Method and apparatus for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission

Abstract

A method and apparatus for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission is provided. A wireless device receives, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand SSB transmission. The wireless device transmit, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell. The wireless device receives the SSB transmission of the cell. The wireless device transmits, to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REPORTING FOR ON-DEMAND REFERENCE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission.

[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] Network can transmit Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) in on-demand manner to reduce the power consumption required for SSB transmission. For example, network does not periodically transmit SSB and transmit it only when the SSB transmission is required by UE.

[0006] The amount of SSB that needs to be transmitted can be difference depending on the UE capability, the use of SSB, for example, measurement, synchronization, or SCell activation, or link quality between the network and the UE.

[0007] However, the network does not know how many SSBs the UE which requested the SSB transmission wants to be transmitted, so it would transmit more SSB than necessary to ensure the UE reliably achieve its purpose of SSB request. This reduces the NES gain achievable through on-demand SSB transmission.

[0008] Therefore, studies for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission are required.

[0009] In an aspect, A method comprises: receiving, by the wireless device from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission; transmitting, by the wireless device to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell; receiving, by the wireless device, the SSB transmission of the cell; and transmitting, by the wireless device to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0010] In another aspect, an apparatus for implementing the above method is provided.

[0011] The present disclosure can have various advantageous effects.

[0012] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless device could efficiently report information related to the on-demand SSB transmission.

[0013] For example, network can stop SSB transmission as soon as UE stops using the SSB, and the network energy saving achievable through on-demand SSB transmission can be maximized.

[0014] For example, since the UE reports information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed, the network could save resources for SSB transmission.

[0015] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system could provide an efficient solution for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission.

[0016] 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.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0018] FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0019] FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless device to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0020] FIG. 4 shows another example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0021] FIG. 5 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0022] FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0023] FIG. 8 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0024] FIG. 9 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0025] FIG. 10 shows an example of time-frequency structure of SSB.

[0026] FIG. 11 shows an example of Measurement Model.

[0027] FIG. 12 shows an example of a method for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 13 shows an example of a method for UE report for on-demand SSB transmission.

[0029] FIG. 14 shows an example of a method for UE report for on-demand SSB transmission.

[0030] 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 multicarrier 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 DL and SC-FDMA in UL. LTE-advanced (LTE-A) is an evolved version of 3GPP LTE.

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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.

[0033] 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".

[0034] 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".

[0035] 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".

[0036] 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".

[0037] 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".

[0038] Technical features that are separately described in one drawing in the present disclosure may be implemented separately or simultaneously.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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).

[0044] Partial use cases may require a plurality of categories for optimization and other use cases may focus only upon one key performance indicator (KPI). 5G supports such various use cases using a flexible and reliable method.

[0045] eMBB far surpasses basic mobile Internet access and covers abundant bidirectional work and media and entertainment applications in cloud and augmented reality. Data is one of 5G core motive forces and, in a 5G era, a dedicated voice service may not be provided for the first time. In 5G, it is expected that voice will be simply processed as an application program using data connection provided by a communication system. Main causes for increased traffic volume are due to an increase in the size of content and an increase in the number of applications requiring high data transmission rate. A streaming service (of audio and video), conversational video, and mobile Internet access will be more widely used as more devices are connected to the Internet. These many application programs require connectivity of an always turned-on state in order to push real-time information and alarm for users. Cloud storage and applications are rapidly increasing in a mobile communication platform and may be applied to both work and entertainment. The cloud storage is a special use case which accelerates growth of uplink data transmission rate. 5G is also used for remote work of cloud. When a tactile interface is used, 5G demands much lower end-to-end latency to maintain user good experience. Entertainment, for example, cloud gaming and video streaming, is another core element which increases demand for mobile broadband capability. Entertainment is essential for a smartphone and a tablet in any place including high mobility environments such as a train, a vehicle, and an airplane. Other use cases are augmented reality for entertainment and information search. In this case, the augmented reality requires very low latency and instantaneous data volume.

[0046] In addition, one of the most expected 5G use cases relates a function capable of smoothly connecting embedded sensors in all fields, i.e., mMTC. It is expected that the number of potential Internet-of-things (IoT) devices will reach 204 hundred million up to the year of 2020. An industrial IoT is one of categories of performing a main role enabling a smart city, asset tracking, smart utility, agriculture, and security infrastructure through 5G.

[0047] URLLC includes a new service that will change industry through remote control of main infrastructure and an ultra-reliable / available low-latency link such as a self-driving vehicle. A level of reliability and latency is essential to control a smart grid, automatize industry, achieve robotics, and control and adjust a drone.

[0048] 5G is a means of providing streaming evaluated as a few hundred megabits per second to gigabits per second and may complement fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and cable-based broadband (or DOCSIS). Such fast speed is needed to deliver TV in resolution of 4K or more (6K, 8K, and more), as well as virtual reality and augmented reality. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications include almost immersive sports games. A specific application program may require a special network configuration. For example, for VR games, gaming companies need to incorporate a core server into an edge network server of a network operator in order to minimize latency.

[0049] Automotive is expected to be a new important motivated force in 5G together with many use cases for mobile communication for vehicles. For example, entertainment for passengers requires high simultaneous capacity and mobile broadband with high mobility. This is because future users continue to expect connection of high quality regardless of their locations and speeds. Another use case of an automotive field is an AR dashboard. The AR dashboard causes a driver to identify an object in the dark in addition to an object seen from a front window and displays a distance from the object and a movement of the object by overlapping information talking to the driver. In the future, a wireless module enables communication between vehicles, information exchange between a vehicle and supporting infrastructure, and information exchange between a vehicle and other connected devices (e.g., devices accompanied by a pedestrian). A safety system guides alternative courses of a behaviour so that a driver may drive more safely drive, thereby lowering the danger of an accident. The next stage will be a remotely controlled or self-driven vehicle. This requires very high reliability and very fast communication between different self-driven vehicles and between a vehicle and infrastructure. In the future, a self-driven vehicle will perform all driving activities and a driver will focus only upon abnormal traffic that the vehicle cannot identify. Technical requirements of a self-driven vehicle demand ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability so that traffic safety is increased to a level that cannot be achieved by human being.

[0050] A smart city and a smart home / building mentioned as a smart society will be embedded in a high-density wireless sensor network. A distributed network of an intelligent sensor will identify conditions for costs and energy-efficient maintenance of a city or a home. Similar configurations may be performed for respective households. All of temperature sensors, window and heating controllers, burglar alarms, and home appliances are wirelessly connected. Many of these sensors are typically low in data transmission rate, power, and cost. However, real-time HD video may be demanded by a specific type of device to perform monitoring.

[0051] Consumption and distribution of energy including heat or gas is distributed at a higher level so that automated control of the distribution sensor network is demanded. The smart grid collects information and connects the sensors to each other using digital information and communication technology so as to act according to the collected information. Since this information may include behaviours of a supply company and a consumer, the smart grid may improve distribution of fuels such as electricity by a method having efficiency, reliability, economic feasibility, production sustainability, and automation. The smart grid may also be regarded as another sensor network having low latency.

[0052] Mission critical application (e.g., e-health) is one of 5G use scenarios. A health part contains many application programs capable of enjoying benefit of mobile communication. A communication system may support remote treatment that provides clinical treatment in a faraway place. Remote treatment may aid in reducing a barrier against distance and improve access to medical services that cannot be continuously available in a faraway rural area. Remote treatment is also used to perform important treatment and save lives in an emergency situation. The wireless sensor network based on mobile communication may provide remote monitoring and sensors for parameters such as heart rate and blood pressure.

[0053] Wireless and mobile communication gradually becomes important in the field of an industrial application. Wiring is high in installation and maintenance cost. Therefore, a possibility of replacing a cable with constructible wireless links is an attractive opportunity in many industrial fields. However, in order to achieve this replacement, it is necessary for wireless connection to be established with latency, reliability, and capacity similar to those of the cable and management of wireless connection needs to be simplified. Low latency and a very low error probability are new requirements when connection to 5G is needed.

[0054] Logistics and freight tracking are important use cases for mobile communication that enables inventory and package tracking anywhere using a location-based information system. The use cases of logistics and freight typically demand low data rate but require location information with a wide range and reliability.

[0055] 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.

[0056] 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.

[0057] The wireless devices 100a to 100f represent devices performing communication using radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., 5G new RAT (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 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 AR / 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 smart pad, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch or a smart glasses), 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 smart meter.

[0058] In the present disclosure, the wireless devices 100a to 100f may be called user equipment's (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.

[0059] The UAV may be, for example, an aircraft availed by a wireless control signal without a human being onboard.

[0060] The VR device may include, for example, a device for implementing an object or a background of the virtual world. The AR device may include, for example, a device implemented by connecting an object or a background of the virtual world to an object or a background of the real world. The MR device may include, for example, a device implemented by merging an object or a background of the virtual world into an object or a background of the real world. The hologram device may include, for example, a device for implementing a stereoscopic image of 360 degrees by recording and reproducing stereoscopic information, using an interference phenomenon of light generated when two laser lights called holography meet.

[0061] The public safety device may include, for example, an image relay device or an image device that is wearable on the body of a user.

[0062] The MTC device and the IoT device may be, for example, devices that do not require direct human intervention or manipulation. For example, the MTC device and the IoT device may include smart meters, vending machines, thermometers, smart bulbs, door locks, or various sensors.

[0063] The medical device may be, for example, a device used for the purpose of diagnosing, treating, relieving, curing, or preventing disease. For example, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose of diagnosing, treating, relieving, or correcting injury or impairment. For example, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose of inspecting, replacing, or modifying a structure or a function. For example, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose of adjusting pregnancy. For example, the medical device may include a device for treatment, a device for operation, a device for (in vitro) diagnosis, a hearing aid, or a device for procedure.

[0064] The security device may be, for example, a device installed to prevent a danger that may arise and to maintain safety. For example, the security device may be a camera, a closed-circuit TV (CCTV), a recorder, or a black box.

[0065] The FinTech device may be, for example, a device capable of providing a financial service such as mobile payment. For example, the FinTech device may include a payment device or a point of sales (POS) system.

[0066] The weather / environment device may include, for example, a device for monitoring or predicting a weather / environment.

[0067] 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.

[0068] 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.

[0069] Here, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may include narrowband internet-of-things (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 machine type communication (mMTC). 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.

[0070] FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0071] Referring to FIG. 2, a first wireless device 100 and a second wireless device 200 may transmit / receive radio signals to / from an external device through a variety of RATs (e.g., LTE and NR). In FIG. 2, {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.

[0072] The first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104 and additionally further include one or more transceivers 106 and / or one or more antennas 108. The processor(s) 102 may control the memory(s) 104 and / or the transceiver(s) 106 and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. For example, the processor(s) 102 may process information within the memory(s) 104 to generate first information / signals and then transmit radio signals including the first information / signals through the transceiver(s) 106. The processor(s) 102 may receive radio signals including second information / signals through the transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processing the second information / signals in the memory(s) 104. The memory(s) 104 may be connected to the processor(s) 102 and may store a variety of information related to operations of the processor(s) 102. For example, the memory(s) 104 may store software code including commands for performing a part or the entirety of processes controlled by the processor(s) 102 or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. Herein, the processor(s) 102 and the memory(s) 104 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 106 may be connected to the processor(s) 102 and transmit and / or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 108. Each of the transceiver(s) 106 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 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.

[0073] The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202 and one or more memories 204 and additionally further include one or more transceivers 206 and / or one or more antennas 208. The processor(s) 202 may control the memory(s) 204 and / or the transceiver(s) 206 and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. For example, the processor(s) 202 may process information within the memory(s) 204 to generate third information / signals and then transmit radio signals including the third information / signals through the transceiver(s) 206. The processor(s) 202 may receive radio signals including fourth information / signals through the transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processing the fourth information / signals in the memory(s) 204. The memory(s) 204 may be connected to the processor(s) 202 and may store a variety of information related to operations of the processor(s) 202. For example, the memory(s) 204 may store software code including commands for performing a part or the entirety of processes controlled by the processor(s) 202 or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. Herein, the processor(s) 202 and the memory(s) 204 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 206 may be connected to the processor(s) 202 and transmit and / or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 208. Each of the transceiver(s) 206 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 206 may be interchangeably used with RF unit(s). In the present disclosure, the second wireless device 200 may represent a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0074] 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) and / or one or more service data unit (SDUs) 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 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.

[0075] 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. descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software and the firmware or software may be configured to include the modules, procedures, or functions. Firmware or software configured to perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may be included in the one or more processors 102 and 202 or stored in the one or more memories 104 and 204 so as to be driven by the one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software in the form of code, commands, and / or a set of commands.

[0076] 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 read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), flash memories, hard drives, registers, cash memories, computer-readable storage media, 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.

[0077] 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.

[0078] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more antennas 108 and 208 and the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be configured 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 may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).

[0079] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received 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 transceivers 106 and 206 can up-convert OFDM baseband signals to a carrier frequency by their (analogy) oscillators and / or filters under the control of the processors 102 and 202 and transmit the up-converted OFDM signals at the carrier frequency. The transceivers 106 and 206 may receive OFDM signals at a carrier frequency and down-convert the OFDM signals into OFDM baseband signals by their (analogy) oscillators and / or filters under the control of the transceivers 102 and 202.

[0080] 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 configured to perform the UE behaviour according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 106 to perform the UE behaviour 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 configured to perform the BS behaviour according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 206 to perform the BS behaviour according to an implementation of the present disclosure.

[0081] In the present disclosure, a BS is also referred to as a node B (NB), an eNodeB B (eNB), or a gNB.

[0082] FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless device to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0083] The wireless device may be implemented in various forms according to a use-case / service (refer to FIG. 1).

[0084] Referring to FIG. 3, wireless devices 100 and 200 may correspond to the wireless devices 100 and 200 of FIG. 2 and may be configured by various elements, components, units / portions, and / or modules. For example, each of the wireless devices 100 and 200 may include a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a memory unit 130, and additional components 140. The communication unit 110 may include a communication circuit 112 and transceiver(s) 114. For example, the communication circuit 112 may include the one or more processors 102 and 202 of FIG. 2 and / or the one or more memories 104 and 204 of FIG. 2. For example, the transceiver(s) 114 may include the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 of FIG. 2 and / or the one or more antennas 108 and 208 of FIG. 2. The control unit 120 is electrically connected to the communication unit 110, the memory 130, and the additional components 140 and controls overall operation of each of the wireless devices 100 and 200. For example, the control unit 120 may control an electric / mechanical operation of each of the wireless devices 100 and 200 based on programs / code / commands / information stored in the memory unit 130. The control unit 120 may transmit the information stored in the memory unit 130 to the exterior (e.g., other communication devices) via the communication unit 110 through a wireless / wired interface or store, in the memory unit 130, information received through the wireless / wired interface from the exterior (e.g., other communication devices) via the communication unit 110.

[0085] 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, input / output (I / O) unit (e.g., audio I / O port, video I / O port), a driving unit, and a computing unit. The wireless devices 100 and 200 may be implemented in the form of, without being limited to, the robot (100a of FIG. 1), the vehicles (100b-1 and 100b-2 of FIG. 1), the XR device (100c of FIG. 1), the hand-held device (100d of FIG. 1), the home appliance (100e of FIG. 1), the IoT device (100f of FIG. 1), a digital broadcast terminal, a hologram device, a public safety device, an MTC device, a medicine device, a FinTech device (or a finance device), a security device, a climate / environment device, the AI server / device (400 of FIG. 1), the BSs (200 of FIG. 1), a network node, etc. The wireless devices 100 and 200 may be used in a mobile or fixed place according to a use-example / service.

[0086] In FIG. 3, the entirety of the various elements, components, units / portions, and / or modules in the wireless devices 100 and 200 may be connected to each other through a wired interface or at least a part thereof may be wirelessly connected through the communication unit 110. For example, in each of the wireless devices 100 and 200, the control unit 120 and the communication unit 110 may be connected by wire and the control unit 120 and first units (e.g., 130 and 140) may be wirelessly connected through the communication unit 110. Each element, component, unit / portion, and / or module within the wireless devices 100 and 200 may further include one or more elements. For example, the control unit 120 may be configured by a set of one or more processors. As an example, the control unit 120 may be configured by a set of a communication control processor, an application processor (AP), an electronic control unit (ECU), a graphical processing unit, and a memory control processor. As another example, the memory 130 may be configured by a RAM, a DRAM, a ROM, a flash memory, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, and / or a combination thereof.

[0087] FIG. 4 shows another example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0088] Referring to FIG. 4, wireless devices 100 and 200 may correspond to the wireless devices 100 and 200 of FIG. 2 and may be configured by various elements, components, units / portions, and / or modules.

[0089] The first wireless device 100 may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver 106, and at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip 101. The processing chip 101 may include at least one processor, such a processor 102, and at least one memory, such as a memory 104. 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 software code 105 which implements 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 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 software code 105 may control the processor 102 to perform one or more protocols. For example, the software code 105 may control the processor 102 may perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

[0090] The second wireless device 200 may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver 206, and at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip 201. The processing chip 201 may include at least one processor, such a processor 202, and at least one memory, such as a memory 204. 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 software code 205 which implements 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 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 software code 205 may control the processor 202 to perform one or more protocols. For example, the software code 205 may control the processor 202 may perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

[0091] FIG. 5 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0092] Referring to FIG. 5, a UE 100 may correspond to the first wireless device 100 of FIG. 2 and / or the first wireless device 100 of FIG. 4.

[0093] A UE 100 includes a processor 102, a memory 104, a transceiver 106, one or more antennas 108, a power management module 110, a battery 1112, a display 114, a keypad 116, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card 118, a speaker 120, and a microphone 122.

[0094] The processor 102 may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The processor 102 may be configured 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 a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (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.

[0095] 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.

[0096] 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.

[0097] The power management module 110 manages power for the processor 102 and / or the transceiver 106. The battery 112 supplies power to the power management module 110.

[0098] The display 114 outputs results processed by the processor 102. The keypad 116 receives inputs to be used by the processor 102. The keypad 16 may be shown on the display 114.

[0099] The SIM card 118 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.

[0100] The speaker 120 outputs sound-related results processed by the processor 102. The microphone 122 receives sound-related inputs to be used by the processor 102.

[0101] FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0102] In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a radio interface user plane protocol stack between a UE and a BS and FIG. 7 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. 6, the user plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (i.e., a PHY layer) and Layer 2. Referring to FIG. 7, the control plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (i.e., a PHY layer), Layer 2, Layer 3 (e.g., 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).

[0103] 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.

[0104] 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.

[0105] 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.

[0106] 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).

[0107] 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.

[0108] 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.

[0109] 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.

[0110] FIG. 8 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0111] The frame structure shown in FIG. 8 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).

[0112] Referring to FIG. 8, 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 △f = 2u*15 kHz.

[0113] Table 1 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 △f = 2u*15 kHz.

[0114] uNslotsymbNframe,uslotNsubframe,uslot01410111420221440431480841416016

[0115] Table 2 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 △f = 2u*15 kHz.

[0116] uNslotsymbNframe,uslotNsubframe,uslot212404

[0117] 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.

[0118] 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.

[0119] The NR frequency band may be defined as two types of frequency range, i.e., FR1 and 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 3 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).

[0120] Frequency Range designationCorresponding frequency rangeSubcarrier SpacingFR1450MHz - 6000MHz15, 30, 60kHzFR224250MHz - 52600MHz60, 120, 240kHz

[0121] 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 4 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).

[0122] Frequency Range designationCorresponding frequency rangeSubcarrier SpacingFR1410MHz - 7125MHz15, 30, 60kHzFR224250MHz - 52600MHz60, 120, 240kHz

[0123] 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.

[0124] 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.

[0125] FIG. 9 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0126] Referring to FIG. 9, "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.

[0127] In the PHY layer, the uplink transport channels UL-SCH and RACH are mapped to their physical channels PUSCH and PRACH, respectively, and the downlink transport channels DL-SCH, BCH and PCH are mapped to PDSCH, PBCH and PDSCH, respectively. In the PHY layer, uplink control information (UCI) is mapped to PUCCH, and downlink control information (DCI) is mapped to 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.

[0128] Hereinafter, technical features related to Network Energy Saving (On-demand SSB) are described.

[0129] Network energy saving is of great importance for environmental sustainability, to reduce environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions), and for operational cost savings. As 5G is becoming pervasive across industries and geographical areas, handling more advanced services and applications requiring very high data rates (e.g. XR), networks are being denser, use more antennas, larger bandwidths and more frequency bands. The environmental impact of 5G needs to stay under control, and novel solutions to improve network energy savings need to be developed.

[0130] Energy consumption has become a key part of the operators' OPEX. According to the report from GSMA, the energy cost on mobile networks accounts for ~23% of the total operator cost. Most of the energy consumption comes from the radio access network and in particular from the Active Antenna Unit (AAU), with data centres and fibre transport accounting for a smaller share. The power consumption of a radio access can be split into two parts: the dynamic part which is only consumed when data transmission / reception is ongoing, and the static part which is consumed all the time to maintain the necessary operation of the radio access devices, even when the data transmission / reception is not on-going.

[0131] During the study in the SI phase, the network energy consumption model for the base station (BS) was defined including the reference configurations for FR1 TDD / FDD and FR2, the deep / light / micro sleep power states with corresponding relative power, transition time and energy consumption among different power states based on two types of BS categories, and the scaling rules for the active DL / UL power states considering BS power split by a static part of power and a dynamic part of power with the latter part reflecting the dynamic power consumption with respect to transmission / reception resource configurations in time, frequency, spatial and power domains. In addition, evaluation methodology and assumptions were achieved to study and evaluate the network energy saving gains for potential techniques with respect to other KPI including UPT, access delay, UE power consumption, etc.

[0132] Based on the agreed BS energy consumption model, and the evaluation methodology and assumptions, potential network energy saving techniques in various domains were evaluated with respect to the energy saving gains and the corresponding performance impact considering the above KPIs. The studied techniques are classified into time, frequency, spatial and power domains, and the technical descriptions as well as the legacy UE and specification impacts are summarized in the technical report. The techniques in time and frequency domains mainly aim to reduce the power consumption for dynamic part by trying to shutdown more symbols on one or more carriers to achieve BS micro sleep, and even the static power part by enlarging the interval between the contiguous active transmission / reception occasions to achieve BS light / deep sleep. The techniques in spatial and power domains mainly aim to reduce the power consumption of the TRX chains and PAs by trying to shutdown more spatial elements and / or reduce transmission power / power spectrum density, or increase the PA efficiency. Some of the studied techniques are beneficial for network energy savings.

[0133] The Rel-18 work item on network energy savings for NR led to the specification of some of the techniques that were found beneficial in the study, primarily for RRC Connected, user specific signals and channels, and low load scenarios. The techniques specified in Rel-18 include SSB-less SCell operation for inter-band CA for FR1 and co-located cells, enhancement on cell DTX / DRX mechanism including the alignment of cell DTX / DRX and UE DRX in RRC_CONNECTED mode, inter-node information exchange on cell DTX / DRX, techniques in spatial and power domains to enable efficient adaptation of spatial elements as well as efficient adaptation of power offset values between PDSCH and CSI-RS, as well as mechanisms to prevent legacy UEs camping on cells adopting the Rel-18 NES techniques, CHO procedure enhancement(s), and inter-node beam activation and enhancements on restricting paging in a limited area, and the corresponding RRM / RF core requirements.

[0134] Some other techniques also found to be beneficial in the study were not yet specified in Rel-18. This Rel-19 work item aims to specify further network energy savings targeting the beneficial techniques studied in Rel-18, but yet unspecified, including on-demand SSB and on-demand SIB1 transmissions, as well as adaptation of common signal / channel transmissions.

[0135] The objectives of the work item are the following:

[0136] 1. Specify procedures and signaling method(s) to support on-demand SSB SCell operation for UEs in connected mode configured with CA, for both intra- / inter-band CA. [RAN1 / 2 / 3 / 4]

[0137] Specify triggering method(s) (select from UE uplink wake-up-signal using an existing signal / channel, cell on / off indication via backhaul, Scell activation / deactivation signaling)

[0138] Note1: On-demand SSB transmission can be used by UE for at least SCell time / frequency synchronization, L1 / L3 measurements and SCell activation, and is supported for FR1 and FR2 in non-shared spectrum.

[0139] 2. Study procedures and signaling method(s) to support on-demand SIB1 for UEs in idle / inactive mode, including: [RAN1 / 2 / 3]

[0140] Triggering method by uplink wake-up-signal using an existing signal / channel.

[0141] Wake-up-signal configuration provisioning to UE

[0142] Information exchange between gNBs at least for the configuration of wake-up signal, if necessary.

[0143] Specify adaptation of common signal / channel transmissions. [RAN1 / 2 / 3 / 4]

[0144] Adaptation of SSB in time domain, e.g. adapting periodicity

[0145] Adaptation of PRACH in time domain

[0146] 3. Study adaptation of PRACH in spatial domain, e.g. non-uniform PRACH resources per SSB, and specify if found beneficial

[0147] Adaptation of paging occasions including confining the paging occasions in the time domain

[0148] 4. Specify the corresponding core requirements, for the above features [RAN4].

[0149] Hereinafter, technical features related to synchronization signal and PBCH block, SSB based measurements are described. Sections of 3GPP TS 38.300 v17.6.0 may be referred.

[0150] Synchronization signal andPBCHblock

[0151] FIG. 10 shows an example of time-frequency structure of SSB.

[0152] The Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) consists of primary and secondary synchronization signals (PSS, SSS), each occupying 1 symbol and 127 subcarriers, and PBCH spanning across 3 OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers, but on one symbol leaving an unused part in the middle for SSS as shown in FIG. 10. The possible time locations of SSBs within a half-frame are determined by sub-carrier spacing and the periodicity of the half-frames where SSBs are transmitted is configured by the network. During a half-frame, different SSBs may be transmitted in different spatial directions (i.e. using different beams, spanning the coverage area of a cell).

[0153] Within the frequency span of a carrier, multiple SSBs can be transmitted. The PCIs of SSBs transmitted in different frequency locations do not have to be unique, i.e. different SSBs in the frequency domain can have different PCIs. However, when an SSB is associated with an RMSI, the SSB is referred to as a Cell-Defining SSB (CD-SSB). A PCell is always associated to a CD-SSB located on the synchronization raster.

[0154] Polar coding is used for PBCH.

[0155] The UE may assume a band-specific sub-carrier spacing for the SSB unless a network has configured the UE to assume a different sub-carrier spacing.

[0156] PBCH symbols carry its own frequency-multiplexed DMRS.

[0157] QPSK modulation is used for PBCH.

[0158] Measurements

[0159] In RRC_CONNECTED, the UE measures multiple beams (at least one) of a cell and the measurements results (power values) are averaged to derive the cell quality. In doing so, the UE is configured to consider a subset of the detected beams. Filtering takes place at two different levels: at the physical layer to derive beam quality and then at RRC level to derive cell quality from multiple beams. Cell quality from beam measurements is derived in the same way for the serving cell(s) and for the non-serving cell(s). Measurement reports may contain the measurement results of theXbest beams if the UE is configured to do so by the gNB.

[0160] The corresponding high-level measurement model is described in FIG. 11.

[0161] FIG. 11 shows an example of Measurement Model.

[0162] For example, K beams correspond to the measurements on SSB or CSI-RS resources configured for L3 mobility by gNB and detected by UE at L1.

[0163] -A: measurements (beam specific samples) internal to the physical layer.

[0164] -Layer 1 filtering: internal layer 1 filtering of the inputs measured at point A. Exact filtering is implementation dependent. How the measurements are actually executed in the physical layer by an implementation (inputs A and Layer 1 filtering) is not constrained by the standard.

[0165] -A1: measurements (i.e. beam specific measurements) reported by layer 1 to layer 3 after layer 1 filtering.

[0166] - Beam Consolidation / Selection: beam specific measurements are consolidated to derive cell quality. The behaviour of the Beam consolidation / selection is standardised and the configuration of this module is provided by RRC signalling. Reporting period at B equals one measurement period at A1.

[0167] - B: a measurement (i.e. cell quality) derived from beam-specific measurements reported to layer 3 after beam consolidation / selection.

[0168] -Layer 3 filtering for cell quality: filtering performed on the measurements provided at point B. The behaviour of the Layer 3 filters is standardised and the configuration of the layer 3 filters is provided by RRC signalling. Filtering reporting period at C equals one measurement period at B.

[0169] -C: a measurement after processing in the layer 3 filter. The reporting rate is identical to the reporting rate at point B. This measurement is used as input for one or more evaluation of reporting criteria.

[0170] -Evaluation of reporting criteria: checks whether actual measurement reporting is necessary at point D. The evaluation can be based on more than one flow of measurements at reference point C e.g. to compare between different measurements. This is illustrated by input C and C1. The UE shall evaluate the reporting criteria at least every time a new measurement result is reported at point C, C1. The reporting criteria are standardised and the configuration is provided by RRC signalling (UE measurements).

[0171] -D: measurement report information (message) sent on the radio interface.

[0172] -L3 Beam filtering: filtering performed on the measurements (i.e. beam specific measurements) provided at point A1. The behaviour of the beam filters is standardised and the configuration of the beam filters is provided by RRC signalling. Filtering reporting period at E equals one measurement period at A1.

[0173] -E: a measurement (i.e. beam-specific measurement) after processing in the beam filter. The reporting rate is identical to the reporting rate at point A1. This measurement is used as input for selecting the X measurements to be reported.

[0174] -Beam Selection for beam reporting: selects the X measurements from the measurements provided at point E. The behaviour of the beam selection is standardised and the configuration of this module is provided by RRC signalling.

[0175] -F: beam measurement information included in measurement report (sent) on the radio interface.

[0176] Layer 1 filtering introduces a certain level of measurement averaging. How and when the UE exactly performs the required measurements is implementation specific to the point that the output at B fulfils the performance requirements set. Layer 3 filtering for cell quality and related parameters used are specified and do not introduce any delay in the sample availability between B and C. Measurement at point C, C1is the input used in the event evaluation. L3 Beam filtering and related parameters used are specified and do not introduce any delay in the sample availability between E and F.

[0177] Measurement reports are characterized by the following:

[0178] - Measurement reports include the measurement identity of the associated measurement configuration that triggered the reporting;

[0179] - Cell and beam measurement quantities to be included in measurement reports are configured by the network;

[0180] - The number of non-serving cells to be reported can be limited through configuration by the network;

[0181] - Cells belonging to an exclude-list configured by the network are not used in event evaluation and reporting, and conversely when an allow-list is configured by the network, only the cells belonging to the allow-list are used in event evaluation and reporting;

[0182] - Beam measurements to be included in measurement reports are configured by the network (beam identifier only, measurement result and beam identifier, or no beam reporting).

[0183] Intra-frequency neighbour (cell) measurements and inter-frequency neighbour (cell) measurements are defined as follows:

[0184] - SSB based intra-frequency measurement: a measurement is defined as an SSB based intra-frequency measurement provided the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the center frequency of the SSB of the neighbour cell are the same, and the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs is also the same.

[0185] - SSB based inter-frequency measurement: a measurement is defined as an SSB based inter-frequency measurement provided the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the center frequency of the SSB of the neighbour cell are different, or the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs is different.

[0186] - CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement: a measurement is defined as a CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement provided that:

[0187] - The subcarrier spacing of CSI-RS resources on the neighbour cell configured for measurement is the same as the SCS of CSI-RS resources on the serving cell indicated for measurement; and

[0188] - For 60kHz subcarrier spacing, the CP type of CSI-RS resources on the neighbour cell configured for measurement is the same as the CP type of CSI-RS resources on the serving cell indicated for measurement; and

[0189] - The centre frequency of CSI-RS resources on the neighbour cell configured for measurement is the same as the centre frequency of CSI-RS resource on the serving cell indicated for measurement.

[0190] - CSI-RS based inter-frequency measurement: a measurement is defined as a CSI-RS based inter-frequency measurement if it is not a CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement.

[0191] Whether a measurement is non-gap-assisted or gap-assisted depends on the capability of the UE, the active BWP of the UE and the current operating frequency:

[0192] - For SSB based inter-frequency measurement, if the measurement gap requirement information is reported by the UE, a measurement gap configuration may be provided according to the information. Otherwise, a measurement gap configuration is always provided in the following cases:

[0193] - If the UE only supports per-UE measurement gaps;

[0194] - If the UE supports per-FR measurement gaps and any of the serving cells are in the same frequency range of the measurement object.

[0195] - For SSB based intra-frequency measurement, if the measurement gap requirement information is reported by the UE, a measurement gap configuration may be provided according to the information. Otherwise, a measurement gap configuration is always provided in the following case:

[0196] - Other than the initial BWP, if any of the UE or RedCap UE configured BWPs do not contain the frequency domain resources of the SSB associated to the initial DL BWP, and for RedCap UE, are not configured with NCD-SSB for serving cell measurement.

[0197] In non-gap-assisted scenarios, the UE shall be able to carry out such measurements without measurement gaps. In gap-assisted scenarios, the UE cannot be assumed to be able to carry out such measurements without measurement gaps.

[0198] Network may request the UE to measure NR and / or E-UTRA carriers in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE via system information or via dedicated measurement configuration inRRCRelease. If the UE was configured to perform measurements of NR and / or E-UTRA carriers while in RRC_IDLE or in RRC_INACTIVE, it may provide an indication of the availability of corresponding measurement results to the gNB in theRRCSetupCompletemessage. The network may request the UE to report those measurements after security activation. The request for the measurements can be sent by the network immediately after transmitting the Security Mode Command (i.e. before the reception of the Security Mode Complete from the UE).

[0199] If the UE was configured to perform measurements of NR and / or E-UTRA carriers while in RRC_INACTIVE, the gNB can request the UE to provide corresponding measurement results in theRRCResumemessage and then the UE can include the available measurement results in theRRCResumeCompletemessage. Alternatively, the UE may provide an indication of the availability of the measurement results to the gNB in theRRCResumeCompletemessage and the gNB can then request the UE to provide these measurement results.

[0200] Meanwhile, network can transmit Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) in on-demand manner to reduce the power consumption required for SSB transmission. For example, network does not periodically transmit SSB and transmit it only when the SSB transmission is required by UE.

[0201] The amount of SSB that needs to be transmitted can be difference depending on the UE capability, the use of SSB, for example, measurement, synchronization, or SCell activation, or link quality between the network and the UE.

[0202] However, the network does not know how many SSBs the UE which requested the SSB transmission wants to be transmitted, so it would transmit more SSB than necessary to ensure the UE reliably achieve its purpose of SSB request. This reduces the NES gain achievable through on-demand SSB transmission.

[0203] Therefore, studies for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission are required.

[0204] Hereinafter, a method for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described with reference to the following drawings.

[0205] The following drawings are created to explain specific embodiments of the present disclosure. The names of the specific devices or the names of the specific signals / messages / fields shown in the drawings are provided by way of example, and thus the technical features of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific names used in the following drawings. Herein, a wireless device may be referred to as a user equipment (UE).

[0206] FIG. 12 shows an example of a method for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0207] In particular, FIG. 12 shows an example of a method performed by a wireless device in a wireless communication system.

[0208] In step S1201, the wireless device may receive, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission.

[0209] For example, the configuration may include at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0210] For example, the wireless device may initiate transmission of the request for the SSB transmission of the cell, based on determining that the at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell is satisfied.

[0211] In step S1202, the wireless device may transmit, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell.

[0212] For example, the wireless device may determine whether the SSB transmission of the cell is needed or not. For example, the wireless device may determine whether SSB based operations are needed or not. For example, the SSB based operations may include (i) SSB based measurements, (ii) SSB based synchronization and / or (iii) SSB based SCell activation.

[0213] For example, the request of SSB transmission from the cell may be included in a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium　access control　(MAC) control element (CE), or a layer-1 (L1) signal. For example, the wireless device may transmit an RRC message, a MAC CE, or an L1 signal including the request for SSB transmission of the cell.

[0214] For example, the request of the SSB transmission from the cell may include information related to a cell index of the cell. For example, the request of the SSB transmission may indicate the cell.

[0215] In step S1203, the wireless device may receive the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0216] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell may be initiated based on the request for the SSB transmission of the cell. For example, the network may start the SSB transmission upon receiving the request of the SSB transmission.

[0217] In step S1204, the wireless device may transmit, to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0218] For example, the wireless device may perform time synchronization and / or frequency synchronization based on SSB received from the cell.

[0219] For example, the wireless device may perform layer-1 (L1) measurements and / or layer-3 (L3) measurements based on SSB received from the cell. For example, the wireless device may perform activation of the cell based on the L1 measurements and / or the L3 measurements. For example, the cell may be a secondary cell. For example, the wireless device may perform activation of the secondary cell based on SSB based L1 measurements and / or L3 measurements.

[0220] For example, the wireless device may transmit, to the network, information related to the usage of the SSB transmission along with the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0221] For example, the wireless device may transmit, to the network, information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed.

[0222] For example, the wireless device may transmit, to the network, information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed along with information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0223] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell may be initiated based on the request for the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0224] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell may be paused based on the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell. For example, the network may stop the SSB transmission upon receiving the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0225] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless device may be in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the wireless device.

[0226] Hereinafter, technical features related to UE report for on-demand SSB transmission are described.

[0227] If the UE completes its usage of SSB, e.g., SSB based measurements, SSB based synchronization, or SCell activation, transmitted from a cell in on-demand manner, it informs the network that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0228] On-demandSSBconfiguration

[0229] When the UE is configured with an SCell supporting the on-demand SSB transmission, the network notifies the UE that SSB is transmitted from the SCell in on-demand manner. If the UE determines SSB needs to be transmitted from the SCell, e.g., for SSB based measurements, SSB based synchronization, or SCell activation, it transmits the SSB request to the network.

[0230] SSBrequest

[0231] UE requests SSB transmission of a frequency / cell from network, e.g., via RRC message, MCA CE, or L1 signal.

[0232] When UE requests SSB transmission from network, it indicates the frequency / cell for which it is requesting the SSB transmission. For example, when UE requests SSB transmission for an SCell, the UE informs network of the serving cell index of the SCell, downlink frequency of the SCell, or measurement object ID associated with the SCell.

[0233] UE may request SSB transmission for more than one frequency / SCell at once.

[0234] If the frequency / cell for which UE wants SSB transmission belongs to MCG, UE requests SSB transmission from MCG, e.g., via MCG RRC, or MCG MAC CE. If the frequency / cell for which UE wants SSB transmission belongs to SCG, UE requests SSB transmission from SCG, e.g., via SCG RRC, or SCG MAC CE.

[0235] UE requests SSB transmission for an SCell supporting the on-demand SSB transmission if a condition of SSB request is met regardless of whether SSB is being broadcast or not from the SCell. That is, though SSB is being transmitted, e.g. due to the request from another UE, if an UE wants to receive from the SCell, it requests SSB transmission for the SCell from the network. If not, the network does not know the UE is using the SSB and may stop SSB transmission as soon as another UE which transmitted the SSB request notifies the network that SSB no longer needs to be transmitted.

[0236] Condition ofSSBtransmission request

[0237] UE can receive conditions from network that determine when it should request SSB transmission. When the condition configured by network is met, UE initiates SSB transmission request.

[0238] UE can determine whether SSB based L1 / L3 measurements need to be performed for a frequency / cell for which SSB is transmitted in on-demand manner, and requests SSB transmission when the SSB based L1 / L3 measurements need to be performed for the frequency / cell.

[0239] UE can determine whether time / frequency synchronization needs to be performed for a frequency / cell for which SSB is transmitted in on-demand manner, UE may request SSB transmission when time / frequency synchronization needs to be performed for the frequency / cell.

[0240] Expected networkbehaviour

[0241] The network can determine whether to stop or keep the SSB transmission based on the notification UE has completed the usage of SSB. For example, the network stops SSB transmission for a cell, if all UEs which requested SSB transmission for the cell have notified of completion of usage of SSB for the cell.

[0242] FIG. 13 shows an example of a method for UE report for on-demand SSB transmission.

[0243] In particular, FIG. 13 shows an example of a method performed by UE in a wireless communication system.

[0244] In step S1301, the UE receives SCell configuration which indicates that SSB from SCell #3 is transmitted in on-demand manner.

[0245] In step S1302, the UE determines whether SSB is needed for an SCell.

[0246] In step S1303, the UE determines that SSB needs to be transmitted from SCell #3 for synchronization, and requests SSB transmission for SCell#3. The network stops SSB transmission of SCell#3 upon reception of the SSB request.

[0247] In step S1304, the network starts SSB transmission of SCell#3.

[0248] In step S1305, the UE performs synchronization using the SSB transmitted by SCell#3.

[0249] In step S1306, upon completion of the synchronization using the SSB, UE notifies the network of the completion of usage of SSB.

[0250] In step S1307, the network stops SSB transmission from SCell#3.

[0251] FIG. 14 shows an example of a method for UE report for on-demand SSB transmission.

[0252] In particular, FIG. 14 shows an example of a method performed by a wireless device in a wireless communication system.

[0253] In step S1401, the wireless device may request SSB transmission of a cell from network.

[0254] In step S1402, the wireless device may perform measurements of synchronization using the SSB transmitted by the cell.

[0255] In step S1403, the wireless device may inform network that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell upon completion of the measurements of synchronization.

[0256] Some of the detailed steps shown in the examples of FIGS. 12 - 14 may not be essential steps and may be omitted. In addition to the steps shown in FIGS. 12 - 14, other steps may be added, and the order of the steps may vary. Some of the above steps may have their own technical meaning.

[0257] Hereinafter, an apparatus for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described. Herein, the apparatus may be a wireless device (100 or 200) in FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 10.

[0258] For example, a wireless device may perform methods described above. The detailed description overlapping with the above-described contents could be simplified or omitted.

[0259] Referring to FIG. 5, a wireless device 100 may include a processor 102, a memory 104, and a transceiver 106.

[0260] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 102 may be configured to be coupled operably with the memory 104 and the transceiver 106.

[0261] For example, the wireless device may include at least one transceiver, at least one processor, and at least one 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.

[0262] The operations comprise: receiving, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission; transmitting, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell; receiving the SSB transmission of the cell; and transmitting, by the wireless device to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0263] For example, the configuration may include at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0264] For example, the operations further comprises: initiating transmission of the request for the SSB transmission of the cell, based on determining that the at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell is satisfied.

[0265] For example, the operations further comprises: determining whether the SSB transmission of the cell is needed or not.

[0266] For example, the request of SSB transmission from the cell is included in a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium　access control　(MAC) control element (CE), or a layer-1 (L1) signal.

[0267] For example, the request of the SSB transmission from the cell includes information related to a cell index of the cell.

[0268] For example, the operations further comprises: performing time synchronization and / or frequency synchronization based on SSB received from the cell.

[0269] For example, the operations further comprises: performing layer-1 (L1) measurements and / or layer-3 (L3) measurements based on SSB received from the cell.

[0270] For example, the operations further comprises: performing activation of the cell based on the L1 measurements and / or the L3 measurements. For example, the cell is a secondary cell.

[0271] For example, the operations further comprises: transmitting, to the network, information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed.

[0272] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell is initiated based on the request for the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0273] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell is paused based on the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0274] For example, the processor may be adapted to be in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the wireless device.

[0275] Hereinafter, a processor for a wireless device for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described.

[0276] The processor may be adapted to control the wireless device to perform operations.

[0277] The operations comprise: receiving, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission; transmitting, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell; receiving the SSB transmission of the cell; and transmitting, by the wireless device to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0278] For example, the configuration may include at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0279] For example, the operations further comprises: initiating transmission of the request for the SSB transmission of the cell, based on determining that the at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell is satisfied.

[0280] For example, the operations further comprises: determining whether the SSB transmission of the cell is needed or not.

[0281] For example, the request of SSB transmission from the cell is included in a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium　access control　(MAC) control element (CE), or a layer-1 (L1) signal.

[0282] For example, the request of the SSB transmission from the cell includes information related to a cell index of the cell.

[0283] For example, the operations further comprises: performing time synchronization and / or frequency synchronization based on SSB received from the cell.

[0284] For example, the operations further comprises: performing layer-1 (L1) measurements and / or layer-3 (L3) measurements based on SSB received from the cell.

[0285] For example, the operations further comprises: performing activation of the cell based on the L1 measurements and / or the L3 measurements. For example, the cell is a secondary cell.

[0286] For example, the operations further comprises: transmitting, to the network, information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed.

[0287] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell is initiated based on the request for the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0288] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell is paused based on the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0289] For example, the processor may be adapted to control the wireless device to be in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the wireless device.

[0290] Hereinafter, a non-transitory computer-readable medium has stored thereon a plurality of instructions for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described.

[0291] According to some embodiment of the present disclosure, the technical features of the present disclosure could be embodied directly in hardware, in a software executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. For example, a method performed by a wireless device in a wireless communication may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. For example, a software may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other storage medium.

[0292] Some example of storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. For another example, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components.

[0293] The computer-readable medium may include a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

[0294] For example, non-transitory computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM) such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FLASH memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, or any other medium that can be used to store instructions or data structures. Non-transitory computer-readable media may also include combinations of the above.

[0295] In addition, the method described herein may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or communicates code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and / or executed by a computer.

[0296] According to some embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium has stored thereon a plurality of instructions. The stored a plurality of instructions may be executed by a processor of a wireless device. The stored a plurality of instructions may cause the wireless device to perform operations.

[0297] The operations comprise: receiving, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission; transmitting, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell; receiving the SSB transmission of the cell; and transmitting, by the wireless device to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0298] For example, the configuration may include at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0299] For example, the operations further comprises: initiating transmission of the request for the SSB transmission of the cell, based on determining that the at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell is satisfied.

[0300] For example, the operations further comprises: determining whether the SSB transmission of the cell is needed or not.

[0301] For example, the request of SSB transmission from the cell is included in a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium　access control　(MAC) control element (CE), or a layer-1 (L1) signal.

[0302] For example, the request of the SSB transmission from the cell includes information related to a cell index of the cell.

[0303] For example, the operations further comprises: performing time synchronization and / or frequency synchronization based on SSB received from the cell.

[0304] For example, the operations further comprises: performing layer-1 (L1) measurements and / or layer-3 (L3) measurements based on SSB received from the cell.

[0305] For example, the operations further comprises: performing activation of the cell based on the L1 measurements and / or the L3 measurements. For example, the cell is a secondary cell.

[0306] For example, the operations further comprises: transmitting, to the network, information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed.

[0307] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell is initiated based on the request for the SSB transmission of the cell.

[0308] For example, the SSB transmission of the cell is paused based on the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.

[0309] For example, the stored a plurality of instructions may cause the wireless device to be in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the wireless device.

[0310] Hereinafter, a method performed by a base station (BS) for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described.

[0311] The method comprises: receiving, by the base station from the wireless device, a request for SSB transmission of the cell; broadcasting, by the base station, SSB transmission of the cell; receiving, by the base station from the wireless device, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell; and stopping, by the base station, broadcasting SSB transmission of the cell.

[0312] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described.

[0313] The BS may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor operatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory.

[0314] The processor may be adapted to perform operations. The operations comprises: transmitting, to a wireless device, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission; receiving, from the wireless device, a request for SSB transmission of the cell; broadcasting SSB transmission of the cell; receiving, from the wireless device, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell; and stopping broadcasting SSB transmission of the cell.

[0315] The present disclosure can have various advantageous effects.

[0316] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless device could efficiently report information related to the on-demand SSB transmission.

[0317] For example, network can stop SSB transmission as soon as UE stops using the SSB, and the network energy saving achievable through on-demand SSB transmission can be maximized.

[0318] For example, since the UE reports information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed, the network could save resources for SSB transmission.

[0319] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system could provide an efficient solution for reporting for on-demand reference signal transmission.

[0320] 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.

[0321] 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:receiving, by a wireless device from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission;transmitting, by the wireless device to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell;receiving, by the wireless device, the SSB transmission of the cell; andtransmitting, by the wireless device to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.2.The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration includes at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell.3.The method of claim 2,initiating, by the wireless device, transmission of the request for the SSB transmission of the cell, based on determining that the at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell is satisfied.4.The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprising:determining, by the wireless device, whether the SSB transmission of the cell is needed or not.5.The method of claim 1,wherein the request of SSB transmission from the cell is included in a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium　access control　(MAC) control element (CE), or a layer-1 (L1) signal.6.The method of claim 1,wherein the request of the SSB transmission from the cell includes information related to a cell index of the cell.7.The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprising:performing, by the wireless device, time synchronization and / or frequency synchronization based on SSB received from the cell.8.The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprising:performing, by the wireless device, layer-1 (L1) measurements and / or layer-3 (L3) measurements based on SSB received from the cell.9.The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprising:performing, by the wireless device, activation of the cell based on the L1 measurements and / or the L3 measurements.10.The method of claim 9,wherein the cell is a secondary cell.11.The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprising:transmitting, by the wireless device to the network, information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed.12.The method of claim 1,wherein the SSB transmission of the cell is initiated based on the request for the SSB transmission of the cell.13.The method of claim 12,wherein the SSB transmission of the cell is paused based on the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.14.The method of claim 1,wherein the wireless device is in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the wireless device.15.A wireless device, comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor; andat least one 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 comprising:receiving, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission;transmitting, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell;receiving the SSB transmission of the cell; andtransmitting, to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.16.The wireless device of claim 15,wherein the configuration includes at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell.17.The wireless device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprising:initiating transmission of the request for the SSB transmission of the cell, based on determining that the at least one condition for requesting the SSB transmission of the cell is satisfied.18.The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprising:determining whether the SSB transmission of the cell is needed or not.19.The wireless device of claim 15,wherein the request of SSB transmission from the cell is included in a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium　access control　(MAC) control element (CE), or a layer-1 (L1) signal.20.The wireless device of claim 15,wherein the request of the SSB transmission from the cell includes information related to a cell index of the cell.21.The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprising:performing time synchronization and / or frequency synchronization based on SSB received from the cell.22.The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprising:performing layer-1 (L1) measurements and / or layer-3 (L3) measurements based on SSB received from the cell.23.The wireless device of claim 22, wherein the operations further comprising:performing activation of the cell based on the L1 measurements and / or the L3 measurements.24.The wireless device of claim 23,wherein the cell is a secondary cell.25.The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprising:transmitting, to the network, information informing that usage of the SSB transmission of the cell is completed.26.The wireless device of claim 15,wherein the SSB transmission of the cell is initiated based on the request for the SSB transmission of the cell.27.The wireless device of claim 26,wherein the SSB transmission of the cell is paused based on the information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.28.The wireless device of claim 15,wherein the wireless device is in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the wireless device.29.A processor for a wireless device in a wireless communication system, wherein the processor is adapted to control the wireless device to perform operations comprising:receiving, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission;transmitting, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell;receiving the SSB transmission of the cell; andtransmitting, to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.30.A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, which, when executed by a processor of a wireless device, cause the wireless device to perform operations, the operations comprising:receiving, from a network, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission;transmitting, to the network, a request for SSB transmission of the cell;receiving the SSB transmission of the cell; andtransmitting, to the network, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell.31.A method, the method comprising,transmitting, by a base station to a wireless device, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission;receiving, by the base station from the wireless device, a request for SSB transmission of the cell;broadcasting, by the base station, SSB transmission of the cell;receiving, by the base station from the wireless device, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell; andstopping, by the base station, broadcasting SSB transmission of the cell.32.A base station, comprising:a transceiver;a memory; andat least one processor operatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, and adapted to perform operations, the operations comprising:transmitting, to a wireless device, a configuration including information informing that a cell supports on-demand Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmission;receiving, from the wireless device, a request for SSB transmission of the cell;broadcasting SSB transmission of the cell;receiving, from the wireless device, information informing that there is no longer a need for further SSB transmission from the cell; andstopping broadcasting SSB transmission of the cell.

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