Unaffected band in uplink transmit switching

Abstract

A wireless device transmits one or more parameters, of a capability of uplink transmit antenna switching of the wireless device, comprising a parameter indicating support of an uplink transmission with a plurality of antenna ports on a first band during uplink transmit antenna switching between a second band and a third band. The wireless device transmits the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the uplink transmit antenna switching between the second band and the third band.

Description

TITLEUnaffected Band in Uplink Transmit Switching CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 571,228, filed March 28, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the drawings.

[0003] FIG. 1A and FIG 1 B illustrate example mobile communication networks in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0004] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrate a New Radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol stack.

[0005] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A.

[0006] FIG. 4A illustrates an example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A.

[0007] FIG. 4B illustrates an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU.

[0008] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B respectively illustrate a mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels for the downlink and uplink.

[0009] FIG. 6 is an example diagram showing RRC state transitions of a UE.

[0010] FIG. 7 illustrates an example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped.

[0011] FIG. 8 illustrates an example configuration of a slot in the time and frequency domain for an NR carrier.

[0012] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier.

[0013] FIG. 10A illustrates three carrier aggregation configurations with two component carriers.

[0014] FIG. 10B illustrates an example of how aggregated cells may be configured into one or more PUCCH groups.

[0015] FIG. 11A illustrates an example of an SS / PBCH block structure and location.

[0016] FIG. 11 B illustrates an example of CSI-RSs that are mapped in the time and frequency domains.

[0017] FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B respectively illustrate examples of three downlink and uplink beam management procedures.

[0018] FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, and FIG. 13C respectively illustrate a four-step contention-based random access procedure, a two-step contention-free random access procedure, and another two-step random access procedure.

[0019] FIG. 14A illustrates an example of CORESET configurations for a bandwidth part.

[0020] FIG. 14B illustrates an example of a CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on a CORESET and PDCCH processing.

[0021] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device in communication with a base station.

[0022] FIG. 16A, FIG. 16B, FIG. 16C, and FIG. 16D illustrate example structures for uplink and downlink transmission.

[0023] FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 19A, FIG. 19B, and FIG. 19C illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 20 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 21A and FIG. 21 B illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 22A, FIG. 22B, and FIG. 22C illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 23 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 25A, FIG. 25B, and FIG. 25C illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 26 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 27 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 28 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 29 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 30A and FIG. 30B illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 31 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 32 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 33 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 34 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 35 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 36 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 37 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 38 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 39 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] In the present disclosure, various embodiments are presented as examples of how the disclosed techniques may be implemented and / or how the disclosed techniques may be practiced in environments and scenarios. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the scope. In fact, after reading the description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art how to implement alternative embodiments. The present embodiments should not be limited by any of the described exemplary embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Limitations, features, and / or elements from the disclosed example embodiments may be combined to create further embodiments within the scope of the disclosure. Any figures which highlight the functionalityand advantages, are presented for example purposes only. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than that shown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may be re-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

[0047] Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosed mechanism may be performed when certain criteria are met, for example, in a wireless device, a base station, a radio environment, a network, a combination of the above, and / or the like. Example criteria may be based, at least in part, on for example, wireless device or network node configurations, traffic load, initial system set up, packet sizes, traffic characteristics, a combination of the above, and / or the like. When the one or more criteria are met, various example embodiments may be applied. Therefore, it may be possible to implement example embodiments that selectively implement disclosed protocols.

[0048] A base station may communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wireless devices and / or base stations may support multiple technologies, and / or multiple releases of the same technology. Wireless devices may have some specific capabili ty(ies) depending on wireless device category and / or capability(ies). When this disclosure refers to a base station communicating with a plurality of wireless devices, this disclosure may refer to a subset of the total wireless devices in a coverage area. This disclosure may refer to, for example, a plurality of wireless devices of a given LTE or 5G release with a given capability and in a given sector of the base station. The plurality of wireless devices in this disclosure may refer to a selected plurality of wireless devices, and / or a subset of total wireless devices in a coverage area which perform according to disclosed methods, and / or the like. There may be a plurality of base stations or a plurality of wireless devices in a coverage area that may not comply with the disclosed methods, for example, those wireless devices or base stations may perform based on older releases of LTE or 5G technology.

[0049] In this disclosure, "a" and “an” and similar phrases are to be interpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” Similarly, any term that ends with the suffix “(s)” is to be interpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” In this disclosure, the term “may” is to be interpreted as “may, for example.” In other words, the term “may” is indicative that the phrase following the term “may” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed by one or more of the various embodiments. The terms “comprises” and “consists of”, as used herein, enumerate one or more components of the element being described. The term “comprises” is interchangeable with “includes” and does not exclude unenumerated components from being included in the element being described. By contrast, “consists of” provides a complete enumeration of the one or more components of the element being described. The term “based on”, as used herein, should be interpreted as “based at least in part on” rather than, for example, “based solely on”. The term “and / or” as used herein represents any possible combination of enumerated elements. For example, “A, B, and / or C” may represent A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C.

[0050] If A and B are sets and every element of A is an element of B, A is called a subset of B In this specification, only non-empty sets and subsets are considered. For example, possible subsets of B = {celH , cell2} are: {celH }, {cell2}, and {celH , cell2}. The phrase “based on” (or equally “based at least on”) is indicative that the phrase following the term “based on” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “in response to” (or equally “in response at least to”) is indicative that thephrase following the phrase “in response to” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “depending on” (or equally “depending at least to") is indicative that the phrase following the phrase “depending on” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “employin g / using” (or equally “employing / using at least”) is indicative that the phrase following the phrase “employin g / using” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments.

[0051] The term configured may relate to the capacity of a device whether the device is in an operational or non- operational state. Configured may refer to specific settings in a device that affect or implement the operational characteristics of the device whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state. In other words, the hardware, software, firmware, registers, memory values, and / or the like may be “configured” within a device, whether the device is in an operational or nonoperational state, to provide the device with specific characteristics. Terms such as “a control message to cause in a device” may mean that a control message has parameters that may be used to configure specific characteristics or may be used to implement certain actions in the device, whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state

[0052] In this disclosure, parameters (or equally called, fields, or Information elements: lEs) may comprise one or more information objects, and an information object may comprise one or more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N comprises parameter (IE) M, and parameter (IE) M comprises parameter (IE) K, and parameter (IE) K comprises parameter (information element) J. Then, for example, N comprises K, and N comprises J. In an example embodiment, when one or more messages comprise a plurality of parameters, it implies that a parameter in the plurality of parameters is in at least one of the one or more messages, but does not have to be in each of the one or more messages.

[0053] Many features presented are described as being optional through the use of “may” or the use of parentheses. For the sake of brevity and legibility, the present disclosure does not explicitly recite each and every permutation that may be obtained by choosing from the set of optional features. The present disclosure is to be interpreted as explicitly disclosing all such permutations. For example, a system described as having three optional features may be embodied in seven ways, namely with just one of the three possible features, with any two of the three possible features or with three of the three possible features.

[0054] Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may be implemented as modules. A module is defined here as an element that performs a defined function and has a defined interface to other elements. The modules described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware, firmware, wetware (e.g. hardware with a biological element) or a combination thereof, which may be beh aviorally equivalent. For example, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in a computer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (such as C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, MATLAB or the like) or a modeling / simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, or LabVI EWMathScript. It may be possible toimplement modules using physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmable analog, digital and / or quantum hardware. Examples of programmable hardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed using languages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDs are often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such as VHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configure connections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionality on a programmable device. The mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achieve the result of a functional module.

[0055] FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a mobile communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The mobile communication network 100 may be, for example, a public land mobile network (PLMN) run by a network operator. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the mobile communication network 100 includes a core network (CN) 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a wireless device 106.

[0056] The CN 102 may provide the wireless device 106 with an interface to one or more data networks (DNs), such as public DNs (e.g„ the Internet), private DNs, and / or intra-operator DNs. As part of the interface functionality, the CN 102 may set up end-to-end connections between the wireless device 106 and the one or more DNs, authenticate the wireless device 106, and provide charging functionality.

[0057] The RAN 104 may connect the CN 102 to the wireless device 106 through radio communications over an air interface As part of the radio communications, the RAN 104 may provide scheduling, radio resource management, and retransmission protocols. The communication direction from the RAN 104 to the wireless device 106 over the air interface is known as the downlink and the communication direction from the wireless device 106 to the RAN 104 over the air interface is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions may be separated from uplink transmissions using frequency division duplexing (FDD), time-division duplexing (TDD), and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0058] The term wireless device may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass any mobile device or fixed (non-mobile) device for which wireless communication is needed or usable. For example, a wireless device may be a telephone, smart phone, tablet, computer, laptop, sensor, meter, wearable device, Internet of Things (loT) device, vehicle roadside unit (RSU), relay node, automobile, and / or any combination thereof. The term wireless device encompasses other terminology, including user equipment (UE), user terminal (UT), access terminal (AT), mobile station, handset, wireless transmit and receive unit (WTRU), and / or wireless communication device.

[0059] The RAN 104 may include one or more base stations (not shown). The term base station may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass a Node B (associated with UMTS and / or 3G standards), an Evolved Node B (eNB, associated with E-UTRA and / or 4G standards), a remote radio head (RRH), a baseband processing unit coupled to one or more RRHs, a repeater node or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node, a Next Generation Evolved Node B (ng-eNB), a Generation Node B (gNB, associated with NR and / or 5G standards), an access point (AP, associated with, for example, Wi-Fi or any other suitable wireless communicationstandard), and / or any combination thereof. A base station may comprise at least one g N B Central Unit (gNB-CU) and at least one a g N B Distributed Unit (gNB-DU).

[0060] A base station included in the RAN 104 may include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the wireless device 106 over the air interface. For example, one or more of the base stations may include three sets of antennas to respectively control three cells (or sectors). The size of a cell may be determined by a range at which a receiver (e.g., a base station receiver) can successfully receive the transmissions from a transmitter (e.g., a wireless device transmitter) operating in the cell. Together, the cells of the base stations may provide radio coverage to the wireless device 106 over a wide geographic area to support wireless device mobility.

[0061] In addition to three-sector sites, other implementations of base stations are possible. For example, one or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 may be implemented as a sectored site with more or less than three sectors. One or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 may be implemented as an access point, as a baseband processing unit coupled to several remote radio heads (RRHs), and / or as a repeater or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node. A baseband processing unit coupled to RRHs may be part of a centralized or cloud RAN architecture, where the baseband processing unit may be either centralized in a pool of baseband processing units or virtualized. A repeater node may amplify and rebroadcast a radio signal received from a donor node. A relay node may perform the same / similar functions as a repeater node but may decode the radio signal received from the donor node to remove noise before amplifying and rebroadcasting the radio signal.

[0062] The RAN 104 may be deployed as a homogenous network of macrocell base stations that have similar antenna patterns and similar high-level transmit powers. The RAN 104 may be deployed as a heterogeneous network. In heterogeneous networks, small cell base stations may be used to provide small coverage areas, for example, coverage areas that overlap with the comparatively larger coverage areas provided by macrocell base stations. The small coverage areas may be provided in areas with high data traffic (or so-called “hotspots”) or in areas with weak macrocell coverage. Examples of small cell base stations include, in order of decreasing coverage area, microcell base stations, picocell base stations, and femtocell base stations or home base stations.

[0063] The Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed in 1998 to provide global standardization of specifications for mobile communication networks similar to the mobile communication network 100 in FIG. 1A. To date, 3GPP has produced specifications for three generations of mobile networks: a third generation (3G) network known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a fourth generation (4G) network known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and a fifth generation (5G) network known as 5G System (5GS). Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the RAN of a 3GPP 5G network, referred to as next-generation RAN (NG- RAN). Embodiments may be applicable to RANs of other mobile communication networks, such as the RAN 104 in FIG. 1 A, the RANs of earlier 3G and 4G networks, and those of future networks yet to be specified (e.g., a 3GPP 6G network). NG-RAN implements 5G radio access technology known as New Radio (NR) and may be provisioned to implement 4G radio access technology or other radio access technologies, including non-3GPP radio access technologies.

[0064] FIG. 1 B illustrates another example mobile communication network 150 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Mobile communication network 150 may be, for example, a PLMN run by a network operator. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, mobile communication network 150 includes a 5G core network (5G-CN) 152, an NG-RAN 154, and UEs 156A and 156B (collectively UEs 156). These components may be implemented and operate in the same or similar manner as corresponding components described with respect to FIG. 1A.

[0065] The 5G-CN 152 provides the UEs 156 with an interface to one or more DNs, such as public DNs (e.g., the Internet), private DNs, and / or intra-operator DNs. As part of the interface functionality, the 5G-CN 152 may set up end- to-end connections between the UEs 156 and the one or more DNs, authenticate the UEs 156, and provide charging functionality. Compared to the CN of a 3GPP 4G network, the basis of the 5G-CN 152 may be a service-based architecture. This means that the architecture of the nodes making up the 5G-CN 152 may be defined as network functions that offer services via interfaces to other network functions. The network functions of the 5G-CN 152 may be implemented in several ways, including as network elements on dedicated or shared hardware, as software instances running on dedicated or shared hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud-based platform).

[0066] As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the 5G-CN 152 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 158A and a User Plane Function (UPF) 158B, which are shown as one component AMF / UPF 158 in FIG. 1B for ease of illustration. The UPF 158B may serve as a gateway between the NG-RAN 154 and the one or more DNs. The UPF 158B may perform functions such as packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and user plane policy rule enforcement, traffic usage reporting, uplink classification to support routing of traffic flows to the one or more DNs, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, uplink / downlink rate enforcement, and uplink traffic verification), downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 158B may serve as an anchor point for in tra- / inter-Rad io Access Technology (RAT) mobility, an external protocol (or packet) data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to the one or more DNs, and / or a branching point to support a multi-homed PDU session. The UEs 156 may be configured to receive services through a PDU session, which is a logical connection between a UE and a DN.

[0067] The AMF 158A may perform functions such as Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling termination, NAS signaling security, Access Stratum (AS) security control, inter-CN node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks, idle mode UE reachability (e.g., control and execution of paging retransmission), registration area management, intra-system and inter-system mobility support, access authentication, access authorization including checking of roaming rights, mobility management control (subscription and policies), network slicing support, and / or session management function (SMF) selection. NAS may refer to the functionality operating between a CN and a UE, and AS may refer to the functionality operating between the UE and a RAN.

[0068] The 5G-CN 152 may include one or more additional network functions that are not shown in FIG. 1 B for the sake of clarity. For example, the 5G-CN 152 may include one or more of a Session Management Function (SMF), anNR Repository Function (NRF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), an Application Function (AF), and / or an Authentication Server Function (AUSF).

[0069] The NG-RAN 154 may connect the 5G-CN 152 to the UEs 156 through radio communications over the air interface. The NG-RAN 154 may include one or more gNBs, illustrated as gNB 160A and gNB 160B (collectively gNBs 160) and / or one or more ng-eNBs, illustrated as ng-eNB 162A and ng-eNB 162B (collectively ng-eNBs 162). The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 may be more generically referred to as base stations. The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 may include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the UEs 156 over an air interface. For example, one or more of the gNBs 160 and / or one or more of the ng-eNBs 162 may include three sets of antennas to respectively control three cells (or sectors). Together, the cells of the gNBs 160 and the ng-eNBs 162 may provide radio coverage to the UEs 156 over a wide geographic area to support UE mobility.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 1 B, the gNBs 160 and / or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to the 5G-CN 152 by means of an NG interface and to other base stations by an Xn interface The NG and Xn interfaces may be established using direct physical connections and / or indirect connections over an underlying transport network, such as an internet protocol (IP) transport network. The gNBs 160 and / or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to the UEs 156 by means of a Uu interface. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, gNB 160A may be connected to the UE 156A by means of a Uu interface. The NG, Xn, and Uu interfaces are associated with a protocol stack. The protocol stacks associated with the interfaces may be used by the network elements in FIG. 1 B to exchange data and signaling messages and may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may handle data of interest to a user. The control plane may handle signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

[0071] The gNBs 160 and / or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to one or more AMF / UPF functions of the 5G-CN 152, such as the AMF / UPF 158, by means of one or more NG interfaces. For example, the gNB 160A may be connected to the UPF 158B of the AMF / UPF 158 by means of an NG-User plane (NG-U) interface. The NG-U interface may provide delivery (e.g., non-guaranteed delivery) of user plane PDUs between the gNB 160A and the UPF 158B. The gNB 160A may be connected to the AMF 158A by means of an NG-Control plane (NG-C) interface. The NG-C interface may provide, for example, NG interface management, UE context management, UE mobility management, transport of NAS messages, paging, PDU session management, and configuration transfer and / or warning message transmission.

[0072] The gNBs 160 may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UEs 156 over the Uu interface. For example, the gNB 160A may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 156A over a Uu interface associated with a first protocol stack. The ng-eNBs 162 may provide Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UEs 156 over a Uu interface, where E-UTRA refers to the 3GPP 4G radio-access technology. For example, the ng-eNB 162B may provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE 156B over a Uu interface associated with a second protocol stack.

[0073] The 5G-CN 152 was described as being configured to handle NR and 4G radio accesses. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that it may be possible for NR to connect to a 4G core network in a mode known as “non-standalone operation.” In non-standalone operation, a 4G core network is used to provide (or at least support) control-plane functionality (e.g., initial access, mobility, and paging). Although only one AMF / UPF 158 is shown in FIG. 1 B, one g N B or ng-eNB may be connected to multiple AMF / UPF nodes to provide redundancy and / or to load share across the multiple AMF / UPF nodes.

[0074] As discussed, an interface (e.g., Uu, Xn, and NG interfaces) between the network elements in FIG. 1 B may be associated with a protocol stack that the network elements use to exchange data and signaling messages. A protocol stack may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may handle data of interest to a user, and the control plane may handle signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

[0075] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrate examples of NR user plane and NR control plane protocol stacks for the Uu interface that lies between a UE 210 and a gNB 220 The protocol stacks illustrated in FIG 2A and FIG. 2B may be the same or similar to those used for the Uu interface between, for example, the UE 156A and the gNB 160A shown in FIG. 1B.

[0076] FIG. 2A illustrates a NR user plane protocol stack comprising five layers implemented in the UE 210 and the gNB 220. At the bottom of the protocol stack, physical layers (PHYs) 211 and 221 may provide transport services to the higher layers of the protocol stack and may correspond to layer 1 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The next four protocols above PHYs 211 and 221 comprise media access control layers (MAGs) 212 and 222, radio link control layers (RLCs) 213 and 223, packet data convergence protocol layers (PDCPs) 214 and 224, and service data application protocol layers (SDAPs) 215 and 225. Together, these four protocols may make up layer 2, or the data link layer, of the OSI model.

[0077] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack. Starting from the top of FIG. 2A and FIG. 3, the SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform QoS flow handling. The UE 210 may receive services through a PDU session, which may be a logical connection between the UE 210 and a DN. The PDU session may have one or more QoS flows. A UPF of a ON (e.g., the UPF 158B) may map IP packets to the one or more QoS flows of the PDU session based on QoS requirements (e.g., in terms of delay, data rate, and / or error rate). The SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform mapping / de-mapping between the one or more QoS flows and one or more data radio bearers. The mapping / de-mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers may be determined by the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220. The SDAP 215 at the UE 210 may be informed of the mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers through reflective mapping or control signaling received from the gNB 220. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220 may mark the downlink packets with a QoS flow indicator (QFI), which may be observed by the SDAP 215 at the UE 210 to determine the mapping / de-mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers.

[0078] The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform header compression / decompression to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the air interface, ciphering / deciphering to prevent unauthorized decoding of datatransmitted over the air interface, and integrity protection (to ensure control messages originate from intended sources. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform retransmissions of undelivered packets, in-sequence delivery and reordering of packets, and removal of packets received in duplicate due to, for example, an intra-gNB handover. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform packet duplication to improve the likelihood of the packet being received and, at the receiver, remove any duplicate packets. Packet duplication may be useful for services that require high reliability.

[0079] Although not shown in FIG. 3, PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform mapping / de-mapping between a split radio bearer and RLC channels in a dual connectivity scenario. Dual connectivity is a technique that allows a UE to connect to two cells or, more generally, two cell groups: a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). A split bearer is when a single radio bearer, such as one of the radio bearers provided by the PDCPs 214 and 224 as a service to the SDAPs 215 and 225, is handled by cell groups in dual connectivity. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may map / de-map the split radio bearer between RLC channels belonging to cell groups.

[0080] The RLCs 213 and 223 may perform segmentation, retransmission through Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), and removal of duplicate data units received from MACs 212 and 222, respectively. The RLCs 213 and 223 may support three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM); unacknowledged mode (UM); and acknowledged mode (AM) Based on the transmission mode an RLC is operating, the RLC may perform one or more of the noted functions. The RLC configuration may be per logical channel with no dependency on numerologies and / or Transmission Time Interval (TTI) durations. As shown in FIG. 3, the RLCs 213 and 223 may provide RLC channels as a service to PDCPs 214 and 224, respectively.

[0081] The MACs 212 and 222 may perform multiplexing / demultiplexing of logical channels and / or mapping between logical channels and transport channels. The multiplexing / demultiplexing may include multiplexing / demultiplexing of data units, belonging to the one or more logical channels, into / from Transport Blocks (TBs) delivered to / from the PHYs211 and 221. The MAC 222 may be configured to perform scheduling, scheduling information reporting, and priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling. Scheduling may be performed in the g NB 220 (at the MAC 222) for downlink and uplink. The MACs 212 and 222 may be configured to perform error correction through Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) (e.g., one HARQ entity per carrier in case of Carrier Aggregation (CA)), priority handling between logical channels of the UE 210 by means of logical channel prioritization, and / or padding. The MACs212 and 222 may support one or more numerologies and / or transmission timings. In an example, mapping restrictions in a logical channel prioritization may control which numerology and / or transmission timing a logical channel may use. As shown in FIG. 3, the MACs 212 and 222 may provide logical channels as a service to the RLCs 213 and 223.

[0082] The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform mapping of transport channels to physical channels and digital and analog signal processing functions for sending and receiving information over the air interface. These digital and analog signal processing functions may include, for example, coding / decoding and modulation / demod ulation . The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform multi-antenna mapping. As shown in FIG. 3, the PHYs 211 and 221 may provide one or more transport channels as a service to the MACs 212 and 222.

[0083] FIG. 4A illustrates an example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack. FIG. 4A illustrates a downlink data flow of three IP packets (n, n+1, and m through the NR user plane protocol stack to generate two TBs at the gNB 220. An uplink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack may be similar to the downlink data flow depicted in FIG. 4A.

[0084] The downlink data flow of FIG. 4A begins when SDAP 225 receives the three IP packets from one or more QoS flows and maps the three packets to radio bearers. In FIG. 4A, the SDAP 225 maps IP packets n and n+1 to a first radio bearer 402 and maps IP packet m to a second radio bearer 404. An SDAP header (labeled with an “H” in FIG. 4A) is added to an IP packet. The data unit from / to a higher protocol layer is referred to as a service data unit (SDU) of the lower protocol layer and the data unit to / from a lower protocol layer is referred to as a protocol data unit (PDU) of the higher protocol layer. As shown in FIG. 4A, the data unit from the SDAP 225 is an SDU of lower protocol layer PDCP 224 and is a PDU of the SDAP 225.

[0085] The remaining protocol layers in FIG. 4A may perform their associated functionality (e.g., with respect to FIG. 3), add corresponding headers, and forward their respective outputs to the next lower layer. For example, the PDCP 224 may perform IP-header compression and ciphering and forward its output to the RLC 223. The RLC 223 may optionally perform segmentation (e.g., as shown for IP packet m in FIG. 4A) and forward its output to the MAC 222. The MAC 222 may multiplex a number of RLC PDUs and may attach a MAC subheader to an RLC PDU to form a transport block. In NR, the MAC subheaders may be distributed across the MAC PDU, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. In LTE, the MAC subheaders may be entirely located at the beginning of the MAC PDU. The NR MAC PDU structure may reduce processing time and associated latency because the MAC PDU subheaders may be computed before the full MAC PDU is assembled.

[0086] FIG. 4B illustrates an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU. The MAC subheader includes: an SDU length field for indicating the length (e.g., in bytes) of the MAC SDU to which the MAC subheader corresponds; a logical channel identifier (LCID) field for identifying the logical channel from which the MAC SDU originated to aid in the demultiplexing process; a flag (F) for indicating the size of the SDU length field; and a reserved bit (R) field for future use.

[0087] FIG. 4B further illustrates MAC control elements (CEs) inserted into the MAC PDU by a MAC, such as MAC 212 or MAC 222. For example, FIG. 4B illustrates two MAC CEs inserted into the MAC PDU. MAC CEs may be inserted at the beginning of a MAC PDU for downlink transmissions (as shown in FIG. 4B) and at the end of a MAC PDU for uplink transmissions. MAC CEs may be used for in-band control signaling. Example MAC CEs include: scheduling-related MAC CEs, such as buffer status reports and power headroom reports; activation / deactivation MAC CEs, such as those for activation / deactivation of PDCP duplication detection, channel state information (CSI) reporting, sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, and prior configured components; discontinuous reception (DRX) related MAC CEs; timing advance MAC CEs; and random access related MAC CEs. A MAC CE may be preceded by a MAC subheader with a similar format as described for MAC SDUs and may be identified with a reserved value in the LCID field that indicates the type of control information included in the MAC CE.

[0088] Before describing the NR control plane protocol stack, logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels are first described as well as a mapping between the channel types. One or more of the channels may be used to carry out functions associated with the NR control plane protocol stack described later below.

[0089] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate, for downlink and uplink respectively, a mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels. Information is passed through channels between the RLC, the MAC, and the PHY of the NR protocol stack. A logical channel may be used between the RLC and the MAC and may be classified as a control channel that carries control and configuration information in the NR control plane or as a traffic channel that carries data in the NR user plane. A logical channel may be classified as a dedicated logical channel that is dedicated to a specific UE or as a common logical channel that may be used by more than one UE. A logical channel may also be defined by the type of information it carries. The set of logical channels defined by NR include, for example:

[0090] - a paging control channel (PCCH) for carrying paging messages used to page a UE whose location is not known to the network on a cell level;

[0091] - a broadcast control channel (BCCH) for carrying system information messages in the form of a master information block (MIB) and several system information blocks (SIBs), wherein the system information messages may be used by the UEs to obtain information about how a cell is configured and how to operate within the cell;

[0092] - a common control channel (CCCH) for carrying control messages together with random access;

[0093] -- a dedicated control channel (DCCH) for carrying control messages to / from a specific the UE to configure the UE; and

[0094] - a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) for carrying user data to / from a specific the UE.

[0095] T ransport channels are used between the MAC and PHY layers and may be defined by how the information they carry is transmitted over the air interface. The set of transport channels defined by NR include, for example:

[0096] - a paging channel (PCH) for carrying paging messages that originated from the PCCH;

[0097] - a broadcast channel (BCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCCH;

[0098] - a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages, including the SIBs from the BCCH;

[0099] - an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages; and

[0100] - a random access channel (RACH) for allowing a UE to contact the network without any prior scheduling.

[0101] The PHY may use physical channels to pass information between processing levels of the PHY. A physical channel may have an associated set of time-frequency resources for carrying the information of one or more transport channels. The PHY may generate control information to support the low-level operation of the PHY and provide the control information to the lower levels of the PHY via physical control channels, known as L1 / L2 control channels. The set of physical channels and physical control channels defined by NR include, for example:

[0102] -- a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCH;

[0103] - a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages from the DL-SCH, as well as paging messages from the PCH;

[0104] - a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for carrying downlink control information (DCI), which may include downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands;

[0105] - a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL- SCH and in some instances uplink control information ( UCI ) as described below;

[0106] -- a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for carrying UCI, which may include HARQ acknowledgments, channel quality indicators (CQI), pre-coding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (Rl), and scheduling requests (SR); and

[0107] -- a physical random access channel (PRACH) for random access.

[0108] Similar to the physical control channels, the physical layer generates physical signals to support the low-level operation of the physical layer. As shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the physical layer signals defined by NR include: primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), sounding reference signals (SRS), and phase-tracking reference signals (PT-RS). These physical layer signals will be described in greater detail below.

[0109] FIG. 2B illustrates an example NR control plane protocol stack. As shown in FIG. 2B, the NR control plane protocol stack may use the same / similar first four protocol layers as the example NR user plane protocol stack. These four protocol layers include the PHYs 211 and 221, the MACs 212 and 222, the RLCs 213 and 223, and the PDCPs 214 and 224. Instead of having the SDAPs 215 and 225 at the top of the stack as in the NR user plane protocol stack, the NR control plane stack has radio resource controls (RRCs) 216 and 226 and NAS protocols 217 and 237 at the top of the NR control plane protocol stack.

[0110] The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 (e.g., the AMF 158A) or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the ON. The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 via signaling messages, referred to as NAS messages. There is no direct path between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 through which the NAS messages can be transported. The NAS messages may be transported using the AS of the Uu and NG interfaces. NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality such as authentication, security, connection setup, mobility management, and session management.

[0111] The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the RAN. The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 via signaling messages, referred to as RRC messages. RRC messages may be transmitted between the UE 210 and the RAN using signaling radio bearers and the same / similar PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY protocol layers. The MAC may multiplex control-plane and user-plane data into the same transport block (TB). The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality such as: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by the CN or the RAN; establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE 210 and the RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers and data radio bearers; mobility functions; QoS managementfunctions; the UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure (RLE); and / or NAS message transfer. As part of establishing an RRC connection, RRCs 216 and 226 may establish an RRC context, which may involve configuring parameters for communication between the UE 210 and the RAN.

[0112] FIG. 6 is an example diagram showing RRC state transitions of a UE. The UE may be the same or similar to the wireless device 106 depicted in FIG. 1A, the UE 210 depicted in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, or any other wireless device described in the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a UE may be in at least one of three RRC states: RRC connected 602 (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED), RRC idle 604 (e.g., RRCJDLE), and RRC inactive 606 (e.g., RRCJNACTIVE).

[0113] In RRC connected 602, the UE has an established RRC context and may have at least one RRC connection with a base station. The base station may be similar to one of the one or more base stations included in the RAN 104 depicted in FIG. 1A, one of the gNBs 160 orng-eNBs 162 depicted in FIG. 1B, the gNB 220 depicted in FIG. 2A and FIG 2B, or any other base station described in the present disclosure. The base station with which the UE is connected may have the RRC context for the UE. The RRC context, referred to as the UE context, may comprise parameters for communication between the UE and the base station. These parameters may include, for example: one or more AS contexts; one or more radio link configuration parameters; bearer configuration information (e.g., relating to a data radio bearer, signaling radio bearer, logical channel, QoS flow, and / or PDU session); security information; and / or PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and / or SDAP layer configuration information. While in RRC connected 602, mobility of the UE may be managed by the RAN (e.g., the RAN 104 or the NG-RAN 154). The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells and report these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE. The UE’s serving base station may request a handover to a cell of one of the neighboring base stations based on the reported measurements. The RRC state may transition from RRC connected 602 to RRC idle 604 through a connection release procedure 608 or to RRC inactive 606 through a connection inactivation procedure 610.

[0114] In RRC idle 604, an RRC context may not be established for the UE. In RRC idle 604, the UE may not have an RRC connection with the base station. While in RRC idle 604, the UE may be in a sleep state for the majority of the time (e.g., to conserve battery power). The UE may wake up periodically (e.g., once in every discontinuous reception cycle) to monitor for paging messages from the RAN. Mobility of the UE may be managed by the UE through a procedure known as cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602 through a connection establishment procedure 612, which may involve a random access procedure as discussed in greater detail below.

[0115] In RRC inactive 606, the RRC context previously established is maintained in the UE and the base station. This allows for a fast transition to RRC connected 602 with reduced signaling overhead as compared to the transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602. While in RRC inactive 606, the UE may be in a sleep state and mobility of the UE may be managed by the UE through cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC inactive 606 to RRC connected 602 through a connection resume procedure 614 or to RRC idle 604 though a connection release procedure 616 that may be the same as or similar to connection release procedure 608.

[0116] An RRC state may be associated with a mobility management mechanism. In RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606, mobility is managed by the UE through cell reselection. The purpose of mobility management in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 is to allow the network to be able to notify the UE of an event via a paging message without having to broadcast the paging message over the entire mobile communications network. The mobility management mechanism used in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 may allow the network to track the UE on a cell-group level so that the paging message may be broadcast over the cells of the cell group that the UE currently resides within instead of the entire mobile communication network. The mobility management mechanisms for RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 track the UE on a cell-group level. They may do so using different granularities of grouping. For example, there may be three levels of cell-grouping granularity: individual cells; cells within a RAN area identified by a RAN area identifier (RAI); and cells within a group of RAN areas, referred to as a tracking area and identified by a tracking area identifier (TAI).

[0117] Tracking areas may be used to track the UE at the CN level The CN (e.g., the CN 102 or the 5G-CN 152) may provide the UE with a list of TAIs associated with a UE registration area. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell associated with a TAI not included in the list of TAIs associated with the UE registration area, the UE may perform a registration update with the CN to allow the CN to update the U E’s location and provide the UE with a new the UE registration area.

[0118] RAN areas may be used to track the UE at the RAN level. For a UE in RRC inactive 606 state, the UE may be assigned a RAN notification area. A RAN notification area may comprise one or more cell identities, a list of RAIs, or a list of TAIs. In an example, a base station may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. In an example, a cell may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell not included in the RAN notification area assigned to the UE, the UE may perform a notification area update with the RAN to update the UE’s RAN notification area.

[0119] A base station storing an RRC context for a UE or a last serving base station of the UE may be referred to as an anchor base station. An anchor base station may maintain an RRC context for the UE at least during a period of time that the UE stays in a RAN notification area of the anchor base station and / or during a period of time that the UE stays in RRC inactive 606.

[0120] A gNB, such as gNBs 160 in FIG. 1B, may be split into two parts: a central unit (gNB-CU), and one or more distributed units (gNB-DU). A gNB-CU may be coupled to one or more gNB-DUs using an F1 interface. The gNB-CU may comprise the RRC, the PDCP, and the SDAP. A gNB-DU may comprise the RLC, the MAC, and the PHY.

[0121] In NR, the physical signals and physical channels (discussed with respect to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B) may be mapped onto orthogonal frequency divisional multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. OFDM is a multicarrier communication scheme that transmits data over F orthogonal subcarriers (or tones). Before transmission, the data may be mapped to a series of complex symbols (e.g., M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) or M-phase shift keying (M-PSK) symbols), referred to as source symbols, and divided into F parallel symbol streams. The F parallel symbol streams may be treated as though they are in the frequency domain and used as inputs to an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform(I FFT) block that transforms them into the time domain. The IFFT block may take in F source symbols at a time, one from each of the F parallel symbol streams, and use each source symbol to modulate the amplitude and phase of one of F sinusoidal basis functions that correspond to the F orthogonal subcarriers. The output of the IFFT block may be F time-domain samples that represent the summation of the F orthogonal subcarriers. The F time-domain samples may form a single OFDM symbol. After some processing (e.g., addition of a cyclic prefix) and up-conversion, an OFDM symbol provided by the IFFT block may be transmitted over the air interface on a carrier frequency. The F parallel symbol streams may be mixed using an FFT block before being processed by the IFFT block. This operation produces Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)-precoded OFDM symbols and may be used by UEs in the uplink to reduce the peak to average power ratio (PAPR). Inverse processing may be performed on the OFDM symbol at a receiver using an FFT block to recover the data mapped to the source symbols.

[0122] FIG. 7 illustrates an example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped. An NR frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN). The SFN may repeat with a period of 1024 frames. As illustrated, one NR frame may be 10 milliseconds (ms) in duration and may include 10 subframes that are 1 ms in duration. A subframe may be divided into slots that include, for example, 14 OFDM symbols per slot.

[0123] The duration of a slot may depend on the numerology used for the OFDM symbols of the slot. In NR, a flexible numerology is supported to accommodate different cell deployments (e.g., cells with carrier frequencies below 1 GHz up to cells with carrier frequencies in the mm-wave range). A numerology may be defined in terms of subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration. For a numerology in NR, subcarrier spacings may be scaled up by powers of two from a baseline subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and cyclic prefix durations may be scaled down by powers of two from a baseline cyclic prefix duration of 4.7 ps. For example, NR defines numerologies with the following subcarrier spacing / cyclic prefix duration combinations: 15 kHz / 4.7 ps; 30 kHz / 2.3 ps; 60 kHz / 1.2 ps; 120 kHz / 0.59 ps; and 240 kHz / 0.29 ps.

[0124] A slot may have a fixed number of OFDM symbols (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols). A numerology with a higher subcarrier spacing has a shorter slot duration and, correspondingly, more slots per subframe. FIG. 7 illustrates this numerology-dependent slot duration and slots-per-subframe transmission structure (the numerology with a subcarrier spacing of 240 kHz is not shown in FIG. 7 for ease of illustration). A subframe in NR may be used as a numerologyindependent time reference, while a slot may be used as the unit upon which uplink and downlink transmissions are scheduled. To support low latency, scheduling in NR may be decoupled from the slot duration and start at any OFDM symbol and last for as many symbols as needed for a transmission. These partial slot transmissions may be referred to as mini-slot or subslot transmissions.

[0125] FIG. 8 illustrates an example configuration of a slot in the time and frequency domain for an NR carrier. The slot includes resource elements (REs) and resource blocks (RBs). An RE is the smallest physical resource in NR. An RE spans one OFDM symbol in the time domain by one subcarrier in the frequency domain as shown in FIG. 8. An RB spans twelve consecutive REs in the frequency domain as shown in FIG. 8. An NR carrier may be limited to a width of 275 RBs or 275x12 = 3300 subcarriers. Such a limitation, if used, may limit the NR carrier to 50, 100, 200, and 400MHz for subcarrier spacings of 15, 30, 60, and 120 kHz, respectively, where the 400 MHz bandwidth may be set based on a 400 MHz per carrier bandwidth limit.

[0126] FIG. 8 illustrates a single numerology being used across the entire bandwidth of the NR carrier. In other example configurations, multiple numerologies may be supported on the same carrier.

[0127] NR may support wide carrier bandwidths (e.g., up to 400 MHz for a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz). Not all UEs may be able to receive the full carrier bandwidth (e.g., due to hardware limitations). Also, receiving the full carrier bandwidth may be prohibitive in terms of UE power consumption. In an example, to reduce power consumption and / or for other purposes, a UE may adapt the size of the UE’s receive bandwidth based on the amount of traffic the UE is scheduled to receive. This is referred to as bandwidth adaptation.

[0128] NR defines bandwidth parts (B WPs) to support UEs not capable of receiving the full carrier bandwidth and to support bandwidth adaptation. In an example, a BWP may be defined by a subset of contiguous RBs on a carrier. A UE may be configured (e.g., via RRC layer) with one or more downlink BWPs and one or more uplink BWPs per serving cell (e.g., up to four downlink BWPs and up to four uplink BWPs per serving cell). At a given time, one or more of the configured BWPs for a serving cell may be active. These one or more BWPs may be referred to as active BWPs of the serving cell. When a serving cell is configured with a secondary uplink carrier, the serving cell may have one or more first active BWPs in the uplink carrier and one or more second active BWPs in the secondary uplink carrier.

[0129] For unpaired spectra, a downlink BWP from a set of configured downlink BWPs may be linked with an uplink BWP from a set of configured uplink BWPs if a downlink BWP index of the downlink BWP and an uplink BWP index of the uplink BWP are the same. For unpaired spectra, a UE may expect that a center frequency for a downlink BWP is the same as a center frequency for an uplink BWP.

[0130] For a downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs on a primary cell (PCell), a base station may configure a UE with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) for at least one search space. A search space is a set of locations in the time and frequency domains where the UE may find control information. The search space may be a UE-specific search space or a common search space (potentially usable by a plurality of UEs). For example, a base station may configure a UE with a common search space, on a PCell or on a primary secondary cell (PSCell), in an active downlink BWP.

[0131] For an uplink BWP in a set of configured uplink BWPs, a BS may configure a UE with one or more resource sets for one or more PUCCH transmissions. A UE may receive downlink receptions (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH) in a downlink BWP according to a configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration) for the downlink BWP. The UE may transmit uplink transmissions (e.g., PUCCH or PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix length for the uplink BWP).

[0132] One or more BWP indicator fields may be provided in Downlink Control Information (DCI). A value of a BWP indicator field may indicate which BWP in a set of configured BWPs is an active downlink BWP for one or more downlink receptions. The value of the one or more BWP indicator fields may indicate an active uplink BWP for one or more uplink transmissions.

[0133] A base station may semi-statically configure a UE with a default downlink BWP within a set of configured downlink BWPs associated with a PCell. If the base station does not provide the default downlink BWP to the UE, the default downlink BWP may be an initial active downlink BWP. The UE may determine which BWP is the initial active downlink BWP based on a CORESET configuration obtained using the PBCH.

[0134] A base station may configure a UE with a BWP inactivity timer value for a PCell. The UE may start or restart a BWP inactivity timer at any appropriate time. For example, the UE may start or restart the BWP inactivity timer (a) when the UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP other than a default downlink BWP for a paired spectra operation; or (b) when a UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP or active uplink BWP other than a default downlink BWP or uplink BWP for an unpaired spectra operation. If the UE does not detect DCI during an interval of time (e.g. , 1 ms or 0.5 ms), the UE may run the BWP inactivity timer toward expiration (for example, increment from zero to the BWP inactivity timer value, or decrement from the BWP inactivity timer value to zero). When the BWP inactivity timer expires, the UE may switch from the active downlink BWP to the default downlink BWP.

[0135] In an example, a base station may semi-statically configure a UE with one or more BWPs. A UE may switch an active BWP from a first BWP to a second BWP in response to receiving a DCI indicating the second BWP as an active BWP and / or in response to an expiry of the BWP inactivity timer (e.g , if the second BWP is the default BWP)

[0136] Downlink and uplink BWP switching (where BWP switching refers to switching from a currently active BWP to a not currently active BWP) may be performed independently in paired spectra. In unpaired spectra, downlink and uplink BWP switching may be performed simultaneously. Switching between configured BWPs may occur based on RRC signaling, DCI, expiration of a BWP inactivity timer, and / or an initiation of random access.

[0137] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier. A UE configured with the three BWPs may switch from one BWP to another BWP at a switching point. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the BWPs include: a BWP 902 with a bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; a BWP 904 with a bandwidth of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; and a BWP 906 with a bandwidth of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The BWP 902 may be an initial active BWP, and the BWP 904 may be a default BWP. The UE may switch between BWPs at switching points. In the example of FIG. 9, the UE may switch from the BWP 902 to the BWP 904 at a switching point 908. The switching at the switching point 908 may occur for any suitable reason, for example, in response to an expiry of a BWP inactivity timer (indicating switching to the default BWP) and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 910 from active BWP 904 to BWP 906 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 906 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 912 from active BWP 906 to BWP 904 in response to an expiry of a BWP inactivity timer and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 914 from active BWP 904 to BWP 902 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 902 as the active BWP.

[0138] If a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures for switching BWPs on a secondary cell may be the same / similar as those on aprimary cell. For example, the UE may use the timer value and the default downlink BWP for the secondary cell in the same / similar manner as the UE would use these values for a primary cell.

[0139] To provide for greater data rates, two or more carriers can be aggregated and simultaneously transmitted to / from the same UE using carrier aggregation (CA) . The aggregated carriers in CA may be referred to as component carriers (CCs). When CA is used, there are a number of serving cells for the UE, one for a CC. The CCs may have three configurations in the frequency domain.

[0140] FIG. 10A illustrates the three CA configurations with two CCs. In the intraband, contiguous configuration 1002, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are located directly adjacent to each other within the frequency band. In the intraband, non-contiguous configuration 1004, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are separated in the frequency band by a gap. In the interband configuration 1006, the two CCs are located in frequency bands (frequency band A and frequency band B).

[0141] In an example, up to 32 CCs may be aggregated. The aggregated CCs may have the same or different bandwidths, subcarrier spacing, and / or duplexing schemes (TDD or FDD). A serving cell for a UE using CA may have a downlink CC. For FDD, one or more uplink CCs may be optionally configured for a serving cell. The ability to aggregate more downlink carriers than uplink carriers may be useful, for example, when the UE has more data traffic in the downlink than in the uplink.

[0142] When CA is used, one of the aggregated cells for a UE may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell). The PCell may be the serving cell that the UE initially connects to at RRC connection establishment, reestablishment, and / or handover. The PCell may provide the UE with NAS mobility information and the security input. UEs may have different PCells. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may be referred to as the downlink primary CC (DL PCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may be referred to as the uplink primary CC (UL PCC). The other aggregated cells for the UE may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells). In an example, the SCells may be configured after the PCell is configured for the UE. For example, an SCell may be configured through an RRC Connection Reconfiguration procedure. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to an SCell may be referred to as a downlink secondary CC (DL SCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to the SCell may be referred to as the uplink secondary CC (UL SCC).

[0143] Configured SCells for a UE may be activated and deactivated based on, for example, traffic and channel conditions. Deactivation of an SCell may mean that PDCCH and PDSCH reception on the SCell is stopped and PUSCH, SRS, and CQI transmissions on the SCell are stopped. Configured SCells may be activated and deactivated using a MAC CE with respect to FIG. 4B. For example, a MAC CE may use a bitmap (e.g. , one bit per SCell) to indicate which SCells (e.g., in a subset of configured SCells) for the UE are activated or deactivated. Configured SCells may be deactivated in response to an expiration of an SCell deactivation timer (e.g., one SCell deactivation timer per SCell).

[0144] Downlink control information, such as scheduling assignments and scheduling grants, for a cell may be transmitted on the cell corresponding to the assignments and grants, which is known as self-scheduling. The DCI for the cell may be transmitted on another cell, which is known as cross-carrier scheduling. Uplink control information (e.g.,HARQ acknowledgments and channel state feedback, such as CQI, PMI, and / or Rl) for aggregated cells may be transmitted on the PUCCH of the PCell. For a larger number of aggregated downlink CCs, the PUCCH of the PCell may become overloaded. Cells may be divided into multiple PUCCH groups.

[0145] FIG. 10B illustrates an example of how aggregated cells may be configured into one or more PUCCH groups. A PUCCH group 1010 and a PUCCH group 1050 may include one or more downlink CCs, respectively. In the example of FIG. 10B, the PUCCH group 1010 includes three downlink CCs: a PCell 1011, an SCell 1012, and an SCell 1013. The PUCCH group 1050 includes three downlink CCs in the present example: a PCell 1051, an SCell 1052, and an SCell 1053. One or more uplink CCs may be configured as a PCell 1021, an SCell 1022, and an SCell 1023. One or more other uplink CCs may be configured as a primary SCell (PSCell) 1061, an SCell 1062, and an SCell 1063. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CCs of the PUCCH group 1010, shown as UC1 1031, UC1 1032, and UC1 1033, may be transmitted in the uplink of the PCell 1021. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CCs of the PUCCH group 1050, shown as UC1 1071, UC1 1072, and UC1 1073, may be transmitted in the uplink of the PSCell 1061. In an example, if the aggregated cells depicted in FIG. 10B were not divided into the PUCCH group 1010 and the PUCCH group 1050, a single uplink PCell to transmit UCI relating to the downlink CCs, and the PCell may become overloaded. By dividing transmissions of UCI between the PCell 1021 and the PSCell 1061, overloading may be prevented.

[0146] A cell, comprising a downlink carrier and optionally an uplink carrier, may be assigned with a physical cell ID and a cell index. The physical cell ID or the cell index may identify a downlink carrier and / or an uplink carrier of the cell, for example, depending on the context in which the physical cell ID is used. A physical cell ID may be determined using a synchronization signal transmitted on a downlink component carrier. A cell index may be determined using RRC messages. In the disclosure, a physical cell ID may be referred to as a carrier ID, and a cell index may be referred to as a carrier index. For example, when the disclosure refers to a first physical cell ID for a first downlink carrier, the disclosure may mean the first physical cell ID is for a cell comprising the first downlink carrier. The same / similar concept may apply to, for example, a carrier activation. When the disclosure indicates that a first carrier is activated, the specification may mean that a cell comprising the first carrier is activated.

[0147] In CA, a multi-carrier nature of a PHY may be exposed to a MAC. In an example, a HARQ entity may operate on a serving cell. A transport block may be generated per assignment / grant per serving cell. A transport block and potential HARQ retransmissions of the transport block may be mapped to a serving cell.

[0148] In the downlink, a base station may transmit (e.g., unicast, multicast, and / or broadcast) one or more Reference Signals (RSs) to a UE (e.g., PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS, and / or PT-RS, as shown in FIG. 5A). In the uplink, the UE may transmit one or more RSs to the base station (e.g., DMRS, PT-RS, and / or SRS, as shown in FIG. 5B). The PSS and the SSS may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE to synchronize the UE to the base station. The PSS and the SSS may be provided in a synchronization signal (SS) I physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block that includes the PSS, the SSS, and the PBCH The base station may periodically transmit a burst of SS / PBCH blocks.

[0149] FIG. 11A illustrates an example of an SS / PBCH block's structure and location. A burst of SS / PBCH blocks may include one or more SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., 4 SS / PBCH blocks, as shown in FIG. 11A). Bursts may be transmitted periodically (e.g., every 2 frames or 20 ms). A burst may be restricted to a half-frame (e.g., a first half-frame having a duration of 5 ms). It will be understood that FIG. 11A is an example, and that these parameters (number of SS / PBCH blocks per burst, periodicity of bursts, position of burst within the frame) may be configured based on, for example: a carrier frequency of a cell in which the SS / PBCH block is transmitted; a numerology or subcarrier spacing of the cell; a configuration by the network (e.g., using RRC signaling); or any other suitable factor. In an example, the UE may assume a subcarrier spacing for the SS / PBCH block based on the carrier frequency being monitored, unless the radio network configured the UE to assume a different subcarrier spacing

[0150] The SS / PBCH block may span one or more OFDM symbols in the time domain (e.g., 4 OFDM symbols, as shown in the example of FIG. 11A) and may span one or more subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 240 contiguous subcarriers) The PSS, the SSS, and the PBCH may have a common center frequency The PSS may be transmitted first and may span, for example, 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The SSS may be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., two symbols later) and may span 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The PBCH may be transmitted after the PSS (e g., across the next 3 OFDM symbols) and may span 240 subcarriers.

[0151] The location of the SS / PBCH block in the time and frequency domains may not be known to the UE (e.g., if the UE is searching for the cell). To find and select the cell, the UE may monitor a carrier for the PSS. For example, the UE may monitor a frequency location within the carrier. If the PSS is not found after a certain duration (e.g., 20 ms), the UE may search for the PSS at a different frequency location within the carrier, as indicated by a synchronization raster. If the PSS is found at a location in the time and frequency domains, the UE may determine, based on a known structure of the SS / PBCH block, the locations of the SSS and the PBCH, respectively. The SS / PBCH block may be a celldefining SS block (CD-SSB). In an example, a primary cell may be associated with a CD-SSB. The CD-SSB may be located on a synchronization raster. In an example, a cell selection / search and / or reselection may be based on the CD- SSB.

[0152] The SS / PBCH block may be used by the UE to determine one or more parameters of the cell. For example, the UE may determine a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the cell based on the sequences of the PSS and the SSS, respectively. The UE may determine a location of a frame boundary of the cell based on the location of the SS / PBCH block. For example, the SS / PBCH block may indicate that it has been transmitted in accordance with a transmission pattern, wherein a SS / PBCH block in the transmission pattern is a known distance from the frame boundary.

[0153] The PBCH may use a QPSK modulation and may use forward error correction (FEC). The FEC may use polar coding. One or more symbols spanned by the PBCH may carry one or more DMRSs for demodulation of the PBCH. The PBCH may include an indication of a current system frame number (SFN) of the cell and / or a SS / PBCH block timing index. These parameters may facilitate time synchronization of the UE to the base station. The PBCH may include a master information block (MIB) used to provide the UE with one or more parameters. The MIB may be used by the UE to locate remaining minimum system information (RMSI) associated with the cell. The RMSI may include aSystem Information Block Type 1 (SIB1 ). The SIB1 may contain information needed by the UE to access the cell. The UE may use one or more parameters of the MIB to monitor PDCCH, which may be used to schedule PDSCH. The PDSCH may include the SIB1. The SIB1 may be decoded using parameters provided in the MIB. The PBCH may indicate an absence of SIB1. Based on the PBCH indicating the absence of SIB1 , the UE may be pointed to a frequency. The UE may search for an SS / PBCH block at the frequency to which the UE is pointed.

[0154] The UE may assume that one or more SS / PBCH blocks transmitted with a same SS / PBCH block index are quasi co-located (QCLed) (e.g., having the same / similar Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and / or spatial Rx parameters). The UE may not assume QCL for SS / PBCH block transmissions having different SS / PBCH block indices

[0155] SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., those within a half-frame) may be transmitted in spatial directions (e.g., using different beams that span a coverage area of the cell). In an example, a first SS / PBCH block may be transmitted in a first spatial direction using a first beam, and a second SS / PBCH block may be transmitted in a second spatial direction using a second beam.

[0156] In an example, within a frequency span of a carrier, a base station may transmit a plurality of SS / PBCH blocks. In an example, a first PCI of a first SS / PBCH block of the plurality of SS / PBCH blocks may be different from a second PCI of a second SS / PBCH block of the plurality of SS / PBCH blocks. The PCIs of SS / PBCH blocks transmitted in different frequency locations may be different or the same.

[0157] The CSI-RS may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE to acquire channel state information (CSI). The base station may configure the UE with one or more CSI-RSs for channel estimation or any other suitable purpose. The base station may configure a UE with one or more of the same / similar CSI-RSs. The UE may measure the one or more CSI-RSs. The UE may estimate a downlink channel state and / or generate a CSI report based on the measuring of the one or more downlink CSI-RSs. The UE may provide the CSI report to the base station. The base station may use feedback provided by the UE (e.g., the estimated downlink channel state) to perform link adaptation.

[0158] The base station may sem i-statically configure the UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets. A CSI-RS resource may be associated with a location in the time and frequency domains and a periodicity. The base station may selectively activate and / or deactivate a CSI-RS resource. The base station may indicate to the UE that a CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set is activated and / or deactivated.

[0159] The base station may configure the UE to report CSI measurements. The base station may configure the UE to provide CSI reports periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently. For periodic CSI reporting, the UE may be configured with a timing and / or periodicity of a plurality of CSI reports. For aperiodic CSI reporting, the base station may request a CSI report. For example, the base station may command the UE to measure a configured CSI-RS resource and provide a CSI report relating to the measurements. For semi-persistent CSI reporting, the base station may configure the UE to transmit periodically, and selectively activate or deactivate the periodic reporting. The base station may configure the UE with a CSI-RS resource set and CSI reports using RRC signaling

[0160] The CSI-RS configuration may comprise one or more parameters indicating, for example, up to 32 antenna ports. The UE may be configured to employ the same OFDM symbols for a downlink CSI-RS and a control resource set (CORESET) when the downlink CSI-RS and CORESET are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of the physical resource blocks (PRBs) configured for the CORESET. The UE may be configured to employ the same OFDM symbols for downlink CSI-RS and SS / PBCH blocks when the downlink CSI-RS and SS / PBCH blocks are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of PRBs configured for the SS / PBCH blocks.

[0161] Downlink DMRSs may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for channel estimation. For example, the downlink DMRS may be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g , PDSCH). An NR network may support one or more variable and / or configurable DMRS patterns for data demodulation. At least one downlink DMRS configuration may support a front-loaded DMRS pattern. A front-loaded DMRS may be mapped over one or more OFDM symbols (e.g , one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). A base station may semi- statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single user-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. For multiuser-MI MO, a DMRS configuration may support up to 4 orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. A radio network may support (e.g., at least for CP-OFDM) a common DMRS structure for downlink and uplink, wherein a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and / or a scrambling sequence may be the same or different. The base station may transmit a downlink DMRS and a corresponding PDSCH using the same precoding matrix. The UE may use the one or more downlink DMRSs for coherent demodulation / channel estimation of the PDSCH.

[0162] In an example, a transmitter (e.g., a base station) may use a precoder matrices for a part of a transmission bandwidth. For example, the transmitter may use a first precoder matrix for a first bandwidth and a second precoder matrix for a second bandwidth. The first precoder matrix and the second precoder matrix may be different based on the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth. The UE may assume that a same precoding matrix is used across a set of PRBs. The set of PRBs may be denoted as a precoding resource block group (PRG).

[0163] A PDSCH may comprise one or more layers. The UE may assume that at least one symbol with DMRS is present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PDSCH. A higher layer may configure up to 3 DMRSs for the PDSCH.

[0164] Downlink PT-RS may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for phase-noise compensation. Whether a downlink PT-RS is present or not may depend on an RRC configuration. The presence and / or pattern of the downlink PT-RS may be configured on a UE-specific basis using a combination of RRC signaling and / or an association with one or more parameters employed for other purposes (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS)), which may be indicated by DCI. When configured, a dynamic presence of a downlink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters comprising at least MCS. An NR network may support a plurality of PT-RS densities defined in the time and / or frequency domains. When present, a frequency domain density may be associated with at least oneconfiguration of a scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume a same precoding for a DMRS port and a PT-RS port. A number of PT-RS ports may be fewer than a number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. Downlink PT-RS may be confined in the scheduled time / frequency duration for the UE. Downlink PT-RS may be transmitted on symbols to facilitate phase tracking at the receiver.

[0165] The UE may transmit an uplink DMRS to a base station for channel estimation. For example, the base station may use the uplink DMRS for coherent demodulation of one or more uplink physical channels. For example, the UE may transmit an uplink DMRS with a PUSCH and / or a PUCCH. The uplink DM-RS may span a range of frequencies that is similar to a range of frequencies associated with the corresponding physical channel. The base station may configure the UE with one or more uplink DMRS configurations. At least one DMRS configuration may support a front- loaded DMRS pattern. The front-loaded DMRS may be mapped over one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). One or more uplink DMRSs may be configured to transmit at one or more symbols of a PUSCH and / or a PUCCH. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e g. maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for the PUSCH and / or the PUCCH, which the UE may use to schedule a single-symbol DMRS and / or a double-symbol DMRS. An NR network may support (e.g., for cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-0 F DM)) a common DMRS structure for downlink and uplink, wherein a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and / or a scrambling sequence for the DMRS may be the same or different.

[0166] A PUSCH may comprise one or more layers, and the UE may transmit at least one symbol with DMRS present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PUSCH. In an example, a higher layer may configure up to three DMRSs for the PUSCH.

[0167] Uplink PT-RS (which may be used by a base station for phase tracking and / or phase-noise compensation) may or may not be present depending on an RRC configuration of the UE. The presence and / or pattern of uplink PT- RS may be configured on a UE-specific basis by a combination of RRC signaling and / or one or more parameters employed for other purposes (e.g., Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)), which may be indicated by DCI. When configured, a dynamic presence of uplink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters comprising at least MCS. A radio network may support a plurality of uplink PT-RS densities defined in time / frequency domain. When present, a frequency domain density may be associated with at least one configuration of a scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume a same precoding for a DMRS port and a PT-RS port. A number of PT-RS ports may be fewer than a number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. For example, uplink PT-RS may be confined in the scheduled time / frequency duration for the UE.

[0168] SRS may be transmitted by a UE to a base station for channel state estimation to support uplink channel dependent scheduling and / or link adaptation. SRS transmitted by the UE may allow a base station to estimate an uplink channel state at one or more frequencies. A scheduler at the base station may employ the estimated uplink channel state to assign one or more resource blocks for an uplink PUSCH transmission from the UE. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more SRS resource sets. For an SRS resource set, the base station may configure the UE with one or more SRS resources. An SRS resource set applicability may be configured by a higherlayer (e.g., RRC) parameter. For example, when a higher layer parameter indicates beam management, an SRS resource in an SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., with the same / similar time domain behavior, periodic, aperiodic, and / or the like) may be transmitted at a time instant (e.g., simultaneously). The UE may transmit one or more SRS resources in SRS resource sets. An NR network may support aperiodic, periodic and / or semi-persistent SRS transmissions. The UE may transmit SRS resources based on one or more trigger types, wherein the one or more trigger types may comprise higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC) and / or one or more DCI formats. In an example, at least one DCI format may be employed for the UE to select at least one of one or more configured SRS resource sets. An SRS trigger type 0 may refer to an SRS triggered based on a higher layer signaling. An SRS trigger type 1 may refer to an SRS triggered based on one or more DCI formats. In an example, when PUSCH and SRS are transmitted in a same slot, the UE may be configured to transmit SRS after a transmission of a PUSCH and a corresponding uplink DMRS.

[0169] The base station may sem i-statically configure the UE with one or more SRS configuration parameters indicating at least one of following: a SRS resource configuration identifier; a number of SRS ports; time domain behavior of an SRS resource configuration (e.g., an indication of periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic SRS); slot, minislot, and / or subframe level periodicity; offset for a periodic and / or an aperiodic SRS resource; a number of OFDM symbols in an SRS resource; a starting OFDM symbol of an SRS resource; an SRS bandwidth; a frequency hopping bandwidth; a cyclic shift; and / or an SRS sequence ID.

[0170] An antenna port is defined such that the channel over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. If a first symbol and a second symbol are transmitted on the same antenna port, the receiver may infer the channel (e.g., fading gain, multipath delay, and / or the like) for conveying the second symbol on the antenna port, from the channel for conveying the first symbol on the antenna port. A first antenna port and a second antenna port may be referred to as quasi colocated (QCLed) if one or more large-scale properties of the channel over which a first symbol on the first antenna port is conveyed may be inferred from the channel over which a second symbol on a second antenna port is conveyed. The one or more large-scale properties may comprise at least one of: a delay spread; a Doppler spread; a Doppler shift; an average gain; an average delay; and / or spatial Receiving (Rx) parameters.

[0171] Channels that use beamforming require beam management. Beam management may comprise beam measurement, beam selection, and beam indication. A beam may be associated with one or more reference signals. For example, a beam may be identified by one or more beamformed reference signals. The UE may perform downlink beam measurement based on downlink reference signals (e.g., a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)) and generate a beam measurement report. The UE may perform the downlink beam measurement procedure after an RRC connection is set up with a base station.

[0172] FIG. 11B illustrates an example of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) that are mapped in the time and frequency domains. A square shown in FIG. 11 B may span a resource block (RB) within a bandwidth of a cell. A base station may transmit one or more RRC messages comprising CSI-RS resource configuration parametersindicating one or more CSI-RSs. One or more of the following parameters may be configured by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC and / or MAC signaling) for a CSI-RS resource configuration: a CSI-RS resource configuration identity, a number of CSI-RS ports, a CSI-RS configuration (e.g., symbol and resource element (RE) locations in a subframe), a CSI-RS subframe configuration (e.g., subframe location, offset, and periodicity in a radio frame), a CSI-RS power parameter, a CSI-RS sequence parameter, a code division multiplexing (CDM) type parameter, a frequency density, a transmission comb, quasi co-location (QCL) parameters (e.g., QCL-scramblingidentity, crs-portscount, mbsfn- subframeconfig / ist, csi-rs-configZPid, qcl-csi-rs-configNZPid), and / or other radio resource parameters.

[0173] The three beams illustrated in FIG. 11 B may be configured for a UE in a UE-specific configuration. Three beams are illustrated in FIG. 11 B (beam #1, beam #2, and beam #3), more or fewer beams may be configured. Beam #1 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1101 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a first symbol. Beam #2 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1102 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a second symbol. Beam #3 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1103 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a third symbol. By using frequency division multiplexing (FDM), a base station may use other subcarriers in a same RB (for example, those that are not used to transmit CSI-RS 1101) to transmit another CSI-RS associated with a beam for another UE. By using time domain multiplexing (TDM), beams used for the UE may be configured such that beams for the UE use symbols from beams of other UEs.

[0174] CSI-RSs such as those illustrated in FIG. 11B (e.g., CSI-RS 1101, 1102, 1103) may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE for one or more measurements. For example, the UE may measure a reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources. The base station may configure the UE with a reporting configuration and the UE may report the RSRP measurements to a network (for example, via one or more base stations) based on the reporting configuration. In an example, the base station may determine, based on the reported measurement results, one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states comprising a number of reference signals. In an example, the base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and / or a DCI). The UE may receive a downlink transmission with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states. In an example, the UE may or may not have a capability of beam correspondence. If the UE has the capability of beam correspondence, the UE may determine a spatial domain filter of a transmit (Tx) beam based on a spatial domain filter of the corresponding Rx beam. If the UE does not have the capability of beam correspondence, the UE may perform an uplink beam selection procedure to determine the spatial domain filter of the Tx beam. The UE may perform the uplink beam selection procedure based on one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources configured to the UE by the base station. The base station may select and indicate uplink beams for the UE based on measurements of the one or more SRS resources transmitted by the UE.

[0175] In a beam management procedure, a UE may assess (e.g., measure) a channel quality of one or more beam pair links, a beam pair link comprising a transmitting beam transmitted by a base station and a receiving beam received by the UE Based on the assessment, the UE may transmit a beam measurement report indicating one or more beampair quality parameters comprising, e.g., one or more beam identifications (e.g., a beam index, a reference signal index, or the like), RSRP, a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or a rank indicator (Rl).

[0176] FIG. 12A illustrates examples of three downlink beam management procedures: P1, P2, and P3. Procedure P1 may enable a UE measurement on transmit (Tx) beams of a transmission reception point (TRP) (or multiple TRPs), e.g., to support a selection of one or more base station Tx beams and / or UE Rx beams (shown as ovals in the top row and bottom row, respectively, of Pt). Beamforming at a TRP may comprise a Tx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown, in the top rows of P1 and P2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Beamforming at a UE may comprise an Rx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown, in the bottom rows of P1 and P3, as ovals rotated in a clockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow) Procedure P2 may be used to enable a UE measurement on Tx beams of a TRP (shown, in the top row of P2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). The UE and / or the base station may perform procedure P2 using a smaller set of beams than is used in procedure P1, or using narrower beams than the beams used in procedure P1. This may be referred to as beam refinement. The UE may perform procedure P3 for Rx beam determination by using the same Tx beam at the base station and sweeping an Rx beam at the UE.

[0177] FIG. 12B illustrates examples of three uplink beam management procedures: U1, U2, and U3. Procedure U1 may be used to enable a base station to perform a measurement on Tx beams of a UE, e.g., to support a selection of one or more UE Tx beams and / or base station Rx beams (shown as ovals in the top row and bottom row, respectively, of U1) Beamforming at the UE may include, e.g , a Tx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown in the bottom rows of U1 and U3 as ovals rotated in a clockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Beamforming at the base station may include, e.g., an Rx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown, in the top rows of U1 and U2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Procedure U2 may be used to enable the base station to adjust its Rx beam when the UE uses a fixed Tx beam. The UE and / or the base station may perform procedure U2 using a smaller set of beams than is used in procedure P1, or using narrower beams than the beams used in procedure P1. This may be referred to as beam refinement The UE may perform procedure U3 to adjust its Tx beam when the base station uses a fixed Rx beam.

[0178] A UE may initiate a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure based on detecting a beam failure. The UE may transmit a BFR request (e.g., a preamble, a UCI, an SR, a MAC CE, and / or the like) based on the initiating of the BFR procedure. The UE may detect the beam failure based on a determination that a quality of beam pair link(s) of an associated control channel is unsatisfactory (e.g., having an error rate higher than an error rate threshold, a received signal power lower than a received signal power threshold, an expiration of a timer, and / or the like).

[0179] The UE may measure a quality of a beam pair link using one or more reference signals (RSs) comprising one or more SS / PBCH blocks, one or more CSI-RS resources, and / or one or more demodulation reference signals (DMRSs). A quality of the beam pair link may be based on one or more of a block error rate (BLER), an RSRP value, a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) value, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) value, and / or a CSI value measured on RS resources. The base station may indicate that an RS resource is quasi co-located (QCLed) withone or more DM-RSs of a channel (e.g. , a control channel, a shared data channel, and / or the like). The RS resource and the one or more DMRSs of the channel may be QCLed when the channel characteristics (e.g., Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, spatial Rx parameter, fading, and / or the like) from a transmission via the RS resource to the UE are similar or the same as the channel characteristics from a transmission via the channel to the UE.

[0180] A network (e.g., a g N B and / or an ng-eNB of a network) and / or the UE may initiate a random access procedure. A UE in an RRC_IDLE state and / or an RRC_I NACTIVE state may initiate the random access procedure to request a connection setup to a network. The UE may initiate the random access procedure from an RRC_CONNECTED state. The UE may initiate the random access procedure to request uplink resources (e.g., for uplink transmission of an SR when there is no PUCCH resource available) and / or acquire uplink timing (e.g., when uplink synchronization status is non-synchronized). The UE may initiate the random access procedure to request one or more system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., other system information such as SIB2, SIB3, and / or the like). The UE may initiate the random access procedure for a beam failure recovery request. A network may initiate a random access procedure for a handover and / or for establishing time alignment for an SCell addition.

[0181] FIG. 13A illustrates a four-step contention-based random access procedure. Prior to initiation of the procedure, a base station may transmit a configuration message 1310 to the UE. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A comprises transmission of four messages: a Msg 1 1311, a Msg 2 1312, a Msg 31313, and a Msg 41314. The Msg 1 1311 may include and / or be referred to as a preamble (or a random access preamble) The Msg 2 1312 may include and / or be referred to as a random access response (RAR).

[0182] The configuration message 1310 may be transmitted, for example, using one or more RRC messages. The one or more RRC messages may indicate one or more random access channel (RACH) parameters to the UE. The one or more RACH parameters may comprise at least one of following: general parameters for one or more random access procedures (e.g., RACH-configGeneral); cell-specific parameters (e.g., RACH-ConfigCommon); and / or dedicated parameters (e.g., RACH-conf / gDedicated). The base station may broadcast or multicast the one or more RRC messages to one or more UEs. The one or more RRC messages may be UE-specific (e.g., dedicated RRC messages transmitted to a UE in an RRC_CONNECTED state and / or in an RRC J NACTIVE state). The UE may determine, based on the one or more RACH parameters, a time-frequency resource and / or an uplink transmit power for transmission of the Msg 1 1311 and / or the Msg 31313. Based on the one or more RACH parameters, the UE may determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for receiving the Msg 2 1312 and the Msg 41314.

[0183] The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may indicate one or more Physical RACH (PRACH) occasions available for transmission of the Msg 1 1311 The one or more PRACH occasions may be predefined. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more available sets of one or more PRACH occasions (e.g., prach-Configlndex). The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more PRACH occasions and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more preambles and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or morereference signals may be SS / PBCH blocks and / or CSI-RSs. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a number of SS / PBCH blocks mapped to a PRACH occasion and / or a number of preambles mapped to a SS / PBCH blocks.

[0184] The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may be used to determine an uplink transmit power of Msg 1 1311 and / or Msg 3 1313. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a reference power for a preamble transmission (e.g., a received target power and / or an initial power of the preamble transmission). There may be one or more power offsets indicated by the one or more RACH parameters. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate: a power ramping step; a power offset between SSB and CSI-RS; a power offset between transmissions of the Msg 1 1311 and the Msg 3 1313; and / or a power offset value between preamble groups. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more thresholds based on which the UE may determine at least one reference signal (e.g., an SSB and / or CSI-RS) and / or an uplink carrier (e.g., a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and / or a supplemental uplink (SUL) carrier).

[0185] The Msg 1 1311 may include one or more preamble transmissions (e.g., a preamble transmission and one or more preamble retransmissions). An RRC message may be used to configure one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and / or group B). A preamble group may comprise one or more preambles The UE may determine the preamble group based on a pathloss measurement and / or a size of the Msg 3 1313. The UE may measure an RSRP of one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and / or CSI-RSs) and determine at least one reference signal having an RSRP above an RSRP threshold (e g., rsrp-ThresholdSSB and / or rsrp-ThresholdCSI-RS). The UE may select at least one preamble associated with the one or more reference signals and / or a selected preamble group, for example, if the association between the one or more preambles and the at least one reference signal is configured by an RRC message.

[0186] The UE may determine the preamble based on the one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310. For example, the UE may determine the preamble based on a pathloss measurement, an RSRP measurement, and / or a size of the Msg 3 1313. As another example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate: a preamble format; a maximum number of preamble transmissions; and / or one or more thresholds for determining one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and group B). A base station may use the one or more RACH parameters to configure the UE with an association between one or more preambles and one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and / or CSI-RSs). If the association is configured, the UE may determine the preamble to include in Msg 1 1311 based on the association. The Msg 1 1311 may be transmitted to the base station via one or more PRACH occasions. The UE may use one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and / or CSI-RSs) for selection of the preamble and for determining of the PRACH occasion. One or more RACH parameters (e.g., ra-ssb-OccasionMsklndex and / or ra-OccasionList) may indicate an association between the PRACH occasions and the one or more reference signals.

[0187] The UE may perform a preamble retransmission if no response is received following a preamble transmission. The UE may increase an uplink transmit power for the preamble retransmission. The UE may select an initial preamble transmit power based on a pathloss measurement and / or a target received preamble power configured by the network.The UE may determine to retransmit a preamble and may ramp up the uplink transmit power. The UE may receive one or more RACH parameters (e.g., PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_STEP) indicating a ramping step for the preamble retransmission. The ramping step may be an amount of incremental increase in uplink transmit power for a retransmission. The UE may ramp up the uplink transmit power if the UE determines a reference signal (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) that is the same as a previous preamble transmission. The UE may count a number of preamble transmissions and / or retransmissions (e.g., PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER). The UE may determine that a random access procedure completed unsuccessfully, for example, if the number of preamble transmissions exceeds a threshold configured by the one or more RACH parameters (e.g., preambleTransMax).

[0188] The Msg 2 1312 received by the UE may include an RAR. In some scenarios, the Msg 21312 may include multiple RARs corresponding to multiple UEs. The Msg 2 1312 may be received after or in response to the transmitting of the Msg 1 1311. The Msg 2 1312 may be scheduled on the DL-SCH and indicated on a PDCCH using a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The Msg 2 1312 may indicate that the Msg 1 1311 was received by the base station The Msg 2 1312 may include a time-alignment command that may be used by the UE to adjust the UE’s transmission timing, a scheduling grant for transmission of the Msg 3 1313, and / or a Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI). After transmitting a preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) to monitor a PDCCH for the Msg 2 1312. The UE may determine when to start the time window based on a PRACH occasion that the UE uses to transmit the preamble. For example, the UE may start the time window one or more symbols after a last symbol of the preamble (e.g., at a first PDCCH occasion from an end of a preamble transmission). The one or more symbols may be determined based on a numerology. The PDCCH may be in a common search space (e.g., a Typel -PDCCH common search space) configured by an RRC message. The UE may identify the RAR based on a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). RNTIs may be used depending on one or more events initiating the random access procedure. The UE may use random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The RA-RNTI may be associated with PRACH occasions in which the UE transmits a preamble. For example, the UE may determine the RA-RNTI based on: an OFDM symbol index; a slot index; a frequency domain index; and / or a UL carrier indicator of the PRACH occasions. An example of RA-RNTI may be as follows:RA-RNTI= 1 +s_id + 14 * t_id + 14 x 80 x fjd + 14 x 80 x 8 x ul_carrier_id, where s_id may be an index of a first OFDM symbol of the PRACH occasion (e.g., 0 < s_id < 14), tjd may be an index of a first slot of the PRACH occasion in a system frame (e.g., 0 < tjd < 80), fjd may be an index of the PRACH occasion in the frequency domain (e.g., 0 < fjd < 8), and ul_carrier_id may be a UL carrier used for a preamble transmission (e.g., 0 for an NUL carrier, and 1 for an SUL carrier).

[0189] The UE may transmit the Msg 3 1313 in response to a successful reception of the Msg 2 1312 (e.g., using resources identified in the Msg 2 1312). The Msg 3 1313 may be used for contention resolution in, for example, the contention-based random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A. In some scenarios, a plurality of UEs may transmit a same preamble to a base station and the base station may provide an RAR that corresponds to a UE. Collisions may occur if the plurality of UEs interpret the RAR as corresponding to themselves. Contention resolution (e.g., using theMsg 3 1313 and the Msg 41314) may be used to increase the likelihood that the UE does not incorrectly use an identity of another the UE. To perform contention resolution, the UE may include a device identifier in the Msg 3 1313 (e.g., a C-RNTI if assigned, a TC-RNTI included in the Msg 2 1312, and / or any other suitable identifier).

[0190] The Msg 41314 may be received after or in response to the transmitting of the Msg 3 1313. If a C-RNTI was included in the Msg 3 1313, the base station will address the UE on the PDCCH using the C-RNTI. If the UE's unique C-RNTI is detected on the PDCCH, the random access procedure is determined to be successfully completed. If a TC-RNTI is included in the Msg 31313 (e.g., if the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or not otherwise connected to the base station), Msg 41314 will be received using a DL-SCH associated with the TC-RNTI. If a MAC PDU is successfully decoded and a MAC PDU comprises the UE contention resolution identity MAC CE that matches or otherwise corresponds with the CCCH SDU sent (e.g., transmitted) in Msg 3 1313, the UE may determine that the contention resolution is successful and / or the UE may determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed.

[0191] The UE may be configured with a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier and a normal uplink (NUL) carrier. An initial access (e.g., random access procedure) may be supported in an uplink carrier. For example, a base station may configure the UE with two separate RACH configurations: one for an SUL carrier and the other for an NUL carrier. For random access in a cell configured with an SUL carrier, the network may indicate which carrier to use (NUL or SUL) The UE may determine the SUL carrier, for example, if a measured quality of one or more reference signals is lower than a broadcast threshold. Uplink transmissions of the random access procedure (e.g., the Msg 1 1311 and / or the Msg 31313) may remain on the selected carrier The UE may switch an uplink carrier during the random access procedure (e.g., between the Msg 1 1311 and the Msg 3 1313) in one or more cases. For example, the UE may determine and / or switch an uplink carrier for the Msg 1 1311 and / or the Msg 31313 based on a channel clear assessment (e.g., a listen- before-talk).

[0192] FIG. 13B illustrates a two-step contention-free random access procedure. Similar to the four-step contentionbased random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A, a base station may, prior to initiation of the procedure, transmit a configuration message 1320 to the UE. The configuration message 1320 may be analogous in some respects to the configuration message 1310. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B comprises transmission of two messages: a Msg 1 1321 and a Msg 21322. The Msg 1 1321 and the Msg 21322 may be analogous in some respects to the Msg 1 1311 and a Msg 21312 illustrated in FIG. 13A, respectively. As will be understood from FIGS. 13A and 13B, the contention- free random access procedure may not include messages analogous to the Msg 3 1313 and / or the Msg 41314.

[0193] The contention-free random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B may be initiated for a beam failure recovery, other SI request, SCell addition, and / or handover. For example, a base station may indicate or assign to the UE the preamble to be used for the Msg 1 1321. The UE may receive, from the base station via PDCCH and / or RRC, an indication of a preamble (e.g., ra-Preamblelndex .

[0194] After transmitting a preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) to monitor a PDCCH for the RAR. In the event of a beam failure recovery request, the base station may configure the UE with a separate time window and / or a separate PDCCH in a search space indicated by an RRC message (e.g.,recoverySearchSpaceld). The UE may monitor for a PDCCH transmission addressed to a Cell RNTI (C-RNTI) on the search space. In the contention-free random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B, the UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes after or in response to transmission of Msg 1 1321 and reception of a corresponding Msg 2 1322. The UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes, for example, if a PDCCH transmission is addressed to a C-RNTI. The UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes, for example, if the UE receives an RAR comprising a preamble identifier corresponding to a preamble transmitted by the UE and / or the RAR comprises a MAC sub-PDU with the preamble identifier. The UE may determine the response as an indication of an acknowledgement for an SI request.

[0195] FIG. 13C illustrates another two-step random access procedure. Similar to the random access procedures illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B, a base station may, prior to initiation of the procedure, transmit a configuration message 1330 to the UE. The configuration message 1330 may be analogous in some respects to the configuration message 1310 and / or the configuration message 1320. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13C comprises transmission of two messages: a Msg A 1331 and a Msg B 1332.

[0196] Msg A 1331 may be transmitted in an uplink transmission by the UE. Msg A 1331 may comprise one or more transmissions of a preamble 1341 and / or one or more transmissions of a transport block 1342. The transport block 1342 may comprise contents that are similar and / or equivalent to the contents of the Msg 3 1313 illustrated in FIG. 13A. The transport block 1342 may comprise UCI (e.g., an SR, a HARQ ACK / NACK, and / or the like). The UE may receive the Msg B 1332 after or in response to transmitting the Msg A 1331. The Msg B 1332 may comprise contents that are similar and / or equivalent to the contents of the Msg 2 1312 (e.g., an RAR) illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B and / or the Msg 41314 illustrated in FIG. 13A.

[0197] The UE may initiate the two-step random access procedure in FIG. 13C for licensed spectrum and / or unlicensed spectrum. The UE may determine, based on one or more factors, whether to initiate the two-step random access procedure. The one or more factors may be: a radio access technology in use (e.g., LTE, NR, and / or the like); whether the UE has valid TA or not; a cell size; the UE’s RRC state; a type of spectrum (e.g., licensed vs. unlicensed); and / or any other suitable factors.

[0198] The UE may determine, based on two-step RACH parameters included in the configuration message 1330, a radio resource and / or an uplink transmit power for the preamble 1341 and / or the transport block 1342 included in the Msg A 1331. The RACH parameters may indicate a modulation and coding schemes (MCS), a time-frequency resource, and / or a power control for the preamble 1341 and / or the transport block 1342. A time-frequency resource for transmission of the preamble 1341 (e.g., a PRACH) and a time-frequency resource for transmission of the transport block 1342 (e g., a PUSCH) may be multiplexed using FDM, TDM, and / or CDM. The RACH parameters may enable the UE to determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for monitoring for and / or receiving Msg B 1332.

[0199] The transport block 1342 may comprise data (e.g., delay-sensitive data), an identifier of the UE, security information, and / or device information (e.g., an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)). The base station may transmit the Msg B 1332 as a response to the Msg A 1331. The Msg B 1332 may comprise at least one of following: apreamble identifier; a timing advance command; a power control command; an uplink grant (e.g., a radio resource assignment and / or an MCS); a UE identifier for contention resolution; and / or an RNTI (e.g., a C-RNTI or a TC-RNTI). The UE may determine that the two-step random access procedure is successfully completed if: a preamble identifier in the Msg B 1332 is matched to a preamble transmitted by the UE; and / or the identifier of the UE in Msg B 1332 is matched to the identifier of the UE in the Msg A 1331 (e.g., the transport block 1342).

[0200] A UE and a base station may exchange control signaling. The control signaling may be referred to as L1 / L2 control signaling and may originate from the PHY layer (e.g., layer 1) and / or the MAC layer (e.g., layer 2). The control signaling may comprise downlink control signaling transmitted from the base station to the UE and / or uplink control signaling transmitted from the UE to the base station.

[0201] The downlink control signaling may comprise: a downlink scheduling assignment; an uplink scheduling grant indicating uplink radio resources and / or a transport format; a slot format information; a preemption indication; a power control command; and / or any other suitable signaling. The UE may receive the downlink control signaling in a payload transmitted by the base station on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The payload transmitted on the PDCCH may be referred to as downlink control information (DCI). In some scenarios, the PDCCH may be a group common PDCCH (GC-PDCCH) that is common to a group of UEs.

[0202] A base station may attach one or more cyclic redundancy check (CRC) parity bits to a DCI in order to facilitate detection of transmission errors. When the DCI is intended for a UE (or a group of the UEs), the base station may scramble the CRC parity bits with an identifier of the UE (or an identifier of the group of the UEs). Scrambling the CRC parity bits with the identifier may comprise Modulo-2 addition (or an exclusive OR operation) of the identifier value and the CRC parity bits. The identifier may comprise a 16-bit value of a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

[0203] DCIs may be used for different purposes. A purpose may be indicated by the type of RNTI used to scramble the CRC parity bits. For example, a DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a paging RNTI (P-RNTI) may indicate paging information and / or a system information change notification. The P-RNTI may be predefined as “FFFE” in hexadecimal. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a system information RNTI (SI-RNTI) may indicate a broadcast transmission of the system information. The SI-RNTI may be predefined as “FFFF” in hexadecimal. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI) may indicate a random access response (RAR). A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a cell RNTI (C-RNTI) may indicate a dynamically scheduled unicast transmission and / or a triggering of PDCCH-ordered random access. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI) may indicate a contention resolution (e.g., a Msg 3 analogous to the Msg 3 1313 illustrated in FIG. 13A). Other RNTIs configured to the UE by a base station may comprise a Configured Scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-PUCCH RNTI (TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-SRS RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI), an Interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), a Slot Format Indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), a Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), a Modulation and Coding Scheme Cell RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), and / or the like.

[0204] Depending on the purpose and / or content of a DCI, the base station may transmit the DCIs with one or more DCI formats. For example, DCI format 0_0 may be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell. DCI format 0_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g. , with compact DCI payloads). DCI format 0_1 may be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell (e.g., with more DCI payloads than DCI format 0_0). DCI format 1_0 may be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell. DCI format 1_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g., with compact DCI payloads). DCI format 1 J may be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell (e.g., with more DCI payloads than DCI format 1_0). DCI format 2_0 may be used for providing a slot format indication to a group of UEs. DCI format 2_1 may be used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block and / or OFDM symbol where the UE may assume no transmission is intended to the UE. DCI format 2_2 may be used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUCCH or PUSCH. DCI format 2_3 may be used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs. DCI format(s) for new functions may be defined in future releases. DCI formats may have different DCI sizes, or may share the same DCI size.

[0205] After scrambling a DCI with a RNTI, the base station may process the DCI with channel coding (e.g., polar coding), rate matching, scrambling and / or QPSK modulation. A base station may map the coded and modulated DCI on resource elements used and / or configured for a PDCCH. Based on a payload size of the DCI and / or a coverage of the base station, the base station may transmit the DCI via a PDCCH occupying a number of contiguous control channel elements (CCEs). The number of the contiguous CCEs (referred to as aggregation level) may be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and / or any other suitable number. A CCE may comprise a number (e.g., 6) of resource-element groups (REGs). A REG may comprise a resource block in an OFDM symbol. The mapping of the coded and modulated DCI on the resource elements may be based on mapping of CCEs and REGs (e.g., CCE-to-REG mapping).

[0206] FIG. 14A illustrates an example of CORESET configurations for a bandwidth part. The base station may transmit a DCI via a PDCCH on one or more control resource sets (CORESETs). A CORESET may comprise a timefrequency resource in which the UE tries to decode a DCI using one or more search spaces. The base station may configure a CORESET in the time-frequency domain. In the example of FIG. 14A, a first CORESET 1401 and a second CORESET 1402 occur at the first symbol in a slot. The first CORESET 1401 overlaps with the second CORESET 1402 in the frequency domain. A third CORESET 1403 occurs at a third symbol in the slot. A fourth CORESET 1404 occurs at the seventh symbol in the slot. CORESETs may have a different number of resource blocks in frequency domain.

[0207] FIG. 14B illustrates an example of a CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on a CORESET and PDCCH processing. The CCE-to-REG mapping may be an interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purpose of providing frequency diversity) or a non-interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purposes of facilitating interference coordination and / or frequency- selective transmission of control channels). The base station may perform different or same CCE-to-REG mapping on different CORESETs. A CORESET may be associated with a CCE-to-REG mapping by RRC configuration. A CORESET may be configured with an antenna port quasi co-location (QCL) parameter. The antenna port QCL parameter may indicate QCL information of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for PDCCH reception in the CORESET.

[0208] The base station may transmit, to the U E, RRC messages comprising configuration parameters of one or more CORESETs and one or more search space sets. The configuration parameters may indicate an association between a search space set and a CORESET. A search space set may comprise a set of PDCCH candidates formed by CCEs at a given aggregation level. The configuration parameters may indicate: a number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored per aggregation level; a PDCCH monitoring periodicity and a PDCCH monitoring pattern; one or more DCI formats to be monitored by the UE; and / or whether a search space set is a common search space set or a UE- specific search space set. A set of CCEs in the common search space set may be predefined and known to the UE. A set of CCEs in the UE-specific search space set may be configured based on the UE’s identity (e.g., C-RNTI).

[0209] As shown in FIG 14B, the UE may determine a time-frequency resource for a CORESET based on RRC messages. The UE may determine a CCE-to-REG mapping (e.g., interleaved or non-interleaved, and / or mapping parameters) for the CORESET based on configuration parameters of the CORESET. The UE may determine a number (e.g., at most 10) of search space sets configured on the CORESET based on the RRC messages The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates according to configuration parameters of a search space set. The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs for detecting one or more DCIs. Monitoring may comprise decoding one or more PDCCH candidates of the set of the PDCCH candidates according to the monitored DCI formats. Monitoring may comprise decoding a DCI content of one or more PDCCH candidates with possible (or configured) PDCCH locations, possible (or configured) PDCCH formats (e.g., number of CCEs, number of PDCCH candidates in common search spaces, and / or number of PDCCH candidates in the UE-specific search spaces) and possible (or configured) DCI formats. The decoding may be referred to as blind decoding. The UE may determine a DCI as valid for the UE, in response to CRC checking (e.g., scrambled bits for CRC parity bits of the DCI matching a RNTI value). The UE may process information contained in the DCI (e.g., a scheduling assignment, an uplink grant, power control, a slot format indication, a downlink preemption, and / or the like).

[0210] The UE may transmit uplink control signaling (e.g., uplink control information (UCI)) to a base station. The uplink control signaling may comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements for received DL- SCH transport blocks. The UE may transmit the HARQ acknowledgements after receiving a DL-SCH transport block. Uplink control signaling may comprise channel state information (CSI) indicating channel quality of a physical downlink channel. The UE may transmit the CSI to the base station. The base station, based on the received CSI, may determine transmission format parameters (e.g., comprising multi-antenna and beamforming schemes) for a downlink transmission. Uplink control signaling may comprise scheduling requests (SR). The UE may transmit an SR indicating that uplink data is available for transmission to the base station. The UE may transmit a UCI (e.g., HARQ acknowledgements (HARQ-ACK), CSI report, SR, and the like) via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The UE may transmit the uplink control signaling via a PUCCH using one of several PUCCH formats.

[0211] There may be five PUCCH formats and the UE may determine a PUCCH format based on a size of the UCI (e.g., a number of uplink symbols of UCI transmission and a number of UCI bits). PUCCH format 0 may have a lengthof one or two OFDM symbols and may include two or fewer bits. The UE may transmit UCI in a PUCCH resource using PUCCH format 0 if the transmission is over one or two symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK information bits with positive or negative SR (HARQ-ACK / SR bits) is one or two. PUCCH format 1 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include two or fewer bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 1 if the transmission is four or more symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK / SR bits is one or two. PUCCH format 2 may occupy one or two OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 2 if the transmission is over one or two symbols and the number of UCI bits is two or more. PUCCH format 3 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 3 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more and PUCCH resource does not include an orthogonal cover code. PUCCH format 4 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 4 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more and the PUCCH resource includes an orthogonal cover code.

[0212] The base station may transmit configuration parameters to the UE for a plurality of PUCCH resource sets using, for example, an RRC message. The plurality of PUCCH resource sets (e.g., up to four sets) may be configured on an uplink BWP of a cell. A PUCCH resource set may be configured with a PUCCH resource set index, a plurality of PUCCH resources with a PUCCH resource being identified by a PUCCH resource identifier (e.g., pucch-Resourceid), and / or a number (e.g. a maximum number) of UCI information bits the UE may transmit using one of the plurality of PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. When configured with a plurality of PUCCH resource sets, the UE may select one of the plurality of PUCCH resource sets based on a total bit length of the UCI information bits (e.g., HARQ- ACK, SR, and / or CSI). If the total bit length of UCI information bits is two or fewer, the UE may select a first PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “0”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than two and less than or equal to a first configured value, the UE may select a second PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “1”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the first configured value and less than or equal to a second configured value, the UE may select a third PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “2”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the second configured value and less than or equal to a third value (e.g., 1406), the UE may select a fourth PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “3”.

[0213] After determining a PUCCH resource set from a plurality of PUCCH resource sets, the UE may determine a PUCCH resource from the PUCCH resource set for UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI, and / or SR) transmission. The UE may determine the PUCCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator in a DCI (e.g., with a DCI format 1_0 or DCI for 1 J) received on a PDCCH. A three-bit PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI may indicate one of eight PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. Based on the PUCCH resource indicator, the UE may transmit the UCI (HARQ- ACK, CSI and / or SR) using a PUCCH resource indicated by the PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI.

[0214] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device 1502 in communication with a base station 1504 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless device 1502 and base station 1504 may be partof a mobile communication network, such as the mobile communication network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 A, the mobile communication network 150 illustrated in FIG. 1 B, or any other communication network. Only one wireless device 1502 and one base station 1504 are illustrated in FIG. 15, but it will be understood that a mobile communication network may include more than one UE and / or more than one base station, with the same or similar configuration as those shown in FIG. 15.

[0215] The base station 1504 may connect the wireless device 1502 to a core network (not shown) through radio communications over the air interface (or radio interface) 1506. The communication direction from the base station 1504 to the wireless device 1502 over the air interface 1506 is known as the downlink, and the communication direction from the wireless device 1502 to the base station 1504 over the air interface is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions may be separated from uplink transmissions using FDD, TDD, and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0216] In the downlink, data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 from the base station 1504 may be provided to the processing system 1508 of the base station 1504. The data may be provided to the processing system 1508 by, for example, a core network. In the uplink, data to be sent to the base station 1504 from the wireless device 1502 may be provided to the processing system 1518 of the wireless device 1502. The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 may implement layer 3 and layer 2 OSI functionality to process the data for transmission. Layer 2 may include an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, and a MAC layer, for example, with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG 3, and FIG. 4A Layer 3 may include an RRC layer as with respect to FIG. 2B.

[0217] After being processed by processing system 1508, the data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 may be provided to a transmission processing system 1510 of base station 1504. Similarly, after being processed by the processing system 1518, the data to be sentto base station 1504 may be provided to a transmission processing system 1520 of the wireless device 1502. The transmission processing system 1510 and the transmission processing system 1520 may implement layer 1 OSI functionality. Layer 1 may include a PHY layer with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A. For transmit processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, forward error correction coding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping of transport channels to physical channels, modulation of physical channel, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) or multi-antenna processing, and / or the like.

[0218] At the base station 1504, a reception processing system 1512 may receive the uplink transmission from the wireless device 1502. At the wireless device 1502, a reception processing system 1522 may receive the downlink transmission from base station 1504. The reception processing system 1512 and the reception processing system 1522 may implement layer 1 OSI functionality. Layer 1 may include a PHY layer with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, and FIG 4A. For receive processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, error detection, forward error correction decoding, deinterleaving, demapping of transport channels to physical channels, demodulation of physical channels, MI O or multi-antenna processing, and / or the like.

[0219] As shown in FIG 15, a wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 may include multiple antennas. The multiple antennas may be used to perform one or more MIMO or multi-antenna techniques, such as spatial multiplexing(e.g., single-user MIMO or multi-user Ml MO), transmit / receive diversity, and / or beamforming. In other examples, the wireless device 1502 and / or the base station 1504 may have a single antenna.

[0220] The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 maybe associated with a memory 1514 and a memory 1524, respectively. Memory 1514 and memory 1524 (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) may store computer program instructions or code that may be executed by the processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 to carry out one or more of the functionalities discussed in the present application. Although not shown in FIG. 15, the transmission processing system 1510, the transmission processing system 1520, the reception processing system 1512, and / or the reception processing system 1522 may be coupled to a memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) storing computer program instructions or code that may be executed to carry out one or more of their respective functionalities.

[0221] The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may comprise one or more controllers and / or one or more processors. The one or more controllers and / or one or more processors may comprise, for example, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and / or other programmable logic device, discrete gate and / or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, an on-board unit, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may perform at least one of signal coding / processing, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that may enable the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 to operate in a wireless environment.

[0222] The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may be connected to one or more peripherals 1516 and one or more peripherals 1526, respectively. The one or more peripherals 1516 and the one or more peripherals 1526 may include software and / or hardware that provide features and / or functionalities, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a keypad, a display, a touchpad, a power source, a satellite transceiver, a universal serial bus (USB) port, a hands-free headset, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a media player, an Internet browser, an electronic control unit (e.g., for a motor vehicle), and / or one or more sensors (e.g., an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a temperature sensor, a radar sensor, a lidar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a light sensor, a camera, and / or the like). The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may receive user input data from and / or provide user output data to the one or more peripherals 1516 and / or the one or more peripherals 1526. The processing system 1518 in the wireless device 1502 may receive power from a power source and / or may be configured to distribute the power to the other components in the wireless device 1502. The power source may comprise one or more sources of power, for example, a battery, a solar cell, a fuel cell, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may be connected to a GPS chipset 1517 and a GPS chipset 1527, respectively. The GPS chipset 1517 and the GPS chipset 1527 may be configured to provide geographic location information of the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504, respectively.

[0223] FIG. 16A illustrates an example structure for uplink transmission. A baseband signal representing a physical uplink shared channel may perform one or more functions. The one or more functions may comprise at least one of:scrambling; modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued symbols; mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; transform precoding to generate complex-valued symbols; precoding of the complex-valued symbols; mapping of precoded complex-valued symbols to resource elements; generation of complex-valued time-domain Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or CP- OFDM signal for an antenna port; and / or the like. In an example, when transform precoding is enabled, a SC-FDMA signal for uplink transmission may be generated. In an example, when transform precoding is not enabled, a CP-OFDM signal for uplink transmission may be generated by FIG. 16A. These functions are illustrated as examples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in various embodiments.

[0224] FIG. 16B illustrates an example structure for modulation and up-conversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued SC-FDMA or CP-OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port and / or a complex-valued Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) baseband signal. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

[0225] FIG. 16C illustrates an example structure for downlink transmissions. A baseband signal representing a physical downlink channel may perform one or more functions. The one or more functions may comprise: scrambling of coded bits in a codeword to be transmitted on a physical channel; modulation of scrambled bits to generate complexvalued modulation symbols; mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; precoding of the complex-valued modulation symbols on a layer for transmission on the antenna ports; mapping of complex-valued modulation symbols for an antenna port to resource elements; generation of complex-valued timedomain OFDM signal for an antenna port; and / or the like. These functions are illustrated as examples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in various embodiments.

[0226] FIG. 16D illustrates another example structure for modulation and up-conversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

[0227] A wireless device may receive from a base station one or more messages (e.g. RRC messages) comprising configuration parameters of a plurality of cells (e.g. primary cell, secondary cell). The wireless device may communicate with at least one base station (e.g. two or more base stations in dual connectivity) via the plurality of cells. The one or more messages (e.g. as a part of the configuration parameters) may comprise parameters of physical, MAC, RLC, PCDP, SDAP, RRC layers for configuring the wireless device. For example, the configuration parameters may comprise parameters for configuring physical and MAC layer channels, bearers, etc. For example, the configuration parameters may comprise parameters indicating values of timers for physical, MAC, RLC, PCDP, SDAP, RRC layers, and / or communication channels

[0228] A timer may begin running once it is started and continue running until it is stopped or until it expires. A timer may be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running. A timer may be associated with a value (e.g. the timer may be started or restarted from a value or may be started from zero and expire once it reaches the value). The duration of a timer may not be updated until the timer is stopped or expires (e.g., due to BWP switching). A timer may be used tomeasure a time period / window for a process. When the specification refers to an implementation and procedure related to one or more timers, it will be understood that there are multiple ways to implement the one or more timers. For example, it will be understood that one or more of the multiple ways to implement a timer may be used to measure a time period / window for the procedure. For example, a random access response window timer may be used for measuring a window of time for receiving a random access response. In an example, instead of starting and expiry (or expiration) of a random access response window timer, the time difference between two time stamps may be used. When a timer is restarted, a process for measurement of time window may be restarted. Other example implementations may be provided to restart a measurement of a time window.

[0229] A UE may access a cell, as part of the frequency spectrum, for wireless communications. The UE may receive broadcast signals comprising access information of the cell, e.g., synchronization signal block(s) (SSB) and / or system information block (SIB, e.g., SIB1). A cell, e.g., a serving cell, may be associated with one or more SSBs. The SIB1 (e.g., transmitted by one or more SSBs) may indicate the frequency information of the serving cell (e.g., via servingCellConfigCommon and / or servingCellConfigCommonSI B) . A serving cell may comprise a downlink (DL) carrier and one or more uplink (UL) carriers (e.g., (normal) UL and / or supplementary UL). The serving cell configuration comprises downlink configuration of the DL carrier (e.g., via downlinkConfigCommon and / or downlinkConfigCommonSIB) and / or uplink configuration of the one or more UL carriers (e.g., uplinkConfigCommon and / or uplinkConfigCommonSIB) of the cell. A carrier may be referred to as a component carrier.

[0230] Throughout this disclosure, uplink (UL) may refer to communication directed from mobi le / wireless device to base station / network, and downlink (DL) may refer to communication directed from base station / network to mobile / wireless device / UE.

[0231] The downlink configuration may indicate basic parameters of a DL carrier and transmission thereon, comprising frequency information of the DL carrier. The frequency information of the DL carrier may indicate a list one or more frequency bands to which the DL carrier belongs (e.g., via freq uencyBand List); an offset of the DL carrier to Point A (offsetToPointA); and / or a set of carriers for different subcarrier spacings (SOS, numerologies) that are used in the DL BWPs in the serving cell. Multiple bands may be defined, e.g., for 5G and / or 6G, each with a respective center frequency. Each band (e.g., n1, n2, ..., n25, n26, ... ,n99 in FR1, and n257, n258, .... n262 in FR2) may be defined with a duplex mode (TDD and / or FDD), a range of frequencies for uplink and downlink, and a allowed channels bandwidths (e.g., 5MHz, 10 MHz, .... 50 MHz, 200 MHz, 400 MHz).

[0232] A frequency band may be / comprise a range of frequencies in a spectrum between two limits used in telecommunications. A frequency band may be a range of frequencies defined and dedicated to a particular type of service or radio technology Frequency bands for 5G New Radio (5G NR) may be separated into two different frequency ranges. First there is Frequency Range 1 (FR1), which includes sub-6 GHz frequency bands, some of which are traditionally used by previous standards, but have been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings (e.g., from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz) The other is Frequency Range 2 (FR2), which includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. In an example, frequency bands may be defined for FR3 (e.g., above 72 GHz).

[0233] The DL carrier may comprise one or more DL bandwidth parts (BWPs). Each DL BWP may comprise a part of the frequency resources of the DL carrier. A DL BWP configuration may indicate a frequency domain location and bandwidth of this BWP; and a SCS to be used in the BWP for (all) channels and (reference) signals.

[0234] The uplink configuration may indicate basic parameters of an UL carrier (e.g. , NUL carrier and / or SUL carrier) and transmission thereon, comprising frequency information of the UL carrier. The frequency information of the UL carrier may indicate a list one or more frequency bands to which the UL carrier belongs (e.g., via frequencyBandList); an absolute frequency of the reference resource block (common RB 0, e.g., via absoluteFreq uencyPoin tA, its lowest subcarrier may be referred to as Point A); and / or a set of carriers for different subcarrier spacings (SCS, numerologies) that are used in the UL BWPs in the serving cell and / or UL carrier.

[0235] An UL carrier (e.g., NUL carrier and / or SUL carrier) may comprise one or more UL bandwidth parts (BWPs). Each UL BWP may comprise a part of the frequency resources of the UL carrier. An UL BWP configuration may indicate a frequency domain location and bandwidth of this BWP; and a SCS to be used in the BWP for (all) channels and (reference) signals.

[0236] An architectural consideration is the dual connectivity (DC) operation involving a first RAT (e.g., enhanced Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)) and a second RAT (e.g., NR). In one example of Dual Connectivity (DC) operation involving E-UTRA and NR, the E-UTRA is the master. In another example of the DC operation involving E- UTRA and NR, NR is the master. The dual connectivity operation involving only NR serving cells (e.g., NR primary cell (PCell) and NR PSCells) is also envisaged.

[0237] A standalone deployments of a first RAT (e.g., NR) may be single or multi-carrier (e.g.,NR carrier aggregation, CA, or dual connectivity with NR PCell and NR PSCell). The non-standalone (NSA) deployment of a first RAT (e.g., NR) refers to a dual connectivity (DC) deployment involving a second RAT (e.g., E-UTRA), e.g., where there is Long Term Evolution (LTE) PCell and NR PSCell (there may also be one or more LTE SCells and one or more NR SCell). LTE PCell and NR PSCell are configured in master cell group (MCG) and secondary cell group (SCG) respectively. The MSG and SCG are more generally called cell groups (CG). The MCG and SCG may be configured with one or more additional serving cells, e.g., one or more LTE secondary cells (SCells) in MCG and one or more SCells in SCG.

[0238] Carrier Aggregation (CA) is generally used in an RAT (e.g., NR and LTE systems) to improve communication device transmit / receive data rates. With CA, the UE typically operates initially on a single serving cell called a primary cell (Pcell). The Pcell is operated on a component carrier in a frequency band. The UE is then configured by the network with one or more secondary serving cells (Scell(s)). Each Scell can correspond to a component carrier (CC) in the same frequency band (intra-band CA) or different frequency band (inter- band CA) from the frequency band of the CC corresponding to the Pcell. For the UE to transmit / receive data on the Scell(s) (e.g., by receiving DownLink Shared Channel (DL- SCH) information on a Physical DownLink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or by transmitting UpLink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) on a Physical UpLink Shared Channel (PUSCH)), the Scell(s) may need to be activated by the network. The Scell(s) can also be deactivated and later reactivated as needed via activation / deactivation signaling. UEcan be configured with carrier aggregation to aggregate Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) carriers, Time Division Duplex (TDD) carriers or both FDD and TDD carriers. UE can indicate via capability its carrier aggregation capability, including whether it supports CA on the downlink and whether it supports CA on the uplink.

[0239] A wireless system may incorporate multiple uplink enhancement technologies. For example, there are three multiple uplink enhancement technologies in 3GPP 5G NR Rel. 15: EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC); Uplink carrier aggregation (CA); and Supplementary uplink (SUL).

[0240] The above mechanisms are designed to address the coverage enhancement issue for NR. In all above scenarios, a UE may be configured with a first carrier (e.g., LTE carrier, and / or SUL carrier) in a lower frequency band (e.g., FDD band), and a second carrier (e.g., NR carrier, and / or NUL carrier) in a higher frequency band (e.g., TDD band). The carrier in the lower frequency band may have a larger coverage area. The carrier in the higher frequency may have a smaller coverage area. The UE can transmit data either under the first carrier coverage (i.e„ the carrier in the lower frequency band with larger coverage), or under both the first carrier and the second carrier coverage (i.e., the carrier in the higher frequency with smaller coverage). Therefore, the coverage problem of users at the edge of the cell can be resolved.

[0241] Commercial UEs, limited by the complexity of antenna design and low transmission power, generally support 2 transmission channels (2Tx). In the above uplink enhancement scenarios, one Tx of the UE’s transmitter can be used for the first carrier (e.g., LTE carrier, and / or the first NR carrier, and / or the SUL carrier), and the other Tx of the UE’s transmitter can be used for the second carrier (e.g., the 5G NR carrier, and / or the second NR carrier, and / or the NUL carrier).

[0242] FIG. 17A illustrates an example application scenario of EN-DC deployment as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. The difference between 4G coverage and 5G coverage is shown in the figure. In area A, because there are both 4G and 5G coverage, UE capable of EN-DC may transmit data by 4G and / or 5G network. As the commercial terminal generally supports 2 transmission channels (2Tx), one Tx may be used for 4G and the other for 5G NR. In area B, because there is 4G coverage, UE may transmit data via 4G network, e.g., not via 5G network.

[0243] FIG. 17B illustrates an example of uplink operation modes of a UE in Area A and Area B according to FIG. 17A as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. Mobile devices supporting EN-DC will have two concurrent radio connections to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), one of which is via 5G NR and the other via LTE. However, because UE uses one Tx for 5G NR, the uplink dual-stream capability of 5G NR is limited, which means peak uplink data throughput is, for example, 74% of what can be achieved in 5G SA. In general, with non-stand-alone (NSA) architecture, 5G uplink throughput is improved compared to 4G, yet still lower than 5G stand-alone (SA). The coverage of 5G NR is not improved, but in areas without 5G coverage where both signaling and traffic can be transmitted over 4G, user experience is not significantly deteriorated compared to that of 4G network.

[0244] FIG. 18A illustrates an example application scenario of UL inter-band CA as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. In area A, with coverage of NR Carrier 1 and NR Carrier 2, UL CA can be activated. In areaB, with the coverage of one carrier, UE uses one carrier to transmit data. Inter-band carrier aggregation aggregates the carriers of different operating bands. For example, 3GPP may be compatible with 13 Inter-band CA operating bands involving FR1 , such as CA_n3-n78, CA_n28-n78, etc. At the area where the two aggregating carriers' coverage is good, uplink CA can be used to improve spectrum utilization. However, as most mobile devices support two transmission channels (2Tx), two transmission channels are to support two carriers respectively, so UL CA will restrain the uplink dual-stream capability on TDD-NR which may result in capacity loss.

[0245] FIG. 18B illustrates an example of uplink operation modes of a UE in area A and area B according to FIG. 18A as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. FDD-NR usually adopts medium- or low-range bands offering better uplink coverage than TDD-NR. Therefore, FDD-NR can be used to provide 5G services beyond the TDD-NR coverage area to improve user experience. For example, when the uplink data rate at cell edge is 2Mbps, if FDD-NR 2.1 GHz (20 MHz bandwidth) and TDD-NR 3.5 GHz (100 MHz bandwidth) are aggregated, the coverage can be improved by 17.8% compared with SA-based TDD-NR single carrier Since UL inter-band CA cannot use uplink dual streams, it may have a negative impact on capacity. For example, when 2.1 GHz (20 MHz bandwidth) and 3.5 GHz (100 MHz bandwidth) are aggregated, the uplink peak data rate of a single user drops to 80% of that with 3.5 GHz in SA mode. In this case, gNB will NOT activate uplink CA but single-carrier mode to maximize the resource utilization. It may be clarified that NOT in all scenarios will UL CA have the negative impact on capacity. The single user’s uplink throughput of CA is directly related to the bandwidth and uplink duty ratio (of TDD-NR carrier) of the two aggregated component carriers (CC1 and CC2). For example, when CC1 is a TDD-NR carrier (bandwidth of 50 MHz and 25 ms dual-period frame structure), and CC2 is an FDD-NR carrier (bandwidth of 20 MHz). The uplink peak throughput of UL CA is increased by about 8% compared to that of TDD-NR single-carrier of dual-stream. CA technology was introduced from the 4G era and has been successfully deployed and commercialized worldwide. NR CA has been included since 3GPP Rel-15. Intra-band CA can aggregate multiple frequency carriers of the same band and improve user experience. However, the throughput of inter-band CA can be limited in some cases by the number of transmission channels of terminals.

[0246] FIG. 19A illustrates an example of supplementary uplink coverage as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. Supplementary uplink (SUL) is introduced to extend the uplink coverage by providing a supplementary uplink (usually in sub-3 GHz band). With SUL, a DL frequency band (NR frequency band) and two uplink frequency bands (one NR frequency band and one SUL frequency band) are configured in the same cell. When the uplink coverage of the NR carrier is good, UE uses the NR carrier to send and receive data. When the UE is moving beyond the uplink coverage of the NR carrier, UE uses the SUL carrier for transmitting data. UE can dynamically select the UL NR or SUL for data transmission, but cannot use the two carriers at the same time. The uplink operating bands of SULs are defined similarly to those of the corresponding FDD-LTE / FDD-NR operating bands, and need to be shared with the existing network (4G or 5G). The SUL bands may involve uplink, so it cannot be used alone. For example, 3GPP is compatible with the 8 combinations of SUL and NR bands, including the combined definition of n78, n79 and SUL bands.

[0247] FIG. 19B illustrates an example application scenario of SUL as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Area A, with the good coverage of TDD-NR, UE uses TDD-NR for data transmitting. In Area B, beyond the uplink coverage of TDD-NR, UE switches to the SUL band for data sending.

[0248] FIG. 19C illustrates an example of uplink operation modes of a UE in Area A and Area B according to FIG. 19B as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. SUL may be implemented at sub-3 GHz bands with better uplink coverage than TDD-NR bands, therefore may improve user experience. For example, in dense urban areas where cell edge uplink data rate is 2Mbps, if SUL 2.1 GHz (bandwidth of 20 MHz) and TDD-NR 3.5 GHz (bandwidth of 100 MHz) are deployed for networking, the network coverage can be increase by 17.8% compared to that of TDD-NR single-carrier and SA architecture. In TDD-NR coverage areas, TDD-NR will be used to send and receive data, so SUL will NOT influence the single user’s peak throughput. The downside of SUL is that it makes general 5G NR bands and SUL bands more dependent on one another since they have to be in the same cell, which limits its applicability. SUL technology improves the uplink coverage by using sub-3 GHz bands for uplink transmission. SUL defines new paired spectrum between TDD-NR and SUL and SUL is obtained by sharing the spectrum with 4G network. Therefore, 5G may be co-sited with 4G which limits the flexibility of 5G deployment and brings new problems to network deployment.

[0249] As seen in above UL scenarios, for the commercial UE that uses one Tx for a 5G NR, the uplink dual stream capability of 5G NR cannot be used, and so the peak UL data throughput is much lower than the achievable throughout. In 3GPP Rel 16, UL Tx Switching was introduced as a new feature to enhance EN-DC, UL CA, and SUL performance. UL Tx switching can maximize uplink resource utilization with respect to UE’s capability. It uses one Tx channel either for carrier 1 or carrier 2, and uses the other Tx channel exclusively for carrier 2.

[0250] A transmitter (Tx) of a wireless device may have / comprise one or multiple (e.g„ two) antennas / Tx chains. Throughout this disclosure, the terms “antenna” and / or “Tx chain” may be interchangeable and / or may be used to refer to a physical antenna connector (e.g., of a respective antenna unit) of the UE that can integrate hardware and software to transmit / radiate / propagate a radio signal in the air directed as a particular beam. Here, an antenna may comprise an array / group of multiple antenna elements that generate a signal based on beamforming and / or MIMO / massive MIMO. Throughout this disclosure, the following terms may be used interchangeably: Tx; antenna; transmit antenna; transmitter antenna; transmission antenna; Tx antenna; Tx antenna connector; transmit channel; Tx channel; transmission channel; transmit chain; Tx chain; Tx RF chain; transmission chain; antenna port; physical antenna port; uplink Tx; UL Tx chain; UL Tx antenna connector. In some embodiments, “Tx” may be used for short to refer to the above concept.

[0251] Antenna may comprise one or more RF components and / or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna may be coupled to radio front end circuitry and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and / or receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit / receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni directional antenna may be used to transmit / receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antennamay be used to transmi t / receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transm it / receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna may be separate from network node and may be connectable to network node through an interface or port. RF interface may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna.

[0252] For example, advanced antenna system (AAS) is a combination of an AAS radio and a set of AAS features. An AAS radio consists of an antenna array closely integrated with the hardware and software required for transmission and reception of radio signals, and signal processing algorithms to support the execution of the AAS features. Compared to conventional systems, this solution provides much greater adaptivity and steerability, in terms of adapting the antenna radiation patterns to rapidly time-varying traffic and multi-path radio propagation conditions. In addition, multiple signals may be simultaneously received or transmitted with different radiation patterns. Multi-antenna techniques, here referred to as AAS features, include beamforming and MIMO. Applying AAS features to an AAS radio results in significant performance gains because of the higher degrees of freedom provided by the larger number of radio chains, also referred to as Massive MIMO.

[0253] For beamforming, the UE may use multiple antennas to control the direction of a wave-front by appropriately weighting the magnitude and phase of individual antenna signals in an array of multiple antenna elements. That is, the same signal is sent from multiple antennas that have sufficient space between them (at least % wavelength). In any given location, the receiver will thus receive multiple copies of the same signal. Depending on the location of the receiver, the signals may be in opposite phases, destructively averaging each other out, or constructively sum up if the different copies are in the same phase, or anything in between. By adjusting the phase and amplitude of the transmitted signals, constructive addition of the corresponding signals at the base station receiver can be achieved, which increases the received signal strength and thus the UE’s uplink throughput. The more antenna elements there are, the higher the gain.

[0254] In digital beamforming (also known as baseband beamforming or precoding), the signal is pre-coded (amplitude and phase modifications) in baseband processing before RF transmission. Multiple beams (one per each user) can be formed simultaneously from the same set of antenna elements. In analog beamforming, the signal phases of individual antenna signals are adjusted in RF domain. Analog beamforming impacts the radiation pattern and gain of the antenna array, thus improves coverage. Unlike in digital beamforming, one beam per set of antenna elements can be formed.

[0255] Spatial multiplexing, here referred to as MIMO, is the ability to transmit multiple data streams, called layers, using the same time and frequency resource, where each data stream can be beamformed The purpose of MIMO is to increase throughput. MIMO builds on the basic principle that when the received signal quality is high, it is better to receive multiple streams of data with reduced power per stream, than one stream with full power. The potential is large when the received signal quality is high and the streams do not interfere with each other. The potential diminishes when the mutual interference between streams increases. A number of layers / data streams that can be supported may becalled "rank”. To distinguish between UL layers, a UE needs to have at least as many Tx antennas as there are layers, e.g., 2Tx to support 2-layer (or 2-port) transmissions.

[0256] An antenna port may be generally used as a generic term for signal transmission under identical channel conditions. For each operating mode for which an independent channel is assumed (e.g., SI SO vs. Ml MO), a separate logical antenna port may be defined. Signals transmitted from different antennas ports may experience different “radio channels” even if the set of antennas are located at the same site. In some cases, it is important that transmissions share the same antenna port (e.g., quasi-collocated). OFDM symbols that are transmitted via identical antenna ports are subject to the same channel conditions. This helps the base station to estimate the channel using reference signals (e.g., D MRS) and use that information in decoding information content on physical channels (e.g., PUSCH / PUCCH). According to 3GPP specification definition, an antenna port is defined such that the channel over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. Ml MO takes advantage of this property (different radio channel) across different antenna ports to transmit multiple parallel streams of data. It is important to understand that antenna port is an abstract concept. There is a difference in logical 'antenna port’ and physical 'antenna element’. Specific transmissions use specific antenna ports and then those antenna ports are mapped onto one or more physical antenna elements.

[0257] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of wireless device transmitter antenna as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. Logical antenna ports are mapped to physical antenna ports as shown in the figure. The mapping of antenna port to physical antenna is controlled by beam forming, as a certain beam needs to transmit the signal on certain antenna ports to form a desired beam. There is a possibility that two antenna ports are mapped to one physical antenna port, and / or a single antenna port is mapped to multiple physical antenna ports.

[0258] In order to determine the characteristic channel for an antenna port, a UE may carry out a separate channel estimation for each antenna port. Separate reference signals that are suitable for estimating the respective channel may be defined for each antenna port. The way in which these logical antenna ports are assigned to the physical transmit antennas of a UE may be up to the UE, and may vary between UEs of the same type (because of different operating conditions) and also between UEs from different manufacturers. The UE may not explicitly notify the base station of the mapping that has been carried out, rather the base station may take this into account automatically during demodulation.

[0259] For the case of UL channel estimation, there are differences depending on whether time division duplex (TDD) or frequency division duplex (FDD) is used. For TDD, the same frequency is used for both UL and DL transmission. Since the radio channel is reciprocal (the same in UL and DL), detailed short-term channel estimates from UL transmission of known signals can be used to determine the DL transmission beams. This is referred to as reciprocitybased beamforming. For full channel estimation, signals should be sent from each UE antenna and across all frequencies. For FDD, where different frequencies are used for UL and DL, the channel is not fully reciprocal.

[0260] Characteristics of a UE transmitter may be specified at the antenna connector of the UE with a single or multiple transmit antenna(s). For UE with integral antenna, a reference antenna with a gain of 0 d Bi may be assumed.Transmitter requirements for UL Ml MO operation may apply when the UE transmits on 2 ports on the same CDM group. The UE may use higher MPR (Allowed maximum power reduction) values outside this limitation.

[0261] For inter-band carrier aggregation with one uplink carrier assigned to one NR band, transmitter power requirements may apply. For inter-band carrier aggregation with uplink assigned to two NR bands, UE maximum output power shall be measured over all component carriers from different bands. If each band has separate antenna connectors, maximum output power is measured as the sum of maximum output power at each UE antenna connector. The period of measurement shall be at least one sub frame (1 ms).

[0262] For uplink transmissions, a UE may reconfigu re / retu ne some radio frequency (RF) hardware (and / or a Tx chain, e.g. , filters and / or duplexers) between two carriers, e.g., from a first carrier to a second carrier or vice versa. This reconfiguration / retuning may be referred to as moving / switching a Tx chain between carriers. In fact, UL Tx switching between two carriers comprises reconfiguring / retuning of an UL Tx chain / antenna from a center frequency of a first carrier to a center frequency of a second carrier (or vice versa) Same UL Tx chain / antenna / antenna connector may be used for uplink transmissions via the first carrier (e.g., before switching) and the second carrier (e.g., after switching). The UL Tx switching may be in response to receiving scheduling commands and / or TDD UL symbols / slots / subframes, thus, also called “dynamic UL Tx switching”.

[0263] Throughout this disclosure, the following terms may be used interchangeably: Tx switching; uplink switching; carrier switching; UL carrier switching; UL Tx switching; UL transmission switching; UL transmit channel switching; UL Tx chain switching; UL Tx antenna switching; Tx antenna switching; Dynamic UL Tx switching; transmit antenna switching; Tx antenna switching.

[0264] Throughout this disclosure, the following terms may be used interchangeably: Switching period, switching gap, uplink switching period, UL switching gap, UL Tx switching period, UL Tx switching gap, Tx switching period, Tx switching gap.

[0265] FIG. 21A illustrates an example of uplink Tx switching for a UE with 2Tx as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, UL Tx switching may enable two operation modes: Mode 1 , where one Tx channel is used for 2.1 GHz carrier, and the other is used for 3.5 GHz carrier; and Mode 2, where one Tx channel is switched to 3.5 GHz, and the other is still used for 3.5 GHZ, which enables TDD-NR Dual-Stream transmission. Uplink Tx Switching is used when switching between mode 1 and mode 2.

[0266] FIG. 21 B illustrates an example of transmission options for UL Tx switching as shown in FIG. 21 A as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. As UE capabilities vary from terminal to terminal, Option 1 and Option 2 are further defined, as shown in the figure. In option 1 , a UE may send data over carrier 1 and carrier 2 in time division mode (TDM), but not at the same time. This option may be referred to as “switched uplink” In option 2, in the terminal side, carrier 1 and carrier 2 may be flexibly aggregated, either in TDM mode or simultaneous transmission mode. This option may be referred to as “dual uplink”.

[0267] FIG. 22A illustrates an example of uplink operating modes of UE with Uplink Tx Switching in EN-DC scenario as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. With Uplink Tx Switching (EN-DC), in the uplink timeslots for TDD-NR, the Tx channels that originally supported LTE are switched to the TDD-NR frequency band, so that UE can use dual-stream in uplink, and in other time slots, the Tx are switched back to LTE. With regard to factors of the UE’ capabilities and wireless environment, UE can work in different modes as shown in FIG. 22A. Uplink Tx Switching is used to enhance the uplink capacity. With Uplink Tx Switching, in the uplink time slots for TDD-NR, dual-stream is maintained, and in other time slots UE uses the traditional EN-DC mode, resulting the uplink peak throughput increased by about 17% of that of TDD-NR in SA architecture.

[0268] FIG. 22B illustrates an example of uplink operating modes of UE with Uplink Tx Switching in inter-band CA scenario as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. With Uplink Tx switching activated for inter-band CA, in TDD-NR UL time slots UE can transmit data with dual-stream. For example, when close to cell tower, UE can use inter-band CA with uplink Tx switching to further improve capacity and reduce latency. At cell edge, UE uses FDD frequency band to send data, while maintaining FDD and TDD carrier aggregation in downlink, improving user experience Inter-band CA can flexibly support Option 1 and Option 2 of uplink Tx switching. UE can work in one of the modes shown in FIG. 22B depending on the UE capabilities and the radio environment. In addition, 3GPP Rel-16 has expanded the frequency band combinations of carrier aggregation to 78, and by integrating with Uplink Tx Switching, CA can boost 5G performance in coverage, capacity and latency.

[0269] With Uplink Tx Switching, UE can connect to both FDD and TDD carriers at the same time, even at cell edge, which solves the issue of no 5G access due to limited uplink. For example, in case of TDD-NR with 3.5 GHz and a bandwidth of 100 MHz, and FDD-NR frequency band of 2.1 GHz utilized for carrier aggregation, when cell edge uplink data rate is 2Mbps, adopting CA with Uplink Tx Switching can increase network capacity by 17.8%, compared to the network with single-carrier TDD-NR. In the case of TDD-NR with 3.5 GHz (bandwidth of 100 MHz) aggregates FDD- NR of 2.1 GHz (bandwidth is 20 MHz) with Uplink Tx Switching, uplink peak throughput capacity is improved by 20%. Uplink Tx Switching can increase uplink time slot availability to 100%, therefore HARQ RTT can be reduced by 25% without uplink data having to waiting for TDD-NR uplink timeslots. 3GPP Rel-15 introduces inter-band CA with concurrent transmission on two carriers which may result in capacity loss without TDD-NR’s dual-stream transmission on uplink. While with Uplink Tx Switching, this limitation has been eliminated by sending data on FDD-NR and TDD-NR carriers with TDM mode. CA with Uplink Tx Switching maximizes spectrum utilization in both time domain and frequency domain, and by integrating with the feature of power boosting on TDD-NR carrier to achieve better user experiences.

[0270] FIG. 22C illustrates an example of uplink operating modes of UE with Uplink Tx Switching in SUL scenario as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. With Uplink Tx Switching, SUL can integrate both TDD-NR and SUL's time-frequency resources within TDD-NR’s coverage area, thereby increasing uplink capacity. SUL supports Option 1 (TDM mode) with uplink Tx switching. Depending on the wireless environments, UE operates in the modes shown in FIG. 22C. When close to cell tower, UE switches between TDD-NR and SUL frequency bands for data transmission. At cell edge, SUL carrier is used to provide uplink coverage. Therefore, SUL with Uplink Tx Switching improves uplink throughput and reduces latency, and cannot improve the coverage compared with SUL without UplinkTx Switching. With Uplink Tx Switching, uplink time-frequency resources of SUL can be allocated for U E, and single user’s uplink capacity can be increased by 20%. Up to 100% of the uplink time slots can be available, and HARQ RTT can be reduced by nearly 20%.

[0271] Some LTE-NR aggregation combinations of channels across two bands may be considered difficult to achieve, because the simultaneous uplink transmissions on these bands give rise to inter-modulation (IM) products in a downlink (DL), e.g., from base station to wireless device, band. For example, this may happen for inter-band frequency division duplex (FDD)-FDD and time division duplex (TDD)-TDD combinations. This means that there will be combinations of channels across the said two bands that are not difficult to achieve, which means that the wireless device may support dual simultaneous uplink for the band combination. Here, a channel may be a part of the spectrum.

[0272] For the aggregation combinations where IM products due to simultaneous multiple uplink (UL), e.g., from wireless device to base station, transmitters to DL receivers in the wireless device are caused, any problems with IM depend on the actual output power of the UL, the power balance, the allocations, the wanted signal levels and other interference. Then, the different wireless device implementations will have varying performance. In an ideal scenario, the BS will get channel state information (CSI) reports and PHR and may perhaps be able to take action for a notorious band combination, if the IM can be distinguished from other external interference.

[0273] A UE supporting uplink CA across two (or more) carriers can be assumed to have dedicated Transmit (Tx) chains for each carrier, and hence is able to support CA without any restrictions. On the other hand, there may be UEs that may share some hardware (e.g , a Tx antenna, a power amplifier, phase locked loops, a transmitter chain circuit, etc.) across the two carriers (or more), and hence may need special handling (e.g., via scheduling) to ensure proper operation. For example, a UE may have 2 Tx chains, and it can transmit on the uplink on two carriers, but with some restrictions. Such a UE is not able to transmit 1 Tx on carrier 1 and 2 Tx on carrier 2 (e.g., to support 2-layer multipleinput-multiple- output (MIMO) on carrier 2) since it has 2 Tx chains, and hence the UE can support either case 1 or case 2 for transmitting on the uplink.

[0274] Implementation of dual-UL is certainly possible at higher expense in terms of additional RF components, e.g., two TX digital front end, additional TX phase locked loop (PLL), additional TX measurement receiver, power management between two ULs (of different stacks), multiplexer filters needed after PA (duplexers replaced by multiplexers), isolation between the TX paths, etc.

[0275] FIG. 23 illustrates an example of transmission options for UL Tx switching as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. As UE capabilities vary from terminal to terminal, Option 1 and Option 2 are further defined, as shown in the figure. In option 1 , a UE may send data over carrier 1 and carrier 2 in time division mode (TDM), but not at the same time. This option may be referred to as “switched uplink”. In option 2, in the terminal side, carrier 1 and carrier 2 may be flexibly aggregated, either in TDM mode or simultaneous transmission mode. This option may be referred to as “dual uplink”.

[0276] In this example and for both switched / TDM uplink (Option 1 ) and dual uplink (Option 2), UL Tx switching may enable three operation modes: Mode 1, where one Tx chain is used in a first frequency band (e.g., for 2.1 GHz carrier),and the other Tx chain is used in a second frequency band (e.g., for 3.5 GHz carrier); Mode 2, where one Tx chain is switched to the second frequency band, and the other is still used in the second frequency band, which enables TDD- NR Dual-Stream transmission in the second band, and Mode 3, where both Tx chains are switched to the first frequency band, which enables TDD-NR Dual-Stream transmission in the first band.

[0277] Two types of uplink Tx Switching may be used when switching between two operation modes. For example, a 1T uplink switching may be used / performed when switching between mode 1 and mode 2, or between mode 1 and mode 3. In case of 1T uplink switching, only one Tx chain (antenna connector) is switched between the two bands / carriers. In another example, a 2T uplink switching may be used / performed when switching between mode 2 and mode 3 In case of 2T uplink switching, both / two Tx chains (antenna connectors) are switched between the two bands / carriers at the same time.

[0278] A switching gap may be needed to allow the UE enough time to switch (e.g., to move / reconfigure some hardware (or a Tx chain) from carrier 1 to carrier 2 or vice versa) between the two carriers / bands. The network (NW) needs to provide switching gaps on one of the carriers / bands and would also need to provide enough additional relaxation in UE Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) processing time, which is time typically between an end of an Up Link (UL) grant and start of the PUSCH.

[0279] When configuring serving cells with uplink carriers, e.g., for dual connectivity and / or carrier aggregation, the network may send an enquiry (e.g., U ECapabili tyEnquiry) for the UE radio access capability information. The network initiates the procedure to a UE in RRC_CONNECTED when it needs (additional) UE radio access capability information. The UE may receive the enquiry from the base station, e.g., via an RRC message. The UE may set the contents of the capability information (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation) message based on the request fields in the enquiry message. For example, if the ue-CapabilityRAT-RequestList contains a UE-CapabilityRAF-Request with rat- Type set to nr, the UE shall include in the ue-CapabilityRAT-ContainerList a UE-CapabilityRAF-Container of the type UE-NR-Capability and with the rat-Type set to nr. The UE may include the list of supported band combinations, feature sets, and / or feature set combinations (e.g., supportedBandCombinationList, featureSets and featureSetCombinations).

[0280] The UE may send an RRC message comprising the UE capability information (UE capability information message). The UE capability information may comprise a list of band combinations supported by the UE (e.g., supportedBandCombinationList, BandCombinationList). The list of band combinations may contain a list of NR CA, NR non-CA and / or MR-DC band combinations (also including DL only or UL only band).

[0281] The UE capability information may comprise the feature set combinations referenced from the supported band combinations (e.g., as included in supportedBandCombinationList).

[0282] The feature set combination (FeatureSetCombination) may comprise a list of feature sets per bandFeatureSetsPerBand). Each feature set per band may comprise a list of feature sets applicable to the carrier(s) of one band entry of the associated band combination. Each feature set {FeatureSets) may provide pools of downlink feature sets and / or uplink feature sets. Each feature set (FeatureSets) may provide pools of downlink feature sets per component carrier (CC) (FeatureSetDownlinkPerCC) and / or uplink feature sets per CC {FeatureSetUplinkPerCC).

[0283] The uplink feature sets per CC (FeatureSetUplinkPerCC) may indicate a set of features that the UE supports on the corresponding carrier of one band entry of a band combination. The set of features may comprise: supported subcarrier spacing for UL (e.g., supportedSubcarrierSpacingUL); supported bandwidth for UL (e.g., supportedBandwidthUL); a (maximum) number of Ml MO layers for UL / PUSCH (e.g., maxNumberMIMO-LayersCB- PUSCH, maxNumberMIMO-LayersNonCB-PUSCH, or MIMO-LayersUL); a (maximum) number of SRS resource per set (e.g., maxNumberSRS-ResourcePerSet); a (maximum) number of ports per set for PUSCH (e.g., max lumberNZP- PUSCH-PortsPerSet); a (maximum) number of SRS antenna ports per set (e.g., maxNumberSRS- AntennaPortsPerSet); etc.

[0284] In an example, the enquiry may comprise a request for UL Tx switching (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchRequest). In response, the UE may send the list of band combinations that the UE can (is capable to) support for UL Tx switching (e.g., BandCombination-Uplin kTxSwitch) . For example, the UE may include into the list of supported band combinations for UL Tx switching (e.g., supportedBandCombinationList-UplinkTxSwitch) as many NR-only / E-UTRA- NR band combinations that support UL TX switching as possible from a list of candidate band combinations, starting from a first entry.

[0285] Each band pair of the supported band pairs for UL Tx switching comprises a first frequency band and a second frequency band. The capability information indicates, for each band pair (e.g., ULTxSwitch ingBandPair), an index of a first frequency band (e.g., bandlndexULI) and an index of a second frequency band (e.g., bandlndexUL2) for simultaneous transmission. The capability information may also indicate for each band pair, a switching option (uplin kTxSwitchingOption ForBand Pair) and / or a switching gap / period associated with the two frequency bands of the band pair (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod, or uplinkTxSwitchingPeriodForBandPair). For example, the switching gap / period may be a duration in microseconds (e.g., 35us, 140us, or 21 Ous) .

[0286] The list of (one or more) supported band combinations for UL Tx switching may comprise a list of (one or more) supported band pairs (e.g., supported BandPairListN R), and / or the support option for the uplink Tx switching (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-OptionSupport and / or uplinkTxSwitchingOptionForBandPair). For example, support option may indicate a “switched UL” mode (e.g., TDM transmission), or “dual UL” mode (concurrent transmission), or both modes. For example, support option may indicate whether power boosting for UL Tx switching is supported or not (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-PowerBoosting).

[0287] The capability information may indicate for each band pair, one or more switching gaps / periods associated with the two frequency bands of the band pair. For example, the capability information may comprise a first parameter (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod and / or switchingPeriodForlT) indicating a first switching gap / period for switching one Tx chain between the first band and the second band of the band pair (e.g., 1Tx-1Tx uplink switching, and / or 1T1T switching). For example, the capability information may comprise a second parameter (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod2T2T and / or switchingPeriod For2T) indicating a second switching gap / period for switching two Tx chains between the first band and the second band of the band pair (e.g., 2Tx-2Tx uplink switching, and / or 2T2T switching and / or 2T switching mode).

[0288] In an example, the capability information may not comprise the second parameter. For example, the capability information may indicate absence of the second parameter. For example, the field of the second parameter (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod2T2T) in the corresponding entry in the capability message may be absent, e.g., if the UE does not support 2Tx-2Tx switching for a given band pair.

[0289] The capability information may indicate for each band pair, an index of an unaffected band (e.g., bandlndexUnaffected) in case of dual UL transmission. For example, the UE may support dual UL transmission on band X and Z, also, on band Y and Z. the UE may report band Z as the unaffected band for band pair (X,Y). In this case, when switching between band X and band Y, uplink transmission on band Z may be unaffected / uninterrupted / maintained. For example, the UE may omit uplink transmissions on band X and band Y during the corresponding switching period, and / or may not omit the uplink transmission on band Z during the corresponding switching period.

[0290] In an example, the capability information may indicate for the unaffected band of a band pair, a switching period. For example, the capability information may comprise a third parameter (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriodUnaffectedBandDualUL, SwitchingPeriodUnaffectedBandDualUL, periodOnULBands, or switchingAdditionalPeriodDualUL), indicating the switching period corresponding to the band pair and the unaffected / impacted band in case of dual UL transmission. For example, the UE may support dual UL transmission on band X and Z, also, on band Y and Z. the UE may report the third switching period for band Z as and band pair (X,Y). In this case, when switching between band X and band Y, the UE may omit uplink transmissions on band X and band Y and band Z during the corresponding switching period indicated by the third parameter.

[0291] The network may configure one or more cells for the UE. For example, the network may transmit RRC message(s) indicating one or more cell groups (e.g., CellGroupConfig). The RRC message(s) may comprise, for a cell group (MCG and / or SCG), configuration parameters of one or more serving cells, e.g., Pcell and / or SPcell and / or Scell(s). Each of the one or more serving cells may comprise one or more uplink carriers (e.g., UL (NUL) and / or SUL).

[0292] The RRC message(s) may comprise SRS configurations (e.g., SRS-Config) of one or more serving cells. The SRS configurations may comprise one or more parameters indicating a number of SRS ports (e.g., number of SRS antenna ports, or number of ports for SRS transmission). For example, the one or more configurations parameters (e.g., nrofSRS-Ports) may indicate 1 or 2 or 4 or 8 ports for SRS transmission (e.g., {portl , ports2, ports4, ports8, ports8tdm}).

[0293] The RRC message(s) may comprise PUSCH configurations (e.g., PUSCH-Config) of the one or more serving cells. The UE configured / scheduled with a PUSCH transmission may receive indication of precoding information (e.g., SRI and / or TPMI) to determine a transmission precoder to apply to the PUSCH transmission. The UE may apply the precoding information to one or more PUSCH transmissions based on an SRS resource set. The SRI may indicate the SRS resource set. The UE may select the transmission precoder from the uplink codebook that has a number of antenna ports equal to the number of SRS ports (e.g., configured by higher layer parameter nrofSRS-Ports in SRS- Config).

[0294] The UE may transmit the PUSCH transmission using the same antenna ports that it uses for SRS transmission. For example, the UE may transmit the PUSCH transmission using the same number of antenna ports that it uses for SRS transmission.

[0295] For codebook based PUSCH transmission with a number of (e.g., two or four or eight) antenna ports, the UE may determine a codebook subsets based on TPMI(s), based on the UE capability for the number of (e.g., two or four or eight) antenna ports.

[0296] The UE may transmit PUSCH using the same antenna port(s) as the SRS port(s) in the SRS resource(s) indicated by a scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_1 , 0_2 or 0_3) and / or by an RRC parameter (e.g., configuredGrantConfig).

[0297] For non-codebook based PSUCH transmission, the UE may determine the PUSCH precoder(s) and / or transmission rank based on the SRI(s) when multiple SRS resources are configured. For example, the SRI(s) may be given by one or two SRS resource indicator(s) in DCI and / or by an RRC parameter (e.g , srs-Resourcelndicator). One or more SRS resource sets (e.g., SRS-ResourceSet(s)) applicable for PUSCH scheduled by a DCI may be defined / configured by the entries of a higher layer parameter (e.g., srs-ResourceSetToAddModList and / or srs- ResourceSetToAddModListDCI-0-2 in SRS-config, respectively) The UE may use one or multiple SRS resources for SRS transmission. In a SRS resource set, a maximum number of SRS resources which can be configured to the UE for simultaneous transmission in the same symbol and / or a maximum number of SRS resources may be based on UE capabilities The SRS resources transmitted simultaneously occupy the same RBs The UE may be configured with one SRS port for each SRS resource.

[0298] The UE may receive configuration parameter, of a carrier, indicating a number of antenna ports (or uplink Tx antennas or UL Tx chains) for transmission of uplink signals and channels (e.g., SRS and / or PUSCH / PUCCH) via the carrier.

[0299] The UE may transmit the PUSCH transmission using the same antenna ports as the SRS port(s) in the SRS resource(s) indicated by SRI(s). the SRI(s) may be given by DCI (e.g., format 0_1 or 0_2) or by an RRC parameter (e.g., configuredGrantConfig).

[0300] The RRC message(s) may comprise a parameter that indicates an option, e.g., switched UL or dual UL, for UL Tx switching within the cell group (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOption), e.g., based on the UE capability information. The RRC message(s) may comprise a parameter that indicates whether power boosting is enabled for UL Tx switching within the cell group (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting).

[0301] The network may configure one or more serving cells for the UE, which may be the SpCell or an SCell of an MCG or SCG. The UE may receive one or more RRC messages comprising configuration parameters of the one or more serving cells. The configuration parameters of a serving cell may indicate downlink configurations and / or uplink configurations. For example, the configuration parameters of the serving cell may indicate one or more downlink BWPs of the serving cell. For example, the configuration parameters of the serving cell may indicate at least one uplink carrier of the serving cell, e.g., UL (NUL) and / or SUL. For an uplink carrier, the configuration parameters may indicate one ormore UL BWPs. For an uplink carrier, the configuration parameters may indicate that UL Tx switching is configured (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching).

[0302] The configuration parameters of one or more cells (e.g., Cell GroupConf ig of a cell group) may indicate that uplink Tx switching is configured for a plurality of bands (e.g., more than two band, via UplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands). The configuration parameters may indicate a list of one or more band pairs configured with uplink Tx switching (e.g., for inter-band CA via u plin kTxSwitch ing Band PairList) . Each band pair in the list may comprise a first band and a second band. For example, the configuration parameters may indicate a first index of the first band (band I nfoU L 1 ) and a second index of a second band (band lnfoUL2).

[0303] The configuration parameters of the one or more cells may comprise configuration parameters of UL Tx switching for each band pair of the list (e.g., UplinkTxSwitchin g BandPairConfig) . The configuration parameters of UL Tx switching for each band pair may indicate a switching option for the band pair (e.g., switched / TDM UL or dual UL switching via switchingOptionConfigForBandPair).

[0304] The configuration parameters of UL Tx switching for each band pair may indicate whether UL Tx switching between the two bands of the band pair is configured or not (e.g., 1 Tx-1 Tx switching, or switching of one or at least one Tx antenna chain). The configuration parameters of UL Tx switching may comprise a parameter indicating whether 2 UL Tx switching between the two bands of the band pair is configured or not (e.g., 2Tx-2Tx switching, or switching of two Tx antenna chains, via uplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode or switching2T-Mode). The parameter may indicate 2Tx-2Tx switching mode is configured for inter-band UL CA and / or SUL. The switching gap duration for a triggered uplink switching based on 2Tx-2Tx switching mode may be equal to the switching time capability value reported for the 2T switching mode. If this field is absent (e.g., the configuration parameters of UL Tx switching do not comprise this parameter) and / or uplink Tx switching (via uplinkTxSwitching) is configured, the UE determines / interprets that 1 Tx-2Tx UL Tx switching is configured. In this case, there may be one uplink (or one uplink band in case of intra-band) configured with uplink Tx switching (uplinkTxSwitching), on which the maximum number of antenna ports (e.g., among all configured P-SRS / A-SRS and activated SP-SRS resources) is 1 and / or non-codebook based UL Ml MO is not configured.

[0305] The configuration parameters of UL Tx switching may comprise a parameter (UplinkTxSwitchingAssociatedBandDualUL) indicating an associated band (associated Band) for each transmitting band (transmi tBand), in case of dual UL. For example, the network ensures that each band pair of a transmitting band and an associated band supports the dualUL switching option.

[0306] The configuration parameters of UL Tx switching may comprise a parameter (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL- TxState) indicating a state of one or more Tx chains if the state of Tx chains after the UL Tx switching is not unique, e.g., in case of 2Tx-2Tx switching is configured and / or dual uplink is configured (e.g., u pl inkTxSwitch ingOption is set to dualUL). A first value of the parameter (e.g., value oneT) may indicate 1 Tx is assumed to be supported on the carriers on each band, and a second value of the parameter (value twoT) may indicate 2Tx is assumed to be supported on thatcarrier. This parameter / field may apply for all band pairs, e.g., if uplink Tx switching for more than two bands (via uplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands) is configured.

[0307] The UL Tx switching configuration associated with an uplink carrier of a cell may indicate whether the configured uplink carrier is “carrierl” or “carrier ” for dynamic UL Tx switching (e.g., via uplinkTxSwitchingCarrier) in a band pair (e.g., carrier 1 in band 1 and carrier 2 in band 2). For example, the UL “carrierl” may be capable of one transmit antenna connector and UL “carrier?” may be capable of two transmit antenna connectors. For example, in case of inter-band UL CA or SUL, network configures one of the two uplink carriers involved in dynamic UL TX switching as carrierl and the other as carrier?. In case of (NG)EN-DC, network always configures the NR carrier as carrier?.

[0308] The UL Tx switching configuration associated with an uplink carrier of a cell may indicate a location of UL Tx switching period (e.g., via uplinkTxSwitchingPeriodLocation) in a band pair (e.g., carrier 1 in band 1 and carrier? in band 2). For example, a Boolean parameter / field may indicate whether the location of the UL Tx switching period is configured in this respective UL carrier or not. In case of inter-band UL CA or SUL, network configures this field to TRUE for one of the uplink carriers involved in dynamic UL TX switching and configures this field in the other carrier to FALSE. In case of (NG)EN-DC, network always configures this field to TRUE for NR carrier (i.e. with (NG)EN-DC, the UL switching period always occurs on the NR carrier).

[0309] FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B illustrate examples of UL Tx switching period location for UL Tx switching between pair of carriers / bands as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. Time mask for switching between two uplink carriers is shown in FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B. A switching time mask may be applicable for an uplink band pair (or an uplink carrier pair, each carrier being in a corresponding band). For example, the uplink band pair may be associated with an inter-band UL CA configuration and / or SUL configuration and / or dual connectivity (e.g., NR-DC and / or EN / DC and / or NE-DC and / or MR-DC). The two uplink carriers may be in different bands with different carrier frequencies. A capability information indicating UL Tx switching period / gap (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod, / VTx1.Tx2) may be present for the respective band pair / combination associated with the two uplink carriers and / or sent to the network. For example, NR UL carrier 1 is capable of one transmit antenna connector and NR UL carrier 2 is capable of two transmit antenna connectors, e.g., with 3d B boosting on the maximum output power when the capability uplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting is present and the IE powerboostingTxSwitching is set to 1. The UE may support the switch between single layer transmission with one antenna port and two-layer transmission with two antenna ports on the two uplink carriers following the scheduling commands and / or rank adaptation. In an example, both single layer and two-layer transmission with 2 antenna ports, and single layer transmission with 1 antenna port may be supported on NR UL carrier?.

[0310] The switching periods described in FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B are located in either NR carrier 1 or carrier 2 as indicated in RRC signaling (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriodLocation). FIG. 24A shows an example time mask for switching between UL carrier 1 and UL Carrier?, where the switching period is located in carrier 1. FIG. 24B shows an example time mask for switching between UL carrier 1 and UL Carrier 2, where the switching period is located in carrier2. The length of uplink switching period may be less than the value indicated by UE capability uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod. The requirements may apply for the case of co-located and synchronized network deployment for the two uplink carriers. The requirements may apply for the case of single TAG for the two uplink carriers, e.g., the same uplink timing for the two carriers.

[0311] The switching time mask / period may be applicable for an uplink band pair of an inter-band UL GA configuration when a capability of 2T switching (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod2T2T) is present. Referring to FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B, NR UL carrier 1 in a first band may be capable of two transmit antenna connectors and NR UL carrier 2 in a second band may be capable of two transmit antenna connectors, and / or the two uplink carriers may be in different bands with different carrier frequencies. The UE may support the switch between two-layer transmission with two antenna ports and two-layer transmission with two antenna ports (2Tx-2Tx switching) on the two uplink carriers following the scheduling commands and rank adaptation. Both single layer and two-layer transmission with 2 antenna ports, and single layer transmission with 1 antenna port may be supported on NR UL carrier 1 and carrier 2

[0312] The UE may determine the switching period location to be in either NR carrier 1 or carrier 2 as indicated in RRC signaling (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingPeriodLocation). The length of uplink switching period may be less than the value indicated by UE capability for 2Tx switching (e.g , uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod2T2T).

[0313] When switching from one carrier to another, if there is no uplink transmission scheduled or configured on the switch-from carrier for at least the duration of the switching period before the point in time the UE is scheduled or configured to start the transmission on the switch-to carrier, the switching period may be fully contained in the time period between the end of the transmission on the switch-from carrier and the start of the transmission on the switch-to carrier. The UE may ignore the RRC signaling (uplinkTxSwitchingPeriodLocation'j and may not take effect in this case.

[0314] In the NR inter-band CA configuration, the number of NR uplink bands may be three or four or more, e.g., when the capability [BandCombination-UplinkTxSwitch-r18] is present. NR UL carrier(s) in each of the three or four or more uplink bands are capable of one or two transmit antenna con nector(s), according to the UE capability [Feature SetUplinkPerCC],

[0315] Referring to FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B, carrier 1 may be in band X and carrier 2 may be in band Y. The uplink transmission on either band X or band Y may be with one or two transmit antenna connector(s).

[0316] In an example, if NR UL carriers in both bands in one band pair are capable of one transmit antenna connector, 1 Tx-1 Tx switching is supported for the band pair. 1Tx-1 Tx switching may comprise switching of one Tx chain from a first band to a second band of the band pair, wherein both bands of the band pair support one Tx chain.

[0317] In an example, if NR UL at least one carrier in one band of one band pair is capable of one transmit antenna connector, and at least one NR UL carrier in the other band of the band pair is capable of two transmit antenna connectors, 1 Tx-2Tx switching is supported for the band pair. 1Tx-2Tx switching may comprise switching of one Tx chain from a first band to a second band of the band pair, wherein the first band of the band pair supports one Tx chain, and the second band of the band pair supports two Tx chains.

[0318] In an example, if NR UL carriers in both bands of one band pair are capable of two transmit antenna connectors, 2Tx-2Tx switching is supported for the band pair. 2Tx-2Tx switching may comprise switching of two Tx chains from a first band to a second band of the band pair, wherein both bands of the band pair support two Tx chains.

[0319] Referring to FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B, for each band pair, the switching periods are located in either NR band X or band Y as indicated in RRC signaling [e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingBandList-r18], For each band pair, the length of uplink switching period X is indicated by a first UE capability [e.g., switchingPeriodFor1T-r18] when 1 Tx-1 Tx switching and / or 1 Tx-2Tx switching between the two bands in the band pair is supported and / or configured. For each band pair, the length of uplink switching period X is indicated by a second UE capability [e.g., switchingPeriodFor2T-r18] when 2Tx- 2Tx switching between the two bands in the band pair is supported and / or configured. UE may be capable to transmit until the beginning of the switching period and after the end of switching period with the exception of transient periods.

[0320] The UE may support dual UL (dualUL) for at least two uplink band pairs in the CA configuration. The two band pairs supporting dual UL may be denoted as band pairs of {band X and band Z} and {band Y and band Z}. The UE may switch one transmitter (e.g., Tx chain) between band X and band Y. In an example, if the UE indicates the band Z is a non-affected band in the capability information [e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingMaintainedUL-Trans-r18 or maintainedUL-Trans indicating “1”] for band pair [X, Y], the UE may be capable of uplink transmission on band Z during the switching period that is located on band X or Y, and / or the UE may not transmit on band X and / or Y during a time period T 1 located on band X or Y, where the time period T 1 is the length of switching period [reported] for the band pair of band X and band Y. In an example, if the UE does not indicate the band Z is a non-affected band in the capability information [e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingMaintainedUL-Trans-r18 or maintainedUL-Trans not indicate “1”], UE is not required to transmit on any of the three bands during the switching period during a time period T 1 located on band X or Y, where T 1 is the length of switching period for the band pair of band X and band Y. In an example, if the UE does not indicate the band Z is a non-affected band in the capability information [e.g., uplinkTxSwitching^or maintainedUL-Trans not indicate “1”], and / or if the UE reports a switching period capability [e.g., ULFxSAdditionalPeriod-on- unaffected-band-invovled, or periodOnULBands], the UE may not transmit on any of the three bands during the switching period indicated by the switching period capability located on band X or Y.

[0321] The UE may support dual UL (dualUL) for at least one uplink band pair including band X and band Y, and two transmit antenna connectors on at least one uplink band of band Z. the UE may switch one transmitter (e.g., Tx chain) between band X and band Z, and across the same time, the UE may switch the other transmitter (e.g., Tx chain) between Y and band Z. The UE may not transmit on any of the three bands during time period with the larger one of switching period T2 and T3, where T2 is the length of switching period for the band pair of band X and band Z, and T3 is the length of switching period for the band pair of band Y and band Z. The UE may report the additional switching period capability [e.g., Up / inkTxSwrtchingAdditionalPeriodDua / UL-r18. The UE may not transmit on any of the three bands during time period indicated by the additional switching period capability.

[0322] In an example, the uplink transmission on band X and band Y may be with one transmit antenna connector and one antenna port, and the uplink transmission on band Z may be with two transmit antenna connectors and twoantenna ports. The switching period location may be configured by an RRC parameter, and / or band Z may be with the highest priority according to the RRC configuration.

[0323] The UE may omit uplink transmission during the uplink switching gap TTX1-TX2if one or more conditions are met and / or the UE is configured with UL Tx switching (uplinkTxSwitching). The switching gap / period WTx1.Tx2may be indicated by one or more UE capability (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching Period ior 1 Tx switching and uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod2T2T for 2Tx switching) for the respective band combination / pair associated with the two uplink carriers. The UE may indicate a capability for uplink switching with a parameter (e.g., BandCombination- UplinkTxSwitch) for a band combination / pair For that band combination / pair, the UE may be configured with a MCG using E-UTRA radio access and with a SCG using NR radio access (EN-DC). For that band combination / pair, the UE may be configured with uplink carrier aggregation. For that band combination / pair, the UE may be configured in a serving cell with two uplink carriers with higher layer parameter for SUL (supplementaryUplink). The one or more conditions under which the switching gap / period may be present and the location of the switching gap may be defined as follows.

[0324] If an uplink switching is triggered for an uplink transmission starting at To, after To-Totfset, the UE may not be expected to cancel the uplink switching, and / or to trigger any other new uplink switching occurring before To for any other uplink transmission that is scheduled after To-Toffset, where Toffset is the UE processing procedure time defined for the uplink transmission triggering the switch.

[0325] The UE may not expect to perform more than one uplink switching in a slot with put = max(puL, 1, UL, 2), where the PUL, 1 corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the active UL BWP of one uplink carrier before the switching gap and the PUL, 2 corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the active UL BWP of the other uplink carrier after the switching gap.

[0326] A UE may indicate a capability for uplink switching (e.g., with BandCombination-UplinkTxSwitch) for a band combination. For that band combination, the UE may be configured with a MCG using E-UTRA radio access and with a SCG using NR radio access (EN-DC). The UE may be configured with uplink switching (e.g., with parameter uplinkTxSwitching).

[0327] The UE may be configured with switched UL transmission mode (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOption set to ‘switchedUL’). The UE may be to transmit in the uplink based on DCI(s) received before To- TOffsetor based on a higher layer configuration(s). The UE may be to transmit an NR uplink that takes place after an E-UTRA uplink on another uplink carrier. The UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap WTx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers. The UE may be to transmit an E-UTRA uplink that takes place after an NR uplink on another uplink carrier. The UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap WTx1-Tx2on any of the two carriers. The UE may not be expected to transmit simultaneously on the NR uplink and the E-UTRA uplink. If the UE is scheduled or configured to transmit any NR uplink transmission overlapping with an E-UTRA uplink transmission, the NR uplink transmission may be dropped.

[0328] The UE may be configured with dual UL transmission mode (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOption set to 'dualUL'). The UE may be to transmit in the uplink based on DCI(s) received before To- T0^setor based on a higher layer configuration(s). The UE may be to transmit an NR two-port uplink that takes place after an E-UTRA uplink on another uplink carrier. The UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap ATx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers. The UE may be to transmit an E-UTRA uplink that takes place after an NR two-port uplink on another uplink carrier. The UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap A / Tx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers. The UE may not be expected to transmit simultaneously a two- port transmission on the NR uplink and the E-UTRA uplink. In other cases the UE may be expected to transmit normally all uplink transmissions without interruptions. The UE may be configured with tdm-PattemConfig or by tdm-PattemConfig2. For the E-UTRA subframes designated as uplink by the configuration, the UE may assume the operation state in which one-port E-UTRA uplink can be transmitted. For the E-UTRA subframes other than the ones designated as uplink by the configuration (e.g., downlink and / or special and / or flexible subframes / slots / symbols), the UE may assume the operation state in which two- port NR uplink can be transmitted.

[0329] A UE may indicate a capability for uplink switching (e.g., with BandCombination-UplinkTxSwitch) for a band combination / pair. For that band combination / pair, the UE may be configured with uplink carrier aggregation. The UE may be configured with uplink switching (e.g , with parameter uplinkTxSwitching). The UE may be to transmit in the uplink based on DCI(s) received before To- TOffSetor based on a higher layer configuration(s). The UE may be to transmit a 2-port transmission on one uplink carrier and the preceding uplink transmission may be a 1 -port transmission on another uplink carrier. The UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap A / Tx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers. The UE may be to transmit a 1 -port transmission on one uplink carrier and the preceding uplink transmission may be a 2-port transmission on another uplink carrier. The UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap A / Tx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers.

[0330] For the UE configured with switched UL transmission mode (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOption set to 'switched UL'), when the UE is to transmit a 1-port transmission on one uplink carrier and if the preceding uplink transmission was a 1 -port transmission on another uplink carrier, then the UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap A / Tx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers. For the UE configured with dual UL transmission mode (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOption set to 'dualUL'), when the UE is to transmit a 2-port transmission on one uplink carrier and if the preceding uplink transmission was a 1-port transmission on the same uplink carrier and / or the UE is under the operation state in which 2-port transmission cannot be supported in the same uplink carrier, then the UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap A / Tx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers. For the UE configured with dual UL transmission mode (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOption set to 'dualUL'), when the UE is to transmit a 1-port transmission on one uplink carrier and if the preceding uplink transmission was a 1-port transmission on another uplink carrier and / or the UE is under the operation state in which 2-port transmission can be supported on the same uplink carrier, then the UE may not be expected to transmit for the duration of switching period / gap A / Tx1.Tx2on any of the two carriers.

[0331] For the UE configured with dual UL transmission mode (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOption set to 'dualUL'), if the UE is configured with a transmitter state indicating a first value (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState set to 'oneT'), when the UE is under the operation state in which 2-port transmission can be supported on one carrier on one band followed by no transmission on any carrier on the same band and 1 -port transmission on the other carrier on another band, the UE may consider this as if 1 -port transmission was transmitted on both uplinks. Otherwise, if the UE is configured with the transmitter state indicating a second value (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState set to 'twoT'), the UE may consider this as if 2-port transmission took place on the transmitting carrier.

[0332] If 2T switching mode (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode) is configured, when the UE is to transmit a 2-port transmission on one uplink carrier on one band and if the preceding uplink transmission is a 2-port transmission on another uplink carrier on another band, then the UE may not transmit for the duration of switching period / gap NTX1.TX2 on any of the carriers.

[0333] The UE may not be scheduled or configured with uplink transmissions that result in simultaneous transmission on two antenna ports on one uplink carrier on one band, and any transmission on another uplink carrier on another band. In other cases, the UE may be expected to transmit normally all uplink transmissions without interruptions.

[0334] A UE may indicate a capability for uplink switching (e.g., via BandCombination-UplinkTxSwitch) for a band combination / pair. For that band combination / pair configured with uplink carrier aggregation with 3 or 4 bands, the two bands involved in the uplink switching may belong to different uplink serving cells, and / or the two bands involved in the uplink switching may belong to one uplink serving cell.

[0335] More than two bands may be involved in the determination of one uplink switching. The UE may be configured on any two of the bands with dual UL (e.g., switchingOptionConfigForBandPair set to 'dualUL').

[0336] When the UE is to transmit a 2-port transmission on one uplink carrier on the 1stband and if the preceding uplink transmission was a 1 -port transmission on a carrier on the 2ndand / or 3rdband, and / or the UE is under the operation state in which 1-port transmission can be supported in the 2ndand 3rdband, then the UE may not transmit for the duration of switching gap Mrxi-Tx2 on any of the carriers.

[0337] When the UE is to transmit a 1-port transmission on one uplink carrier on the 1stband and the 2ndband, and if the preceding uplink transmission was a 1 -port or 2-port transmission on a carrier on the 3rdband, and / or the UE is under the operation state in which 2-port transmission can be supported on the 3rdband, then the UE may not transmit for the duration of switching gap NTXI-TX2 on any of the carriers.

[0338] When the UE is to transmit a 1-port transmission on one uplink carrier on the 1stband and the 2ndband, and if the preceding uplink transmission was a 1-port transmission on a carrier on the 1stband and / or the 3rdband, and / or the UE is under the operation state in which 1-port transmission can be supported in the 1stand 3rdband, and / or if the UE indicates maintained / unaffected UL transmission (maintained UL-Trans) on / for the 1stband for band pair{the 2ndband, the 3rdband}, then the UE may not transmit for the duration of switching gap TXI-TX2 on any of the carriers on the 2ndband and the 3rdband. Otherwise the UE may not transmit for the duration of switching gap WTX1-TX2 on any of the carriers.

[0339] When the UE is to transmit a 1 -port transmission on one uplink carrier on the 1stband and the 2ndband, and if the preceding uplink transmission was a 1 -port transmission on a carrier on the 3rdband and / or the 4thband, and / or the UE is under the operation state in which 1 -port transmission can be supported in the 3rdand 4thband, then the UE may not transmit for the duration of switching gap NTXI-TX2 on any of the carriers.

[0340] The UE may not be scheduled or configured to transmit on more than two uplink bands at any given time.

[0341] If the UE indicated a capability of dual UL for a band pair (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOptionForBandPair set to 'DualUL', or 'Both’ for a band pair) in the band combination, the UE may be configured with dual UL (e.g., switchingOptionConfigForBandPair set to 'dual UL') for that band pair. If the UE indicated a capability of switched UL for a band pair (e.g., uplinkTxSwitchingOptionForBandPair set to ‘SwitchedUL’, or ‘Both’ for a band pair) in the band combination, the UE may be configured with switched UL (e.g., switch / ngOptionConfigForBandPair set to 'switchedUL') for that band pair.

[0342] If the UE is configured with a first value of a Tx chain state parameter (e g., uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL- TxState set to 'oneT'), when the UE is under the operation state in which 1 -port transmission can be supported on one carrier on the 1st band and the 2nd band followed by no transmission on any carrier on these two bands and 1 -port transmission on the other carrier on the 3rd band, the UE may consider this as if 1 -port transmission was transmitted on the 3rd band and the band associated with the 3rd band (as configured by associatedBand). Otherwise, if the UE is configured with a second value of the Tx chain state parameter (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState set to 'twoT'), the UE may consider this as if 2-port transmission took place on the transmitting carrier. Even if all cells in a band are deactivated, that does not invalidate the associated band configuration that is indicating the band as associated band for the other band(s).

[0343] If the UE is configured with a first value of a Tx chain state parameter (e.g., uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL- TxState set to 'oneT'), and / or if a band in the band combination is not configured as dualUL for any band pair it belongs to, when the UE is to transmit a 1 -port transmission on a carrier on the band, the UE may consider this as if 2-port transmission took place on the transmitting carrier.

[0344] A UE may indicate a capability for uplink switching (e.g., with BandCombination-Up'inkTxSwitch or uplinkTxSwitchingPeriod2T2T) for a band combination / pair. For that band combination / pair, the UE may be configured in a serving cell with two uplink carriers, e.g., configured with SUL with higher layer parameter supplementaryUplink. The UE may be configured with uplink switching (e.g., with parameter uplinkTxSwitching). If the UE is to transmit any uplink channel or signal on a different uplink from the preceding transmission occasion based on DCI(s) received before To- TOffSetor based on a higher layer configuration(s), then the UE may assume that an uplink switching is triggered in a duration of switching gap fTx1.Tx2, where Tois the start time of the first symbol of the transmission occasion of the uplink channel or signal and TOffsetis the preparation procedure time of the transmission occasion of the uplink channel or signal. During the switching gap / VTx1.Tx2, the UE may not be expected to transmit on any of the two uplinks In other cases, the UE may be expected to transmit normally all uplink transmissions without interruptions.

[0345] There are a variety of emerging and new consumer services which require high uplink date rate, e.g., HD video calls, online webcast / sales, augmented reality (AR), etc., which require about ~1 Os Mbps uplink data rate. In order to boost the uplink throughput and capacity for such widely applicable scenarios, it is necessary to efficiently utilize all uplink resources in multi-carrier scenarios (>2 frequency bands). In practical deployments scenarios, networks will support more than 2 bands. Therefore, efficient utilization of these UL resources may be prioritized.

[0346] However, it is difficult to implement more than 2Tx for smartphones due to increasing cost, complexity, heat generation, power consumption and intermodulation interference. Smartphones today are not capable of simultaneously transmitting on more than 2 bands, since current commercial smartphones support up to 2Tx RF chains. More Tx RF chains are difficult to be implemented for smartphone due to the following reasons: the cost and complexity is increasing because of more Tx RF chains, power supply modules and so on; the size, heat generation and power consumption will also increase dramatically if more than 2 power supply modules work at the same time; more Tx RF chains also increase the number of PLLs (phase locked loops) and LOs (local oscillators) which cause intermodulation interference and degrade the downlink performance for some band combination; and, some Tx RF resources may be under-utilized due to power limitation or restrictions of less available UL slots on TDD band. This makes it very difficult for networks to fully exploit all of available uplink resources / bands, and for smartphones to increase their uplink data rates.

[0347] Enhancements for operation with more than 4 Tx antenna may be considered targeting devices such as CPEs or loT devices without size and cost constraints. Enhancements for frequency-selective precoding may be considered to provide most gains when the transmission includes 4 MIMO layers, so, such gains would not be applicable for 2Tx smartphones. Enhancements for mTRP (multi Transmit Receive Point) uplink are in principle applicable to all device types, and provide gains mostly for cell-edge performance in macro-cell mTRP deployments, however, uplink performance may be improved for smartphones not in coverage-limited conditions.

[0348] There is commercial interest expressed for developing standard support for 3Tx UL MIMO for enabling the market introduction of UEs with 3 Tx antennas. Compared to most current mobile UE equipped with 2Tx, 3Tx will be beneficial for UL throughput. Boosting UL throughput and improving UL coverage (for cell-edge UE) is demanding for NR-UL-enhancement, and the UL 3-Tx operation (introducing one extra Tx) is to provide good tradeoff between UL performance and UE-implementation complexity (e.g., for an advanced smartphone). UL enhancements are required for heavy UL transmission.

[0349] 2Tx chain was the basic handheld UE assumption in NR FR1 high bands, for example n41 , n77, n78 and n79. This made UL MIMO for single CC enabled in the beginning of 5G NR in these bands. To enhance the UL throughput, UL CA was introduced in Rel-17, however, it was found that both UL CA and UL MIMO have big impacton UE architecture due to limitation of max 200MHz commercial power amplifier (PA) CBW. This led to support of UL CA+UL MIMO only in 200MHz contiguous UL CA case with the 2Tx chain assumption. For intra-band non-contiguous UL CA or inter-band UL CA, only a single layer can be supported with the 2Tx chain assumption The reason behind is that in Rel-17 FR1 enhancement, though one PA to cover the non-contiguous UL CA was considered to be a potentialimplementation, there would be large MPR which makes UE implement two PAs with each PA covering 1 CC to support the non-contiguous UL CA in the end. That’s why two PAs with each supporting one CC of non-contiguous UL CA is the baseline architecture for non-contiguous UL CA without UL Ml MO. Therefore, inter-band UL CA cannot support UL MIMO with 2Tx chain restriction. That means UE cannot benefit from UL CA and UL Ml MO simultaneously, especially in non-contiguous and inter-band cases to improve UL performance. UL MIMO for non-contiguous UL CA most likely will not be supported due to large MPR in 2Tx chain assumption.

[0350] The max capability that 2Tx UE can achieve is max power is 26+26, max MIMO+CA is 2layer+200MHz contiguous CA, no MIMO in non-contiguous CA, inter-band CA, and EN-DC, and max concurrent Bands is two. 3Tx UE can bring potential enhancements, e.g., power enhancement, MIMO enhancement, 3 bands Tx, and Tx switching transmission enhancement. For example, MIMO can be enhanced by 2 layer in one band and 1 layer in the other band for non-contiguous UL CA, inter-band UL CA, and EN-DC. With 3Tx chain architecture, the 1 Tx low band and 2Tx high band concurrent transmission can be achieved For these UEs, Ous Tx switching may be supported, for example switch from the low band to high band to save power, etc.

[0351] FIG. 25A illustrates a 2Tx UE architecture as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. This example shows a UE architecture with 2 Tx chains and 2 LOs that can generate two frequency points for up conversion. Two PAs may be activated in the RFFE.

[0352] FIG. 25B illustrates a 3Tx UE architecture with 2 LOs as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. This example shows a UE architecture with 3 Tx chains and 2 LOs and / or 3 PAs. In this example, two of the three Tx chains share one LO and the other Tx chain has a dedicated LO.

[0353] FIG. 25C illustrates a 3Tx UE architecture with 3 LOs as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. This example shows a UE architecture with 3 Tx chains and 3 LOs and / or 3 PAs. In this example, each Tx chains has a dedicated LO.

[0354] Compared with current 2Tx UE architecture (e.g., as in the example of FIG. 25A), some UEs currently already have 3Tx chain with 2LO (e.g., as in the example of FIG. 25B). For these UEs, the update is mainly in the radio frequency front end (RFFE). Besides, current UE is typically implemented with 2PAs in high bands like n41 , n / 8 and n79, and another PA module to support the low and mid bands. Therefore, if the 3Tx happens on the same high band, then another high band PA needs to be implemented. However, if the 3Tx happens between two bands with one in the low band and another in the high band, then the only update is activating the three PAs simultaneously (e.g., in FIG. 25B only two PAs may be activated). For the UE architecture with 3 dedicated LOs (e.g., as in the example of FIG. 25C), one additional LO is needed, and the impact to RFFE is similar. This UE can support three different bands transmissions simultaneously, e g., 2 LTE + 1 NR band, or 2 low frequency NR bands + 1 high frequency NR band, or 1 LTE band + 2 NR bands, or 1 low frequency NR bands +2 high frequency NR bands.

[0355] 3-antenna-port (3Tx) codebook-based transmissions may be supported by wireless devices and configured by the network. 3Tx simultaneous / concurrent / dual transmissions for two bands (e.g., inter-band CA / EN-DC) with 1Tx on one uplink operating band and 2Tx on the other uplink operating band (1 Tx at band A +2Tx at band B) may beconfigured. 3Tx simultaneous / concurrent transmission for three bands (e.g., inter-band UL CA / EN-DC) with 1 Tx on each uplink operating band (1Tx at band A + 1 Tx at band B + 1Tx at band C) may be configured.

[0356] For example, a wireless device may be capable of concurrently transmitting multiple wireless transmissions using the multiple Tx antenna chains on different frequency bands. For example, inter-band UL CA and / or EN-DC may be enhanced for 3Tx UEs for operation on band combinations with two or more bands. For example, 3Tx band combinations may be defined / configured with 1 CC in each band. Tx capability may be 1 Tx in one band and 2Tx in the other band.

[0357] To support 3Tx and / or transmission with 3Tx chains, 3 SRS ports are needed. 3 SRS ports may be enabled by muting one SRS port in a 4-port SRS resource and / or by combining ports from multiple SRS resources (e.g., three 1 -port SRS resources and / or one 2-port SRS resource and one 1 -port SRS resource). It can enable dynamic switching among PUSCH transmissions with 1 port and / or 2 ports and / or 3 ports. By allowing indicating one or more SRS resources, it can switch between PUSCH transmissions with 1 port, 2 ports and 3 ports.

[0358] UL Tx switching is an important feature that enables high throughput multi-stream uplink data transmission as well as UL coverage enhancement at the same time for inter-band CA and / or EN-DC. In fact, dual / concurrent / simultaneous UL transmissions across multiple bands are only possible through (based on) UL Tx switching.

[0359] FIG. 26 illustrates an example of UL Tx switching for a UE with 2 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. The UE may have a first Tx chain (Tx-1 ) on a first band (band X) and a second Tx chain (Tx-2) on a second band (band Y). For example, the UE may support 1 or 2 Tx chains in band X and 1 or 2 Tx chains in band Y. In a first slot, the UE may have / perform / transmit dual UL using a total of 2 Tx chains (e.g., 2T dual UL) on the first band and the second band: a first 1 -port UL transmission with the first Tx chain on the first band and second [simultaneous / concurrent / dual] 1 -port UL transmission with the second Tx chain on the second band. Following the dual UE, the UE may switch the first Tx chain from the first band to the second band. The UE may have / perform / transmit a 2-port UL transmission with the 2Tx chains on the second band, e.g., following the UL Tx switching (e.g., in a next slot after switching).

[0360] FIG. 27 illustrates an example of UL Tx switching with dual UL for a UE with 2 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. The UE with 2 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports may support dual / concurrent uplink using 2 Tx chains (e.g., DualUL or 2T Dual U L) on two or more band pairs. For example, u plin kTxSwitch ingOption ForBandPair parameter may indicate “dual U L” or “both”. The two or more band pairs may comprise a first band pair and a second band pair. The first band pair (e.g., band pair (X,Z)) may comprise a first band (e.g., band Z) and a second band (e g., band X). The second band pair (e.g , band pair (Y,Z)) may comprise the first band (e.g.. band Z) and a third band (e.g., band Y).

[0361] As shown in FIG. 27, the UE may support dual / concurrent UL (with 2 Tx chains) on the first band pair (X,Z). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 1 -port uplink transmission on the firsthand (band Z)and 1 -port uplink transmission on the second band (band X). A 1-port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 1 -layer uplink transmission using 1 Tx chain.

[0362] The UE may perform a first dual UL in a first slot / subslot (e.g., slot / subslot n). As shown in FIG. 27, the UE may concurrently transmit, in the first time slot / subslot: a first 1-port UL transmission with a first Tx chain (e.g., Tx-2) on the first (band Z), and a second 1-port UL transmission with a second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1) on the second (band X).

[0363] As shown in FIG. 27, the UE may support dual / con current UL (with 2 Tx chains) on the second band pair (Y,Z). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 1-port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) and 1-port uplink transmission on the third band (band Y). A 1-port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 1- layer uplink transmission using 1 Tx chain

[0364] The UE may perform a second dual UL in a second slot / subslot (e.g., slot / subslot n+1), following the first slot / subslot. As shown in FIG. 27, the UE may concurrently transmit, in the second time slot / subslot: a third 1-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain (e.g., Tx-2) on the first (band Z), and a fourth 1-port UL transmission with the second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1) on the third (band Y).

[0365] The UE may support uplink Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., between band X and band Y) For example, the UE may indicate support of UL Tx switching (U LTxSwitchingBand Pair) for a third band pair (e.g., band pair (X,Y)) comprising the second band (e.g., band X) and the third band (e.g., band Y).

[0366] As shown in FIG. 27, the UE may switch the second Tx chain / antenna connector from the second band (band X) to the third band (band Y), before or after the slot / subslot boundary. The switching may be following the first dual UL and / or the second 1-port UL transmission with the second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1) on the second (band X). The switching may be for / based on the second dual UL and / or the fourth 1 -port UL transmission with the second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1 ) on the third (band Y).

[0367] The UE may indicate, in the capability information message and for the third band pair (X,Y), a duration of a switching period (e.g., switchingPeriodForlT). For example, the UE may be capable of switching a Tx chain between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y) during the duration of the switching period. The UE may not transmit on the second band (band X) and / or the third band (band Y) during the switching period. In the example of FIG. 27, the UE may omit a portion of the second 1-port UL transmission on band X that overlaps in time with the switching period.

[0368] The UE may be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y) For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via SwitchingPeriod UnaffectedBandDualUL) that the UE’s transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is unaffected during the UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., maintainedUL-T rans present and / or set to “true”).

[0369] The UE may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via a value or absence of SwitchingPeriodUnaffected BandDualUL parameter) that the UE’s transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is affected during the UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., maintainedUL-Trans absent and / or set to “false”). The UE may not transmit on any of the bands, including the first band (Z) and the second band (X) and the third band (Y) during the switching period

[0370] In the example of FIG. 27, the switching period is located on band X (e.g., the band used before the switching). In the example of FIG. 27, the UE may maintain the first 1 -port uplink transmission (using Tx-2 in slot / subslot n) on the first band (band Z) during the switching period associated with switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may indicate the first band as the unaffected band for the third band pair (band pair (X,Y)), e.g., when dual UL is supported on the first band pair (X,Z) and the second band pair (Y,Z). For example, the first 1 -port uplink transmission may be unaffected during the switching period located on band X. For example, the UE may be capable of a 1 -port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) during the switching period of the third band pair.

[0371] In another example, the switching period may be located on band Y (e.g., the band used after the switching). In this example, the UE may maintain the third 1 -port uplink transmission (using Tx-2 in slot / subslot n+1) on the first band (band Z) during the switching period associated with switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may indicate the first band as the unaffected band for the third band pair (band pair (X,Y)), e.g., when dual UL is supported on the first band pair (X,Z) and the second band pair (Y,Z). For example, the third 1 -port uplink transmission may be unaffected during the switching period located on band Y. For example, the UE may be capable of a 1 -port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) during the switching period of the third band pair.

[0372] In an example, the UE may report / indicate a second switching period duration for the unaffected band (e.g., periodOn ULBands). The UE may not transmit on any of the bands, including the first band (Z) and the second band (X) and the third band (Y) during the second switching period located on band X or band Y (e.g., if indicated).

[0373] A UE with 3 or more Tx chains may benefit from high throughput multi-layer transmission in one band, and one or more concurrent / simultaneous / dual UL transmissions in at least one other band.

[0374] Referring to FIG. 21 A and FIG. 21 B and FIG. 23, uplink Tx switching for a UE with a maximum of two Tx chains / antennas / ports (e.g., two active Tx chains) may be based on two options: switched uplink (option 1, switchedUL) and / or dual uplink (option 2, dualUL) on two carriers in two different bands. Dual (simultaneous / concurrent) and / or switched (TDMed) uplink transmissions may be enabled on two carriers in two different bands for a UE with 3 or more Tx chains / antennas / ports (e.g., three or more active Tx chains).

[0375] A UE with 3 or more Tx chains / antennas / ports operating in two or more bands (e.g., a band pair) may support UL Tx switching based on switched UL and / or dual / concurrent / simultaneous UL mode (UL Tx switching option). For example, the UE capability may indicate support of dual (e.g., concurrent or simultaneous) transmission of a 2-layer UL transmission using 2 antenna ports in one band (a.k.a., 2-port transmission) and a 1 -layer UL transmission using 1 antenna port in another band (a.k.a., 1 -port transmission). For example, RRC configurations of one or more cells may indicate configuration of dual (e.g., concurrent or simultaneous) transmission of a 2-layer UL transmission using 2 antenna ports in one band (a.k.a., 2-port transmission) and a 1 -layer UL transmission using 1 antenna port in another band (a.k.a., 1 -port transmission).

[0376] In an example, the UE may indicate support of 3 active Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports on a band pair / combination (comprising a plurality of bands) at the same time. For example, the UE may be capable of performing dual (simultaneous / concurrent) uplink transmissions using three or more Tx chains / antennas / ports for operation on the band pair (e.g., on band pair (A,B) with 1 Tx @band A +2Tx @band B).

[0377] A UE may be capable of dual / concurrent UL on a band pair based on 3 [or more] Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports. For example, for a band pair (X, Y) comprising band X and band Y, the UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s). Dual / concurrent transmission (s) on the band pair (X,Y) may comprise 2-port uplink transmission on band X and 1 -port uplink transmission on band Y, or 1 -port uplink transmission on band X and 2-port uplink transmission on band Y, or both. A 2-port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 2-layer uplink transmission using 2 Tx chains. A 1 -port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 1 -layer uplink transmission using 1 Tx chain. For example, for a band pair (X,Y) comprising band X and band Y, the UE may be configured with dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 2-port uplink transmission on band X and 1-port uplink transmission on band Y, or 1 -port uplink transmission on band X and 2-port uplink transmission on band Y, or both.

[0378] Throughout this disclosure, the term “3T dual UL" may be used to refer to dual UL on a band pair using a total of three Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports. For example, 3T dual UL may comprise simultaneous transmissions comprising: a first 2-port UL transmission on a first band and a second 1-port transmission on a second band. In some instances, “2T+1T dual UL”, or“1T+2T dual UL” or“3T dual UL” may be used interchangeably.

[0379] FIG. 28 illustrates an example of UL Tx switching for a UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. The UE may have a first Tx chain (Tx-1 ) on a first band (band X) and a second Tx chain (Tx-2) and a third Tx chain (Tx-3) on a second band (band Y). For example, the UE may support 1 or more Tx chains in band X and / or 2 or more Tx chains in band Y.

[0380] In a first slot, the UE may have / perform / transmit dual UL using a total of 3 Tx chains (e.g., 3Tdual UL or 2T+1T dual UL or 2+1 dual UL) on the first band and the second band: a first 1-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain on the first band and second [sim ultaneous / concurren t / d ual] 2-port UL transmission with the second Tx chain and the third Tx chain on the second band. The UE may switch the first Tx chain from the second band to the first band. For example, the UE may perform a 1T switching from first Tx chain from the second band to the first band. The UE may have / perform / transmit another 3T dual UL on the first band and the second band, e.g., in a next slot after switching: a2-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain and the third Tx chain on the first band and a [simultaneous / concurrent / dual] 1-port UL transmission with the second Tx chain on the second band.

[0381] FIG. 29 illustrates an example of UL Tx switching for a UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports (e.g., 3T dual UL) as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. The UE may have a first Tx chain (Tx-1 ) and a second Tx chain (Tx-2) and a third Tx chain (Tx-3) on a second band (band Y). For example, the UE may support 3Tx chain in band X and / or 3Tx chains in band Y. In a first slot, the UE may transmit a 3-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain and the second Tx chain and the third Tx chain on the second band (band Y). The UE may switch the first Tx chain and the second Tx chain, based on 2T switching, from the second band to the first band. The UE may have / perform / transmit a 3T dual UL (e g., 2T+1T dual UL) on the first band and the second band, e.g , in a next slot after switching. After switching, the UE may have / perform / transmit a 2-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain and the second Tx chain on the first band and a [simultaneous / concurrent / dual] 1-port UL transmission with the third Tx chain on the second band

[0382] FIG. 30A and FIG. 30B illustrate examples of transmission options for UL Tx switching for a UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. As UE capabilities vary from terminal to terminal, switched UL and Dual UL are further defined, as shown in the figure. As shown in FIG. 30A, in switched UL, a UE may send data over a first carrier / band and a second carrier / band and / or a third carrier / band in time division mode (TDM), but not at the same time. As shown in FIG. 30B, in Dual UL (also, referred to as concurrent UL), in the terminal side, the first carrier / band and the second carrier / band or the third carrier / band may be flexibly aggregated, e.g., for a simultaneous / concurrent transmission.

[0383] A UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports (e.g., a 3T UE or a 3Tx UE) may be capable of supporting and / or configured with UL Tx switching across two or more bands based on switched UL. As shown in FIG. 30A, the UE may be capable of supporting and / or configured with UL Tx switching based on switched UL across 3 bands. For example, in a first mode of switched UL operation (Mode 1 in FIG. 30A), the UE may have a first Tx chain in a first carrier / band, a second Tx chain in a second carrier / band and a third Tx chain in a third carrier / band. In Mode 1, the UE may transmit using either of the 3 Tx chains in one of the three carriers / bands at a given time. In a second mode of switched UL operation (Mode 2 in FIG. 30A), the UE may have a first Tx chain in a first carrier / band, a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in a second carrier / band. In Mode 2, the UE may transmit a 1-port or 2-port transmission on the second carrier / band, or a 1 -port transmission on the first band. In a third mode of switched UL operation (Mode 3 in FIG. 30A), the UE may have a first Tx chain in the second carrier / band, a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in the first carrier / band. In Mode 3, the UE may transmit a 1-port or 2-port transmission on the first carrier / band, or a 1-port transmission on the second band In a fourth mode of switched UL operation (Mode 4 in FIG 30A), the UE may have a first Tx chain and a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in a first carrier / band. In Mode 4, the UE may transmit a 1-port or 2-port or 3-port transmission on the first carrier / band. In a fifth mode of switched UL operation (Mode 5 in FIG. 30A), the UE may have a first Tx chain and a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in the second carrier / band. In Mode 5, the UE may transmit a 1-port or 2-port or 3-port transmission on the second carrier / band.

[0384] A UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports (e.g., 3T) may be capable of supporting and / or configured with UL Tx switching across two or more bands based on switched UL. As shown in FIG. 30B, the UE may be capable of supporting and / or configured with UL Tx switching based on dual UL (or concurrent UL) across 3 bands. For example, in a first mode of dual UL operation (Mode 1 in FIG. 30B), the UE may have a first Tx chain in a first carrier / band, a second Tx chain in a second carrier / band and a third Tx chain in a third carrier / band. In Mode 1, the UE may transmit using the 3 Tx chains in the three carriers / bands at the same time (simultaneously / concurrently), e.g., this mode may be referred to as triple UL. In Mode 1, the UE may transmit using 2 Tx chains on two carriers / bands of the three carriers / bands at the same time (simultaneously / concurrently). In a second mode of dual UL operation (Mode 2 in FIG 30A), the UE may have a first Tx chain in a first carrier / band, a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in a second carrier / band. In Mode 2, the UE may transmit a 2-port uplink transmission on the second carrier / band, and a 1-port uplink transmission on the first band, e.g., this mode may be referred to as 3T (2T+1T) dual UL. In Mode 2, the UE may transmit a 1-port uplink transmission on the second carrier / band, and a 1-port uplink transmission on the first band, e.g., this mode may be referred to as [2T] dual UL. In a third mode of dual UL operation (Mode 3 in FIG. 30B), the UE may have a first Tx chain in the first carrier / band, a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in the second carrier / band. In Mode 3, the UE may transmit a 2-port uplink transmission on the first carrier / band, and a 1-port uplink transmission on the second band, e.g., this mode may be referred to as3T (2T+1T) dual UL. In Mode 3, the UE may transmit a 1-port uplink transmission on the first carrier / band, and a 1-port uplink transmission on the second band, e.g., this mode may be referred to as [2T] dual UL In a fourth mode of dual UL operation (Mode 4 in FIG. 30B), the UE may have a first Tx chain and a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in a first carrier / band. In Mode 4, the UE may transmit a 1 -port or 2- port or 3-port transmission on the first carrier / band. In a fifth mode of dual UL operation (Mode 5 in FIG. 30B), the UE may have a first Tx chain and a second Tx chain and a third Tx chain in the second carrier / band. In Mode 5, the UE may transmit a 1-port or 2-port or 3-port transmission on the second carrier / band.

[0385] In these examples and for both switched / TDM uplink and dual uplink, UL Tx switching of one or more Tx chains across the bands may enable the different operation modes (e.g., Mode 1 , Mode 2, Mode 3, Mode 4, and Mode 5 in FIG. 30A and / or FIG. 30B) . Different types of uplink Tx Switching may be used when switching between each two operation modes. For example, a 1T uplink switching may be used / performed when switching between mode 1 and mode 2, or between mode 2 and mode 3, or between mode 3 and mode 4, or between mode 1 and mode 3, or between mode 3 and mode 5. In case of 1T uplink switching, only one Tx chain (antenna connector) is switched between the two bands / carriers. In another example, a 2T uplink switching may be used / performed when switching between mode 1 and mode 4, or mode 2 and mode 4, or between mode 1 and mode 5, or between mode 3 and mode 5. In case of 2T uplink switching, two Tx chains (antenna connectors) are switched between the two or more bands / carriers at the same time. In another example, a 3T uplink switching may be used / performed when switching between mode 4 and mode 5. In case of 3T uplink switching, three Tx chains (antenna connectors) are switched between the two or more bands / carriers at the same time.

[0386] A UE may indicate support of UL Tx switching of one or more Tx chains across a plurality of bands (e.g., two or more bands, e.g., of one or more band pairs). The UE may indicate support of UL Tx switching that enables different operation modes (e.g., triple UL and / or 3T dual UL and or 2T dual UL and / or switched UL) shown in FIG. 30A and FIG. 30B. The UE may indicate support of UL Tx switching based different operation modes (e.g., triple UL and / or 3T dual UL and or 2T dual UL and / or switched UL) shown in FIG. 30A and FIG. 30B. The UE may indicate support of different operation modes (e.g., triple UL and / or 3T dual UL and or 2T dual UL and / or switched UL) for one or more band pairs (e.g., a plurality of bands) shown in FIG. 30A and FIG. 30B.

[0387] The UE may receive RRC message(s) comprising configuration parameters of UL Tx switching indicating UL Tx switching based on different operation modes (e.g., triple UL and / or 3T dual UL and or 2T dual UL and / or switched UL) shown in FIG. 30A and FIG. 30B. The UE may be configured with different operation modes (e.g., triple UL and / or 3T dual UL and or 2T dual UL and / or switched UL) for one or more band pairs (e.g., a plurality of bands) shown in FIG. 30A and FIG. 30B.

[0388] In existing technologies, a UE may be capable of dual UL on two band pairs, comprising a shared / common band. Referring to FIG. 27, the UE may support dual UL on a first band pair (X,Z) and on a second band pair (Y,Z), and the UE may support UL Tx switching for a third band pair (X, Y). In the existing technologies, the UE may indicate the band Z as non-affected band for the third band pair (X,Y). For example, the UE may be capable of uplink transmission on band Z during the switching period on located band X or Y. However, such a capability in the existing technologies may only be defined for UEs with 2 Tx chains / antenna connectors, and may not be applicable to UEs with 3 or more Tx chains / antenna connectors.

[0389] In the existing technologies, a UE may be capable of maintaining the uplink transmission on band Z only for the case that the uplink transmission on band Z is a 1 -port uplink transmission. However, for a UE with 3 or more Tx chains, the uplink transmission on band Z during the switching between band X and band Y may be a 2-port uplink transmission (or M-port uplink transmission, M> 1 ). For a UE to maintain a 2-port uplink transmission with 2 Tx chains / antenna connectors on band Z, while switching a third Tx chain / antenna connector between band pair (X,Y), additional capabilities may be required.

[0390] Maintaining UL transmission on a third band during UL Tx switching highly depends on the UE hardware architecture (e.g., whether a PLL and / or PA is dedicated to the Tx chain or not, refer to FIG. 25A, FIG. 25B, and FIG. 25C), and also the respective frequencies. For example, a UE may be capable of maintaining a 1 -port UL transmission on band Z during the switching period of band pair (X,Y), but not capable of maintaining a 2-port UL transmission. For example, some hardware of the UE (e.g., amplifiers and / or filters) that are used by at least one of the two Tx chains for the 2-port UL transmission on band Z may be interrupted due to the UL Tx switching between band X and Y. For example, some of the UE hardware may be shared between the Tx chains that result in the interruption.

[0391] The implementation of the existing technologies may result in misalignment between the UE and the base station about the UE capabilities associated with UL transmission maintenance during UL Tx switching. For example, if the UE indicates that the uplink transmission on band Z is unaffected during UL Tx switching for band pair (X, Y), thebase station may schedule the UE with a 2-port transmission on band Z, however the UE may not be capable of maintaining the 2-port transmission, and the transmission may fail. Embodiments enable separate signaling / indication of unaffected UL transmissions on a band Z based on a number of ports of the UL transmission (e.g., 1 -port or 2-port or 3-port, etc.). Based on the embodiments, the BS may determine appropriate scheduling of UL transmission on band Z in conjunction with UL Tx switching on the band pair (X,Y).

[0392] In the existing technologies, a UE may be capable of maintaining the uplink transmission on band Z only for the case that one Tx chain is switched between band X and band Y (e.g., 1T switching). However, for a UE with 3 or more Tx chains, the UE may switch 2 or more Tx chains (e.g., MT switching or MTx, M>1, e.g., 2T switching) between band X and band Y of the band pair (X,Y). For a UE to maintain an uplink transmission on band Z, while switching two or more Tx chains / antenna connectors between band pair (X,Y), additional capabilities may be required.

[0393] Maintaining UL transmission on a third band during 2T switching between a pair of bands highly depends on the UE hardware architecture (e g., whether a PLL and / or PA is dedicated to the Tx chain or not, refer to FIG. 25A, FIG. 25B, and FIG. 25C), and also the respective frequencies. For example, a UE may be capable of maintaining an UL transmission on band Z during switching of 1 Tx chain between band pair (X,Y), but not during switching of 2 or more Tx chains between band pair (X,Y) (e.g., 2T switching period). For example, some hardware of the UE (e.g., amplifiers and / or filters) that are used by at least one Tx chain for the UL transmission on band Z may be interrupted due switching of at least one of the Tx chains between band X and Y. For example, some of the UE hardware may be shared between the Tx chains that result in the interruption.

[0394] The implementation of the existing technologies may result in misalignment between the UE and the base station about the UE capabilities associated with UL transmission maintenance during UL Tx switching. For example, if the UE indicates that the uplink transmission on band Z is unaffected during UL Tx switching for band pair (X, Y), the base station may schedule the UE with an uplink transmission on band Z and a transmission on band X or Y that result in a 2T switching between band pair (X,Y), however the UE may not be capable of maintaining the uplink transmission, and the transmission may fail. Embodiments enable separate signaling / indication of unaffected UL transmissions on a band Z based on a number of Tx chains / antenna connectors switched between the band pair (X,Y) (e.g., 1T switching or 2T switching or 3T switching, etc.). Based on the embodiments, the BS may determine appropriate scheduling of UL transmission on band Z in conjunction with UL Tx switching on the band pair (X,Y).

[0395] Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to an approach for solving the problems described above. These and other features of the present disclosure are described further below.

[0396] In an example embodiment, a wireless device transmits one or more capability information messages. The one or more capability information messages may indicate whether the wireless device is capable of uplink transmission with a plurality of antenna ports on a first band during uplink transmit antenna switching (UL Tx switching) between a second band and a third band. Example embodiments of the present disclosure solve the misalignment between the UE and the base station about the UE capability of maintaining M-port UL transmissions (M>1 ) during UL Tx switching.

[0397] In an example embodiment, a wireless device transmits one or more capability information messages. The one or more capability information messages may indicate a first band as non-affected band for a band pair comprising a second band and a third band. When one or more transmitters are switched between the second band and the third band, the UE may be capable of uplink transmission with a plurality of ports on the first band during the corresponding switching period.

[0398] In an example embodiment, a wireless device transmits one or more capability information messages. The one or more capability information messages may indicate whether the wireless device is capable of uplink transmission on a first band during uplink transmit antenna switching (UL Tx switching) of a plurality of transmitters between a second band and a third band. Example embodiments of the present disclosure solve the misalignment between the UE and the base station about the UE capability of maintaining UL transmissions when two or more transmitters (Tx chains) are switched between a pair of bands.

[0399] In an example embodiment, a wireless device transmits one or more capability information messages. The one or more capability information messages may indicate a first band as non-affected band for a band pair comprising a second band and a third band. When two or more transmitters are switched between the second band and the third band, the UE may be capable of uplink transmission on the first band during the corresponding switching period.

[0400] In an example embodiment, the UE supports 3T dual UL (e.g., simultaneous / concurrent UL transmissions using / with a total of 3Tx chains / antenna connectors / transmitter / ports) on a second band pair and a third band pair. The second band pair comprises the first band and the second band. The third band pair comprises the first band and the third band.

[0401] In an example embodiment, the UE transmits uplink transmission on the first band during a switching period that is located on the second band or the third band. The switching period may be associated with the uplink transmit antenna switching (UL Tx switching) between the second band and the third band. The UE may not transmit on the second band and the third band during the switching period.

[0402] In an example embodiment, the one or more capability information messages comprise one or more parameters of the wireless device capability of uplink transmit antenna switching for a band pair comprising the second band and the third band. The one or more parameters may comprise a first parameter indicating the first band as nonaffected (or unaffected) band for / when switching one transmitter (e.g., Tx chain) between the second band and the third band of the band pair. In an example embodiment, the first parameter may indicate that the wireless device is capable of maintaining uplink transmission on the first band during a switching period for switching one transmitter (Tx chain) between the second band and the third band.

[0403] The one or more parameters may comprise a second parameter indicating the first band as non-affected (or unaffected) band for / when switching two or more transmitters (e.g., Tx chains) between the second band and the third band of the band pair. In an example embodiment, the second parameter may indicate that the wireless device is capable of maintaining uplink transmission on the first band during a switching period for switching two or more transmitters (Tx chains) between the second band and the third band.

[0404] In an example embodiment, the one or more capability information messages comprise one or more parameters of the wireless device capability of uplink transmit antenna switching for a band pair comprising the second band and the third band. The one or more parameters may comprise a third parameter indicating the first band as nonaffected (or unaffected) band for 1 -port uplink transmission during switching one or more transmitters (e.g., Tx chains) between the second band and the third band of the band pair. In an example embodiment, the third parameter may indicate that the wireless device is capable of maintaining an uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band during a switching period for switching one or more transmitters (Tx chains) between the second band and the third band.

[0405] The one or more parameters may comprise a fourth parameter indicating the first band as non-affected (or unaffected) band for M-port uplink transmission, M>1, during switching one or more transmitters (e.g., Tx chains) between the second band and the third band of the band pair. In an example embodiment, the fourth parameter may indicate that the wireless device is capable of maintaining an uplink transmission with two or more antenna ports on the first band during a switching period for switching one or more transmitters (Tx chains) between the second band and the third band.

[0406] Example embodiments enable the network to have a comprehensive understanding of the wireless device capability in different scenarios involving switching of different numbers of antenna transmitters between a pair of bands, and uplink transmissions (e.g., dual / concurrent / si multaneous uplink transmissions) with different number of ports on another band The network may be able to configure uplink carriers and schedule uplink transmissions accordingly, such that uplink transmissions are not interrupted and are successfully received at the base station with an increased throughput and reduced latency, without the need of (re-)sched ulin g retransmissions.

[0407] FIG. 31 illustrates an example of UE capability information with unaffected band as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0408] As shown in FIG. 31, a UE may receive from a base station, a message (e.g., RRC message) comprising enquiry for UL Tx switching capability of the UE. For example, the UE may receive a capability enquiry message comprising one or more parameters indicating a request for the UE’s capability of UL Tx (transmit antenna) switching. In response to the UE capability enquiry and / or the request for the UL Tx switching capability, the UE may transmit one or more capability information messages. The one or more capability information messages may comprise configuration(s) (information elements) of UL Tx switching capability of the UE. The configuration(s) (information elements) may indicate UL Tx switching capability of the UE across one or more band combinations comprising a first band pair (X,Y) and a second band pair (X,Z) and a third band pair (Y,Z). The first band pair may comprise a second band (band X) and a third band (band Y) The second band pair may comprise a first band (band Z) and the second band (band X). The third band pair may comprise the first band (band Z) and the third band (band Y).

[0409] As shown in FIG. 31, the configuration(s) of UL Tx switching capability may comprise one or more first parameters indicating the UE supports dual uplink using three or more transmitters (e.g , MT dual UL and M>2, e.g., 3T dual UL) on the second band pair (X,Z). For example, the one or more first parameters may indicate that the UEsupports simultaneous transmission of a 1-port UL transmission (using 1 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band X and a 2-port UL transmission (using 2 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band Z, or a 2-port UL transmission (using 2 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band X and a 1-port UL transmission (using 1 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band Z, or both.

[0410] As shown in FIG. 31, the configuration(s) of UL Tx switching capability may comprise one or more second parameters indicating the UE supports dual uplink using three or more transmitters (e.g., MT dual UL and M>2, e.g., 3T dual UL) on the third band pair (Y,Z). For example, the one or more second parameters may indicate that the UE supports simultaneous transmission of a 1-port UL transmission (using 1 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band Y and a 2-port UL transmission (using 2 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band Z, or a 2-port UL transmission (using 2 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band Y and a 1-port UL transmission (using 1 transmit antenna connectors / ports) on band Z, or both.

[0411] “ MT dual uplink” may refer to dual (concurrent / simultaneous) uplink transmission(s) using (a total number of) M Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports across two or more bands. MT dual uplink may refer to UL Tx switching [option] based on (a total number of) M Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports across two or more bands.

[0412] In an example embodiment, M may be 3. For example, the one or more capability information messages may messages may comprise one or more parameters indicating support of UL Tx switching based on 2T+1T (3T) dual UL on band pair (X,Z) and / or (Y,Z). For example, the one or more capability information messages may messages may comprise one or more parameters indicating support of dual (concurrent / simultaneous) uplink transmission(s) using (a total number of) 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports across the band pair (X,Z) and / or (Y,Z).

[0413] Throughout this disclosure, the following terms may be used interchangeably to refer to transmit antenna connectors or ports: transmit chain, transmit antenna, transmit antenna port, transmit antenna connector, Tx chain, Tx antenna, Tx antenna port, Tx antenna connector, port, antenna, antenna port, antenna connector, transmitter.

[0414] Throughout this disclosure, the following terms may be used interchangeably to refer to uplink carrier / channels and / or transmissions one two or more frequency bands that at least partially overlap in time domain (e.g., at least in one symbol): dual uplink, dual uplink transmission(s), concurrent uplink, concurrent uplink transmission(s), simultaneous uplink, simultaneous uplink transmission(s).

[0415] Throughout this disclosure, the following terms may be used interchangeably to refer to dual / concurrent uplink transmissions with (e.g., using) a total number of M Tx antenna connectors / ports on / across two or more bands (e.g., M>=3): MT dual UL, 3Tdual, 3T dual, 1T+2T dual, 2T+1T dual, 1T+2T concurrent, 2T+1T concurrent, 2-port+1 port dual / concurrent UL, 1 -port+2-port concurrent UL.

[0416] As shown in FIG 31, the configuration(s) of UL Tx switching capability may comprise one or more parameters indicating band Z as the unaffected band for the first band pair (X,Y). In an embodiment, the one or more parameters may indicate that an M-port UL transmission on band Z is unaffected during switching between band X and Y, M>1.

[0417] In an embodiment, the one or more parameters may indicate that the UE is capable of transmitting an M-port, M>1 , uplink transmission on band Z during UL Tx switching between band X and band Y. In an embodiment, the one ormore parameters may indicate that the UE is capable of maintaining an M-port, M>1 , uplink transmission on band Z during UL Tx switching between band X and band Y. An M-port uplink transmission may be an uplink transmission (e.g., M-layer PUSCH transmission) using / with M Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports / transmitters.

[0418] In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a first parameter indicating that the UE is capable of maintaining a 1 -port uplink transmission on band Z during UL Tx switching between band X and band Y. In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a second parameter indicating that the UE is capable of maintaining a 2-port uplink transmission on band Z during UL Tx switching between band X and band Y. In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a third parameter indicating that the UE is capable of maintaining a 3-port uplink transmission on band Z during UL Tx switching between band X and band Y, and so on.

[0419] In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a first parameter indicating band Z as nonaffected band with 1-port UL transmission for the first band pair (X,Y) . In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a second parameter indicating band Z as non-affected band with 2-port UL transmission for the first band pair (X,Y). In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a third parameter indicating band Z as nonaffected band with 3-port UL transmission for the first band pair (X,Y), and so on.

[0420] FIG. 32 illustrates an example of UE capability information with unaffected band as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0421] As shown in FIG. 32, the configuration(s) of UL Tx switching capability may comprise one or more parameters indicating band Z as the unaffected band for the first band pair (X,Y). In an embodiment, the one or more parameters may indicate that an UL transmission on band Z is unaffected during MT switching between band X and Y, M>1.

[0422] “MT switching" or “MTx switching” between band X and Y may refer to UL Tx switching between band X and band Y comprising retuning of M Tx chains / transmitters / transmit antenna connectors, M=1 ,2,3, .... For example, “MT switching” may refer to switching M Tx chains between two frequency bands.

[0423] The UE may report (via the UE capability information) a switching period associated with the MT switching for band pair (X,Y). For example, the UE may perform the switching of M Tx chains within (e.g., before the end of) the corresponding switching period. For example, the UE may report a 1 T switching period indicating the time it takes for the UE to switch Tx chain between band X and band Y. For example, the UE may report a 2T switching period indicating the time it takes for the UE to switch 2 Tx chains between band X and band Y. For example, the UE may report a 3T switching period indicating the time it takes for the UE to switch 3 Tx chains between band X and band Y, and so on.

[0424] In an embodiment, the one or more parameters may indicate that the UE is capable of uplink transmission on band Z during UL Tx switching between band X and band Y. In an embodiment, the one or more parameters may indicate that the UE is capable of maintaining an uplink transmission (e.g., a 1 -layer or 2-layer or M-layer PUSCH transmission) on band Z during UL Tx switching of M transmitters / Tx chains between band X and band Y.

[0425] In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a first parameter indicating that the UE is capable of uplink transmission on band Z when switching one transmitter between band X and band Y. In anembodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a second parameter indicating that the UE is capable of uplink transmission on band Z when switching two transmitters between band X and band Y. In an embodiment, the UE capability information may comprise a third parameter indicating that the UE is capable of uplink transmission on band Z when switching three transmitters between band X and band Y, and so on.

[0426] Example embodiments enable capability signaling that captures different possible architectures and hardware designs of UEs. Example embodiments may resolve the issue of uplink transmissions interruption when the UE is scheduled on multiple bands with dual UL, e.g., in case of UL CA with MIMO. Based on the embodiments, the base station may be able to configure UL carriers and schedule UL transmissions on the multiple bands such that interruptions are reduced when multiple Tx chains are switched between bands and / or when multi-port (e.g , M-port) uplink transmissions are in progress.

[0427] FIG. 33 illustrates an example of UL Tx switching with dual UL for a UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0428] The UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports may support dual / concurrent uplink using 3 Tx chains (e.g., 3TDual UL) on two or more band pairs. For example, uplinkTxSwitchingOption ForBandPair parameter may indicate “3Tdual UL” The two or more band pairs may comprise a first band pair and a second band pair. The first band pair (e.g., band pair (X,Z)) may comprise a first band (e.g., band Z) and a second band (e.g., band X). The second band pair (e.g., band pair (Y,Z)) may comprise the first band (e.g.. band Z) and a third band (e.g., band Y).

[0429] As shown in FIG 33, the UE may support dual / concurrent UL (with 3 Tx chains) on the first band pair (X,Z). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 1 -port uplink transmission on the firsthand (band Z) and 2-port uplink transmission on the second band (band X). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) and 1 -port uplink transmission on the second band (band X). A 1 -port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 1 -layer uplink transmission using 1 Tx chain. A 2-port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 2-layer uplink transmission using 2 Tx chains.

[0430] The UE may perform a first dual UL in a first slot / subslot (e.g., slot / subslot n). As shown in FIG. 33, the UE may concurrently transmit, in the first time slot / subslot: a first 1 -port UL transmission with a third Tx chain (e.g., Tx-3) on the first (band Z), and a second 2-port UL transmission with a first Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1) and a second Tx chain (e.g., Tx- 2) on the second (band X).

[0431] As shown in FIG. 33, the UE may support dual / concurrent UL (with 3 Tx chains) on the second band pair (Y,Z). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) and 1 -port uplink transmission on the third band (band Y). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 1 -port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) and 2-port uplink transmission on the third band (band Y). A 1 -port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 1 -layer uplink transmission using 1 Tx chain. A 2- port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 2-layer uplink transmission using 2 Tx chains.

[0432] The UE may perform a second dual UL in a second slot / subslot (e.g., slot / subslot n+1 ), following the first slot / subslot. As shown in FIG. 33, the UE may concurrently transmit, in the second time slot / subslot: a third 1-port ULtransmission with the third Tx chain (e.g., Tx-3) on the first (band Z), and a fourth 2-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1) and the second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-2) on the third (band Y).

[0433] The UE may support uplink Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., between band X and band Y). For example, the UE may indicate support of 2T UL Tx switching for a third band pair (e.g., band pair (X,Y)) comprising the second band (e.g., band X) and the third band (e.g., band Y). For example, the UE may indicate a switching period (e.g., switchingPeriodFor2T) for switching two Tx chains (transmitters) between band the second band and the third band. The indication of 2T switching period for the band pair may indicate that the UE supports 2T switching between the bands of the band pair.

[0434] As shown in FIG 33, the UE may switch the first Tx chain / antenna connector and the second Tx chain / antenna connector from the second band (band X) to the third band (band Y), before or after the slot / subslot boundary. The switching may be following the first dual UL and / or the second 2-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain (Tx-1) and the second Tx chain (e.g , Tx-2) on the second (band X). The switching may be for / based on the second dual UL and / or the fourth 2-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain (Tx-1) and the second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-2) on the third (band Y).

[0435] In an embodiment, the UE may indicate, in the capability information message and for the third band pair (X,Y), a duration of a switching period (e.g., switchingPeriodFor2T). For example, the UE may be capable of switching two Tx chains between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y) during the duration of the switching period The UE may not transmit on the second band (band X) and / or the third band (band Y) during the switching period. In the example of FIG. 33, the UE may omit a portion of the second 2-port UL transmission on band X that overlaps in time with the switching period.

[0436] In an embodiment, the UE may be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the 2T switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of 2T UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via 2TSwitchingPeriod Un affected Band Dual UL) that the UE’s transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is unaffected during the 2T UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., 2Tmaintained U L-Trans present and / or set to “true”).

[0437] In an embodiment, the UE may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the 2T switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of 2T UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via a value or absence of 2TSwitchingPeriodUnaffectedBandDualUL parameter) that the UE’s transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is affected during the 2T UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., 2Tmaintained UL-Trans absent and / or set to “false”). TheUE may not transmit on any of the bands, including the first band (Z) and the second band (X) and the third band (Y) during the switching period.

[0438] In an embodiment, the UE may be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during a 1T switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y), but may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during a 2T switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of 1T UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y), but may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of 2T UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via 1 TSwitchingPeriod Un affected Band DualU L) that the UE’s transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is unaffected during the 1T UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e g., 1 TmaintainedUL-Trans present and / or set to “true”) For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via a value or absence of2TSwitch ingPeriod Unaffected Band Du al U L parameter) that the UE’s transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is affected during the 2T UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e g., 2TmaintainedUL-Trans absent and / or set to “false”).

[0439] In the example of FIG. 33, the switching period is located on band X (e.g., the band used before the switching). In the example of FIG. 33, the UE may maintain the first 1 -port uplink transmission (using Tx-3 in slot / subslot n) on the first band (band Z) during the 2Tswitching period associated with switching Tx-1 and Tx-2 between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may indicate the first band as the unaffected band with 2T switching for the third band pair (band pair (X,Y)), e.g., when 3T dual UL is supported on the first band pair (X,Z) and the second band pair (Y,Z). For example, the first 1-port uplink transmission may be unaffected during the switching period located on band X. For example, the UE may be capable of a 1-port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) during the switching period of the third band pair.

[0440] In an embodiment, if the UE indicates band Z as the unaffected band with 2T switching for the band pair (X,Y), then it may imply that band Z is the unaffected band with 1T switching for the band pair (X,Y). For example, if the UE is capable of UL transmission on band Z during a 2T switching period for band pair (X,Y), then the UE is capable of UL transmission on band Z during a 1 T switching period for band pair (X,Y).

[0441] In an embodiment, the UE may indicate band Z as the unaffected band with 1T switching for the band pair (X,Y). The UE may indicate that band Z is the affected band with 2T switching for the band pair (X,Y). For example, the UE may not be capable of UL transmission on band Z during a 2T switching period for band pair (X,Y), but the UE may be capable of UL transmission on band Z during the 1T switching period for band pair (X,Y).

[0442] FIG. 34 illustrates an example of UL Tx switching with dual UL for a UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0443] The UE with 3 Tx chains / antenna connectors / ports may support dual / concurrent uplink using 3 Tx chains (e.g., 3TDualUL) on two or more band pairs. For example, uplinkTxSwitchingOption ForBandPair parameter may indicate “3Tdual UL”. The two or more band pairs may comprise a first band pair and a second band pair. The first band pair (e.g., band pair (X,Z)) may comprise a first band (e.g., band Z) and a second band (e.g., band X). The second band pair (e.g., band pair (Y,Z)) may comprise the first band (e.g.. band Z) and a third band (e.g., band Y).

[0444] As shown in FIG. 34, the UE may support dual / concurrent UL (with 3 Tx chains) on the first band pair (X,Z). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 1 -port uplink transmission on the firsthand (band Z) and 2-port uplink transmission on the second band (band X). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) and 1 -port uplink transmission on the second band (band X). A 1 -port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 1 -layer uplink transmission using 1 Tx chain. A 2-port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 2-layer uplink transmission using 2 Tx chains.

[0445] The UE may perform a first dual UL in a first slot / subslot (e.g., slot / subslot n). As shown in FIG. 34, the UE may concurrently transmit, in the first time slot / subslot: a second 1 -port UL transmission with a first Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1) on the second (band X), and a first 2-port UL transmission with a second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-2) and a third Tx chain (e.g., Tx-3) on the first (band Z).

[0446] As shown in FIG. 34, the UE may support dual / concurrent UL (with 3 Tx chains) on the second band pair (Y,Z). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) and 1 -port uplink transmission on the third band (band Y). The UE may support dual / concurrent transmission(s) of / comprising 1 -port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) and 2-port uplink transmission on the third band (band Y). A 1 -port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 1 -layer uplink transmission using 1 Tx chain. A 2- port uplink transmission may be / comprise a 2-layer uplink transmission using 2 Tx chains.

[0447] The UE may perform a second dual UL in a second slot / subslot (e.g., slot / subslot n+1), following the first slot / subslot. As shown in FIG. 34, the UE may concurrently transmit, in the second time slot / subslot: a fourth 1-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain (e.g., Tx-1) on the third (band Y), and a third 2-port UL transmission with the second Tx chain (e.g., Tx-2) and the third Tx chain (e.g., Tx-3) on the first (band Z).

[0448] The UE may support uplink Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., between band X and band Y). For example, the UE may indicate support of 1 T and / or 2T UL Tx switching for a third band pair (e.g., band pair (X,Y)) comprising the second band (e.g., band X) and the third band (e.g., band Y). For example, the UE may indicate a switching period (e.g., switchingPeriod Fori T and / or switchingPeriod For2T) for switching one or more Tx chains (transmitters) between band the second band and the third band.

[0449] As shown in FIG 34, the UE may switch the first Tx chain / antenna from the second band (band X) to the third band (band Y), before or after the slot / subslot boundary. The switching may be following the first dual UL and / or the second 1-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain (Tx-1) on the second (band X). The switching may be for / based on the second dual UL and / or the fourth 1-port UL transmission with the first Tx chain (Tx-1) on the third (band Y)

[0450] In an embodiment, the UE may indicate, in the capability information message and for the third band pair (X,Y), a duration of a switching period (e.g., switchingPeriodForlT). For example, the UE may be capable of switching a Tx chain between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y) during the duration of the switching period. The UE may not transmit on the second band (band X) and / or the third band (band Y) during the switching period. In the example of FIG. 34, the UE may omit a portion of the second 1 -port UL transmission on band X that overlaps in time with the switching period.

[0451] In an embodiment, the UE may be capable of maintaining a 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may be capable of maintaining a 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via SwitchingPeriod Unaffected Band Dual UL2P) that the UE’s 2-port UL transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is unaffected during the UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., maintainedUL2P-Trans present and / or set to “true”).

[0452] In an embodiment, the UE may not be capable of maintaining a 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission with 2 (or more) antenna ports on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g , via a value or absence of SwitchingPeriodUnaffectedBandDualUL2P parameter) that the UE’s 2-port UL transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is affected during the UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., maintained UL2P-Trans absent and / or set to “false”). The UE may not transmit on any of the bands, including the first band (Z) and the second band (X) and the third band (Y) during the switching period.

[0453] In an embodiment, the UE may be capable of maintaining a 1 -port uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during a switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y), but may not be capable of maintaining a 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (e.g., band Z) during a switching period of UL Tx switching for / in the third band pair (X,Y). The UE may be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission with 1 antenna port on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y), but may not be capable of maintaining an uplink transmission with two (or more) antenna ports on the first band (e.g., band Z) during the switching period of UL Tx switching between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via SwitchingPeriodUnaffectedBandDualULIP) that the UE’s 1 -port transmission on the firsthand (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is unaffected during the UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., maintained UL1 P-Trans present and / or set to “true”). For example, the UE may transmit a UE capability information message indicating (e.g., via a value or absence of SwitchingPeriod Unaffected Band Du al U L2P parameter) that the UE’s2-port transmission on the first band (indicated by bandlndexUnaffected) is affected during the UL Tx switching between the second band and the third band (e.g., maintained UL2P-Trans absent and / or set to “false”).

[0454] In the example of FIG. 34, the switching period is located on band X (e.g., the band used before the switching). In the example of FIG. 34, the UE may maintain the first 2-port uplink transmission (using Tx-2 and Tx-3 in slot / subslot n) on the first band (band Z) during the switching period associated with switching Tx-1 between the second band (band X) and the third band (band Y). For example, the UE may indicate the first band as the unaffected band with 2-port UL transmissions for the third band pair (band pair (X,Y)), e.g., when 3T dual UL is supported on the first band pair (X,Z) and the second band pair (Y,Z). For example, the first 2-port uplink transmission may be unaffected during the switching period located on band X. For example, the UE may be capable of a 1 -port and 2-port uplink transmission on the first band (band Z) during the switching period of the third band pair.

[0455] In an embodiment, if the UE indicates band Z as the unaffected band with 2-port UL transmissions for the band pair (X,Y), then it may imply that band Z is the unaffected band with 1 -port UL transmissions for the band pair (X,Y). For example, if the UE is capable of 2-port UL transmission on band Z during a switching period for band pair (X,Y), then the UE is capable of 1 -port UL transmission on band Z during the switching period for band pair (X,Y).

[0456] In an embodiment, the UE may indicate band Z as the unaffected band with 1 -port UL transmissions for the band pair (X,Y). The UE may indicate that band Z is the affected band with 2-port UL transmissions for the band pair (X,Y). For example, the UE may not be capable of 2-port UL transmission on band Z during a switching period for band pair (X,Y), but the UE may be capable of 1 -port UL transmission on band Z during the switching period for band pair (X,Y).

[0457] FIG. 35 illustrates an example of UL Tx switching configuration with unaffected band as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0458] As shown in FIG. 35, the UE may receive from a base station, a message (e.g., RRC message) comprising enquiry for UL Tx switching capability of the UE. For example, the UE may receive a capability enquiry message comprising one or more parameters indicating a request for the UE’s capability of UL Tx (transmit antenna) switching. In response to the UE capability enquiry and / or the request for the UL Tx switching capability, the UE may transmit one or more capability information messages. The one or more capability information messages may comprise configuration(s) (information elements) of UL Tx switching capability of the UE. The configuration(s) (information elements) may indicate UL Tx switching capability of the UE across one or more band combinations comprising a first band pair (X,Y) and a second band pair (X,Z) and a third band pair (Y,Z). The first band pair may comprise a second band (band X) and a third band (band Y). The second band pair may comprise a first band (band Z) and the second band (band X). The third band pair may comprise the first band (band Z) and the third band (band Y).

[0459] For example, the configuration(s) of UL Tx switching capability may indicate joint capability of UL Ml MO and dual UL. For example, the UE capability information may comprise one or more first parameters indicating that the UE supports dual uplink using three Tx chains (e.g , 3T dual UL) on band pair (X,Z). For example, the configuration(s) ofUL Tx switching capability may comprise one or more second parameters indicating the UE supports dual uplink using three Tx chains (e.g., 3T dual UL) on band pair (Y,Z).

[0460] As shown in FIG. 35, the UE capability information may comprise one or more parameters indicating that Mi- port UL transmission on band Z is unaffected during M2T switching between band X and band Y, wherein Mi>1 and M2=1, or Mi=1 and M2>1, or Mi>1 and M2>1.

[0461] The base station may receive the UE capability information. The base station may determine and configure uplink carriers for the UE on the first band and the second band and the third band, e.g., based on the UE capability information. The base station may determine and schedule uplink transmission on the uplink carriers for the UE on the first band and / or the second band and / or the third band, e g., based on the UE capability information.

[0462] The UE may receive RRC message(s) comprising configuration parameters of one or more cells, indicating a first uplink carrier on the first band and a second uplink carrier on the second band and a third uplink carrier on the third band The configuration parameters of one or more cells may comprise UL Tx switching configurations for the second band pair (X,Z), indicating Mi-port (Mi>=1 ) dual UL (e.g., dual / simultaneous / concurrent 2-port and 1-port UL transmissions) is enabled / configured on the second band pair. The configuration parameters of one or more cells may comprise UL Tx switching configurations for the third band pair (Y,Z), indicating Mi-port dual UL (e g., dual / simultaneous / concurrent 2-port and 1-port UL transmissions) is enabled / configured on the third band pair. The configuration parameters of one or more cells may comprise UL Tx switching configurations for the first band pair (X,Y), indicating M2T (M2>=1) switching mode is enabled between the second band X and the third band Y.

[0463] The UE may switch one or more Tx chains / transmitters (e.g., M2) between band X and band Y, based on the UL Tx switching configurations for the first band pair (X,Y). The UE may transmit UL transmission on band Z during a switching period associated with the switching the one or more Tx chains between band X and band Y, e.g., based on the UE capability information indicating that band Z is unaffected band for band pair (X,Y). In an embodiment, the UE may transmit a Mi-port (Mi>1) UL transmission on band Z during the UL Tx switching (of one or more Tx chains) between band X and band Y. In an embodiment, the UE may transmit an Mi-port (M=1 , 2, 3, ...) UL transmission on band Z during switching two or more Tx chains / transmitters (M2>1 ) between band X and band Y.

[0464] FIG. 36 illustrates an example of unaffected band during UL Tx switching as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0465] As shown in FIG. 36, the UE may support dual UL on band pair (X,Z). The UE may transmit dual UL comprising a 2-port uplink transmission on band X and a 1-port UL transmission on band Z. The UE may support dual UL on band pair (Y,Z). the UE may transmit dual UL comprising a 2-port uplink transmission on band Y and a 1-port UL transmission on band Z The UE may switch two antenna connectors (Tx chains, or transmitters) between band x and band Y. A third antenna connector (Tx chain, or transmitter) may remain on band Z. As shown in FIG. 36, the one port transmission on band Z may not be affected / impacted / interrupted, e.g., based on band Z being an unaffected band for 2T switching between band pair (X,Y).

[0466] The switching time masks in FIG. 36 may be applicable when concurrent / dual UL based on total of 3 or more transmitters (e.g., 3Tdua!UL) is supported for at least two uplink band pairs in the CA configuration. The two band pairs supporting 3TdualUL may be denoted as band pairs of {band X and band Z} or band pair (X,Z) and {band Y and band Z} or band pair (Y,Z).

[0467] One or more transmitters may be switched between band X and band Y. The UE may indicate the band Z as non-affected band (e.g., with a first value (e.g., “1”) in the UE capability information (e.g., 2TMaintainedUL-Trans-r19)) for 2T switching between band pair (X, Y). As shown...

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a wireless device, a capability enquiry message indicating a request for a capability of uplink transmit antenna switching of the wireless device; transmitting one or more capability information messages comprising parameters, of the capability of uplink transmit antenna switching of the wireless device, comprising: a first parameter indicating support of dual uplink on a first band and on a second band; a second parameter indicating support of dual uplink on the first band and on a third band; a third parameter indicating support of a first uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band during uplink transmit antenna switching between the second band and the third band; and a fourth parameter indicating support of a second uplink transmission with a plurality of antenna ports on the first band during uplink transmit antenna switching between the second band and the third band; and transmitting the second uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the uplink transmit antenna switching between the second band and the third band.

2. A method comprising: transmitting, by a wireless device, one or more capability information messages indicating whether the wireless device is capable of an uplink transmission with a plurality of antenna ports on a first band during uplink transmit antenna (TX) switching between a second band and a third band.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

4. The method of any one of claims 2-3, further comprising receiving a capability enquiry message indicating a request for a capability of uplink TX switching of the wireless device.

5. The method of any one of claims 2-4, wherein the one or more capability information messages comprise one or more parameters, of the capability of uplink TX switching of the wireless device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a first parameter indicating whether the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

7. The method of any one of claims 5-6, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a second parameter indicating support of dual uplink on the first band and on the second band.8 The method of any one of claims 5-7, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a third parameter indicating support of dual uplink on the first band and on a third band.

9. The method of any one of claims 5-8, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a fourth parameter indicating support of a second uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band during uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

10. The method of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the one or more capability information messages comprise configuration of a band pair, comprising the second band and the third band, for uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the configuration of the band pair further comprises one or more first parameters indicating whether the first band is unaffected or not during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more first parameters comprise a parameter indicating whether an uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.13 The method of claim 12, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the parameter indicates that the uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.

14. The method of any one of claims 12-13, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the first parameter indicates that the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band during the uplink TX switching.

15. The method of any one of claims 11-14, wherein the one or more first parameters comprise a parameter indicating whether an uplink transmission with two or more antenna ports on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the parameter indicates that the uplink transmission with two or more antenna ports on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.

17. The method of any one of claims 15-16, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the parameter indicates that the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the uplink TX switching.

18. The method of any one of claims 1-17, wherein the one or more capability information messages comprise one or more parameters indicating that the wireless device supports at least one of: uplink TX switching, based on dual uplink with more than two antenna ports, for a second band pair comprising the first band and the second band; or uplink TX switching, based on dual uplink with more than two antenna ports, for a third band pair comprising the firsthand and the third band.

19. The method of any one of claims 1 -18, wherein indication of whether the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports is based on the one or more parameters indicating that the wireless device supports uplink TX switching, that is based on dual uplink with more than two antenna ports, for the second band pair and for the third band pair.

20. The method of any one of claims 1 -19, wherein the wireless device being capable of the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports is based on the one or more parameters indicating that the wireless device supports uplink TX switching, that is based on dual uplink with more than two antenna ports, for the second band pair and for the third band pair.

21. The method of any one of claims 1 -20, wherein the transmitting the one or more capability information messages is based on the one or more parameters indicating that the wireless device supports uplink TX switching, that is based on dual uplink with more than two antenna ports, for the second band pair and for the third band pair.

22. The method of any one of claims 1 -21 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise a switching period parameter indicating a switching period for the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the switching period parameter indicates the switching period for switching of one or more transmit antennas between the second band and the third band.

24. The method of any one of claims 22-23, wherein the one or more capability information messages indicate whether the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the switching period.

25. The method of any one of claims 1 -24, wherein the configuration of the band pair further comprises at least one parameter indicating at least one switching period for the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band, wherein the first band is affected during the at least one switching period.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the one or more parameters indicate that a transmission with one port on the first band is affected during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

27. The method of any one of claims 1 -26, wherein the one or more parameters indicate a first switching period for switching of two transmit antennas between the second band and the third band, which affects the first band.28 The method of any one of claims 1 -27, wherein a transmission with two or more ports on the first band is affected during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band based on the one or more parameters indicating that a transmission with one port on the first band is affected during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

29. The method of any one of claims 1 -28, wherein the one or more parameters indicate that a transmission with two or more ports on the first band is affected during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

30. The method of any one of claims 1 -29, wherein the one or more parameters indicate a second switching period for switching of one transmit antenna between the second band and the third band, which affects the first band.

31. The method of any one of claims 1 -30, wherein dual uplink comprises simultaneous or concurrent transmissions by the wireless device in two bands.

32. The method of any one of claims 1 -31 , further comprising receiving a capability enquiry message comprising one or more parameters indicating a request for the wireless device capability of uplink TX switching.33 The method of any one of claims 1 -32, further comprising transmitting an uplink transmission with two ports on the first band during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

34. A method comprising: transmitting, by base station to a wireless device, a capability enquiry message indicating a request for a capability of uplink transmit antenna switching of the wireless device;receiving one or more capability information messages comprising parameters, of the capability of uplink transmit antenna switching of the wireless device, comprising: a first parameter indicating support of dual uplink on a first band and on a second band; a second parameter indicating support of dual uplink on the first band and on a third band; a third parameter indicating support of a first uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band during uplink transmit antenna switching between the second band and the third band; and a fourth parameter indicating support of a second uplink transmission with a plurality of antenna ports on the first band during uplink transmit antenna switching between the second band and the third band; and receiving the second uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the uplink transmit antenna switching between the second band and the third band.

35. A method comprising: receiving, by a base station from a wireless device, one or more capability information messages indicating whether the wireless device is capable of an uplink transmission with a plurality of antenna ports on a first band during uplink transmit antenna (TX) switching between a second band and a third band.36 The method of claim 35, further comprising receiving, from the wireless device, the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.37 The method of any one of claims 35-36, further comprising transmitting, to the wireless device, a capability enquiry message indicating a request for a capability of uplink TX switching of the wireless device.

38. The method of any one of claims 35-37, wherein the one or more capability information messages comprise one or more parameters, of the capability of uplink TX switching of the wireless device.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a first parameter indicating whether the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

40. The method of any one of claims 35-39, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a second parameter indicating support of dual uplink on the first band and on the second band.

41. The method of any one of claims 38-40, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a third parameter indicating support of dual uplink on the first band and on a third band.

42. The method of any one of claims 38-41 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise a fourth parameter indicating support of a second uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band during uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band43. The method of any one of claims 34-42, wherein the one or more capability information messages comprise configuration of a band pair, comprising the second band and the third band, for uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the configuration of the band pair further comprises one or more first parameters indicating whether the first band is unaffected or not during the uplink TX switching between the second band and the third band.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the one or more first parameters comprise a parameter indicating whether an uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the parameter indicates that the uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.

47. The method of any one of claims 45-46, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the first parameter indicates that the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with one antenna port on the first band during the uplink TX switching.

48. The method of any one of claims 44-47, wherein the one or more first parameters comprise a parameter indicating whether an uplink transmission with two or more antenna ports on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the parameter indicates that the uplink transmission with two or more antenna ports on the first band is unaffected during the uplink TX switching.

50. The method of any one of claims 48-49, wherein a presence, or a first value, of the parameter indicates that the wireless device is capable of the uplink transmission with the plurality of antenna ports on the first band during the uplink TX switching.

51. An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-50.

52. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-50.

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