Actions upon system information acquisition

Abstract

The present disclosure is related to actions upon system information acquisition based on system information request in wireless communications. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless communication system comprises: transmitting a request for a system information message; acquiring the system information message; and transmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

Description

ACTIONS UPON SYSTEM INFORMATION ACQUISITION

[0001] The present disclosure is related to actions upon system information acquisition based on system information request in wireless communications.

[0002] 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a technology for enabling high-speed packet communications. Many schemes have been proposed for the LTE objective including those that aim to reduce user and provider costs, improve service quality, and expand and improve coverage and system capacity. The 3GPP LTE requires reduced cost per bit, increased service availability, flexible use of a frequency band, a simple structure, an open interface, and adequate power consumption of a terminal as an upper-level requirement.

[0003] Work has started in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and 3GPP to develop requirements and specifications for New Radio (NR) systems. 3GPP has to identify and develop the technology components needed for successfully standardizing the new RAT timely satisfying both the urgent market needs, and the more long-term requirements set forth by the ITU Radio communication sector (ITU-R) International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2020 process. Further, the NR should be able to use any spectrum band ranging at least up to 100 GHz that may be made available for wireless communications even in a more distant future.

[0004] The NR targets a single technical framework addressing all usage scenarios, requirements and deployment scenarios including enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC), etc. The NR shall be inherently forward compatible.

[0005] In wireless communications, network may provide certain system information (or system information block) if UE requests the system information. In case network transmits the requested system information, network may not know whether the requested system information has been received by the UE.

[0006] An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide method and apparatus for actions upon system information acquisition in a wireless communication system.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless communication system comprises: transmitting a request for a system information message; acquiring the system information message; and transmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a network node configured to operate in a wireless communication system comprises: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for a system information message; transmitting, to the UE, the system information message; and receiving, from the UE, a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0009] According to various embodiments, apparatuses to implement the above methods are provided.

[0010] The present disclosure may have various advantageous effects.

[0011] For example, based on an indication of an acquisition of the requested system information, network can know when to stop transmitting the requested system information. Therefore, unnecessary retransmission of the system information can be avoided.

[0012] Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effects listed above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effects that a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understand and / or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specific effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitly described herein, but may include various effects that may be understood or derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0014] FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0015] FIG. 3 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0016] FIGs. 4 and 5 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0017] FIG. 6 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0018] FIG. 7 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0019] FIG. 8 shows an example of a procedure for system information acquisition.

[0020] FIG. 9 shows an example of a method performed by a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 10 shows an example of a method performed by a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 11 shows a first example of a procedure for a UE to indicate the acquisition of system information requested by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 12 shows a second example of a procedure for a UE to indicate the acquisition of system information requested by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 13 shows a third example of a procedure for a UE to indicate the acquisition of system information requested by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] The following techniques, apparatuses, and systems may be applied to a variety of wireless multiple access systems. Examples of the multiple access systems include a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) system, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) system, and a Multi Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (MC-FDMA) system. CDMA may be embodied through radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA may be embodied through radio technology such as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), or Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). OFDMA may be embodied through radio technology such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, or Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA). UTRA is a part of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a part of Evolved UMTS (E-UMTS) using E-UTRA. 3GPP LTE employs OFDMA in downlink (DL) and SC-FDMA in uplink (UL). Evolution of 3GPP LTE includes LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-A Pro, and / or 5G New Radio (NR).

[0026] For convenience of description, implementations of the present disclosure are mainly described in regards to a 3GPP based wireless communication system. However, the technical features of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, although the following detailed description is given based on a mobile communication system corresponding to a 3GPP based wireless communication system, aspects of the present disclosure that are not limited to 3GPP based wireless communication system are applicable to other mobile communication systems.

[0027] For terms and technologies which are not specifically described among the terms of and technologies employed in the present disclosure, the wireless communication standard documents published before the present disclosure may be referenced.

[0028] In the present disclosure, "A or B" may mean "only A", "only B", or "both A and B". In other words, "A or B" in the present disclosure may be interpreted as "A and / or B". For example, "A, B or C" in the present disclosure may mean "only A", "only B", "only C", or "any combination of A, B and C".

[0029] In the present disclosure, slash ( / ) or comma (,) may mean "and / or". For example, "A / B" may mean "A and / or B". Accordingly, "A / B" may mean "only A", "only B", or "both A and B". For example, "A, B, C" may mean "A, B or C".

[0030] In the present disclosure, "at least one of A and B" may mean "only A", "only B" or "both A and B". In addition, the expression "at least one of A or B" or "at least one of A and / or B" in the present disclosure may be interpreted as same as "at least one of A and B".

[0031] In addition, in the present disclosure, "at least one of A, B and C" may mean "only A", "only B", "only C", or "any combination of A, B and C". In addition, "at least one of A, B or C" or "at least one of A, B and / or C" may mean "at least one of A, B and C".

[0032] Also, parentheses used in the present disclosure may mean "for example". In detail, when it is shown as "control information (PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information". In other words, "control information" in the present disclosure is not limited to "PDCCH", and "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information". In addition, even when shown as "control information (i.e., PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information".

[0033] Technical features that are separately described in one drawing in the present disclosure may be implemented separately or simultaneously.

[0034] Although not limited thereto, various descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts of the present disclosure disclosed herein can be applied to various fields requiring wireless communication and / or connection (e.g., 5G) between devices.

[0035] Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to drawings. The same reference numerals in the following drawings and / or descriptions may refer to the same and / or corresponding hardware blocks, software blocks, and / or functional blocks unless otherwise indicated.

[0036] FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0037] The 5G usage scenarios shown in FIG. 1 are only exemplary, and the technical features of the present disclosure can be applied to other 5G usage scenarios which are not shown in FIG. 1.

[0038] Three main requirement categories for 5G include (1) a category of enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), (2) a category of massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), and (3) a category of Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC).

[0039] Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes wireless devices 100a to 100f, Base Stations (BSs) 200, and a network 300. Although FIG. 1 illustrates a 5G network as an example of the network of the communication system 1, the implementations of the present disclosure are not limited to the 5G system, and can be applied to the future communication system beyond the 5G system.

[0040] The BSs 200 and the network 300 may be implemented as wireless devices and a specific wireless device may operate as a BS / network node with respect to other wireless devices.

[0041] The wireless devices 100a to 100f represent devices performing communication using Radio Access Technology (RAT) (e.g., 5G NR or LTE) and may be referred to as communication / radio / 5G devices. The wireless devices 100a to 100f may include, without being limited to, a robot 100a, vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2, an eXtended Reality (XR) device 100c, a hand-held device 100d, a home appliance 100e, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device 100f, and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) device / server 400. For example, the vehicles may include a vehicle having a wireless communication function, an autonomous driving vehicle, and a vehicle capable of performing communication between vehicles. The vehicles may include an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR device may include an Augmented Reality (AR) / Virtual Reality (VR) / Mixed Reality (MR) device and may be implemented in the form of a Head-Mounted Device (HMD), a Head-Up Display (HUD) mounted in a vehicle, a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance device, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, etc. The hand-held device may include a smartphone, a smartpad, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch or a smartglasses), and a computer (e.g., a notebook). The home appliance may include a TV, a refrigerator, and a washing machine. The IoT device may include a sensor and a smartmeter.

[0042] In the present disclosure, the wireless devices 100a to 100f may be called User Equipments (UEs). A UE may include, for example, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), a navigation system, a slate Personal Computer (PC), a tablet PC, an ultrabook, a vehicle, a vehicle having an autonomous traveling function, a connected car, an UAV, an AI module, a robot, an AR device, a VR device, an MR device, a hologram device, a public safety device, an MTC device, an IoT device, a medical device, a FinTech device (or a financial device), a security device, a weather / environment device, a device related to a 5G service, or a device related to a fourth industrial revolution field.

[0043] The wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the network 300 via the BSs 200. An AI technology may be applied to the wireless devices 100a to 100f and the wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the AI server 400 via the network 300. The network 300 may be configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, a 5G (e.g., NR) network, and a beyond-5G network. Although the wireless devices 100a to 100f may communicate with each other through the BSs 200 / network 300, the wireless devices 100a to 100f may perform direct communication (e.g., sidelink communication) with each other without passing through the BSs 200 / network 300. For example, the vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2 may perform direct communication (e.g., Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) / Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). The IoT device (e.g., a sensor) may perform direct communication with other IoT devices (e.g., sensors) or other wireless devices 100a to 100f.

[0044] Wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b and 150c may be established between the wireless devices 100a to 100f and / or between wireless device 100a to 100f and BS 200 and / or between BSs 200. Herein, the wireless communication / connections may be established through various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as uplink / downlink communication 150a, sidelink communication (or Device-to-Device (D2D) communication) 150b, inter-base station communication 150c (e.g., relay, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)), etc. The wireless devices 100a to 100f and the BSs 200 / the wireless devices 100a to 100f may transmit / receive radio signals to / from each other through the wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b and 150c. For example, the wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b and 150c may transmit / receive signals through various physical channels. To this end, at least a part of various configuration information configuring processes, various signal processing processes (e.g., channel encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and resource mapping / de-mapping), and resource allocating processes, for transmitting / receiving radio signals, may be performed based on the various proposals of the present disclosure.

[0045] NR supports multiples numerologies (and / or multiple Sub-Carrier Spacings (SCS)) to support various 5G services. For example, if SCS is 15 kHz, wide area can be supported in traditional cellular bands, and if SCS is 30 kHz / 60 kHz, dense-urban, lower latency, and wider carrier bandwidth can be supported. If SCS is 60 kHz or higher, bandwidths greater than 24.25 GHz can be supported to overcome phase noise.

[0046] The NR frequency band may be defined as two types of frequency range, i.e., Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). The numerical value of the frequency range may be changed. For example, the frequency ranges of the two types (FR1 and FR2) may be as shown in Table 1 below. For ease of explanation, in the frequency ranges used in the NR system, FR1 may mean "sub 6 GHz range", FR2 may mean "above 6 GHz range," and may be referred to as millimeter Wave (mmW).

[0047] Frequency Range designationCorresponding frequency rangeSubcarrier SpacingFR1450MHz - 6000MHz15, 30, 60kHzFR224250MHz - 52600MHz60, 120, 240kHz

[0048] As mentioned above, the numerical value of the frequency range of the NR system may be changed. For example, FR1 may include a frequency band of 410MHz to 7125MHz as shown in Table 2 below. That is, FR1 may include a frequency band of 6GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) or more. For example, a frequency band of 6 GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) or more included in FR1 may include an unlicensed band. Unlicensed bands may be used for a variety of purposes, for example for communication for vehicles (e.g., autonomous driving).

[0049] Frequency Range designationCorresponding frequency rangeSubcarrier SpacingFR1410MHz - 7125MHz15, 30, 60kHzFR224250MHz - 52600MHz60, 120, 240kHz

[0050] Here, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may include NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) technology for low-power communication as well as LTE, NR and 6G. For example, NB-IoT technology may be an example of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology, may be implemented in specifications such as LTE Cat NB1 and / or LTE Cat NB2, and may not be limited to the above-mentioned names. Additionally and / or alternatively, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may communicate based on LTE-M technology. For example, LTE-M technology may be an example of LPWAN technology and be called by various names such as enhanced MTC (eMTC). For example, LTE-M technology may be implemented in at least one of the various specifications, such as 1) LTE Cat 0, 2) LTE Cat M1, 3) LTE Cat M2, 4) LTE non-bandwidth limited (non-BL), 5) LTE-MTC, 6) LTE Machine Type Communication, and / or 7) LTE M, and may not be limited to the above-mentioned names. Additionally and / or alternatively, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may include at least one of ZigBee, Bluetooth, and / or LPWAN which take into account low-power communication, and may not be limited to the above-mentioned names. For example, ZigBee technology may generate Personal Area Networks (PANs) associated with small / low-power digital communication based on various specifications such as IEEE 802.15.4 and may be called various names.FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0051] In FIG. 2, The first wireless device 100 and / or the second wireless device 200 may be implemented in various forms according to use cases / services. For example, {the first wireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200} may correspond to at least one of {the wireless device 100a to 100f and the BS 200}, {the wireless device 100a to 100f and the wireless device 100a to 100f} and / or {the BS 200 and the BS 200} of FIG. 1. The first wireless device 100 and / or the second wireless device 200 may be configured by various elements, devices / parts, and / or modules.

[0052] The first wireless device 100 may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver 106, at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip 101, and / or one or more antennas 108.

[0053] The processing chip 101 may include at least one processor, such a processor 102, and at least one memory, such as a memory 104. Additional and / or alternatively, the memory 104 may be placed outside of the processing chip 101.

[0054] The processor 102 may control the memory 104 and / or the transceiver 106 and may be adapted to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. For example, the processor 102 may process information within the memory 104 to generate first information / signals and then transmit radio signals including the first information / signals through the transceiver 106. The processor 102 may receive radio signals including second information / signals through the transceiver 106 and then store information obtained by processing the second information / signals in the memory 104.

[0055] The memory 104 may be operably connectable to the processor 102. The memory 104 may store various types of information and / or instructions. The memory 104 may store a firmware and / or a software code 105 which implements codes, commands, and / or a set of commands that, when executed by the processor 102, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 105 may implement instructions that, when executed by the processor 102, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 105 may control the processor 102 to perform one or more protocols. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 105 may control the processor 102 to perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

[0056] Herein, the processor 102 and the memory 104 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver 106 may be connected to the processor 102 and transmit and / or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 108. Each of the transceiver 106 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 106 may be interchangeably used with Radio Frequency (RF) unit(s). In the present disclosure, the first wireless device 100 may represent a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0057] The second wireless device 200 may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver 206, at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip 201, and / or one or more antennas 208.

[0058] The processing chip 201 may include at least one processor, such a processor 202, and at least one memory, such as a memory 204. Additional and / or alternatively, the memory 204 may be placed outside of the processing chip 201.

[0059] The processor 202 may control the memory 204 and / or the transceiver 206 and may be adapted to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. For example, the processor 202 may process information within the memory 204 to generate third information / signals and then transmit radio signals including the third information / signals through the transceiver 206. The processor 202 may receive radio signals including fourth information / signals through the transceiver 106 and then store information obtained by processing the fourth information / signals in the memory 204.

[0060] The memory 204 may be operably connectable to the processor 202. The memory 204 may store various types of information and / or instructions. The memory 204 may store a firmware and / or a software code 205 which implements codes, commands, and / or a set of commands that, when executed by the processor 202, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 205 may implement instructions that, when executed by the processor 202, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 205 may control the processor 202 to perform one or more protocols. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 205 may control the processor 202 to perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

[0061] Herein, the processor 202 and the memory 204 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver 206 may be connected to the processor 202 and transmit and / or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 208. Each of the transceiver 206 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 206 may be interchangeably used with RF unit. In the present disclosure, the second wireless device 200 may represent a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0062] Hereinafter, hardware elements of the wireless devices 100 and 200 will be described more specifically. One or more protocol layers may be implemented by, without being limited to, one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may implement one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as Physical (PHY) layer, Media Access Control (MAC) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, and Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer). The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more Protocol Data Units (PDUs), one or more Service Data Unit (SDUs), messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure and provide the generated signals to the one or more transceivers 106 and 206. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may receive the signals (e.g., baseband signals) from the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 and acquire the PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure.

[0063] The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to as controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. As an example, one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), one or more Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), or one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may be configured by a set of a communication control processor, an Application Processor (AP), an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU), and a memory control processor.

[0064] The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals, messages, information, programs, code, instructions, and / or commands. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured by Random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, hard drive, register, cash memory, computer-readable storage medium, and / or combinations thereof. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be located at the interior and / or exterior of the one or more processors 102 and 202. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 through various technologies such as wired or wireless connection.

[0065] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, to one or more other devices. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, from one or more other devices. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 and transmit and receive radio signals. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, or radio signals to one or more other devices. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information, or radio signals from one or more other devices.

[0066] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more antennas 108 and 208. Additionally and / or alternatively, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may include one or more antennas 108 and 208. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be adapted to transmit and receive user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, through the one or more antennas 108 and 208. In the present disclosure, the one or more antennas 108 and 208 may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).

[0067] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., from RF band signals into baseband signals in order to process received user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., using the one or more processors 102 and 202. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., processed using the one or more processors 102 and 202 from the base band signals into the RF band signals. To this end, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may include (analog) oscillators and / or filters. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 can up-convert OFDM baseband signals to OFDM signals by their (analog) oscillators and / or filters under the control of the one or more processors 102 and 202 and transmit the up-converted OFDM signals at the carrier frequency. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive OFDM signals at a carrier frequency and down-convert the OFDM signals into OFDM baseband signals by their (analog) oscillators and / or filters under the control of the one or more processors 102 and 202.

[0068] Although not shown in FIG. 2, the wireless devices 100 and 200 may further include additional components. The additional components 140 may be variously configured according to types of the wireless devices 100 and 200. For example, the additional components 140 may include at least one of a power unit / battery, an Input / Output (I / O) device (e.g., audio I / O port, video I / O port), a driving device, and a computing device. The additional components 140 may be coupled to the one or more processors 102 and 202 via various technologies, such as a wired or wireless connection.

[0069] In the implementations of the present disclosure, a UE may operate as a transmitting device in Uplink (UL) and as a receiving device in Downlink (DL). In the implementations of the present disclosure, a BS may operate as a receiving device in UL and as a transmitting device in DL. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is mainly assumed that the first wireless device 100 acts as the UE, and the second wireless device 200 acts as the BS. For example, the processor(s) 102 connected to, mounted on or launched in the first wireless device 100 may be adapted to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 106 to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure. The processor(s) 202 connected to, mounted on or launched in the second wireless device 200 may be adapted to perform the BS behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 206 to perform the BS behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure.

[0070] In the present disclosure, a BS is also referred to as a node B (NB), an eNode B (eNB), or a gNB.

[0071] FIG. 3 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0072] Referring to FIG. 3, a UE 100 may correspond to the first wireless device 100 of FIG. 2.

[0073] A UE 100 includes a processor 102, a memory 104, a transceiver 106, one or more antennas 108, a power management module 141, a battery 142, a display 143, a keypad 144, a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card 145, a speaker 146, and a microphone 147.

[0074] The processor 102 may be adapted to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The processor 102 may be adapted to control one or more other components of the UE 100 to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor 102. The processor 102 may include ASIC, other chipset, logic circuit and / or data processing device. The processor 102 may be an application processor. The processor 102 may include at least one of DSP, CPU, GPU, a modem (modulator and demodulator). An example of the processor 102 may be found in SNAPDRAGONTMseries of processors made by Qualcomm®, EXYNOSTMseries of processors made by Samsung®, A series of processors made by Apple®, HELIOTMseries of processors made by MediaTek®, ATOMTMseries of processors made by Intel®or a corresponding next generation processor.

[0075] The memory 104 is operatively coupled with the processor 102 and stores a variety of information to operate the processor 102. The memory 104 may include ROM, RAM, flash memory, memory card, storage medium and / or other storage device. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The modules can be stored in the memory 104 and executed by the processor 102. The memory 104 can be implemented within the processor 102 or external to the processor 102 in which case those can be communicatively coupled to the processor 102 via various means as is known in the art.

[0076] The transceiver 106 is operatively coupled with the processor 102, and transmits and / or receives a radio signal. The transceiver 106 includes a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 106 may include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. The transceiver 106 controls the one or more antennas 108 to transmit and / or receive a radio signal.

[0077] The power management module 141 manages power for the processor 102 and / or the transceiver 106. The battery 142 supplies power to the power management module 141.

[0078] The display 143 outputs results processed by the processor 102. The keypad 144 receives inputs to be used by the processor 102. The keypad 144 may be shown on the display 143.

[0079] The SIM card 145 is an　integrated circuit　that is intended to　securely store the　International Mobile Subscriber Identity　(IMSI) number and its related　key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on　mobile telephony　devices (such as　mobile phones　and　computers). It is also possible to store contact information on many SIM cards.

[0080] The speaker 146 outputs sound-related results processed by the processor 102. The microphone 147 receives sound-related inputs to be used by the processor 102.

[0081] FIGs. 4 and 5 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0082] In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a radio interface user plane protocol stack between a UE and a BS and FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a radio interface control plane protocol stack between a UE and a BS. The control plane refers to a path through which control messages used to manage call by a UE and a network are transported. The user plane refers to a path through which data generated in an application layer, for example, voice data or Internet packet data are transported. Referring to FIG. 4, the user plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (L1, for example PHY layer) and Layer 2 (L2, for example MAC / RLC / PDCP layer). Referring to FIG. 5, the control plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (L1, for example PHY layer), Layer 2 (L2, for example MAC / RLC / PDCP layer), Layer 3 (L3, for example an RRC layer), and a non-access stratum (NAS) layer. Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 are referred to as an access stratum (AS).

[0083] In the 3GPP LTE system, the Layer 2 is split into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, and PDCP. In the 3GPP NR system, the Layer 2 is split into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, PDCP and SDAP. The PHY layer offers to the MAC sublayer transport channels, the MAC sublayer offers to the RLC sublayer logical channels, the RLC sublayer offers to the PDCP sublayer RLC channels, the PDCP sublayer offers to the SDAP sublayer radio bearers. The SDAP sublayer offers to 5G core network quality of service (QoS) flows.

[0084] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the MAC sublayer include: mapping between logical channels and transport channels; multiplexing / de-multiplexing of MAC SDUs belonging to one or different logical channels into / from transport blocks (TB) delivered to / from the physical layer on transport channels; scheduling information reporting; error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in case of carrier aggregation (CA)); priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling; priority handling between logical channels of one UE by means of logical channel prioritization; padding. A single MAC entity may support multiple numerologies, transmission timings and cells. Mapping restrictions in logical channel prioritization control which numerology(ies), cell(s), and transmission timing(s) a logical channel can use.

[0085] Different kinds of data transfer services are offered by MAC. To accommodate different kinds of data transfer services, multiple types of logical channels are defined, i.e., each supporting transfer of a particular type of information. Each logical channel type is defined by what type of information is transferred. Logical channels are classified into two groups: control channels and traffic channels. Control channels are used for the transfer of control plane information only, and traffic channels are used for the transfer of user plane information only. Broadcast control channel (BCCH) is a downlink logical channel for broadcasting system control information, paging control channel (PCCH) is a downlink logical channel that transfers paging information, system information change notifications and indications of ongoing public warning service (PWS) broadcasts, common control channel (CCCH) is a logical channel for transmitting control information between UEs and network and used for UEs having no RRC connection with the network, and dedicated control channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bi-directional logical channel that transmits dedicated control information between a UE and the network and used by UEs having an RRC connection. Dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point logical channel, dedicated to one UE, for the transfer of user information. A DTCH can exist in both uplink and downlink. In downlink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist: BCCH can be mapped to broadcast channel (BCH); BCCH can be mapped to downlink shared channel (DL-SCH); PCCH can be mapped to paging channel (PCH); CCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; DCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped to DL-SCH. In uplink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist: CCCH can be mapped to uplink shared channel (UL-SCH); DCCH can be mapped to UL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped to UL-SCH.

[0086] The RLC sublayer supports three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged node (AM). The RLC configuration is per logical channel with no dependency on numerologies and / or transmission durations. In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RLC sublayer depend on the transmission mode and include: transfer of upper layer PDUs; sequence numbering independent of the one in PDCP (UM and AM); error correction through ARQ (AM only); segmentation (AM and UM) and re-segmentation (AM only) of RLC SDUs; reassembly of SDU (AM and UM); duplicate detection (AM only); RLC SDU discard (AM and UM); RLC re-establishment; protocol error detection (AM only).

[0087] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the user plane include: sequence numbering; header compression and decompression using robust header compression (ROHC); transfer of user data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers); retransmission of PDCP SDUs; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; PDCP SDU discard; PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM; PDCP status reporting for RLC AM; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers. The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the control plane include: sequence numbering; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; transfer of control plane data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers.

[0088] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of SDAP include: mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer; marking QoS flow ID (QFI) in both DL and UL packets. A single protocol entity of SDAP is configured for each individual PDU session.

[0089] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RRC sublayer include: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by 5GC or NG-RAN; establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and NG-RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs); mobility functions (including: handover and context transfer, UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection, inter-RAT mobility); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure; NAS message transfer to / from NAS from / to UE.

[0090] FIG. 6 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0091] The frame structure shown in FIG. 6 is purely exemplary and the number of subframes, the number of slots, and / or the number of symbols in a frame may be variously changed. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system, OFDM numerologies (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), transmission time interval (TTI) duration) may be differently configured between a plurality of cells aggregated for one UE. For example, if a UE is configured with different SCSs for cells aggregated for the cell, an (absolute time) duration of a time resource (e.g., a subframe, a slot, or a TTI) including the same number of symbols may be different among the aggregated cells. Herein, symbols may include OFDM symbols (or CP-OFDM symbols), SC-FDMA symbols (or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols).

[0092] Referring to FIG. 6, downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into frames. Each frame has Tf= 10ms duration. Each frame is divided into two half-frames, where each of the half-frames has 5ms duration. Each half-frame consists of 5 subframes, where the duration Tsfper subframe is 1ms. Each subframe is divided into slots and the number of slots in a subframe depends on a subcarrier spacing. Each slot includes 14 or 12 OFDM symbols based on a cyclic prefix (CP). In a normal CP, each slot includes 14 OFDM symbols and, in an extended CP, each slot includes 12 OFDM symbols. The numerology is based on exponentially scalable subcarrier spacing βf = 2u*15 kHz.

[0093] Table 3 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot Nslotsymb, the number of slots per frameNframe,uslot, and the number of slots per subframe Nsubframe,uslotfor the normal CP, according to the subcarrier spacing βf = 2u*15 kHz.

[0094] uNslotsymbNframe,uslotNsubframe,uslot01410111420221440431480841416016

[0095] Table 4 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot Nslotsymb, the number of slots per frameNframe,uslot, and the number of slots per subframe Nsubframe,uslotfor the extended CP, according to the subcarrier spacing βf = 2u*15 kHz.

[0096] uNslotsymbNframe,uslotNsubframe,uslot212404

[0097] A slot includes plural symbols (e.g., 14 or 12 symbols) in the time domain. For each numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing) and carrier, a resource grid ofNsize,ugrid,x*NRBscsubcarriers andNsubframe,usymbOFDM symbols is defined, starting at common resource block (CRB)Nstart,ugridindicated by higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), whereNsize,ugrid,xis the number of resource blocks (RBs) in the resource grid and the subscript x is DL for downlink and UL for uplink.NRBscis the number of subcarriers per RB. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system,NRBscis 12 generally. There is one resource grid for a given antenna portp, subcarrier spacing configurationu, and transmission direction (DL or UL). The carrier bandwidthNsize,ugridfor subcarrier spacing configurationuis given by the higher-layer parameter (e.g., RRC parameter). Each element in the resource grid for the antenna portpand the subcarrier spacing configurationuis referred to as a resource element (RE) and one complex symbol may be mapped to each RE. Each RE in the resource grid is uniquely identified by an indexkin the frequency domain and an indexlrepresenting a symbol location relative to a reference point in the time domain. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system, an RB is defined by 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. As shown in FIG. 6, as SCS doubles, the slot length and symbol length are halved. For example, when SCS is 15kHz, the slot length is 1ms, which is the same as the subframe length. When SCS is 30kHz, the slot length is 0.5ms (=500us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 15kHz. When SCS is 60kHz, the slot length is 0.25ms (=250us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 30kHz. When SCS is 120kHz, the slot length is 0.125ms (=125us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 60kHz. When SCS is 240kHz, the slot length is 0.0625ms (=62.5us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 120kHz.

[0098] In the 3GPP NR system, RBs are classified into CRBs and physical resource blocks (PRBs). CRBs are numbered from 0 and upwards in the frequency domain for subcarrier spacing configurationu. The center of subcarrier 0 of CRB 0 for subcarrier spacing configurationucoincides with 'point A' which serves as a common reference point for resource block grids. In the 3GPP NR system, PRBs are defined within a bandwidth part (BWP) and numbered from 0 toNsizeBWP,i-1, where i is the number of the bandwidth part. The relation between the physical resource block nPRBin the bandwidth part i and the common resource block nCRBis as follows: nPRB= nCRB+NsizeBWP,i, whereNsizeBWP,iis the common resource block where bandwidth part starts relative to CRB 0. The BWP includes a plurality of consecutive RBs. A carrier may include a maximum of N (e.g., 5) BWPs. A UE may be configured with one or more BWPs on a given component carrier. Only one BWP among BWPs configured to the UE can active at a time. The active BWP defines the UE's operating bandwidth within the cell's operating bandwidth.

[0099] In the present disclosure, the term "cell" may refer to a geographic area to which one or more nodes provide a communication system, or refer to radio resources. A "cell" as a geographic area may be understood as coverage within which a node can provide service using a carrier and a "cell" as radio resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) is associated with bandwidth which is a frequency range configured by the carrier. The "cell" associated with the radio resources is defined by a combination of downlink resources and uplink resources, for example, a combination of a DL component carrier (CC) and a UL CC. The cell may be configured by downlink resources only, or may be configured by downlink resources and uplink resources. Since DL coverage, which is a range within which the node is capable of transmitting a valid signal, and UL coverage, which is a range within which the node is capable of receiving the valid signal from the UE, depends upon a carrier carrying the signal, the coverage of the node may be associated with coverage of the "cell" of radio resources used by the node. Accordingly, the term "cell" may be used to represent service coverage of the node sometimes, radio resources at other times, or a range that signals using the radio resources can reach with valid strength at other times.

[0100] In CA, two or more CCs are aggregated. A UE may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities. CA is supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs. When CA is configured, the UE only has one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connection establishment / re-establishment / handover, one serving cell provides the NAS mobility information, and at RRC connection re-establishment / handover, one serving cell provides the security input. This cell is referred to as the primary cell (PCell). The PCell is a cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure. Depending on UE capabilities, secondary cells (SCells) can be configured to form together with the PCell a set of serving cells. An SCell is a cell providing additional radio resources on top of special cell (SpCell). The configured set of serving cells for a UE therefore always consists of one PCell and one or more SCells. For dual connectivity (DC) operation, the term SpCell refers to the PCell of the master cell group (MCG) or the primary SCell (PSCell) of the secondary cell group (SCG). An SpCell supports PUCCH transmission and contention-based random access, and is always activated. The MCG is a group of serving cells associated with a master node, comprised of the SpCell (PCell) and optionally one or more SCells. The SCG is the subset of serving cells associated with a secondary node, comprised of the PSCell and zero or more SCells, for a UE configured with DC. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA / DC, there is only one serving cell comprised of the PCell. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA / DC, the term "serving cells" is used to denote the set of cells comprised of the SpCell(s) and all SCells. In DC, two MAC entities are configured in a UE: one for the MCG and one for the SCG.

[0101] FIG. 7 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0102] Referring to FIG. 7, "RB" denotes a radio bearer, and "H" denotes a header. Radio bearers are categorized into two groups: DRBs for user plane data and SRBs for control plane data. The MAC PDU is transmitted / received using radio resources through the PHY layer to / from an external device. The MAC PDU arrives to the PHY layer in the form of a transport block.

[0103] In the PHY layer, the uplink transport channels UL-SCH and random access channel (RACH) are mapped to their physical channels physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and physical random access channel (PRACH), respectively, and the downlink transport channels DL-SCH, BCH and PCH are mapped to physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and PDSCH, respectively. In the PHY layer, uplink control information (UCI) is mapped to physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and downlink control information (DCI) is mapped to physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). A MAC PDU related to UL-SCH is transmitted by a UE via a PUSCH based on an UL grant, and a MAC PDU related to DL-SCH is transmitted by a BS via a PDSCH based on a DL assignment.

[0104] In wireless communication, system information (SI) is divided into the master information block (MIB) and a number of system information blocks (SIBs) and positioning SIBs (posSIBs), where:

[0105] - theMIBis always transmitted on the BCH with a periodicity of 80 ms and repetitions made within 80 ms and it includes parameters that are needed to acquireSIB1from the cell. The first transmission of theMIBis scheduled in subframes and repetitions are scheduled according to the period of SSB;

[0106] If the period of SSB is larger than 80 ms, the MIB is transmitted with the same periodicity as that of SSB.

[0107] - theSIB1is transmitted on the DL-SCH with a periodicity of 160 ms and variable transmission repetition periodicity within 160 ms. The default transmission repetition periodicity ofSIB1is 20 ms but the actual transmission repetition periodicity is up to network implementation. For SSB and CORESET multiplexing pattern 1,SIB1repetition transmission period is 20 ms. For SSB and CORESET multiplexing pattern 2 / 3,SIB1transmission repetition period is the same as the SSB period.SIB1includes information regarding the availability and scheduling (e.g., mapping of SIBs to SI message, periodicity, SI-window size) of other SIBs with an indication whether one or more SIBs are only provided on-demand and, in that case, the configuration needed by the UE to perform the SI request.SIB1is cell-specific SIB;

[0108] - SIBs other thanSIB1and posSIBs are carried inSystemInformation(SI) messages, which are transmitted on the DL-SCH. Only SIBs or posSIBs having the same periodicity can be mapped to the same SI message. SIBs and posSIBs are mapped to different SI messages, i.e., an SI message contains either only SIBs or only posSIBs. Each SI message is transmitted within periodically occurring time domain windows (referred to as SI-windows with same length for all SI messages). Each SI message is associated with an SI-window and the SI-windows of different SI messages do not overlap. That is, within one SI-window only the corresponding SI message is transmitted. An SI message may be repeated with the same content a number of times within the SI-window. Any SIB or posSIB exceptSIB1can be configured to be cell specific or area specific, using an indication inSIB1. The cell specific SIB is applicable only within a cell that provides the SIB while the area specific SIB is applicable within an area referred to as SI area, which consists of one or several cells and is identified by systemInformationAreaID;

[0109] - The mapping of SIBs to SI messages is configured inschedulingInfoListandschedulingInfoList2, while the mapping of posSIBs to SI messages is configured inposSchedulingInfoListandschedulingInfoList2.Each SIB and each posSIB is mapped to a single SI message. posSIBs of the sameposSibTypecarrying GNSS Generic Assistance Data for different GNSS / SBAS (identified bygnss-id / sbas-id) are mapped to different SI messages.

[0110] Each SIB and posSIB is contained at most once in an SI message. For SIBs and posSIBs with segments, the segments contained in SI messages are transmitted according to the SI message periodicity, with one segment of a particularsibType / posSibTypein each SI message;

[0111] - For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED, the network can provide system information through dedicated signalling using theRRCReconfigurationmessage, e.g., if the UE has an active BWP with no common search space configured to monitor system information, paging, or upon request from the UE.

[0112] - For PSCell and SCells, the network provides the required SI by dedicated signalling, i.e., within anRRCReconfigurationmessage. Nevertheless, the UE shall acquireMIBof the PSCell to get SFN timing of the SCG (which may be different from MCG). Upon change of relevant SI for SCell, the network releases and adds the concerned SCell. For PSCell, the required SI can only be changed with Reconfiguration with Sync.

[0113] The physical layer imposes a limit to the maximum size a SIB can take. The maximumSIB1orSI messagesize is 2976 bits.

[0114] Hereinafter, a procedure for system information acquisition is described.

[0115] The UE applies the SI acquisition procedure to acquire the AS, NAS- and positioning assistance data information. The procedure applies to UEs in RRC_IDLE, in RRC_INACTIVE and in RRC_CONNECTED.

[0116] The UE in RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE shall ensure having a valid version of (at least) theMIB,SIB1throughSIB4,SIB5(if the UE supports E-UTRA),SIB11(if the UE is configured for idle / inactive measurements),SIB12(if UE is capable of NR sidelink communication / discovery and is configured by upper layers to receive or transmit NR sidelink communication / discovery), andSIB13,SIB14(if UE is capable of V2X sidelink communication and is configured by upper layers to receive or transmit V2X sidelink communication),SIB15(if UE is configured by upper layers to report disaster roaming related information),SIB16(if the UE is capable of slice-based cell reselection and the UE receives NSAG information for cell reselection from upper layer),SIB17(if the UE is using TRS resources for power saving in RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE) andSIB19(if UE is accessing NR via NTN access).

[0117] The UE capable of MBS broadcast which is receiving or interested to receive MBS broadcast service(s) via a broadcast MRB shall ensure having a valid version ofSIB20andSIB21, regardless of the RRC state the UE is in.

[0118] The UE shall ensure having a valid version of the posSIB requested by upper layers.

[0119] FIG. 8 shows an example of a procedure for system information acquisition.

[0120] Referring to FIG. 8, in step S801, UE may receive / acquire MIB from a network.

[0121] In step S803, the UE may receive / acquire SIB1 from the network.

[0122] In step S805, the UE may transmit system information (SI) request to the network.

[0123] In step S807, the UE may receive / acquire one or more SI messages from the network.

[0124] I. Acquisition of MIB and SIB1

[0125] The UE shall:

[0126] 1> apply the specified BCCH configuration;

[0127] 1> if the UE is in RRC_IDLE or in RRC_INACTIVE; or

[0128] 1> if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED while T311 is running:

[0129] 2> acquire theMIB,which is scheduled;

[0130] 2> if the UE is unable to acquire theMIB;

[0131] 3> perform actions related to essential system information missing;

[0132] 2> else:

[0133] 3> perform actions upon reception of theMIB.

[0134] 1> if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED with an active BWP with common search space configured bysearchSpaceSIB1andpagingSearchSpaceand has received an indication about change of system information; or

[0135] 1> if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED with an active BWP with common search space configured bysearchSpaceSIB1and the UE has not stored a valid version of a SIB or posSIB of one or several required SIB(s) or posSIB(s) and, UE has not acquired SIB1 in current modification period; or

[0136] 1> if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED with an active BWP with common search space configured bysearchSpaceSIB1, and, the UE has not stored a valid version of a SIB or posSIB of one or several required SIB(s) or posSIB(s) and,si-BroadcastStatusfor the required SIB(s) orposSI-BroadcastStatusfor the required posSIB(s) is set tonotbroadcastingin acquiredSIB1in current modification period; or

[0137] 1> if the UE is in RRC_IDLE or in RRC_INACTIVE; or

[0138] 1> if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED while T311 is running:

[0139] 2> ifssb-SubcarrierOffsetindicatesSIB1is transmitted in the cell and ifSIB1acquisition is required for the UE:

[0140] 3> acquire theSIB1,which is scheduled;

[0141] 3> if the UE is unable to acquire theSIB1:

[0142] 4> perform actions related to essential system information missing;

[0143] 3> else:

[0144] 4> upon acquiringSIB1, perform actions upon reception of theSIB1.

[0145] 2> else ifSIB1acquisition is required for the UE andssb-SubcarrierOffsetindicates thatSIB1is not scheduled in the cell:

[0146] 3> perform actions related to essential system information missing.

[0147] The UE in RRC_CONNECTED is only required to acquire broadcastedSIB1and MBS broadcast if the UE can acquire it without disrupting unicast or MBS multicast data reception, i.e., the broadcast and unicast / MBS multicast beams are quasi co-located. The UE in RRC_INACTIVE state while SDT procedure is ongoing, is only required to acquire broadcastedSIB1andMIBif the UE can acquire them without disrupting unicast data reception, i.e., the broadcast and unicast beams are quasi co-located.

[0148] UE in RRC_INACTIVE that does not supportinactiveStateNTN-r17enters RRC_IDLE upon cell reselection between TN cell and NTN cell, and initiates the NAS signalling connection recovery.

[0149] TheSIB1comprisesSI-SchedulingInfoinformation element (IE) containing information needed for acquisition of SI messages. The IESI-SchedulingInfocomprises fields as shown in table 5:

[0150] SI-SchedulingInfo ::= SEQUENCE {schedulingInfoList SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSI-Message)) OF SchedulingInfo,si-WindowLength ENUMERATED {s5, s10, s20, s40, s80, s160, s320, s640, s1280, s2560-v1710, s5120-v1710 },si-RequestConfig SI-RequestConfig OPTIONAL, -- Cond MSG-1si-RequestConfigSUL SI-RequestConfig OPTIONAL, -- Cond SUL-MSG-1systemInformationAreaID BIT STRING (SIZE (24)) OPTIONAL, -- Need R...}SchedulingInfo ::= SEQUENCE {si-BroadcastStatus ENUMERATED {broadcasting, notBroadcasting},si-Periodicity ENUMERATED {rf8, rf16, rf32, rf64, rf128, rf256, rf512},sib-MappingInfo SIB-Mapping}SI-SchedulingInfo-v1700 ::= SEQUENCE {schedulingInfoList2-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSI-Message)) OF SchedulingInfo2-r17,dummy SI-RequestConfig OPTIONAL}SI-SchedulingInfo-v1740 ::= SEQUENCE {si-RequestConfigRedCap-r17 SI-RequestConfig OPTIONAL -- Cond REDCAP-MSG-1}SI-SchedulingInfo-v1800 ::= SEQUENCE {si-RequestConfigMSG1-Repetition-r18 SI-RequestConfigRepetition-r18 OPTIONAL, -- Cond MSG-1si-RequestConfigRedCap-MSG1-Repetition-r18 SI-RequestConfigRepetition-r18 OPTIONAL, -- Cond SUL-MSG-1si-RequestConfigSUL-MSG1-Repetition-r18 SI-RequestConfigRepetition-r18 OPTIONAL -- Cond REDCAP-MSG-1}SchedulingInfo2-r17 ::= SEQUENCE {si-BroadcastStatus-r17 ENUMERATED {broadcasting, notBroadcasting},si-WindowPosition-r17 INTEGER (1..256),si-Periodicity-r17 ENUMERATED {rf8, rf16, rf32, rf64, rf128, rf256, rf512},sib-MappingInfo-r17 SIB-Mapping-v1700}SIB-Mapping ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSIB)) OF SIB-TypeInfoSIB-Mapping-v1700 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSIB)) OF SIB-TypeInfo-v1700SIB-TypeInfo ::= SEQUENCE {type ENUMERATED {sibType2, sibType3, sibType4, sibType5, sibType6, sibType7, sibType8, sibType9,sibType10-v1610, sibType11-v1610, sibType12-v1610, sibType13-v1610,sibType14-v1610, spare3, spare2, spare1,... },valueTag INTEGER (0..31) OPTIONAL, -- Cond SIB-TYPEareaScope ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL -- Need S}SIB-TypeInfo-v1700 ::= SEQUENCE {sibType-r17 CHOICE {type1-r17 ENUMERATED {sibType15, sibType16, sibType17, sibType18, sibType19, sibType20, sibType21,sibType22-v1800, sibType23-v1800 ,sibType24-v1800, sibType25-v1800,spare5, spare4, spare3, spare2, spare1,...},type2-r17 SEQUENCE {posSibType-r17 ENUMERATED {posSibType1-9, posSibType1-10, posSibType2-24, posSibType2-25,posSibType6-4, posSibType6-5, posSibType6-6, posSibType2-17a-v1770,posSibType2-18a-v1770, posSibType2-20a-v1770, posSibType1-11-v1800,posSibType1-12-v1800, posSibType2-26-v1800, posSibType2-27-v1800,spare2, spare1,...},encrypted-r17 ENUMERATED { true } OPTIONAL, -- Need Rgnss-id-r17 GNSS-ID-r16 OPTIONAL, -- Need Rsbas-id-r17 SBAS-ID-r16 OPTIONAL -- Cond GNSS-ID-SBAS}},valueTag-r17 INTEGER (0..31) OPTIONAL, -- Cond NonPosSIBareaScope-r17 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL -- Need S}

[0151] In table 5, areaScope indicates that a SIB is area specific. If the field is absent, the SIB is cell specific.si-BroadcastStatus indicates if the SI message is being broadcasted or not. Change of si-BroadcastStatus should not result in system information change notifications in Short Message transmitted with P-RNTI over DCI (see clause 6.5). The value of the indication is valid until the end of the BCCH modification period when set to broadcasting. When SIB19 is scheduled in an NTN cell, the si-BroadcastStatus for the mapped SIB19 is set to broadcasting.

[0152] If si-SchedulingInfo-v1700 is present, the network ensures that the total number of SI messages with si-BroadcastStatus set to notBroadcasting in the list of concatenated SI messages configured by schedulingInfoList in si-SchedulingInfo and SI messages containing type1 SIB configured by schedulingInfoList2 in si-SchedulingInfo-v1700 does not exceed the limit of maxSI-Message when si-RequestConfig, si-RequestConfigRedCap or si-RequestConfigSUL is configured.

[0153] si-Periodicity is a periodicity of the SI-message in radio frames. Value rf8 corresponds to 8 radio frames, value rf16 corresponds to 16 radio frames, and so on.

[0154] si-RequestConfig is a configuration of Msg1 resources that the UE uses for requesting SI-messages for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting.

[0155] si-RequestConfigMSG1-Repetition is a configuration of Msg1 repetition resources on NUL that the UE uses for requesting SI-messages for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting. This field is only applicable when Msg1 repetition resources can be used for requesting SI-messages.

[0156] si-RequestConfigRedCap is a configuration of Msg1 resources for initialUplinkBWP-RedCap that the (e)RedCap UE uses for requesting SI-messages for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting.

[0157] si-RequestConfigRedCap-MSG1-Repetition is a configuration of Msg1 repetition resources for initialUplinkBWP-RedCap that the RedCap UE uses for requesting SI-messages for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting. This field is only applicable when Msg1 repetition resources can be used for requesting SI-messages.

[0158] si-RequestConfigSUL is a configuration of Msg1 resources that the UE uses for requesting SI-messages for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting.

[0159] si-RequestConfigSUL-MSG1-Repetition is a configuration of Msg1 repetition resources on SUL that the UE uses for requesting SI-messages for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting. This field is only applicable when Msg1 repetition resources can be used for requesting SI-messages.

[0160] si-WindowLength is the length of the SI scheduling window. Value s5 corresponds to 5 slots, value s10 corresponds to 10 slots and so on. The network always configures si-WindowLength to be shorter than or equal to the si-Periodicity. The values s2560-v1710 and s5120-v1710 are only applicable for SCS 480 kHz.

[0161] systemInformationAreaID indicates the system information area that the cell belongs to, if any. Any SIB with areaScope within the SI is considered to belong to this systemInformationAreaID. The systemInformationAreaID is unique within a PLMN / SNPN.

[0162] Regarding encrypted, the presence of this field indicates that the pos-sib-type is encrypted.

[0163] Regarding gnss-id, the presence of this field indicates that the positioning SIB type is for a specific GNSS. Indicates a specific GNSS.

[0164] posSibType is the posSIBs mapped to SI for scheduling using schedulingInfoList2.

[0165] Regarding sbas-id, the presence of this field indicates that the positioning SIB type is for a specific SBAS. Indicates a specific SBAS.

[0166] si-WindowPosition indicates the SI window position of the associated SI-message. The network provides si-WindowPosition in an ascending order, i.e. si-WindowPosition in the subsequent entry in schedulingInfoList2 has always value higher than in the previous entry of schedulingInfoList2. The network configures this field in a way that ensures that SI messages scheduled by schedulingInfoList and / or posSchedulingInfoList do not overlap with SI messages scheduled by schedulingInfoList2.

[0167] sib-MappingInfo indicates which SIBs or posSIBs are contained in the SI message.

[0168] sibType is the type of SIB(s) mapped to SI for scheduling using schedulingInfoList2. Value type1 indicates SIBs and value type2 indicates posSIBs.

[0169] The IESI-RequestConfigcontains configuration for Msg1 (message 1, or random access preamble) based SI request without Msg1 repetition. TheSI-RequestConfigcomprises fields as shown in table 6:

[0170] SI-RequestConfig ::= SEQUENCE {rach-OccasionsSI SEQUENCE {rach-ConfigSI RACH-ConfigGeneric,ssb-perRACH-Occasion ENUMERATED {oneEighth, oneFourth, oneHalf, one, two, four, eight, sixteen}} OPTIONAL, -- Need Rsi-RequestPeriod ENUMERATED {one, two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, sixteen} OPTIONAL, -- Need Rsi-RequestResources SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSI-Message)) OF SI-RequestResources}SI-RequestResources ::= SEQUENCE {ra-PreambleStartIndex INTEGER (0..63),ra-AssociationPeriodIndex INTEGER (0..15) OPTIONAL, -- Need Rra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndex INTEGER (0..15) OPTIONAL -- Need R}

[0171] In table 6, rach-OccasionsSI is configuration of dedicated RACH Occasions for SI. If the field is absent, the UE uses the corresponding parameters configured in rach-ConfigCommon of the initial uplink BWP.si-RequestPeriod is a periodicity of the SI-Request configuration in number of association periods.

[0172] Regarding si-RequestResources, if there is only one entry in the list, the configuration is used for all SI messages for which si-BroadcastStatus or posSI-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting. Otherwise:

[0173] - if si-SchedulingInfo-v1700 is not present and the SI-RequestConfig is used for on-demand SI request in SI-SchedulingInfo or PosSI-SchedulingInfo, the 1st entry in the list corresponds to the first SI message in schedulingInfoList or posSchedulingInfoList for which si-BroadcastStatus or posSI-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting, 2nd entry in the list corresponds to the second SI message in schedulingInfoList or posSchedulingInfoList for which si-BroadcastStatus or posSI-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting and so on.

[0174] - If si-SchedulingInfo-v1700 is present and SI-RequestConfig is configured in SI-SchedulingInfo for on-demand SI request, the UE generates a list of concatenated SI messages by appending the SI messages containing type1 SIB configured by schedulingInfoList2 in si-SchedulingInfo-v1700 to the SI messages configured by schedulingInfoList in si-SchedulingInfo. The 1st entry in the list corresponds to the first SI message for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting, 2nd entry in the list corresponds to the second SI message for which si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting and so on.

[0175] - If si-SchedulingInfo-v1700 is present and SI-RequestConfig is configured in PosSI-SchedulingInfo for on-demand SI request, the UE generates a list of concatenated SI messages by appending the SI messages containing type2 SIB configured by schedulingInfoList2 in si-SchedulingInfo-v1700 to the SI messages configured by posSchedulingInfoList in posSI-SchedulingInfo. The 1st entry in the list corresponds to the first SI message for which posSI-BroadcastStatus or si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting, 2nd entry in the list corresponds to the second SI message for which posSI-BroadcastStatus or si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting and so on.

[0176] Change of si-RequestResources should not result in system information change notification.

[0177] ra-AssociationPeriodIndex is an index of the association period in the si-RequestPeriod in which the UE can send the SI request for SI message(s) corresponding to this SI-RequestResources, using the preambles indicated by ra-PreambleStartIndex and rach occasions indicated by ra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndex.

[0178] Regarding ra-PreambleStartIndex, if N SSBs are associated with a RACH occasion, where N > = 1, for the i-th SSB (i=0, ..., N-1) the preamble with preamble index = ra-PreambleStartIndex + i is used for SI request; For N < 1, the preamble with preamble index = ra-PreambleStartIndex is used for SI request.

[0179] II. Acquisition of SI message(s)

[0180] For SI message acquisition PDCCH monitoring occasion(s) are determined according tosearchSpaceOtherSystemInformation. IfsearchSpaceOtherSystemInformationis set to zero, PDCCH monitoring occasions for SI message reception in SI-window are same as PDCCH monitoring occasions forSIB1where there is a mapping between PDCCH monitoring occasions and SSBs. IfsearchSpaceOtherSystemInformationis not set to zero, PDCCH monitoring occasions for SI message are determined based on search space indicated bysearchSpaceOtherSystemInformation. PDCCH monitoring occasions for SI message which are not overlapping with UL symbols (determined according totdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon) are sequentially numbered from one in the SI window. The [xХN+K]thPDCCH monitoring occasion (s) for SI message in SI-window corresponds to the Kthtransmitted SSB, where x = 0, 1, ...X-1, K = 1, 2, ... N, N is the number of actual transmitted SSBs determined according tossb-PositionsInBurstinSIB1and X is equal to CEIL(number of PDCCH monitoring occasions in SI-window / N). The actual transmitted SSBs are sequentially numbered from one in ascending order of their SSB indexes. The UE assumes that, in the SI window, PDCCH for an SI message is transmitted in at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion corresponding to each transmitted SSB and thus the selection of SSB for the reception SI messages is up to UE implementation.

[0181] When acquiring an SI message, the UE shall:

[0182] 1> determine the start of the SI-window for the concerned SI message as follows:

[0183] 2> if the concerned SI message is configured in theschedulingInfoList:

[0184] 3> for the concerned SI message, determine the numbernwhich corresponds to the order of entry in the list of SI messages configured byschedulingInfoListinsi-SchedulingInfoinSIB1;

[0185] 3> determine the integer valuex = (n - 1) Х w, wherewis thesi-WindowLength;

[0186] 3> the SI-window starts at the slot #a, wherea=xmod N, in the radio frame for which SFN modT= FLOOR(x / N), whereTis thesi-Periodicityof the concerned SI message and N is the number of slots in a radio frame;

[0187] 2> else if the concerned SI message is configured in theschedulingInfoList2;

[0188] 3> determine the integer valuex = (si-WindowPosition -1) Х w, wherewis thesi-WindowLength;

[0189] 3> the SI-window starts at the slot #a, wherea=xmod N, in the radio frame for which SFN modT= FLOOR(x / N), whereTis thesi-Periodicityof the concerned SI message and N is the number of slots in a radio frame;

[0190] 2> else if the concerned SI message is configured in theposSchedulingInfoListandoffsetToSI-Usedis not configured:

[0191] 3> create a concatenated list of SI messages by appending theposSchedulingInfoListinposSI-SchedulingInfoinSIB1toschedulingInfoListinsi-SchedulingInfoinSIB1;

[0192] 3> for the concerned SI message, determine the numbernwhich corresponds to the order of entry in the concatenated list;

[0193] 3> determine the integer valuex = (n - 1) Х w, wherewis thesi-WindowLength;

[0194] 3> the SI-window starts at the slot #a, wherea=xmod N, in the radio frame for which SFN modT= FLOOR(x / N), whereTis theposSI-Periodicityof the concerned SI message and N is the number of slots in a radio frame;

[0195] 2> else if the concerned SI message is configured by theposSchedulingInfoListandoffsetToSI-Usedis configured:

[0196] 3> determine the numbermwhich corresponds to the number of SI messages with an associatedsi-Periodicityof 8 radio frames (80 ms), configured byschedulingInfoListinSIB1;

[0197] 3> for the concerned SI message, determine the numbernwhich corresponds to the order of entry in the list of SI messages configured byposSchedulingInfoListinSIB1;

[0198] 3> determine the integer valuex=mХ w +(n- 1)Х w, wherewis thesi-WindowLength;

[0199] 3> the SI-window starts at the slot #a, wherea=xmod N, in the radio frame for which SFN modT= FLOOR(x / N) +8, whereTis theposSI-Periodicityof the concerned SI message and N is the number of slots in a radio frame;

[0200] 1> receive the PDCCH containing the scheduling RNTI, i.e. SI-RNTI in the PDCCH monitoring occasion(s) for SI message acquisition, from the start of the SI-window and continue until the end of the SI-window whose absolute length in time is given bysi-WindowLength, or until the SI message was received;

[0201] 1> if the SI message was not received by the end of the SI-window, repeat reception at the next SI-window occasion for the concerned SI message in the current modification period;

[0202] 1> if all the SIB(s) and / or posSIB(s) requested inDedicatedSIBRequestmessage have been acquired:

[0203] 2> stop timer T350, if running;

[0204] The UE is only required to acquire broadcasted SI message if the UE can acquire it without disrupting unicast or MBS multicast data reception, i.e. the broadcast and unicast / MBS multicast beams are quasi co-located.

[0205] The UE is not required to monitor PDCCH monitoring occasion(s) corresponding to each transmitted SSB in SI-window.

[0206] If the concerned SI message was not received in the current modification period, handling of SI message acquisition is left to UE implementation.

[0207] A UE in RRC_CONNECTED may stop the PDCCH monitoring during the SI window for the concerned SI message when the requested SIB(s) are acquired.

[0208] A UE capable of NR sidelink communication / discovery and configured by upper layers to perform NR sidelink communication / discovery on a frequency, may acquireSIB12orSystemInformationBlockType28from a cell other than current serving cell (for RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_IDLE) or current PCell (for RRC_CONNECTED), ifSIB12of current serving cell (for RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_IDLE) or current PCell (for RRC_CONNECTED) does not provide configuration for NR sidelink communication / discovery for the frequency, and if the other cell providing configuration for NR sidelink communication / discovery for the frequency meets the S-criteria.

[0209] 1> perform the actions for the acquired SI message.

[0210] III. Request for on demand system information

[0211] The UE shall, while SDT procedure is not ongoing:

[0212] 1> ifSIB1includessi-SchedulingInfocontainingsi-RequestConfigSULand criteria to select supplementary uplink is met:

[0213] 2> trigger the lower layer to initiate the Random Access procedure on supplementary uplink using the PRACH preamble(s) and PRACH resource(s) insi-RequestConfigSULcorresponding to the SI message(s) that the UE requires to operate within the cell, and for whichsi-BroadcastStatusis set tonotBroadcasting;

[0214] 2> if acknowledgement for SI request is received from lower layers:

[0215] 3> acquire the requested SI message(s);

[0216] 1> else if the UE is a RedCap UE and ifinitialUplinkBWP-RedCapis configured inUplinkConfigCommonSIBand ifSIB1includessi-SchedulingInfocontainingsi-RequestConfigRedCapand criteria to select normal uplink is met:

[0217] 2> trigger the lower layer to initiate the Random Access procedure on normal uplink using the PRACH preamble(s) and PRACH resource(s) insi-RequestConfigRedcapcorresponding to the SI message(s) that the UE requires to operate within the cell, and for whichsi-BroadcastStatusis set tonotBroadcasting;

[0218] 2> if acknowledgement for SI request is received from lower layers:

[0219] 3> acquire the requested SI message(s), immediately;

[0220] 1> else:

[0221] 2> if the UE is not a RedCap UE and ifSIB1includessi-SchedulingInfocontainingsi-RequestConfigand criteria to select normal uplink is met; or

[0222] 2> if the UE is a RedCap UE and ifinitialUplinkBWP-RedCapis not configured inUplinkConfigCommonSIBand ifSIB1includessi-SchedulingInfocontainingsi-RequestConfigand criteria to select normal uplink is met:

[0223] 3> trigger the lower layer to initiate the Random Access procedure on normal uplink using the PRACH preamble(s) and PRACH resource(s) insi-RequestConfigcorresponding to the SI message(s) that the UE requires to operate within the cell, and for whichsi-BroadcastStatusis set tonotBroadcasting;

[0224] 3> if acknowledgement for SI request is received from lower layers:

[0225] 4> acquire the requested SI message(s), immediately;

[0226] 2> else:

[0227] 3> apply the default L1 parameter values except for the parameters for which values are provided inSIB1;

[0228] 3> apply the default MAC Cell Group configuration;

[0229] 3> apply thetimeAlignmentTimerCommonincluded inSIB1;

[0230] 3> apply the CCCH configuration;

[0231] 3> initiate transmission of theRRCSystemInfoRequestmessage withrrcSystemInfoRequest;

[0232] 3> if acknowledgement forRRCSystemInfoRequestmessage withrrcSystemInfoRequestis received from lower layers:

[0233] 4> acquire the requested SI message(s), immediately;

[0234] 1> if cell reselection occurs while waiting for the acknowledgment for SI request from lower layers:

[0235] 2> reset MAC;

[0236] 2> if SI request is based onRRCSystemInfoRequestmessage withrrcSystemInfoRequest:

[0237] 3> release RLC entity for SRB0.

[0238] After RACH failure for SI request it is up to UE implementation when to retry the SI request.

[0239] IV. Acquisition of SIB(s) or posSIB(s) in RRC_CONNECTED

[0240] The UE shall:

[0241] 1> if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED with an active BWP not configured with common search space with the fieldsearchSpaceOtherSystemInformationand the UE has not stored a valid version of a SIB or posSIB of one or several required SIB(s) or posSIB(s), or

[0242] 1> if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED and acting as a L2 U2N Remote UE and the UE has not stored a valid version of a SIB of one or several required SIB(s):

[0243] 2> for the SI message(s) that, according to thesi-SchedulingInfoorposSI-SchedulingInfoin the stored SIB1, contain at least one required SIB or requested posSIB:

[0244] 3> ifonDemandSIB-Requestis configured and timer T350 is not running:

[0245] 4> initiate transmission of theDedicatedSIBRequestmessage;

[0246] 4> start timer T350 with the timer value set to theonDemandSIB-RequestProhibitTimer;

[0247] 1> else if the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED with an active BWP configured with common search space with the fieldsearchSpaceOtherSystemInformationand the UE has not stored a valid version of a SIB or posSIB of one or several required SIB(s) or posSIB(s):

[0248] 2> for the SI message(s) that, according to thesi-SchedulingInfoin the stored SIB1, contain at least one required SIB and for whichsi-BroadcastStatusis set tobroadcasting:

[0249] 3> acquire the SI message(s);

[0250] 2> for the SI message(s) that, according to thesi-SchedulingInfoin the stored SIB1, contain at least one required SIB and for whichsi-BroadcastStatusis set tonotBroadcasting:

[0251] 3> ifonDemandSIB-Requestis configured and timer T350 is not running:

[0252] 4> initiate transmission of theDedicatedSIBRequestmessage;

[0253] 4> start timer T350 with the timer value set to theonDemandSIB-RequestProhibitTimer;

[0254] 4> acquire the requested SI message(s) corresponding to the requested SIB(s).

[0255] 2> for the SI message(s) that, according to theposSI-SchedulingInfoin the stored SIB1, contain at least one requested posSIB and for whichposSI-BroadcastStatusis set tobroadcasting:

[0256] 3> acquire the SI message(s);

[0257] 2> for the SI message(s) that, according to theposSI-SchedulingInfoin the stored SIB1, contain at least one requested posSIB and for whichposSI-BroadcastStatusis set tonotBroadcasting:

[0258] 3> ifonDemandSIB-Requestis configured and timer T350 is not running:

[0259] 4> initiate transmission of theDedicatedSIBRequestmessage;

[0260] 4> start timer T350 with the timer value set to theonDemandSIB-RequestProhibitTimer;

[0261] 4> acquire the requested SI message(s) corresponding to the requested posSIB(s).

[0262] UE may include on demand request for SIB and / or posSIB(s) in the sameDedicatedSIBRequestmessage.

[0263] For SI change indication and / or a public warning system (PWS) notification, a modification period is used, i.e., updated SI message (other than SI message for ETWS, CMAS, positioning assistance data, and some NTN-specific information) is broadcasted in the modification period following the one where SI change indication is transmitted. The modification period boundaries are defined by SFN values for which SFN mod m = 0, where m is the number of radio frames comprising the modification period. The modification period is configured by system information. If H-SFN is provided inSIB1, and UE is configured with eDRX,modification period boundaries are defined by SFN values for which (H-SFN * 1024 + SFN) modm= 0.

[0264] For UEs in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE configured to use an IDLE eDRX cycle longer than the modification period, an eDRX acquisition period is defined. The boundaries of the eDRX acquisition period are determined by H-SFN values for which H-SFN mod 1024 = 0.

[0265] The UE receives indications about SI modifications and / or PWS notifications using Short Message transmitted with P-RNTI over DCI. Repetitions of SI change indication may occur within preceding modification period or within preceding eDRX acquisition period. SI change indication is not applicable for SI messages containing posSIBs.

[0266] UEs in RRC_IDLE or in RRC_INACTIVE while SDT procedure is not ongoing shall monitor for SI change indication in its own paging occasion(s) that the UE monitors. UEs in RRC_CONNECTED shall monitor for SI change indication in any paging occasion at least once per modification period if the UE is provided with common search space, includingpagingSearchSpace,searchSpaceSIB1andsearchSpaceOtherSystemInformation, on the active BWP to monitor paging.

[0267] UEs in RRC_INACTIVE while SDT procedure is ongoing shall monitor for SI change indication in any paging occasion at least once per modification period, if the initial downlink BWP on which the SDT procedure is ongoing is associated with a CD-SSB.

[0268] During a modification period where ETWS or CMAS transmission is started or stopped, the SI messages carrying the posSIBs scheduled inposSchedulingInfoListmay change, so the UE might not be able to successfully receive those posSIBs in the remainder of the current modification period and next modification period according to the scheduling information received prior to the change.

[0269] ETWS or CMAS capable UEs in RRC_IDLE or in RRC_INACTIVE while SDT procedure is not ongoing shall monitor for indications about PWS notification in its own paging occasion(s) that the UE monitors. ETWS or CMAS capable UEs in RRC_CONNECTED shall monitor for indication about PWS notification in any paging occasion at least once everydefaultPagingCycleif the UE is provided with common search space, includingpagingSearchSpace,searchSpaceSIB1andsearchSpaceOtherSystemInformation,on the active BWP to monitor paging.

[0270] ETWS or CMAS capable UEs in RRC_INACTIVE while SDT procedure is ongoing shall monitor for indication about PWS notification in any paging occasion at least once everydefaultPagingCycle, if the initial downlink BWP on which the SDT procedure is ongoing is associated with a CD-SSB.

[0271] For Short Message reception in a paging occasion, the UE monitors the PDCCH monitoring occasion(s) for paging.

[0272] A L2 U2N Remote UE is not required to monitor paging occasion for SI modifications and / or PWS notifications. It obtains the updated system information and SIB6 / 7 / 8 from the connected L2 U2N Relay UE.

[0273] If the UE receives a Short Message, the UE shall:

[0274] 1> if the UE is ETWS capable or CMAS capable, theetwsAndCmasIndicationbit of Short Message is set, and the UE is provided withsearchSpaceSIB1andsearchSpaceOtherSystemInformationon the active BWP or the initial BWP:

[0275] 2> immediately re-acquire theSIB1;

[0276] 2> if the UE is ETWS capable andsi-SchedulingInfoincludes scheduling information forSIB6:

[0277] 3> acquireSIB6,immediately;

[0278] 2> if the UE is ETWS capable andsi-SchedulingInfoincludes scheduling information forSIB7:

[0279] 3> acquireSIB7,immediately;

[0280] 2> if the UE is CMAS capable andsi-SchedulingInfoincludes scheduling information forSIB8:

[0281] 3> acquireSIB8,immediately;

[0282] In caseSIB6,SIB7, orSIB8overlap with a measurement gap it is left to UE implementation how to immediately acquireSIB6,SIB7, orSIB8.

[0283] 1> if the UE does not operate an IDLE eDRX cycle longer than the modification period and thesystemInfoModificationbit of Short Message is set:

[0284] 2> apply the SI acquisition procedure from the start of the next modification period;

[0285] 1> if the UE operates an IDLE eDRX cycle longer than the modification period and thesystemInfoModification-eDRXbit of Short Message is set:

[0286] 2> apply the SI acquisition procedure from the start of the next eDRX acquisition period boundary.

[0287] Hereinafter, signalling radio bearers (SRBs) are described.

[0288] SRBs are defined as Radio Bearers (RBs) that are used only for the transmission of RRC and NAS messages. More specifically, the following SRBs are defined:

[0289] - SRB0 is for RRC messages using the CCCH logical channel;

[0290] - SRB1 is for RRC messages (which may include a piggybacked NAS message) as well as for NAS messages prior to the establishment of SRB2, all using DCCH logical channel;

[0291] - SRB2 is for NAS messages and for RRC messages which include logged measurement information, all using DCCH logical channel. SRB2 has a lower priority than SRB1 and may be configured by the network after AS security activation;

[0292] - SRB3 is for specific RRC messages when UE is in (NG)EN-DC or NR-DC, all using DCCH logical channel;

[0293] - SRB4 is for RRC messages which include application layer measurement report information, all using DCCH logical channel. SRB4 has a lower priority than SRB1 and can only be configured by the network after AS security activation.

[0294] - SRB5 is for RRC messages which include application layer measurement report information, all using DCCH logical channel. SRB5 has a lower priority than SRB1 and SRB3 and can only be configured by the SN serving the SCG when the UE is in NR-DC, after AS security activation.

[0295] In downlink, piggybacking of NAS messages is used only for one dependant (i.e., with joint success / failure) procedure: bearer establishment / modification / release. In uplink piggybacking of NAS message is used only for transferring the initial NAS message during connection setup and connection resume.

[0296] The NAS messages transferred via SRB2 are also contained in RRC messages, which however do not include any RRC protocol control information.

[0297] Once AS security is activated, all RRC messages on SRB1, SRB2, SRB3, SRB4 and SRB5, including those containing NAS messages, are integrity protected and ciphered by PDCP. NAS independently applies integrity protection and ciphering to the NAS messages.

[0298] Split SRB is supported for all the MR-DC options as well as MP in both SRB1 and SRB2 (split SRB is not supported for SRB0, SRB3, SRB4 and SRB5).

[0299] For operation with shared spectrum channel access in FR1, SRB0, SRB1 and SRB3 are assigned with the highest priority Channel Access Priority Class (CAPC), (i.e., CAPC = 1) while CAPC for SRB2 is configurable.

[0300] Meanwhile, network may provide a certain system information (or system information block) if UE requests a transmission of the system information. Such on-demand system information intends to reduce common signalling overhead from network.

[0301] In case network transmits the system information via common signalling, network cannot know whether the system information has been received by the UE requesting the system information or not. As a result, network may need to keep repeatedly transmitting the same system information just to ensure the UE to complete the acquisition of the system information even if the UE has already received the system information.

[0302] Therefore, the present disclosure provides various embodiments for actions upon system information acquisition so that the network can know the system information has been received by the UE requesting the system information.

[0303] FIG. 9 shows an example of a method performed by a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0304] In step S901, the UE may transmit a request for a system information message.

[0305] In step S903, the UE may acquire the system information message.

[0306] In step S905, the UE may transmit a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0307] According to various embodiments, the UE may receive a system information request configuration. The UE may transmit the request for the system information message based on the system information request configuration.

[0308] According to various embodiments, the system information request configuration may comprise a configuration for at least one random access resource related to the request for the system information message. The UE may transmit, based on the at least one random access resource, a random access preamble for requesting the system information message.

[0309] According to various embodiments, the UE may receive a network instruction to notify the acquisition of the requested system information message. The UE may transmit the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on the network instruction.

[0310] According to various embodiments, the network instruction may be included in the system information message, or in a system information request configuration for a transmission of the request for the system information message.

[0311] According to various embodiments, the system information message comprises an uplink (UL) grant. The UE may transmit the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on the UL grant.

[0312] According to various embodiments, the UE may receive a response to the request for the system information message. The response may comprise an uplink (UL) grant. The UE may transmit the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on the UL grant.

[0313] According to various embodiments, the response to the request for the system information message may be a random access response or a downlink control signalling.

[0314] According to various embodiments, the UE may receive a configuration of a dedicated signalling radio bearer (SRB) for the request for the system information message. After receiving the system information message, the UE may establish the dedicated SRB based on the configuration. The UE may transmit the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message via the dedicated SRB.

[0315] According to various embodiments, the configuration of the dedicated SRB may comprise a configured grant configuration. The UE may transmit the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on at least one of periodically occurring uplink (UL) grants configured by the configured grant configuration.

[0316] According to various embodiments, the UE may receive, in a connected state, a connection release message comprising the configuration of the dedicated SRB. The UE may enter a non-connected state upon receiving the connection release message. The UE may transmit the request for the system information message in the non-connected state. The non-connected state may comprise at least one of an idle state or an inactive state.

[0317] According to various embodiments, the UE may release the dedicated SRB after transmitting the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message via the dedicated SRB.

[0318] FIG. 10 shows an example of a method performed by a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0319] Referring to FIG. 10, in step S1001, the network node may receive, from a user equipment (UE), a request for a system information message.

[0320] In step S1003, the UE may transmit, to the UE, the system information message.

[0321] In step S1005, the UE may receive, from the UE, a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0322] Hereinafter, detailed implementations regarding actions upon system information acquisition are described.

[0323] In the present disclosure, method and apparatus for minimizing common signalling of system information are proposed. In the present disclosure, UE may request network to transmit a certain system information. Then, UE may monitor the system information. If UE has completed acquisition of the system information, UE may indicate to network the acquisition of the system information. The indication may include information indicating the system information which UE has acquired. Upon reception of the indication, network may decide to stop transmitting the system information.

[0324] Network may indicate to UE whether the UE is required to indicate the acquisition of the system information. The network indication may be included in the system information that is transmitted upon request from UE. The network indication may be included in the broadcast configuration of the on-demand system information.

[0325] FIG. 11 shows a first example of a procedure for a UE to indicate the acquisition of system information requested by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0326] In FIG. 11, the UE may transmit the indication of system information acquisition by using a UL grant included in the transmitted system information.

[0327] Referring to FIG. 11, in step S1101, UE that is desirably in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE may be configured with a RACH configuration comprising a configuration for at least one RACH resource associated with the on-demand SI request. The RACH configuration for the on-demand SI request may be configured via system information.

[0328] In step S1103, when UE requests network to transmit a concerned system information, the UE may transmit a PRACH (or, random access preamble) according to the RACH resource to request the concerned system information.

[0329] In step S1105, the UE may monitor the requested system information to receive the concerned system information. The UE may perform the monitoring at occasions (e.g., SI window) where the requested system information may be transmitted. Information for the occasions may be broadcast as part of system information scheduling (or, SI scheduling information). The system information transmitted by network may include UL grant. The UE may acquire the requested system information based on the monitoring.

[0330] In step S1107, upon completion of acquiring the system information, the UE may transmit an indication of acquiring the system information by using the UL grant. The indication may be a format of RRC message or MAC CE. To transmit the indication, UE may establish a common SRB (as similar to SRB0).

[0331] FIG. 12 shows a second example of a procedure for a UE to indicate the acquisition of system information requested by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0332] In FIG. 12, the UE may transmit the indication of system information acquisition by using UL grant received in a DL message, separated from the transmitted system information.

[0333] Referring to FIG. 12, in step S1201, UE that is desirably in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE may be configured with a RACH configuration comprising a configuration for at least one RACH resource associated with the on-demand SI request. The RACH configuration for the on-demand SI request may be configured via system information.

[0334] In step S1203, when UE requests network to transmit a concerned system information, the UE may transmit a PRACH (or, random access preamble) according to the RACH resource to request the concerned system information.

[0335] In step S1205, the UE may monitor a random access response message or a DL control message as a response for the system information request (or, response to the transmitted PRACH / random access preamble). The response for the system information request (e.g., random access response / DL control message) may comprise a UL grant.

[0336] In step S1207, the UE may monitor the requested system information to receive the concerned system information. The UE may perform the monitoring at occasions (e.g., SI window) where the requested system information may be transmitted. Information for the occasions may be broadcast as part of system information scheduling (or, SI scheduling information). The UE may acquire the requested system information based on the monitoring.

[0337] In some implementations, the order in which steps S1205 and S1207 are performed may be substituted - that is, step S1207 may be performed first, followed by step S1205.

[0338] In step S1209, after the UE completes acquisition of the system information, if the UE receives or has received the response for the system information request including the UL grant, UE may transmit the indication of acquiring the system information by using the UL grant. Here, the UL grant may need to be associated with the acquired system information. For example, if UE receives the system information at time t1, the UE may consider the UL grant as received at time t1 (+ / - a predefined time offset). To transmit the indication, UE may establish a common SRB (as similar to SRB0).

[0339] FIG. 13 shows a third example of a procedure for a UE to indicate the acquisition of system information requested by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0340] In FIG. 13, the UE may use a dedicated SRB that is established for the UE to transmit the indication of the acquisition of the system information. The UE may be configured with preconfigured UL grant (or configured grant) for transmission of the system information acquisition indication.

[0341] Referring to FIG. 13, in step S1301, UE may be configured with a RACH configuration comprising a configuration for at least one RACH resource associated with the on-demand SI request. The UE may be configured with a (pre)configuration for a dedicated SRB (e.g., dedicated SRB configuration) that is used to transmit the indication of the system information acquisition. The (pre)configuration may be provided by RRC release message. The UE may receive the (pre)configuration in RRC_CONNECTED. For example, UE in RRC_CONNECTED may receive an RRC release message comprising the (pre)configuration (or, dedicated SRB configuration), and may leave RRC_CONNECTED (or, enter RRC_IDLE / RRC_INACTIVE) upon receiving the RRC release message. The (pre)configuration may include persistent or semi-persistent UL grant (or configured grant) that can be used to transmit the indication of the system information acquisition.

[0342] In step S1303, when UE requests network to transmit a concerned system information, the UE may transmit a PRACH (e.g., random access preamble) according to the RACH resource to request the system information.

[0343] In step S1305, the UE may monitor a random access response message or a DL control message as a response for the system information request (or, response to the transmitted PRACH / random access preamble). The response for the system information request (e.g., random access response / DL control message) may comprise a UL grant.

[0344] In step S1307, the UE may monitor the requested system information to receive the concerned system information. The UE may perform the monitoring at occasions (e.g., SI window) where the requested system information may be transmitted. Information for the occasions may be broadcast as part of system information scheduling (or, SI scheduling information). The UE may acquire the requested system information based on the monitoring.

[0345] In some implementations, the order in which steps S1305 and S1307 are performed may be substituted - that is, step S1307 may be performed first, followed by step S1305.

[0346] In step S1309, after the UE completes the acquisition of the system information, if the UE receives or has received the response for the system information request, the UE may establish the dedicated SRB based on the (pre)configuration for a dedicated SRB (e.g., dedicated SRB configuration).

[0347] In step S1311, the UE may transmit the indication of acquiring the system information by using the UL grant indicated by the (pre)configuration (e.g., dedicated SRB configuration), or the UL grant indicated by the response for the system information request. Here, the UL grant may be the first UL grant (or subsequent UL grants) that appears after the moment of acquisition of the system information at the UE.

[0348] In step S1313, after transmitting the indication of acquiring the system information, the UE may release the dedicated SRB.

[0349] According to various embodiments, SRB for connection establishment (e.g., SRB1) may be used as the dedicated SRB. In such case, UE may leave RRC_CONNECTED after transmitting the indication of system information acquisition, or UE may not enter RRC_CONNECTED even if the SRB for RRC connection establishment is used for the transmission of the indication of system information acquisition.

[0350] In the present disclosure, UE may request network to transmit certain system information. UE may monitor the system information. The UE may transmit an indication of the acquisition of the system information based on acquiring the system information.

[0351] Furthermore, the method in perspective of the UE described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 10) may be performed by the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and / or the UE 100 shown in FIG. 3.

[0352] More specifically, the UE comprises at least one transceiver, at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations.

[0353] The operations comprise: transmitting a request for a system information message; acquiring the system information message; and transmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0354] Furthermore, the method in perspective of the UE described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 10) may be performed by a software code 105 stored in the memory 104 included in the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 2.

[0355] More specifically, at least one computer readable medium (CRM) stores instructions that, based on being executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising: transmitting a request for a system information message; acquiring the system information message; and transmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0356] Furthermore, the method in perspective of the UE described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 10) may be performed by control of the processor 102 included in the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and / or by control of the processor 102 included in the UE 100 shown in FIG. 3.

[0357] More specifically, an apparatus configured to / adapted to operate in a wireless communication system (e.g., communication device / UE) comprises at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to / adapted to perform operations comprising: transmitting a request for a system information message; acquiring the system information message; and transmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0358] Furthermore, the method in perspective of a network node described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 11) may be performed by the second wireless device 200 shown in FIG. 2. The network node may be related to a serving cell.

[0359] More specifically, the network node comprises at least one transceiver, at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations.

[0360] The operations comprise: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for a system information message; transmitting, to the UE, the system information message; and receiving, from the UE, a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

[0361] The present disclosure may have various advantageous effects.

[0362] For example, based on an indication of an acquisition of the requested system information, network can know when to stop transmitting the requested system information. Therefore, unnecessary retransmission of the system information can be avoided.

[0363] Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effects listed above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effects that a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understand and / or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specific effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitly described herein, but may include various effects that may be understood or derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0364] Claims in the present disclosure can be combined in a various way. For instance, technical features in method claims of the present disclosure can be combined to be implemented or performed in an apparatus, and technical features in apparatus claims can be combined to be implemented or performed in a method. Further, technical features in method claim(s) and apparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed in an apparatus. Further, technical features in method claim(s) and apparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed in a method. Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1.A method comprising:transmitting a request for a system information message;acquiring the system information message; andtransmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.2.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a system information request configuration,wherein the transmitting of the request for the system information message comprises transmitting the request for the system information message based on the system information request configuration.3.The method of claim 2, wherein the system information request configuration comprises a configuration for at least one random access resource related to the request for the system information message, andwherein the transmitting of the request for the system information message comprises transmitting, based on the at least one random access resource, a random access preamble for requesting the system information message.4.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a network instruction to notify the acquisition of the requested system information message,wherein the transmitting of the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message comprises transmitting the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on the network instruction.5.The method of claim 4, wherein the network instruction is included in the system information message, or in a system information request configuration for a transmission of the request for the system information message.6.The method of claim 1, wherein the system information message comprises an uplink (UL) grant, andwherein the transmitting of the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message comprises transmitting the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on the UL grant.7.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a response to the request for the system information message,wherein the response comprises an uplink (UL) grant, andwherein the transmitting of the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message comprises transmitting the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on the UL grant.8.The method of claim 7, wherein the response to the request for the system information message is a random access response or a downlink control signalling.9.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a configuration of a dedicated signalling radio bearer (SRB) for the request for the system information message; andafter receiving the system information message, establishing the dedicated SRB based on the configuration,wherein the transmitting of the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message comprises transmitting the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message via the dedicated SRB.10.The method of claim 9, wherein the configuration of the dedicated SRB comprises a configured grant configuration, andwherein the transmitting of the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message comprises transmitting the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message based on at least one of periodically occurring uplink (UL) grants configured by the configured grant configuration.11.The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving of the configuration of the dedicated SRB comprises receiving, in a connected state, a connection release message comprising the configuration of the dedicated SRB,wherein the method further comprises entering a non-connected state upon receiving the connection release message,wherein the transmitting of the request for the system information message comprises transmitting the request for the system information message in the non-connected state, andwherein the non-connected state comprises at least one of an idle state or an inactive state.12.The method of claim 9, further comprising:releasing the dedicated SRB after transmitting the notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message via the dedicated SRB.13.The method of claims 1, wherein the method is performed by a user equipment (UE) in communication with at least one of a mobile device, a network, or autonomous vehicles.14.A user equipment (UE) comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor; andat least one memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:transmitting a request for a system information message;acquiring the system information message; andtransmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.15.An apparatus comprising:at least processor; andat least one memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:transmitting a request for a system information message;acquiring the system information message; andtransmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.16.A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) having stored thereon a program code implementing instructions that, based on being executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising:transmitting a request for a system information message;acquiring the system information message; andtransmitting a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.17.A method comprising:receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for a system information message;transmitting, to the UE, the system information message; andreceiving, from the UE, a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.18.A network node comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor; andat least one memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for a system information message;transmitting, to the UE, the system information message; andreceiving, from the UE, a notification of the acquisition of the requested system information message, based on having transmitted the request for the system information message.

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