and performing receiver operations using these SSBs.Embodiment 75: The method of embodiment 74, wherein a network cell can configure with on- demand SSB transmissions.Embodiment 76: The method of any of embodiments 74 to 75, wherein in a NES-based SCell, the NW configures a UE of SSB configuration with a low-rate SSB periodicity when Scell is deactivated. In a typical case, low-rate SSB periodicity can be a periodicity as 160ms, or any value configured by NW. In another typical case, low-rate SSB periodicity can be believed as SSB OFF. Embodiment 77: The method of any of embodiments 74 to 76, wherein to facilitate Scell activation operation, the NW may indicate the SSB configuration e.g., SSB periodicity with a high-rate, priorto, along with or after SCell activation command. In a typical case, high-rate SSB periodicity can be a periodicity as 20ms, or any value configured by NW.Embodiment 78: The method of any of embodiments 74 to 77, wherein on-demand SSB adaption can be believed as a SSB periodicity adaption from low-rate SSB to high-rate SSB, such as low- rate SSB transmission during deactivated SCell and high-rate SSB transmission during or prior to or after SCell activation. In a specific case, On-demand SSB adaption can be believed as SSB transmission OFF during the deactivated Scell, and SSB transmission ON during or prior to or after Scell activation.Embodiment 79: The method of any of embodiments 74 to 78, wherein when NW plans to activate the Scell for a UE, NW will firstly trigger the UE, on the PCell serving the UE, to perform Scell measurement to check the cell quality. At the same time, NW will switch the SSB transmission on the SCell to a high-rate. The deactivated Scell measurement can be L3 measurement or LI measurement.Embodiment 80: The method of any of embodiments 74 to 79, wherein after receiving the quality report, NW will further decide to activate the Scell if the Scell quality is good enough, otherwise keep the candidate Scell deactivated and immediately switch the SSB transmission periodicity to low rate or mute the SSB.Embodiment 81 : A method performed by a network node for on-demand SSB wise Scell activation / deactivation, the method comprising:• Step 1 : When Scell is deactivated, NW configures to mute the SSB transmission or transmits SSB with a low-rate periodicity. a. In one example, when NW configures the UE of SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission periodicity with 0ms. It means no SSB transmission. b. In another example, when NW configures the UE of SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission with a sparse periodicity, such as 160ms. c. At the same time, NW can optionally indicate the UE to suspend the measurement.• Step 2: NW indicates the UE to start the measurement on SSBs for the deactivated Scell to evaluate if the target SCell should be activated.a. Optionally, NW transmits SSB with a high-rate once NW indicates starting measurement to speed up the procedure. b. In one example, NW indicates a new SSB periodicity and SMTC periodicity to UE, such as SSB periodicity with 20ms, e.g., in the same indication or in another signaling or with respect to a pre-defined rule.• Step 3 : The UE performs measurement for the deactivated Scell and report the measurement results, e.g., signal strength or signal quality about the Scell.• Step 4: When the NW receives the UE’s measurement report a. Alternative 1 : When NW receives the UE’ s measurement report of the deactivated Scell with a poor radio condition, e.g., signal strength or signal quality is lower than a predefined or configurable thereshod,the Scell is not be activated. i. In this case, NW may switch the SSB transmission back to a low-rate or mute the SSB. In one example, NW will indicate the UE to apply the SSB transmission same as the original periodicity in deactivated SCell. ii. In another example, when the UE sends NW of the measurement report concerning a poor radio condition, UE is expected to reuse the SSB transmission with sparse periodicity b. Alternative 2: When NW receives the UE’s measurement report of the deactivated Scell with good-enough radio conditions, in this case NW further indicates the Scell activation to the UE, e.g. via Scell activation MAC-CE command. NW transmits SSB with a high-rate once NW indicates the Scell activation. i. In one example, if the SCell activation MAC-CE is configured, NW indicates a new SSB transmission rate together. ii. In another example, the UE is assumed to use the same SSB / SMTC transmission periodicity as the deactivated SCell measurement if NW doesn’t indicate the new SSB / SMTC periodicity.• Step 5: (Following step 4, Alternative 2) the UE performs Scell activation and reports the valid CSI reporting. Optionally, NW further configures the UE of a low-rate periodicity for SSB transmission after receiving the CSI reporting.Embodiment 82: The method of embodiment 81, wherein when NW plans to activate the Scell for a UE, NW can indicate the SCell activation command directly to the UE. At the same time, NW will switch the SSB transmission to a high-rate.Embodiment 83: A method performed by a network node for On-demand SSB Scell activation, steps can be as follows:• Step 1 : When Scell is addition and deactivated, NW configures to mute the SSB transmission or transmits SSB with a low-rate periodicity. a. In one example, when NW configures SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission periodicity with Oms. It means no SSB transmission. b. In another example, when NW configures SCellConfig without activated status, it will configure the SSB transmission with a sparse periodicity, such as 160ms. c. At the same time, NW can optionally indicate the UE to suspend the measurement.• Step 2: When NW indicates the Scell activation, NW will also transmit SSB with a high-rate. In one example, if the SCell activation MAC-CE is configured, NW indicates a new SSB transmission rate together.• Step 3: If NW receives the valid CSI reporting from the UE, NW can indicate to update SSB transmission configuration to the UE, such as with a low-rate SSB periodicity. a. In another example, NW will not further indicate SSB transmission configuration update to the UE. b. If NW doesn’t receive the valid CSI reporting, NW will indicate to update SSB transmission configuration to the UE, such as to mute the SSB transmission.Embodiment 84: A computer implemented method for Scell activation / deactivation, comprising: transmitting, to a UE, a configuration for an operation related to Scell activation, including e.g., measurements, activation, etc. and e.g., associated on-demand SSB transmission including e.g., turn on, adapt to shorter period, period / offset parameters, etc.; and transmitting (after occurrence of a trigger for the operation related to Scell activation / deactivation, including e.g., receiving measurement command, receiving activation / deactivation indication) the on-demand SSB according to the configuration and performing receiver operations using these SSBs.Embodiment 85: A user equipment for Scell activation / deactivation, comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of embodiments 1 to 73; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.Embodiment 86: A network node for Scell activation / deactivation, the network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of embodiments 74 to 83; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.Embodiment 87: A system / apparatus for Scell activation / deactivation comprising: processing circuitry; and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the system / apparatus is operative to: transmit, to a UE, a configuration for an operation related to Scell activation, including e.g., measurements, activation, etc. and e.g., associated on- demand SSB transmission including e.g., turn on, adapt to shorter period, period / offset parameters, etc.; and transmit (after occurrence of a trigger for the operation related to Scell activation / deactivation, including e.g., receiving measurement command, receiving activation / deactivation indication) the on-demand SSB according to the configuration and performing receiver operations using these SSBs.Embodiment 88: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions executable by processing circuitry to perform any of the methods of claims 1 to 84.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method (500) performed by a user equipment, UE (2200), for Secondary Cell, SCell, activation or deactivation, the method comprising: receiving (510) one or more configurations for one or more on-demand Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; receiving (520) a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; receiving (530) one or more on-demand SSBs according to the one or more configurations; and performing (540) the one or more operations using the one or more on-demand SSBs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more configurations comprises at least one of: a configuration of one or more measurements; a configuration of a SCell activation message; a configuration of one or more on-demand SSBs associated with a shorter period; a configuration of a SCell activation; a configuration of an on-demand SSB activation; a configuration of one or more period parameters; a configuration of one or more offset parameters.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the trigger comprises at least one of: an explicit trigger; an implicit trigger; a measurement configuration; an on-demand SSB activation indication; an on-demand SSB deactivation indication; a SCell-related measurement; a SCell-related report; an SCell activation.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising receiving different on-demand SSB configurations at different times.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the one or more configurations comprises a time distance between a SSB occasion and the indication of SCell activation.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the one or more on-demand SSB configurations are configured to indicate at least one of: a change in period to a legacy SSBconfiguration; a change in timing offset to a legacy SSB configuration.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the UE previously received a configuration via Radio Resource Control, RRC, messaging, and wherein the method further comprises receiving an additional RRC message that updates the configuration.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the one or more configurations is provided before a SCell activation command and the UE immediately starts measurement on the one or more on-demand SSBs.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the one or more configurations is provided at the same time with a SCell activation command and UE immediately starts SCell activation on the one or more on-demand SSBs.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the one or more configurations is provided after an SCell activation command, and the UE waits for an indication before starting measurement or SCell activation on the one or more on-demand SSBs.

11. The method of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the one or more configurations comprise multiple on-demand SSB configurations, and wherein one of the multiple on-demand SSB configurations is enabled through indication on Medium Access Control-Control Element, MAC- CE, or Downlink Control Information, DCI.

12. The method of any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising notifying a network node whether the UE needs on-demand SSB.

13. The method of any of claims 1 to 12, further comprising receiving an indication of when or how long to receive on-demand SSB.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the indication comprises at least one of a standaloneMedium Access Control - Control Element, MAC-CE, command; Layer 1 Downlink Control Information, Ll-DCI, signaling; an SCell activation MAC-CE command.

15. The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein the indication comprises at least one of: an on- demand SSB configuration; a SSB periodicity; a SSB duration; a ssb-PositionsInBurst; one or more SSB indexes to be used.

16. The method of any of claims 1 to 15, wherein the one or more configurations configures a reference time instant, wherein the UE shall initiate SSB measurement or SCell activation prior to or from the reference time instant.

17. The method of any of claims 1 to 16, wherein the one or more configurations comprise multiple on-demand SSB configurations and an indication containing time information indicating when to apply each of the multiple on-demand SSB configurations in advance.

18. The method of any of claims 1 to 17, wherein a network node suspends or stops on-demand SSB operation and falls back to legacy SSB transmission if a SCell deactivation timer expires.

19. The method of any of claims 1 to 18, wherein a network node suspends or stops on-demand SSB operation and falls back to legacy SSB transmission if a SCell deactivation command is indicated.

20. A method performed (900) by a network node (3300) for Secondary Cell, SCell, activation or deactivation in a user equipment, UE, the method comprising: transmitting (910), to the UE, one or more configurations for one or more Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; transmitting (920), to the UE, a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; and transmitting (930), to the UE, one or more on-demand SSBs, according to the one or more configurations.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more configurations comprises at least one of:a configuration of one or more measurements; a configuration of a SCell activation message; a configuration of one or more on-demand SSBs associated with a shorter period; a configuration of a SCell activation; a configuration of an on-demand SSB activation; a configuration of one or more period parameters; a configuration of one or more offset parameters.

22. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein the trigger comprises at least one of an explicit trigger; an implicit trigger; a measurement configuration; an on-demand SSB activation indication; an on-demand SSB deactivation indication; a SCell-related measurement; a SCell-related report; an SCell activation.

23. The method of any of claims 20 to 22, further comprising receiving, from the UE, a quality report on the SCell.

24. The method of any of claims 20 to 23, wherein the one or more configurations comprise multiple on-demand SSB configurations, and wherein one of the multiple on-demand SSB configurations is enabled through indication on Medium Access Control-Control Element, MAC- CE, or Downlink Control Information, DCI.

25. The method of any of claims 20 to 24, further comprising receiving, from the UE, an indication whether the UE needs on-demand SSB.

26. The method of any of claims 20 to 25, further comprising transmitting, to the UE, an indication of when or how long to receive on-demand SSB.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the indication comprises at least one of a standalone Medium Access Control - Control Element, MAC-CE, command; Layer 1 Downlink Control Information, LI -DCI, signaling; an SCell activation MAC-CE command.

28. The method of claim 26 or 27, wherein the indication comprises at least one of an on- demand SSB configuration; a SSB periodicity; a SSB duration; a ssb-PositionsInBurst; one or more SSB indexes to be used.

29. The method of any of claims 20 to 28, wherein the one or more configurations configures a reference time instant, wherein the UE shall initiate SSB measurement or SCell activation prior to or from the reference time instant.

30. The method of any of claims 20 to 29, wherein the one or more configurations comprise multiple on-demand SSB configurations and an indication containing time information indicating when to apply each of the multiple on-demand SSB configurations in advance.

31. The method of any of claims 20 to 30, further comprising, if a SCell deactivation timer expires; suspending or stopping on-demand SSB operation; and falling back to legacy SSB transmission.

32. The method of any of claims 20 to 30, further comprising, if a SCell deactivation command is indicated; suspending or stopping on-demand SSB operation; and falling back to legacy SSB transmission.

33. A user equipment, UE (2200), for Secondary Cell, SCell activation or deactivation, comprising: processing circuitry (2202) configured to perform any of claims 1 to 19; and power supply circuitry (2208) configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

34. A network node (3300) for Secondary Cell, SCell activation or deactivation, the network node comprising: processing circuitry (3302) configured to perform any of claims 20 to 32; power supply circuitry (3308) configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

35. A user equipment, UE (2200), for Secondary Cell, SCell activation or deactivation, comprising:processing circuitry (2202); and a memory (2210) storing instructions whereby the processing circuitry is operable to perform the steps of: receiving one or more configurations for one or more on-demand Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; receiving a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; receiving one or more on-demand SSBs according to the one or more configurations; and performing the one or more operations using the one or more on-demand SSBs.

36. The user equipment of claim 36, wherein the processing circuitry is further operable to perform any of claims 2 to 19.

37. A network node (3300) for Secondary Cell, SCell activation or deactivation, the network node comprising: processing circuitry (3302); and a memory (3304) storing instructions whereby the processing circuitry is operable to perform the steps of; transmitting, to the UE, one or more configurations for one or more Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, operations related to SCell activation or deactivation; transmitting a trigger for the one or more on-demand SSB operations; and transmitting, to the UE, one or more on-demand SSBs, according to the one or more configurations.

39. The network node of claim 38, wherein the processing circuitry is further operable to perform any of claims 21 to 32.

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