Method and apparatus for transmitting or receiving synchronization signal block on basis of activation or deactivation in wireless communication system

Abstract

Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for transmitting or receiving a synchronization signal block on the basis of activation or deactivation in a wireless communication system. A method, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, may comprise the steps of: receiving, by a terminal, first information related to triggering or activation of a synchronization signal block from a network; and receiving, by the terminal, the synchronization signal block from the network on a first resource on the basis of the first information. The first resource may correspond to an earliest occasion after at least one of reception of the first information, processing of the first information, and transmission of a response to the first information.

Description

Method and device for transmitting or receiving an activation or deactivation-based synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and device for transmitting or receiving an activation or deactivation-based synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system.

[0002] The fifth generation (5G) wireless communication system, the successor to 4G LTE (long-term evolution), is a new, clean-slate mobile communication system characterized by high performance, low latency, and high availability. 5G NR (New Radio) can utilize all available spectrum resources, from low-frequency bands below 1 GHz, to intermediate-frequency bands between 1 GHz and 10 GHz, and to high-frequency (or millimeter wave) bands above 24 GHz. 6G wireless communication systems are being developed based on the underlying technologies of 5G wireless communication.

[0003] The 6G wireless communication system is being developed with the goals of (i) very high data rates per device, (ii) a very large number of connected devices, (iii) global connectivity, (iv) very low latency, (v) reduced energy consumption of battery-free Internet of Things (IoT) devices, (vi) ultra-reliable connectivity, and (vii) connected intelligence with machine learning capabilities. The vision of the 6G system can be divided into four aspects: intelligent connectivity, deep connectivity, holographic connectivity, and ubiquitous connectivity. Considering the requirements of the 6G system, such as a peak data rate of 1 Tbps per device, an end-to-end latency of 1 ms, a maximum spectrum efficiency of 100 bps / Hz, support for mobility of 1000 km / h, satellite integration, artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, extended reality (XR), and haptic communication, various technologies are being researched.

[0004] The technical problem of the present disclosure is to provide a method and device for transmitting or receiving an activation or deactivation-based synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system.

[0005] An additional technical problem of the present disclosure is to provide a method and device for determining an actual transmission or reception time based on activation of a synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system.

[0006] An additional technical problem of the present disclosure is to provide a method and device for determining an actual transmission or reception end point based on deactivation of a synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system.

[0007] The technical problems to be achieved in the present disclosure are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs from the description below.

[0008] A method according to one aspect of the present disclosure may include the steps of: receiving, by a terminal, first information from a network related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block; and receiving, by the terminal, the synchronization signal block from the network on a first resource based on the first information. The first resource may correspond to an earliest occasion after one or more of: receiving the first information, processing the first information, or transmitting a response to the first information.

[0009] A method according to an additional aspect of the present disclosure may include: transmitting, by a base station, first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block to a terminal; and transmitting, by the base station, the synchronization signal block to the terminal on a first resource based on the first information. The first resource may correspond to an earliest occasion after one or more of reception of the first information, processing of the first information, or transmission of a response to the first information.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, a method and device for transmitting or receiving an activation or deactivation-based synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system can be provided.

[0011] According to the present disclosure, a method and device for determining an actual transmission or reception time based on activation of a synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system can be provided.

[0012] According to the present disclosure, a method and device for determining an actual transmission or reception end point based on deactivation of a synchronization signal block in a wireless communication system can be provided.

[0013] The effects that can be obtained from the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains from the description below.

[0014] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and are part of the detailed description to aid in understanding the present disclosure, provide embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the detailed description, describe the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 1 illustrates a flexible network topology to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a communication system to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0017] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a wireless device to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0018] FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a communication procedure between a first node and a second node to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0019] FIG. 5 illustrates a functional framework for AI operations to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0020] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of operations related to AI model training and AI model inference to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0021] FIG. 7 illustrates another example of operations related to AI model training and AI model inference to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0022] FIG. 8 illustrates another example of operations related to AI model training and AI model inference to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0023] FIG. 9 illustrates an electromagnetic spectrum to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0024] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a system information transmission / reception procedure to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0025] FIG. 11 exemplarily illustrates a beam management procedure to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0026] Figures 12 and 13 illustrate examples of NTN scenarios to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0027] FIG. 14 illustrates examples of sensing operations to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0028] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of cell DTX / DRX operation to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0029] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of carrier aggregation (CA) operation including an SSB-less cell to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0030] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a conditional handover operation to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0031] FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a procedure for CSI measurement and reporting to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0032] FIG. 19 illustrates examples of on-demand SIB1 operation to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0033] FIG. 20 is a drawing for explaining an example of a method performed by a terminal according to the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 21 is a drawing illustrating an example of a method performed by a base station according to the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 22 is a drawing for explaining an example of OD SSB transmission / reception according to the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining RRC processing time according to the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 24 is a drawing for explaining an example of stopping / terminating OD SSB transmission / reception according to the present disclosure.

[0038] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The detailed description set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings, is intended to explain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present disclosure may be practiced. The following detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details.

[0039] In some cases, to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present disclosure, known structures and devices may be omitted or illustrated in block diagram form focusing on the core functions of each structure and device.

[0040] In the present disclosure, when a component is said to be "connected," "coupled," or "connected" to another component, this may include not only a direct connection but also an indirect connection in which another component exists between them. Furthermore, the terms "comprises" or "has" in the present disclosure specify the presence of the mentioned features, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0041] In this disclosure, terms such as “first,” “second,” etc. are used only to distinguish one component from another and are not used to limit the components, and do not limit the order or importance between the components unless specifically stated otherwise. Accordingly, within the scope of this disclosure, a first component in one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment, and similarly, a second component in one embodiment may be referred to as a first component in another embodiment.

[0042] The terminology used in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims. As used in the description of the embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0043] In this disclosure, "A or B" can mean "only A," "only B," or "both A and B." In other words, "A or B" in this disclosure can be interpreted as "A and / or B." For example, "A, B or C" in this disclosure can mean "only A," "only B," "only C," or "any combination of A, B and C."

[0044] As used herein, a slash ( / ) or a comma may mean "and / or." For example, "A / B" may mean "A and / or B." Accordingly, "A / B" may mean "only A," "only B," or "both A and B." For example, "A, B, C" may mean "A, B, or C."

[0045] In the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “only A,” “only B,” or “both A and B.” Additionally, in the present disclosure, the expressions “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of A and / or B” may be interpreted identically to “at least one of A and B.”

[0046] Additionally, in the present disclosure, “at least one of A, B and C” can mean “only A,” “only B,” “only C,” or “any combination of A, B and C.” Additionally, “at least one of A, B or C” or “at least one of A, B and / or C” can mean “at least one of A, B and C.”

[0047] Additionally, parentheses used in the present disclosure may mean "for example." Specifically, when indicated as "control information (PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be described as an example of "control information." In other words, "control information" in the present disclosure is not limited to "PDCCH," and "PDCCH" may be described as an example of "control information." Furthermore, even when indicated as "control information (i.e., PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be described as an example of "control information."

[0048] In the following description, 'when, if, in case of' can be replaced with 'based on'.

[0049] Technical features individually described in one drawing in this disclosure may be implemented individually or simultaneously.

[0050] In the present disclosure, a terminal or user equipment (UE) may be a portable device and may be a first node that receives a signal from a base station / second node / IAB (integrated access backhaul) node.

[0051] In the present disclosure, a base station (BS) may be a second node / IAB node / Transmission-Reception Point (TRP).

[0052] In the present disclosure, higher layer parameters may be parameters configured, pre-configured, or pre-defined for the terminal. For example, a base station or a network may transmit higher layer parameters to the terminal. For example, the higher layer parameters may be transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signaling or medium access control (MAC) signaling.

[0053] In the present disclosure, "setting or defining" may be interpreted as being set to a device through predefined signaling (e.g., SIB (system information block), MAC, RRC) from a base station or network. In the present disclosure, "setting or defining" may be interpreted as being set to a device through separate signaling or being defined in advance without separate signaling.

[0054] In the present disclosure, transmitting or receiving a channel means transmitting or receiving information or a signal through the channel. For example, transmitting a control channel means transmitting control information or a signal through the control channel. Similarly, transmitting a data channel means transmitting data information or a signal through the data channel.

[0055] The technology described in the present disclosure can be used in various wireless communication systems such as CDMA (code division multiple access), FDMA (frequency division multiple access), TDMA (time division multiple access), OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiple access), and SC-FDMA (single carrier frequency division multiple access). CDMA can be implemented with wireless technologies such as UTRA (universal terrestrial radio access) or CDMA2000. TDMA can be implemented with wireless technologies such as GSM (global system for mobile communications) / GPRS (general packet radio service) / EDGE (enhanced data rates for GSM evolution). OFDMA can be implemented with wireless technologies such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802-20, E-UTRA (evolved UTRA), LTE (long term evolution), 5G NR, and the like.

[0056] The technology described in the present disclosure can be implemented with 6G wireless technology and applied to various 6G systems. For example, the 6G system can have key factors such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), artificial intelligence (AI) integrated communication, tactile internet, high throughput, high network capacity, high energy efficiency, low backhaul and access network congestion, and enhanced data security.

[0057] Network structure

[0058] Figure 1 illustrates a flexible network topology to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0059] To compensate for incomplete network coverage areas, a network topology that allows for more flexible and resilient split radio access networks (RANs) may be considered. For this purpose, various nodes, such as integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes, relays, and radio frequency (RF) repeaters, as illustrated in Figure 1, may be applied, or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) may be integrated. For example, an IAB node may correspond to a node that provides wireless backhaul. For example, a relay may refer to any intermediate point, and in the case of a sidelink relay where a terminal functions as a relay, it may collectively refer to a terminal-to-network (U2N) relay and a terminal-to-terminal (U2U) relay. For example, an RF repeater may correspond to a node that simply performs the functions of signal amplification and forwarding, or in the case of a network-controlled repeater, it may not only amplify and forward signals but also adjust its transmission and reception settings based on information provided by the network. For example, NTN nodes could be satellites or aircraft that provide NTN coverage that terrestrial networks struggle to provide. Beyond these examples, various intermediate points can be introduced to improve the network topology.

[0060] Referring to Figure 1, a split RAN can support the division of a base station into a centralized unit (CU) and one or more distributed units (DUs). The CU and DU can correspond to logical units. The CU can be further divided into a control plane (CP) portion and one or more user plane (UP) portions. Since a failure in the CU-CP affects not only the CU-UP but also the DUs, various intermediate points can be introduced to compensate for this.

[0061] An intermediate point may correspond to a terminal or a base station, depending on its relationship to other nodes. For example, an IAB node may include a mobile-termination (MT) portion and a unit (DU). The MT may connect the IAB node to a donor node. The unit (DU) of an IAB node may serve other terminals or connect to other IAB nodes to provide multi-hop wireless backhaul to the terminal. For example, an IAB node may correspond to a base station in its relationship to a user-side node, and to a terminal in its relationship to a network-side node.

[0062] In some examples of the present disclosure, the description of a terminal may equally apply not only to a user-side endpoint, but also to an intermediate point corresponding to a terminal in a relative relationship with a network-side endpoint. Similarly, in some examples of the present disclosure, the description of a base station may equally apply not only to a network-side endpoint, but also to an intermediate point corresponding to a base station in a relative relationship with a user-side endpoint. In most cases where there is no additional description of the operations of three or more entities, the communicating entities in the present disclosure are briefly described as terminals and / or base stations (or first nodes and / or second nodes), where the terms terminal and / or base stations (or first nodes and / or second nodes) are interpreted to include / replace any endpoint or any intermediate point in relation to other nodes.

[0063] As such, in some examples of the present disclosure, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the subjects of the operation may be referred to as terminals and / or base stations (or first nodes and / or second nodes). In addition, the terms terminal and / or base station (or first node and / or second node) may also be interpreted / replaced as in the following examples: For example, the terminal (or first node) and the base station (or second node) may respectively correspond to the first endpoint and the second endpoint; may respectively correspond to the endpoint and the intermediate point; may respectively correspond to the intermediate point and the endpoint; or may respectively correspond to the first intermediate point and the second intermediate point.

[0064] In the present disclosure, there may be zero or more intermediate points between the base station and the terminal. If an intermediate point exists, it may correspond to an IAB node / relay / RF repeater / NTN node, or a node supporting other functions. The intermediate point may be a node with a fixed location or a node with an unfixed location.

[0065] Systems applicable to this disclosure

[0066] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a communication system to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0067] The communication system (100) applied to the present disclosure includes a wireless device (110), a network device (120), and a network (130). Here, the wireless device (110) refers to a device that performs communication using a wireless access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A pro, NR, 5G, 5G-A, 6G) and may be referred to as a communication / wireless / 5G / 6G device. Although not limited thereto, the wireless device (110) may include a robot (110a), a vehicle (110b-1, 110b-2), an XR (extended reality) device (110c), a hand-held device (110d), a home appliance (110e), an IoT (Internet of Things) device (110f), and an AI (artificial intelligence) device / server (110g). For example, the vehicle may include a vehicle equipped with a wireless communication function, an autonomous vehicle, a vehicle capable of performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication, etc. Here, the vehicle (110b-1, 110b-2) may include an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR device (110c) includes an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) / mixed reality (MR) device, and may be implemented in the form of a head-mounted device (HMD), a head-up display (HUD) equipped in a vehicle, a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, etc. The portable device (110d) may include a smartphone, a smart pad, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart glasses), a computer (e.g., a laptop, etc.), etc. The home appliance (110e) may include a TV, a refrigerator, a washing machine, etc. The IoT device (110f) may include a sensor, a smart meter, etc. The wireless device (110) may correspond to a terminal (or first node) or an intermediate point.The network device (120) may correspond to a base station (or second node) or another intermediate point. For example, the network device (120) may also be implemented as a wireless device (110), and a specific wireless device (120a) may act as a network device (120) to another wireless device (110).

[0068] Wireless devices (110a to 110f) can be connected to a network (130) via a network device (120). AI technology can be applied to the wireless devices (110a to 110f), and the wireless devices (110a to 110f) can be connected to an AI server (110g) via a network (130). The network (130) can be configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, a 5G (e.g., NR), or a 6G network. The wireless devices (110a to 110f) can communicate with each other via the network device (120) / network (130), but can also communicate directly (e.g., sidelink communication) without going through the network device (120) / network (130). For example, vehicles (110b-1, 110b-2) can communicate directly (e.g., V2V (vehicle to vehicle) / V2X (vehicle to everything) communication). Additionally, an IoT device (110f) (e.g., a sensor) can communicate directly with another IoT device (e.g., a sensor) or another wireless device (110a to 110f).

[0069] Wireless communication / connection (150a, 150b, 150c) can be established between wireless devices (110a to 110f) / network devices (120), network devices (120) / network devices (120). Here, the wireless communication / connection can be established through various wireless access technologies such as uplink / downlink communication (150a), sidelink communication (150b) (or D2D communication), and communication between network devices (150c) (e.g., relay, IAB (integrated access backhaul)). Through the wireless communication / connection (150a, 150b, 150c), the wireless device and the network device / wireless device, and the network device and the network device can transmit / receive wireless signals to each other. For example, the wireless communication / connection (150a, 150b, 150c) can transmit / receive signals through various physical channels. To this end, based on various descriptions of the present disclosure, at least some of various configuration information setting processes for transmitting / receiving wireless signals, various signal processing processes (e.g., channel encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, resource mapping / demapping, etc.), resource allocation processes, etc., may be performed.

[0070] Device applicable to the present disclosure

[0071] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a wireless device to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0072] Referring to FIG. 3, the wireless device (200) can transmit and receive wireless signals via various wireless access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A pro, NR, 5G, 5G-A, 6G). The wireless device (200) includes at least one processor (202) and at least one memory (204), and may additionally include at least one transceiver (206) and / or at least one antenna (208).

[0073] The processor (202) controls the memory (204) and / or the transceiver (206), and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document. For example, the processor (202) may process information in the memory (204) to generate first information / signal, and then transmit a wireless signal including the first information / signal via the transceiver (206). In addition, the processor (202) may receive a wireless signal including second information / signal via the transceiver (206), and then store information obtained from signal processing of the second information / signal in the memory (204). The memory (204) may be connected to the processor (202) and may store various information related to the operation of the processor (202). For example, the memory (204) may store software code including instructions for performing some or all of the processes controlled by the processor (202), or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed herein. Here, the processor (202) and the memory (204) may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement wireless communication technology. The transceiver (206) may be connected to the processor (202) and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals via at least one antenna (208). The transceiver (206) may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver (206) may be used interchangeably with an RF (radio frequency) unit. In the present disclosure, a wireless device may also mean a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0074] Hereinafter, the hardware elements of the wireless device (200) will be described in more detail. Although not limited thereto, at least one protocol layer may be implemented by at least one processor (202). For example, at least one processor (202) may implement at least one layer (e.g., a functional layer such as physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio resource control (RRC), and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP)). At least one processor (202) may generate at least one Protocol Data Unit (PDU) and / or at least one Service Data Unit (SDU) according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. At least one processor (202) may generate a message, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. At least one processor (202) can generate a signal (e.g., a baseband signal) comprising a PDU, an SDU, a message, control information, data or information according to the functions, procedures, proposals and / or methods disclosed in this document, and provide the signal to at least one transceiver (206). At least one processor (202) can receive a signal (e.g., a baseband signal) from at least one transceiver (206) and obtain the PDU, SDU, message, control information, data or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document.

[0075] At least one processor (202) may be referred to as a controller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or a microcomputer. The at least one processor (202) may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, at least one application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), at least one digital signal processor (DSP), at least one digital signal processing device (DSPD), at least one programmable logic device (PLD), or at least one field programmable gate array (FPGA) may be included in the at least one processor (202). The descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document may be implemented using firmware or software, and the firmware or software may be implemented to include modules, procedures, functions, etc. The descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document may be included in the at least one processor (202), or may be stored in at least one memory (204) and driven by the at least one processor (202). The descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or flowcharts disclosed in this document may be implemented using firmware or software in the form of code, instructions and / or sets of instructions.

[0076] At least one memory (204) can be connected to at least one processor (202) and can store various forms of data, signals, messages, information, programs, codes, instructions and / or commands. The at least one memory (204) can be configured as a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard drive, a register, a cache memory, a computer readable storage medium and / or a combination thereof. The at least one memory (204) can be located internally and / or externally to the at least one processor (202). In addition, the at least one memory (204) can be connected to the at least one processor (202) via various technologies such as a wired or wireless connection.

[0077] At least one transceiver (206) can transmit user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc., mentioned in the methods and / or flowcharts of this document to at least one other device. At least one transceiver (206) can receive user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or flowcharts disclosed in this document from at least one other device. For example, at least one transceiver (206) can be connected to at least one processor (202) and can transmit and receive wireless signals. For example, at least one processor (202) can control at least one transceiver (206) to transmit user data, control information, or wireless signals to at least one other device. Furthermore, at least one processor (202) can control at least one transceiver (206) to receive user data, control information, or wireless signals from at least one other device. Additionally, at least one transceiver (206) may be connected to at least one antenna (208), and at least one transceiver (206) may be configured to transmit and receive user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this document via at least one antenna (208). In this document, at least one antenna may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). At least one transceiver (206) may convert the received wireless signals / channels, etc. from RF band signals to baseband signals in order to process the received user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. using at least one processor (202).At least one transceiver (206) may convert user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. processed by at least one processor (202) from a baseband signal to an RF band signal. For this purpose, at least one transceiver (206) may include an (analog) oscillator and / or filter.

[0078] The components of the wireless device described with reference to FIG. 3 may be referred to by different terms in terms of functionality. For example, the processor (202) may be referred to as a control unit, the transceiver (206) as a communication unit, and the memory (204) as a storage unit. In some cases, the communication unit may be used to mean at least a portion of the processor (202) and the transceiver (206).

[0079] The structure of the wireless device described with reference to FIG. 3 can be understood as the structure of at least a portion of various devices. For example, the structure of the wireless device illustrated in FIG. 3 can be at least a portion of various devices described with reference to FIG. 2 (e.g., a robot (110a), a vehicle (110b-1, 110b-2), an XR device (110c), a portable device (110d), a home appliance (110e), an IoT device (110f), an AI device / server (110g)). Furthermore, according to various embodiments, in addition to the components illustrated in FIG. 3, the device may further include other components.

[0080] For example, the device may be a portable device such as a smartphone, a smart pad, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart glasses), or a portable computer (e.g., a laptop, etc.). In this case, the device may further include at least one of a power supply unit that supplies power and includes a wired / wireless charging circuit, a battery, etc., an interface unit that includes at least one port for connection with another device (e.g., an audio input / output port, a video input / output port), and an input / output unit for inputting and outputting image information / signals, audio information / signals, data, and / or information input from a user.

[0081] For example, the device may be a mobile device such as a mobile robot, a vehicle, a train, an aerial vehicle (AV), a ship, etc. In this case, the device may further include at least one of a driving unit including at least one of an engine, a motor, a power train, wheels, brakes, and a steering unit of the device, a power supply unit including a wired / wireless charging circuit, a battery, etc. that supplies power, a sensor unit that senses status information, environmental information, and user information of the device or its surroundings, an autonomous driving unit that performs functions such as path maintenance, speed control, and destination setting, and a position measurement unit that obtains location information of the mobile device through a global positioning system (GPS) and various sensors.

[0082] For example, the device may be an XR device such as an HMD, a head-up display (HUD) installed in a vehicle, a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, etc. In this case, the device may further include at least one of a power supply unit that supplies power and includes a wired / wireless charging circuit, a battery, etc., an input / output unit that obtains control information, data, etc. from the outside and outputs the generated XR object, and a sensor unit that senses status information, environmental information, and user information of the device or the surroundings of the device.

[0083] For example, the device may be a robot that can be classified into industrial, medical, household, military, etc. types depending on the purpose or field of use. In this case, the device may further include at least one of a sensor unit that senses status information, environmental information, and user information of the device or its surroundings, and a driving unit that performs various physical actions, such as moving the robot joints.

[0084] For example, the device may be an AI device such as a TV, a projector, a smartphone, a PC, a laptop, a digital broadcasting terminal, a tablet PC, a wearable device, a set-top box (STB), a radio, a washing machine, a refrigerator, digital signage, a robot, a vehicle, etc. In this case, the device may further include at least one of an input unit that acquires various types of data from the outside, an output unit that generates output related to sight, hearing, or touch, a sensor unit that senses status information, environmental information, and user information of the device or its surroundings, and a training unit that trains a model composed of an artificial neural network using learning data.

[0085] The structure of the wireless device illustrated in FIG. 3 may be understood as a part of a terminal (or first node), or as a part of an intermediate point, or as a part of a base station (or second node). If the device illustrated in FIG. 3 is a base station (or second node), the device may further include a wired transceiver for front haul and / or back haul communications. If the front haul and / or back haul communications are based on wireless communications, at least one transceiver (206) illustrated in FIG. 3 may be used for front haul and / or backhaul communications, and a wired transceiver may not be included.

[0086] Communication procedures

[0087] FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a communication procedure between a first node and a second node to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0088] FIG. 4 illustrates operations of a first node (110) (e.g., a terminal) and a second node (120) (e.g., a base station) transmitting and / or receiving data and operations performed prior thereto.

[0089] In step S101, the first node (110) and the second node (120) can perform synchronization. For example, the terminal (110) performs an initial cell search operation. Specifically, the terminal (110) can detect at least one synchronization signal transmitted from the base station (120) according to a predefined rule. Here, the synchronization signal can include a plurality of synchronization signals (e.g., a primary synchronization signal, a secondary synchronization signal) classified according to a structure or purpose. Through this, the terminal (110) can confirm the boundaries of the frame, subframe, slot, and / or symbol of the base station (120) and obtain information (e.g., a cell identifier) ​​about the base station (120).

[0090] In step S103, the first node (110) can obtain system information transmitted from the second node (120). For example, the system information is information related to the properties, characteristics, and / or capabilities of the base station (120) required to access the base station (120) and use the service, and can be classified according to the content (e.g., whether it is essential for access), transmission structure (e.g., the channel used, whether it is provided in an on-demand manner), etc., and can be classified into, for example, a master information block (MIB) and a system information block (SIB). If necessary, the terminal (110) can transmit a signal requesting system information before receiving the system information. Such requesting and providing of system information may be performed after a random access procedure described below.

[0091] In step S105, the first node (110) and the second node (120) can perform a random access procedure. For example, the terminal (110) can transmit and / or receive at least one message (e.g., a random access preamble, a random access response (RAR) message, etc.) for a random access procedure based on information related to a random access channel of the base station (120) obtained through system information (e.g., channel position, channel structure, structure of a supported preamble, etc.). For example, the terminal (110) may transmit a preamble (e.g., message 1 (MSG1)) over a random access channel, receive a random access response (RAR) message (e.g., message 2 (MSG2)), transmit a message (e.g., message 3 (MSG3)) including information related to the terminal (110) (e.g., identification information) using scheduling information included in the RAR message to the base station (120), and receive a message for contention resolution and / or connection establishment (e.g., message 4 (MSG4)). As another example, MSG1 and MSG3 may be transmitted and received as one message (e.g., message A (MSG A)), or MSG2 and MSG4 may be transmitted and received as one message (e.g., message B (MSG B)).

[0092] In step S107, the first node (110) and the second node (120) can perform signaling of control information. For example, the control information can be defined in various layers, such as a layer that controls a connection (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) layer), a layer that handles mapping between logical channels and transmission channels (e.g., a media access control (MAC) layer), and a layer that handles physical channels (e.g., a physical (PHY) layer). For example, the terminal (110) and the base station (120) can perform at least one of signaling for establishing a connection, signaling for determining settings related to communication, and signaling for indicating allocated resources.

[0093] In step S109, the first node (110) and the second node (120) can transmit and / or receive data. For example, the terminal (110) and the base station (120) can process, transmit, and / or receive data based on signaling of control information. For example, when transmitting data, the terminal (110) or the base station (120) can perform at least one of channel encoding, rate matching, scrambling, constellation mapping, layer mapping, waveform modulation, antenna mapping, and resource mapping on information bits. For example, when receiving data, the terminal (110) or the base station (120) can perform at least one of signal extraction from resources, waveform demodulation for each antenna, signal arrangement considering layer mapping, constellation demapping, descrambling, and channel decoding.

[0094] 6G system core technologies

[0095] As core implementation technologies of the 6G system, technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), THz (terahertz) communication, optical wireless technology, free space optics (FSO) backhaul network, massive MIMO (multiple input multiple output) technology, blockchain, 3D networking, quantum communication, unmanned aerial vehicles, cell-free communication, wireless information and energy transfer (WIET), integration of sensing and communication, integration of access backhaul networks, holographic beamforming, big data analysis, and large intelligent surface (LIS) can be adopted.

[0096] artificial intelligence

[0097] Incorporating AI into communications can streamline and improve real-time data transmission. AI can use numerous analytics to determine how complex target tasks should be performed. AI can increase efficiency and reduce processing delays. Time-consuming tasks such as handovers, network selection, and resource scheduling can be performed instantly using AI. AI can also play a crucial role in machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-to-human, and human-to-machine communications. Furthermore, AI can facilitate rapid communication in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). AI-based communication systems can be supported by metamaterials, intelligent structures, intelligent networks, intelligent devices, intelligent cognitive radios, self-sustaining wireless networks, and machine learning.

[0098] FIG. 5 illustrates a functional framework for AI operations to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0099] Below, to explain AI (or AI / ML (machine learning)) in more detail, the terms can be defined as follows.

[0100] - Data collection: Data collected from network nodes, management entities, or terminals as a basis for AI model training, data analysis, and inference.

[0101] - AI model: A data-driven algorithm that applies AI technology to generate a set of outputs containing predictive information and / or decision parameters based on a set of inputs.

[0102] - AI / ML training: An online or offline process of training an AI model by learning features and patterns that best represent the data and obtain a trained AI / ML model for inference.

[0103] - AI / ML inference: The process of making predictions or inducing decisions based on collected data and the AI ​​model using a trained AI model.

[0104] Referring to FIG. 5, the data collection function (10) is a function that collects input data and provides processed input data to the model training function (20) and the model inference function (30).

[0105] Examples of input data may include measurements from terminals or other network entities, feedback from actors, and output from AI models.

[0106] The data collection function (10) performs data preparation based on input data and provides input data processed through the data preparation. Here, the data collection function (10) does not perform data preparation specific to each AI algorithm (e.g., data pre-processing and cleaning, formatting, and transformation), but can perform data preparation common to all AI algorithms.

[0107] After the data preparation process is performed, the data collection function (10) may provide training data (11) to the model training function (20) and may provide inference data (12) to the model inference function (30). Here, the training data (11) may correspond to data required as input for the AI ​​model training function (20), and the inference data (12) may correspond to data required as input for the AI ​​model inference function (30).

[0108] The data collection function (10) may be performed by a single entity (e.g., a terminal, a RAN node, a network node, etc.), but may also be performed by multiple entities. In this case, training data (11) and inference data (12) may be provided to the model training function (20) and model inference function (30), respectively, from multiple entities.

[0109] The model training function (20) may correspond to a function that performs AI model training, validation, and testing, which can generate model performance metrics as part of the AI ​​model testing procedure. If necessary, the model training function (20) may also be responsible for data preparation (e.g., data pre-processing and cleaning, formatting, and transformation, etc.) based on training data (11) provided by the data collection function (10).

[0110] Here, model deployment / update (13) can be used to initially deploy a trained, validated and tested AI model to the model inference function (30) or to provide an updated model to the model inference function (30).

[0111] The model inference function (30) may correspond to a function that provides AI model inference output (16) (e.g., prediction or decision). If applicable, the model inference function (30) may provide model performance feedback (14) to the model training function (20). In addition, the model inference function (30) may also be responsible for data preparation (e.g., data pre-processing and cleaning, formatting and transformation, etc.) based on inference data (12) provided by the data collection function (10), if necessary.

[0112] Here, output (16) refers to the inference output of the AI ​​model generated by the model inference function (30), and the details of the inference output may vary depending on the use case.

[0113] Model performance feedback (14) can be used to monitor the performance of the AI ​​model, if available, and this feedback may be omitted.

[0114] An actor function (40) is a function that receives an output (16) from a model inference function (30) and triggers or performs a corresponding task / action. The actor function (40) can trigger tasks / actions for other entities (e.g., one or more terminals, one or more RAN nodes, one or more network nodes, etc.) or for itself.

[0115] Feedback (15) can be used to derive training data (11), inference data (12), or to monitor the performance of the AI ​​model, its impact on the network, etc.

[0116] Meanwhile, the definitions of training / validation / test in data sets used in AI / ML can be distinguished as follows.

[0117] - Training data: refers to a data set for learning a model.

[0118] - Validation data: This refers to a dataset used to validate a model that has already completed training. Validation data can typically be used to prevent overfitting of the training data set. It can also be used to select the best model among the various models learned during the training process. Therefore, validation can be considered a type of learning.

[0119] - Test data: This refers to the data set for final evaluation. This data is unrelated to learning.

[0120] For example, the training and validation data can be divided into an 8:2 or 7:3 ratio within the entire data set. Alternatively, the training data:validation data:test data can be divided into a 6:2:2 ratio within the entire data set.

[0121] The level of cooperation can be defined as follows depending on whether the base station and the terminal have capabilities for AI / ML functions, and variations due to combination of multiple levels or separation of any one level are also possible.

[0122] Category 0a: This category corresponds to a no-collaboration framework. In this case, AI / ML algorithms are purely implementation-based and may not require any changes to the wireless interface.

[0123] Category 0b: Frameworks that involve a wireless interface modified to fit efficient implementation-based AI / ML algorithms, but without collaboration.

[0124] Category 1: This category applies to cases where inter-node support is required to improve the AI / ML algorithms of each node. For example, this applies when a terminal receives support from a base station (for training, adaptation, etc.), and vice versa. At this level, model exchange between network nodes is not required.

[0125] Category 2: This applies to cases where joint ML tasks can be performed between terminals and base stations. This level requires exchange of AI / ML model commands or network nodes.

[0126] The functions exemplified in FIG. 5 above may be implemented in a RAN node (e.g., a base station, a TRP, a CU of a base station, etc.), a network node, an OAM (operation administration maintenance) of a network operator, or a terminal.

[0127] Alternatively, two or more entities, such as a RAN, a network node, a network operator's OAM, or a terminal, may cooperate to implement the functions illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, one entity may perform some of the functions of FIG. 5, and another entity may perform the remaining functions. In this way, since some of the functions illustrated in FIG. 5 are performed by a single entity (e.g., a terminal, a RAN node, a network node, etc.), the transmission / provision of data / information between each function may be omitted. For example, if the model training function (20) and the model inference function (30) are performed by the same entity, the transmission / provision of model deployment / update (13) and model performance feedback (14) may be omitted.

[0128] Alternatively, any one of the functions illustrated in FIG. 5 may be performed collaboratively by two or more entities, including a RAN, a network node, a network operator's OAM, or a terminal. This may be referred to as a split AI operation.

[0129] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of operations related to AI model training and AI model inference to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0130] For example, the AI ​​model training function may be performed by a network node (e.g., a core network node, an OAM of a network operator, etc.), and the AI ​​model inference function may be performed by a RAN node (e.g., a base station, a TRP, a CU of a base station, etc.).

[0131] Step 1: RAN node 1 and RAN node 2 can transmit input data (e.g., training data) for AI model training to the network node. Here, RAN node 1 and RAN node 2 can also transmit data collected from the terminal (e.g., terminal measurements related to RSRP (reference signal received power), RSRQ (reference signal received quality), SINR (signal to interference-plus-noise ratio) of the serving cell and neighboring cells, terminal location, speed, etc.) to the network node.

[0132] Step 2: Network nodes can train AI models using the received training data.

[0133] Step 3: The network node may distribute / update the AI ​​model to RAN node 1 and / or RAN node 2. RAN node 1 (and / or RAN node 2) may also continue model training based on the received AI model.

[0134] For convenience of explanation, we assume that the AI ​​model is deployed / updated only to RAN node 1.

[0135] Step 4: RAN node 1 can receive input data (e.g., inference data) for AI model inference from the terminal and RAN node 2.

[0136] Step 5: RAN node 1 can perform AI model inference using the received inference data to generate output data (e.g., prediction or decision).

[0137] Step 6: If applicable, RAN node 1 may send model performance feedback to the network nodes.

[0138] Step 7: RAN node 1, RAN node 2, and the terminal (or 'RAN node 1 and the terminal', or 'RAN node 1 and RAN node 2') may perform actions based on the output data. For example, in the case of a load balancing operation, the terminal may move from RAN node 1 to RAN node 2.

[0139] Step 8: RAN node 1 and RAN node 2 can transmit feedback information to the network nodes.

[0140] FIG. 7 illustrates another example of operations related to AI model training and AI model inference to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0141] For example, both AI model training functions and AI model inference functions can be performed by RAN nodes (e.g., base stations, TRPs, CUs of base stations, etc.).

[0142] Step 1: The terminal and RAN node 2 can transmit input data (e.g., training data) for AI model training to RAN node 1.

[0143] Step 2: RAN node 1 can train an AI model using the received training data.

[0144] Step 3: RAN node 1 can receive input data (e.g., inference data) for AI model inference from the terminal and RAN node 2.

[0145] Step 4: RAN node 1 can perform AI model inference using the received inference data to generate output data (e.g., prediction or decision).

[0146] Step 5: RAN node 1, RAN node 2, and the terminal (or 'RAN node 1 and the terminal', or 'RAN node 1 and RAN node 2') may perform actions based on the output data. For example, in the case of a load balancing operation, the terminal may move from RAN node 1 to RAN node 2.

[0147] Step 6: RAN node 2 may transmit feedback information to RAN node 1.

[0148] FIG. 8 illustrates another example of operations related to AI model training and AI model inference to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0149] For example, the AI ​​model training function may be performed by a RAN node (e.g., a base station, a TRP, a CU of a base station, etc.), and the AI ​​model inference function may be performed by a terminal.

[0150] Step 1: The terminal may transmit input data (e.g., training data) for AI model training to the RAN node. Here, the RAN node may collect data (e.g., terminal measurements related to RSRP, RSRQ, SINR of the serving cell and neighboring cells, terminal location, speed, etc.) from various terminals and / or from other RAN nodes.

[0151] Step 2: RAN nodes can train AI models using the received training data.

[0152] Step 3: The RAN node can distribute / update the AI ​​model to the terminal. The terminal can also continue model training based on the received AI model.

[0153] Step 4: Input data (e.g., inference data) for AI model inference can be received from the terminal and RAN node (and / or from another terminal).

[0154] Step 5: The terminal can perform AI model inference using the received inference data to generate output data (e.g., prediction or decision).

[0155] Step 6: If applicable, the terminal may send model performance feedback to the RAN node.

[0156] Step 7: The terminal and RAN node can perform actions based on the output data.

[0157] Step 8: The terminal may transmit feedback information to the RAN node.

[0158] THz communication (terahertz communication)

[0159] Data transmission rates can be increased by increasing bandwidth. This can be achieved by utilizing sub-THz communications with wide bandwidths and applying advanced massive MIMO technology. THz waves, also known as sub-millimeter waves, typically refer to the frequency range between 0.1 THz and 10 THz, with corresponding wavelengths ranging from 0.03 mm to 3 mm. The 100 GHz to 300 GHz band (the sub-THz band) is considered a key part of the THz spectrum for cellular communications. Adding the sub-THz band to the mmWave band will increase 6G cellular capacity. Among the defined THz bands, 300 GHz to 3 THz lies in the far infrared (IR) frequency band. While part of the optical band, the 300 GHz to 3 THz band lies at the boundary of the optical band, immediately following the RF band. Therefore, this 300 GHz to 3 THz band exhibits similarities to RF.

[0160] FIG. 9 illustrates an electromagnetic spectrum to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0161] Key characteristics of THz communications include (i) the widely available bandwidth to support very high data rates, and (ii) the high path loss at high frequencies (which necessitates highly directional antennas). The narrow beamwidths generated by highly directional antennas reduce interference. The small wavelength of THz signals allows for a significantly larger number of antenna elements to be integrated into devices and base stations operating in this band. This enables the use of advanced adaptive array technologies to overcome range limitations.

[0162] Transmitting system information (e.g., MIB) in a cell in the THz frequency band can be inefficient because the beam width in high-frequency bands narrows, requiring more beam sweeps to cover the entire cell area. This method is particularly inefficient when there are only a few users within the cell.

[0163] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a system information transmission / reception procedure to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0164] The example of Fig. 10 is applicable not only to THz communication environments but also to 6G communication environments where THz communication is not applicable. Furthermore, the procedure illustrated in Fig. 10 can be combined with various embodiments of the present disclosure described below. For example, the embodiments described below can be performed based on system information acquired through the procedure illustrated in Fig. 10.

[0165] In step S1010, the second node (120) (e.g., base station) can transmit system information of cell #1 via cell #2. For example, the base station provides at least two cells, cell #1 uses a THz frequency band, and cell #2 uses a frequency band other than the THz frequency band. Here, the system information may include at least one of an SFN (system frame number), a PDCCH configuration for SIB1, cell barring, cell re-selection, and subcarrier spacing generated in a higher layer, and may include at least one of an SFN, a half frame indicator, and an SSB index (synchronization signal / PBCH (physical broadcast channel) block index) generated in a physical layer. For this purpose, as an example, cell #1 and cell #2 may have a relationship of a secondary cell and a primary cell.

[0166] At step S1030, the first node (110) (e.g., terminal) can acquire synchronization for cell #1. Synchronization can be acquired by detecting a synchronization signal. Typically, synchronization is acquired before receiving system information, but since the system information for cell #1 is received from cell #2, synchronization acquisition for cell #1 can be performed after receiving the system information. For example, the terminal can acquire synchronization based on the system information. Alternatively, synchronization acquisition can be performed before step S1010.

[0167] At step S1050, the first node (110) may transmit a signal for accessing cell #1. For example, the signal may include a random access preamble. The structure of this signal and the resources (e.g., channels) for transmitting the signal may be identified through system information. Thereafter, at step S1070, the first node (110) and the second node (120) may perform an access procedure for cell #1 and communicate.

[0168] The procedure described with reference to FIG. 10 may be performed when the first node (110) initially connects to cell #1 of the second node (120). Alternatively, a similar procedure may be performed when the first node (110) hands over to cell #1 of the second node (120). However, in the case of handover, the system information of cell #1 may be received from a cell of a base station other than cell #2 of the second node (120).

[0169] Communications in the THz band are expected to experience extremely severe path loss, and to overcome this, terminals and base stations may be required to use very sharp beams. The use of sharp beams means that terminals and base stations must perform beam control in addition to beamforming, and the number of beams used increases significantly. Consequently, it takes a very long time to align the transmit and receive beams between the base station and terminals. Furthermore, if the beam alignment between the base station and terminals is misaligned due to movement or movement of the terminals, frequent re-alignment is required, which can lead to link instability.

[0170] FIG. 11 exemplarily illustrates a beam management procedure to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0171] Although FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a procedure for searching and / or selecting beams for THz communication, this procedure is not limited to a THz environment and can also be applied to a 6G communication environment where THz communication is not applied.

[0172] Here, beam may be interpreted as other terms having equivalent technical meanings that can distinguish beams, such as 'spatial domain filter', 'spatial domain transmit filter', 'spatial domain receive filter', reference signal (RS) resource that distinguishes beams, SSB index, etc.

[0173] In step S1110, the second node (120) (e.g., base station) can set resources for beam management to the first node (110) (e.g., terminal). Here, the resources can include at least one of time-frequency resources, channels, and spatial resources (e.g., antenna ports). For example, the base station can utilize a beam search signal (BSS) that is transmitted spatially separated from an existing downlink signal / channel for beam search. Here, the BSS can be transmitted based on a dedicated port for beam search. The dedicated port can be a different port from a port for transmitting an existing downlink signal / channel (e.g., SSB, PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel), etc.). BSS is a term defined for convenience of explanation, and the technical concept according to the present embodiment is not limited to the term BSS itself. For example, a signal transmitted based on a dedicated port defined / set for beam search can be included in the technical concept according to the present embodiment.

[0174] In step S1130, the second node (120) (e.g., base station) transmits measurement signals using a plurality of transmission beams. For example, the measurement signals may include at least one of a reference signal and a synchronization signal. At this time, the measurement signals may be transmitted as many times as the number of beams that require measurement, and may also be transmitted in a multi-beam transmission method that forms a plurality of beams simultaneously to reduce sweeping time. Here, the multi-beam transmission may be performed based on at least one of a multi-panel, a sub-array, and a true time delay (TTD).

[0175] In step S1050, a first node (110) (e.g., a terminal) may transmit a feedback signal to a second node (120) (e.g., a base station). The feedback signal may indicate at least one beam selected by the terminal. The terminal may select at least one preferred beam based on the measurement signals received in step S1030.

[0176] In step S1070, the first node (110) and the second node (120) can perform communication. For example, the second node (120) can perform transmission to the first node (110) using the reception beam of the first node (110) selected in step S1050. If channel reciprocity is established, the transmission beam of the first node (110) can also be determined through steps S1030 and S1050, so that the transmission operation from the first node (110) can also be performed using a beam that has a reciprocal relationship with the beam selected in step S1050. If channel reciprocity is not established, a procedure including transmission of measurement signal(s) by the first node (110) and transmission of feedback signal(s) by the second node (120) may be performed first to determine the transmission beam of the first node (110).

[0177] non-terrestrial networks (NTN)

[0178] Figures 12 and 13 illustrate examples of NTN scenarios to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0179] NTN can represent a network or network segment that uses radio frequency (RF) resources mounted on a satellite (or unmanned aerial system (UAS) platform).

[0180] Figure 12 shows an example of a typical scenario of NTN based on transparent payload, and Figure 13 shows an example of a typical scenario of NTN based on regenerative payload.

[0181] Referring to Figure 12, a satellite (or UAS platform) can establish a service link with a terminal. The satellite (or UAS platform) can be connected to a gateway via a feeder link. The satellite can be connected to a data network via the gateway. The beam footprint can refer to the area where the signal transmitted by the satellite can be received.

[0182] Referring to Figure 13, a satellite (or UAS platform) can establish a service link with a terminal. A satellite (or UAS platform) connected to a terminal can be connected to another satellite (or UAS platform) via an inter-satellite link (ISL). The other satellite (or UAS platform) can be connected to a gateway via a feeder link. Based on the regenerated payload, the satellite can be connected to a data network through another satellite and the gateway. If an ISL does not exist between the satellite and another satellite, a feeder link between the satellite and the gateway may be required.

[0183] Figures 12 and 13 are merely examples of NTN scenarios, and NTN can be implemented based on various scenarios. For example, a satellite (or UAS platform) can implement a transparent or regenerative (e.g., with onboard processing) payload. For example, a satellite (or UAS platform) can generate multiple beams across a designated service area depending on the field of view of the satellite (or UAS platform). For example, the field of view of the satellite (or UAS platform) can vary depending on the onboard antenna diagram and the minimum elevation angle.

[0184] For example, a transparent payload may include radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification. Therefore, the waveform signal repeated by the payload may remain unchanged.

[0185] For example, a regenerative payload may include radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification, demodulation / decoding, switching and / or routing, and coding / modulation. For example, a regenerative payload may be substantially equivalent to mounting all or part of a base station function on a satellite (or UAS platform).

[0186] Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC)

[0187] Wireless sensing is a technology that uses radio frequencies to determine the instantaneous linear velocity, angle, distance (or range) of an object, and thus obtain information about the characteristics of the environment and / or objects within the environment. Because radio frequency sensing does not require a networked device to connect to the object, it can provide a service for object positioning without a device. The ability to obtain range, velocity, and angle information from radio frequency signals can enable a wide range of new capabilities, such as various object detection, object recognition (e.g., vehicles, humans, animals, UAVs), and high-precision localization, tracking, and activity recognition. Wireless sensing services can provide information to a variety of industries (e.g., drones, smart homes, V2X, factories, railways, public safety, etc.), enabling applications such as intruder detection, assisted vehicle steering and navigation, trajectory tracking, collision avoidance, traffic management, and health and traffic management. In some cases, wireless sensing can utilize non-3GPP type sensors (e.g., radar, cameras) to further support 3GPP-based sensing. For example, the operation of wireless sensing services, such as sensing operations, may depend on the transmission, reflection, and scattering of wireless sensing signals. Therefore, wireless sensing offers an opportunity to enhance existing communication systems from a communications network to a wireless communication and sensing network.

[0188] FIG. 14 illustrates examples of sensing operations to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0189] Specifically, Fig. 14(a) shows an example of a monostatic sensing operation using a sensing receiver and a sensing transmitter located in the same location. Fig. 14(b) shows an example of a bistatic sensing operation using a sensing receiver and a sensing transmitter located in separate locations. A sensing signal transmitted from a sensing transmitter is reflected / scattered by a sensing object, and the sensing receiver can receive the signal, and extract / obtain sensing data based on the received signal. A sensing result can be generated / determined through appropriate processing of the sensing data. The sensing result can be provided to a trusted third-party entity / service outside the 3GPP system through an entity / service within the 3GPP system.

[0190] Network Energy Saving (NES)

[0191] Energy conservation at base stations is a key consideration in wireless communication systems, including 3GPP, as it can contribute to building eco-friendly networks by reducing carbon emissions and reducing operational expenditures (OPEX) for telecommunications providers. In particular, the introduction of 5G communications will require higher transmission rates, necessitating base stations to be equipped with more antennas and provide services over wider bandwidths and frequency bands. Consequently, recent studies have shown that base station energy costs have reached as high as 20% of total OPEX. For example, various technologies for reducing energy consumption in 5G wireless communication systems are being discussed under the term "network energy savings" (NES).

[0192] Depending on the application of NES technology, the base station can perform operations such as controlling on / off for a certain time duration in the time domain, controlling transmission / reception resources for terminal-common or terminal-specific signals / channels, changing the amount of frequency domain resources, controlling transmission power, or turning on / off an antenna port, transmission-reception point (TRP), etc. in the spatial domain.

[0193] For example, a base station may identify the NES solution(s) to be applied, perform signaling to the NES, and perform actions on the NES.

[0194] NES solution(s) may be related to control of signal transmission and reception (e.g., on / off), beam operation, handover procedures, channel measurement, and reporting. The NES solution(s) to be applied may be adaptively selected or predefined based on current conditions (e.g., cell load level, characteristics of connected terminals, etc.).

[0195] A base station that has identified NES solution(s) performs signaling for the NES. The specific signaling procedure may vary depending on the identified NES solution(s). For example, the base station may transmit common information about the NES solution(s), transmit configuration information necessary for NES operation to at least one terminal, or transmit control information regarding the progress of NES operation to at least one terminal. In addition, the base station may receive capability information related to the NES from at least one terminal.

[0196] Based on the signaled NES-related information, the base station can perform operations for the NES. For example, based on system information, configuration information, and control information conveyed via signaling, the base station can turn on / off transmission and reception of specific signals, turn on / off elements in the spatial domain, or adjust resources for transmission and reception of measurement signals.

[0197] Examples of NES solutions that can be implemented using these procedures include:

[0198] Intra-system energy saving: A RAN node may request a neighboring RAN node to switch at least one SSB beam into its inactive cell, or may perform paging using a limited set of beams to an inactive terminal (e.g., a stationary terminal).

[0199] Inter-system energy savings: NG-RAN nodes that own capacity booster cells can autonomously transition those cells to an inactive state.

[0200] SSB-less cells: If SSB or SSB-based RRM (radio resource management) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configuration is not provided for a specific cell (e.g., secondary cell (SCell) or primary cell (PCell)), the UE may obtain timing reference and automatic gain control (AGC) source from another serving cell. In frequency range 1 (FR1) or FR2, the base station may configure intra-band carrier aggregation (CA) or inter-band CA including cells without SSB transmission, in which case SSB / SIB transmission may be triggered by a wake up signal (WUS) of the UE. Accordingly, since the period of common channels / signals such as SSB is increased, the base station may stay in sleep state for a longer time.

[0201] Cell DTX (discontinuous transmission) / DRX (discontinuous reception): In order to reduce the downlink transmission / uplink reception activity time of the base station, a periodic cell DTX / DRX pattern (e.g., active and inactive periods) may be commonly configured for terminals within a cell having the feature. Here, the cell DTX pattern and the cell DRX pattern may be configured and activated separately, and up to two cell DTX / DRX patterns may be configured per MAC entity. When cell DTX is configured and activated, at least one of monitoring for a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) opportunity or monitoring a PDCCH may be suspended during the cell DTX inactivity period. When cell DRX is configured and activated, at least one of transmission on a configured grant (CG) resource or transmission of a scheduling request (SR) may be suspended during the cell DRX inactivity period. Cell DTX / DRX can be activated / deactivated via RRC signaling or L1 (layer 1) group common signaling.

[0202] Parameters such as active duration and cycle may be configured for cell DTX / DRX. Active duration is the period during which the UE receives a PDCCH or SPS opportunity and waits to transmit SR or CG, and cycle may specify the periodic repetition of the active duration and inactive duration. When both cell DTX and cell DRX are configured, parameters such as active duration and cycle may be common. If the base station recognizes an emergency call or a public safety-related service (e.g., multimedia priority service (MPS) or mission critical service (MCS)), the network may release or deactivate the cell DTX / DRX configuration so as not to affect the service. In addition, at least some overlap may be required between the active period of the connected mode DRX of the UE and the active period of the cell DTX / DRX. For example, the connected mode DRX cycle of the UE may be a multiple of the cell DTX / DRX cycle, or vice versa.

[0203] Conditional handover (CHO): A CHO procedure performed in a manner in which the execution of a handover is determined by the UE may be used while NES technology is applied (e.g., when the cell activates or deactivates cell DTX / DRX). In this case, the UE may use an NES-specific CHO event to initiate CHO to a candidate cell, and reception of a DCI activating the CHO condition(s) set by the NES event indication may be applied as an additional triggering condition for this.

[0204] Spatial and Power Domain Adaptation: To support the base station for transceiver muting and / or transmit power adaptation, the UE may be configured to report multiple CSI quantities in a CSI report based on multiple sub-configurations. Each sub-configuration corresponds to a spatial domain adaptation pattern (e.g., a subset of available spatial elements) and / or a power offset between a data channel (e.g., PDSCH) and CSI-RS. Depending on the application of the spatial and power domain adaptation solution, the CSI configuration, measurement, and / or reporting behavior may be affected.

[0205] Cell DTX / DRX

[0206] To enable base stations to operate in sleep mode for relatively long periods of time without frequent wake-ups, base station DTX / DRX has been introduced for NES purposes. The base station can reduce energy consumption by utilizing DTX transmission under low system load conditions by configuring cell DTX and setting the on-duration of terminals' C-DRX within the active period of the cell DTX.

[0207] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of cell DTX / DRX operation to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0208] A second node (120) (e.g., a base station) can transmit system information to a first node (110) (e.g., a terminal). Accordingly, the first node (110) can check information related to the cell DTX / DRX of the second node (120).

[0209] For example, system information may include MIB, SIB1, etc. In relation to NES technology, MIB may include information related to cell barring (e.g., cellBarred), and SIB1 may include information related to cell barring state (e.g., cellBarredNES). For example, if cellBarred included in MIB is set to a value indicating that it is not barred (e.g., notBarred), a terminal may determine that the cell is not barred, regardless of whether it supports NES cell DTX / DRX. For example, if cellBarred included in received MIB is set to a value indicating that the cell is barred (e.g., barred), a terminal that does not support NES cell DTX / DRX may determine that the cell is barred.

[0210] For example, if a terminal has a capability to support NES cell DTX / DRX, the terminal can check SIB1 to determine a cell barring status. For example, if cellBarred of MIB is set to barred and cellBarredNES is absent in SIB1, a terminal supporting NES cell DTX / DRX can treat the cell as barred and perform cell reselection to another cell. For example, if cellBarred of MIB is set to barred and cellBarredNES is included in SIB1, a terminal supporting NES cell DTX / DRX can determine that the cell is not barred.

[0211] In the example of FIG. 15, it is assumed that the terminal has the capability to support NES cell DTX / DRX, and cellBarred of MIB is set to notBarred, or cellBarred of MIB is set to barred and SIB1 includes cellBarredNES. Accordingly, the terminal can perform a random access procedure to connect to the base station, and then perform communication. For example, the base station can perform a cell DTX / DRX operation, and transmit configuration information related to the cell DTX / DRX operation to the terminal. The configuration information related to the cell DTX / DRX operation (e.g., CellDTXDRX-Config) includes at least one parameter related to the cell DTX / DRX, and may include, for example, at least one of an on-duration timer, a cycle start offset, a slot offset, a configuration type (e.g., DTX, DRX, or DTX-DRX), and an activation state of the DTX / DRX (e.g., active, inactive). Additionally, the configuration information may further include information for receiving and interpreting cell DRX / DRX-related control information (e.g., cellDTRX-RNTI included in physicalCellGroupConfig, DCI-related information such as the size of DCI format 2_9, etc.).

[0212] Thereafter, the base station can transmit control information related to cell DTX / DRX to the terminal. The control information related to cell DTX / DRX can include DCI having a designated format (e.g., DCI format 2_9). If an operation for a serving cell according to at least one of a cell DTX operation and a cell DRX operation is configured by configuration information (e.g., cellDTXDRX-Config included in servingcell-config), the terminal can check a set of search spaces (e.g., a Type3-PDCCH CSS set) for monitoring a PDCCH conveying control information of a designated format during an active time through a higher layer parameter (e.g., SearchSpace included in PDCCH-Config), and can obtain a location of information about the serving cell within the control information through a higher layer parameter (e.g., positionInDCI-cellDTRX included in ServingCell-config). Then, the terminal can obtain control information based on the identified set of search spaces and the location.

[0213] Control information related to cell DTX / DRX may be used to indicate activation or deactivation of cell DTX and / or cell DRX, and / or to provide NES-mode indicators (e.g., NES-specific CHO execution conditions, etc.), and may include, for example, at least one block including a cell DTX / DRX indicator and an NES-mode indicator. In this case, when the serving cell is configured as a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier, the indication of activation or deactivation of cell DRX by the cell DTX / DRX indicator may be applied to both the uplink (UL) carrier and the SUL carrier.

[0214] After that, the terminal and the base station can perform communication based on the cell DTX / DRX. Specifically, the base station can turn on / off the transmission and reception of signals according to the settings related to the cell DTX / DRX, so that the terminal can selectively monitor the signal from the base station. During the DTX-OFF duration, the base station can enter a sleep mode to reduce energy consumption. For example, the base station DTX cycle can be aligned with the cycle of the terminal DRX. The base station DTX-ON duration can completely cover the DRX-ON duration of the terminal. Furthermore, the base station can align the transmission on Xn (base station-to-base station interface) / NG (interface between 5G RAN and 5G core network) and the transmission on Uu (interface between terminal and network) for NES purposes. The DTX / DRX mechanism triggers switching of reference signal resource sets, and the base station can perform a dormancy-like behavior of rarely or not transmitting SSB, SIB, and CSI-RS to reduce energy consumption. The terminal can rarely or not receive downlink signals / channels depending on the configuration of the base station. Once the base station DTX / DRX operation is triggered, the terminal can discontinuously receive the corresponding CSI-RS, SSB, or PDCCH during the DTX / DRX OFF duration.

[0215] SSB-less cells

[0216] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of carrier aggregation (CA) operation including an SSB-less cell to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0217] In the example of Figure 16, it is assumed that the SSB-less cell is an SCell in the CA, but the SSB-less cell may also be a PCell in the CA.

[0218] A second node (120) (e.g., a base station) can transmit configuration information for an SCell to a first node (110) (e.g., a terminal). For example, the base station can transmit configuration information for CA to provide a service to the terminal through a CA operation. Here, the CA operation may be an intra-band CA or an inter-band CA. For example, the configuration information for an SCell may include information (e.g., sCellToAddModList) including information for adding an SCell, and specifically, may include a cell index, a physical cell identifier, information related to DL-UL configuration, information related to BWP, information related to cell DTX / DRX, information related to downlink frequency (e.g., FrequencyInfoDL), etc. Accordingly, the terminal can determine the configuration for the CA operation and perform communication using the PCell and SCell of the base station.

[0219] For example, the terminal can determine that the SCell is an SSB-less SCell based on information related to the downlink frequency included in the configuration information, and can check related parameters. For example, the terminal can determine that the SCell is an SSB-less SCell by checking the presence of a parameter indicating that the SCell is an SSB-less SCell (e.g., SSBlessSCell), and can check the timing reference and AGC source for the SCell based on information about the reference cell (e.g., referenceCell). In the example of Fig. 16, the reference cell can be the PCell. Therefore, the terminal can use the PCell as a timing reference and AGC source for communication in the SCell. For example, the reference of the SSB-less cell can be (another) cell, TRP, CORESET pool (control resource set pool), (additional) PCI (physical cell ID), etc.

[0220] Conditional Handover (CHO)

[0221] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a conditional handover operation to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0222] The order of the operations illustrated in Fig. 17 may vary depending on the case.

[0223] A second node (120) (e.g., a base station) can transmit configuration information for CHO to a first node (110) (e.g., a terminal). The configuration information for CHO can include information related to conditional reconfiguration (e.g., ConditionalReconfiguration, CondReconfigToAddModList), information related to configuration for reporting (e.g., ReportConfigNR). For example, the information related to configuration for reporting can include information related to events related to reporting, identifiers of the events (e.g., condEventId), information indicating whether it is a NES-specific CHO event (e.g., nesEvent), etc. In the example of FIG. 17, it is assumed that event information indicating that it is a NES-specific CHO event is received.

[0224] A base station may transmit information for enabling an NES-specific CHO execution condition to a terminal. The information for enabling the NES-specific CHO execution condition may be transmitted via control information of a specified format (e.g., DCI format 2_9). The information for enabling the NES-specific CHO execution condition may be referred to as an NES-mode indicator, and may be, for example, 1-bit information that indicates enabling the NES-specific CHO execution condition when a related upper layer parameter (e.g., nesEvent) is set and a serving cell of a related block in the DCI is a primary cell.

[0225] Afterwards, the terminal can perform measurements and transmit a measurement report to the base station. The base station can determine a CHO based on the measurement report and perform signaling for a handover request with the adjacent / neighboring base station(s) indicated by the measurement report. The base station can determine the adjacent base station(s) that have confirmed admission through signaling as candidate base station(s) and transmit information about the candidate base station(s) to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal can evaluate the CHO execution conditions for the candidate base station(s). Based on the evaluation result, if a candidate cell satisfying the conditions is determined, the terminal can perform detachment for the old cell and synchronization for the new cell.

[0226] For example, based on event information indicating that the event is an NES-specific CHO event received by the terminal in the previous procedure and information enabling an NES-specific CHO execution condition, the terminal can determine whether the event is satisfied. For example, if an NES-mode indicator is received through a lower layer and conditional triggering configuration information (e.g., condTriggerConfig) includes information indicating that the event is an NES-specific CHO event (e.g., nesEvent), the terminal can determine that the event associated with the corresponding measurement identifier (e.g., measId) is satisfied, and thus, determine that the CHO execution condition is satisfied.

[0227] Channel State Information (CSI) Measurement and Reporting

[0228] FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a procedure for CSI measurement and reporting to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0229] A second node (120) (e.g., a base station) can transmit configuration information for CSI to a first node (110) (e.g., a terminal). The configuration information for CSI can include information related to a reference signal (e.g., a CSI-RS) resource or a resource set for CSI (e.g., time-frequency resource information, sequence information, power information, etc.), information related to CSI reporting (e.g., report item (quantity) information, report type information, report resource information, codebook information, etc.), information related to CSI measurement, etc.

[0230] For example, to assist the base station with transceiver muting and / or transmit power adaptation of the base station, the terminal may be configured to report multiple CSI entries in a CSI report based on multiple sub-configurations. For example, each sub-configuration may correspond to a spatial domain adaptation pattern (e.g., a subset of available spatial elements) and / or a power offset. With respect to CSI reporting, a higher layer parameter included in the configuration information (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) may include a list of sub-configurations, and each sub-configuration may be identified by an identifier (e.g., csi-ReportSubConfigID). For example, each sub-configuration may correspond to a list of at least one CSI-RS resource, or may correspond to a subset of CSI-RS antenna ports, and / or may correspond to power-related parameters of the CSI-RS resource(s) (e.g., power control offset-related parameters (e.g., powerControlOffset) and / or power offset for a PDSCH associated with the CSI-RS).

[0231] For example, an information element (IE) for an aperiodic trigger state list for CSI may include a trigger list parameter for a CSI reporting sub-configuration. This parameter may include a list of sub-configuration ID(s) of N sub-configuration(s) among L configured sub-configurations within a CSI reporting configuration that are associated with triggering states for aperiodic CSI reporting on an uplink data channel (e.g., a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)).

[0232] For example, an IE for a CSI reporting configuration may include parameters for a list of CSI reporting sub-configuration ID(s) to be added / modified or released. Port subset indicators and a list of non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resources may not be configured simultaneously in the same CSI reporting configuration.

[0233] For example, an IE for a CSI reporting sub-configuration may include a port-subset indicator parameter, an NZP CSI-RS resource list parameter, and a power offset parameter.

[0234] The port-subset indicator parameter may indicate the number of ports of the NZP CSI-RS resources indicated in the NZP CSI-RS resource list (the value of which is equal to the number of ports of the corresponding NZP CSI-RS resources) and the (sub)set of CSI-RS antenna ports used for CSI calculation of the sub-configuration. Each bit in the bit string of the port-subset indicator corresponds to an antenna port, and if any bit is set to 1, the corresponding port may be enabled for CSI calculation corresponding to the sub-configuration, and if any bit is set to 0, the corresponding port may not be enabled for CSI calculation corresponding to the sub-configuration.

[0235] The NZP CSI-RS resource list parameter may indicate a list of NZP CSI-RS resources for a sub-configuration, which is a (sub)set of NZP CSI-RS resource(s) of a CSI-RS resource set for channel measurements associated with the sub-configuration of the CSI reporting configuration. The values ​​0, 1, 2, ... may mean the first, second, third, ... NZP CSI-RS resources of the CSI-RS resource set.

[0236] When the power offset parameter is set for an NZP CSI-RS resource, it may indicate that a power offset is applied between the PDSCH RE (resource element) and the NZP CSI-RS RE by the difference in the value of the power offset parameter from the value of the power control offset parameter.

[0237] When a configuration for CSI includes multiple sub-configurations, when interpreting the configuration information for CSI, the terminal may determine CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS port mapping, power offset, codebook type, report items, etc. by considering the sub-configurations. When configuration information related to CSI reporting including sub-configurations (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) is provided to the terminal, the terminal may not expect that a higher layer parameter related to a report item (e.g., reportQuantity) is set to 'cri-RSRP', 'cri-SINR', 'cri-SINR-Index', 'cri-RSRP-Index', 'none', 'ssb-Index-RSRP', 'ssb-Index-SINR', 'ssb-Index-RSRP-Index', 'ssb-Index-SINR-Index' or 'tdcp' (wherein CRI corresponds to a CSI-RS resource index, and tdcp corresponds to time domain channel properties). Additionally, when the type of CSI reporting is set to semi-persistent CSI reporting or aperiodic CSI reporting, the base station can activate / trigger only some of the sub-configurations configured for the UE through MAC-CE (control element) or DCI (downlink control information). For example, the trigger state of aperiodic CSI reporting can be configured as needed, and whether semi-static CSI reporting is activated can be controlled by an activation command.

[0238] For example, with respect to the configuration of a report quantity, the terminal may determine the CSI-RS port index(es) for each CSI-RS resource based on information related to a port subset per sub-configuration (hereinafter referred to as a "port subset indicator"). The port subset indicator may include a bitmap for specifying some of the antenna ports for the corresponding CSI-RS resource. Accordingly, the terminal may identify at least one antenna port for the corresponding sub-configuration based on the positions of bits set to positive values ​​(e.g., 1) in the port subset indicator.

[0239] For example, with respect to the configuration of report items (report quantity), the terminal may determine the codebook type based on the presence or absence of sub-configurations. Specifically, if sub-configurations are configured for CSI reporting, the terminal may exclude the configuration of at least one codebook type. For example, if the terminal's capabilities support it, at least one codebook type may be configured.

[0240] For example, in relation to the configuration of the report quantity, a power offset value and an NZP CSI-RS resource set may be configured for each sub-configuration. For example, depending on whether a power offset value is configured for each sub-configuration and whether an NZP CSI-RS resource set is configured, the interpretation of the NZP CSI-RS resource set for each sub-configuration may vary.

[0241] When determining the channel quality indicator (CQI), a higher-layer parameter related to time restrictions for channel measurements (e.g., timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements) may be configured. In this case, the terminal can derive a channel estimate for determining CSI based on the most recent CSI reference resource. For example, if cell DTX is activated for the base station, the cell DTX activation time, etc., may be considered to determine the CSI reference resource, etc.

[0242] CSI is derived based on CSI reference resources. A CSI reference resource is defined as a group of downlink physical resource blocks corresponding to a band related to the CSI derived in the frequency domain, and is defined as a single downlink slot determined based on higher-layer parameters and subcarrier spacing in the time domain. After receiving a CSI-RS, a UE can transmit a CSI report no later than the CSI reference resource. For example, if sub-configurations are configured for a CSI report, a CSI reference resource may be considered for each sub-configuration.

[0243] When at least one of a CQI index, a precoding matrix index (PMI), and a rank indicator (RI) is set to be reported, in the CSI reference resource, the terminal may assume specific values ​​for the symbol positions and number occupied by control signaling, the number of PDSCH and demodulation reference signal (DMRS) symbols, the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth part (BWP), the bandwidth for CQI reporting, the length and subcarrier spacing of the cyclic prefix (CP) of the reference resource, and the redundancy version (RV), for the purpose of deriving at least one of the CQI index, PMI, and RI. At this time, when sub-configurations are set for the CSI reporting, assumptions about the antenna port, EPRE (energy per resource element), etc. may be determined based on the sub-configurations.

[0244] Based on the aforementioned configuration, the base station can transmit at least one CSI-RS to the terminal. Based on the aforementioned configuration, the terminal can receive at least one CSI-RS and perform measurement on it. For example, the at least one CSI-RS can be transmitted via a CSI-RS resource or resource set configured by the configuration information.

[0245] When the terminal is set to DRX (discontinuous reception), the terminal can perform measurements as follows. For example, when the terminal is set to monitor power saving related control information (e.g., DCI format 2_6) and the DRX related timer (e.g., drx-onDurationTimer) has not been started by a higher layer parameter (e.g., ps-TransmitOtherPeriodicCSI), and is set to report CSI using a reporting configuration type set to periodic reporting and a reporting item set to an item other than cri-RSRP and ssb-index-RSRP, the most recent CSI measurement opportunity occurs during the time indicated by drx-onDurationTimer in the DRX related configuration information (e.g., DRX-Config) other than the DRX active time or the DRX active time for the CSI to be reported. As another example, if the terminal is configured to monitor power saving related control information (e.g., DCI format 2_6) and is configured to report L1-RSRP using a report configuration type set to periodic reporting and a report item set to cri-RSRP in a situation where drx-onDurationTimer has not started by a higher layer parameter (e.g., ps-TransmitPeriodicL1-RSRP), the most recent CSI measurement opportunity occurs during a time indicated by drx-onDurationTimer in DRX-related configuration information (e.g., DRX-Config) other than the DRX active time or the DRX active time for the CSI to be reported. In addition, the most recent CSI measurement opportunity occurs within the DRX active time for the CSI to be reported.

[0246] A base station may perform cell DTX and / or cell DRX operations. In this case, during the inactive period of cell DTX, a terminal configured as cell DTX may not expect to receive periodic CSI-RS and semi-static CSI-RS, at least as configured in a CSI reporting configuration associated with a report item including RI. When cell DTX is activated for a serving cell, the most recent CSI measurement opportunity of a semi-static CSI-RS resource or a periodic CSI-RS resource may occur within the active periods of cell DTX for CSI reporting, at least as configured by configuration information (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) related to CSI reporting associated with a report item including RI.

[0247] A terminal that receives at least one CSI-RS can determine CSI. For example, the terminal can perform CSI calculation. The terminal can perform CSI calculation based on CSI processing criteria. The terminal can indicate the number of supported concurrent CSI calculations, for example, the number of CSI processing units (CPUs) that can be performed simultaneously, called NCPU. The terminal can determine the number of CPUs for a given CSI report based on at least one of the NCPU, the number of CPUs for each CSI report, the number of CPUs currently occupied, and the settings of the report items. For example, for configuration information (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) related to CSI reporting that includes a report item parameter (e.g., reportQuantity) that is not set to 'none', the CPU(s) may be occupied for at least one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, wherein the number of at least one symbol may be determined based on CSI-RS resources or CSI-IM (interference measurement) resources associated with the sub-configurations.

[0248] When configuration information related to CSI reporting (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) includes multiple sub-configurations, the number of CPUs occupied by the CSI report may be determined based on the number of CSI-RS resources corresponding to the sub-configurations. For example, the number of CSI-RS resources may be determined based on the number of times they are referred in the configuration information related to CSI reporting (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) or the number of sub-configurations referencing the corresponding CSI-RS resources.

[0249] A terminal that has determined CSI can transmit a CSI report to a base station. The terminal can transmit CSI(s) for at least one sub-configuration according to a report item parameter (e.g., reportQuantity) configured for configuration information related to the CSI report (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig). For example, the CSI report can include at least one of PMI, CQI, RI, CRI, SSBRI (SSB resource index), LI (layer indicator), and RSRP. In this case, the CSI report can include a Part 1 CSI report and a Part 2 CSI report. In addition, the CSI report can be transmitted via at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a PUSCH.

[0250] When a terminal multiplexes a CSI report including a Part 2 CSI report on a PUCCH resource, the terminal determines the number of PUCCH resources and physical resource blocks (PRBs) for the PUCCH resource or the number of Part 2 CSI reports, assuming that each CSI report or each CSI sub-report included in the CSI report indicates rank 1 or the rank combination {1, 1}. When a higher layer parameter related to the CSI reporting mode (e.g., csi-ReportMode) is set to 'Mode2', the terminal determines the PUCCH resource and the number of PRBs for the PUCCH resource or the number of Part 2 CSI reports, assuming that each CRI of the CSI report is associated with a resource pair.

[0251] When a CSI report on PUSCH includes two parts, the UE may omit some of the Part 2 CSI. The omission of Part 2 CSI is in priority order. When omitting Part 2 CSI information for a particular priority level, the UE shall exclude all information for that priority level, except when the corresponding CSI report includes at least one CSI sub-report including Part 2, which corresponds to a sub-configuration from a list of sub-configurations provided by a higher layer parameter (e.g., csi-ReportSubConfigList) included in information related to the CSI report (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig).

[0252] For a report configuration related to information related to a CSI report (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) that includes a list of sub-configurations, the following processing is possible: For a corresponding CSI report that includes at least one CSI sub-report, omission of Part 2 CSI is performed at the sub-configuration level within the same priority level, where a sub-configuration with a lower index value has a higher priority.

[0253] If a CSI report consists of two parts, a UE may omit some of the Part 2 CSI. The omission of Part 2 CSI is based on a priority order. For a report configuration related to information related to a CSI report (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig) that includes a list of sub-configurations, for a given CSI report that includes at least one CSI sub-report, the omission of Part 2 CSI may be applied according to the CSI reporting procedure using PUSCH. Part 2 CSI may be omitted starting from the lowest priority level up to the Part 2 CSI coding rate that is less than or equal to the coding rate set by the higher layer parameter (e.g., maxCodeRate).

[0254] Additionally, if the CQI request (or CSI request) field in the DCI triggers CSI report(s) on the PUSCH, the first uplink symbol carrying the CSI report(s) may not precede a symbol specified after a certain interval from the last symbol of the PDCCH carrying the corresponding DCI. Accordingly, the CSI calculation time may be guaranteed. For example, if multiple sub-configurations are configured for the CSI report, the starting position of the aforementioned certain interval may be determined based on all triggered sub-configurations.

[0255] CSI is transmitted via PUCCH or PUSCH and can be expressed as a bit string of a fixed size. When CSI is transmitted via PUCCH, if a parameter (e.g., csi-ReportSubConfig) indicating sub-configuration-specific settings for CSI reports is configured, the mapping order of CSI fields for each CSI sub-report can be applied according to predefined rules.

[0256] When CSI is transmitted via PUSCH, if a parameter indicating sub-configuration-specific configuration for CSI reporting (e.g., csi-ReportSubConfig) is set, for each CSI sub-report, the mapping order of CSI fields can be applied according to a predefined rule.

[0257] Some or all of the examples of FIGS. 1 to 18 described above may be combined with some or all of the examples of the present disclosure described below, and such combined examples are included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0258] Improved NES

[0259] For enhancement of NES technology, on-demand SSB, on-demand SIB1, and adaptation of common signal / channel transmissions are being discussed.

[0260] Below we describe on-demand SSB.

[0261] On-demand SSB is a NES scheme that transmits SSB when triggered in a specific cell and does not transmit SSB when not triggered. Existing NR systems require periodic, constant transmission of SSB for purposes such as time / frequency synchronization and RRM measurement, making it difficult to reduce energy consumption even when the base station has no data to receive or send. Considering this, energy consumption at the base station can be reduced by not performing SSB transmission at all and only performing SSB transmission when the on-demand SSB process is performed.

[0262] These on-demand SSB processes can be triggered by one or more of the following examples:

[0263] - The terminal requests SSB transmission from the base station by transmitting an uplink signal / channel (e.g., PRACH (physical random access channel), PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS (sounding reference signal) in the 5G NR system, and may be a signal / channel with a different name in the 6G system).

[0264] - The first base station (or TRP) requests SSB transmission from the second base station (or TRP) through an interface between base stations (e.g., Xn interface in 5G NR system, interface with different name in 6G system) or backhaul signaling, etc.

[0265] - Signaling whether SSB transmission of the corresponding SCell is possible through SCell activation / deactivation signaling.

[0266] Considering coexistence with existing NR terminals, on-demand SSB operation may be limited to connected mode terminals and SCells. In subsequent releases or next-generation communication systems, on-demand SSB operation considering inactive or idle mode terminals or initially connected terminals (e.g., on-demand SSB support on PCell) may be defined. In addition, carrier aggregation (CA) including SCells applicable to on-demand SSB may be applied to both intra-band CA and inter-band CA. SSB on SCells transmitted through on-demand SSB may be utilized at least for time / frequency synchronization, L1 / L3 measurements, SCell activation, etc.

[0267] Below, we describe On-Demand SIB1.

[0268] On-demand SIB1 corresponds to a NES scheme that transmits SIB1 when triggered on a specific cell and does not transmit SIB1 when not triggered. In the existing NR system, in order to support access to a cell by an initial access terminal or an idle mode terminal, it is required to periodically and always transmit SIB1 containing system information, random access information, etc., making it difficult to reduce energy consumption even when the base station has no data to receive or send. By allowing the base station to not perform SIB1 transmission and to perform SIB1 transmission only when the on-demand SIB1 process is performed, the energy consumption of the base station can be reduced.

[0269] This on-demand SIB1 process may include the terminal transmitting an uplink signal / channel (e.g., PRACH in a 5G NR system, or a signal / channel with a different name in a 6G system) that triggers the base station's SIB1 transmission.

[0270] FIG. 19 illustrates examples of on-demand SIB1 operations to which some examples of the present disclosure may be applied. FIG. 19 merely illustrates examples, and on-demand SIB1 operations are not limited to the examples of FIG. 19.

[0271] In (a) of FIG. 19, the terminal may receive an SSB (and / or other downlink signal / channel) from the first cell (cell#1) and recognize that SIB1 is not transmitted on the corresponding cell#1. The terminal may trigger SIB1 transmission on cell#1 by transmitting a signal requesting SIB1 (e.g., a wake-up signal (WUS)) based on information provided in the SSB (and / or other downlink signal / channel) and / or predetermined information. For example, the base station that received the WUS may transmit a specific DL signal / channel (e.g., ACK) on cell#1 in response thereto and transmit SIB1 on cell#1. Alternatively, the base station may transmit SIB1 on cell#1 without transmitting a specific DL signal / channel (e.g., ACK).

[0272] In (b) of FIG. 19, the terminal may receive an SSB (and / or other downlink signal / channel such as SIB1) from the first cell (cell#1) and recognize that SIB1 is not transmitted from the second cell (cell#2). The terminal may attempt to camp on cell#2. The terminal may trigger SIB1 transmission for cell#2 by transmitting a signal (e.g., WUS) requesting SIB1 on cell#1 based on information provided in the SSB (and / or other downlink signal / channel such as SIB1) received from cell#1 and / or predetermined information. For example, the base station receiving the WUS may transmit a specific DL signal / channel (e.g., ACK) on cell#1 (or on cell#2) in response thereto, and transmit SIB1 for cell#2 on cell#1 (or on cell#2). Alternatively, the base station may transmit SIB1 for cell#2 on cell#1 (or on cell#2) without transmitting a specific DL signal / channel (e.g., ACK).

[0273] In (c) of FIG. 19, the terminal may receive an SSB (and / or other downlink signal / channel such as SIB1) from the first cell (cell#1) and recognize that SIB1 is not transmitted from the second cell (cell#2). The terminal may attempt to camp on cell#2. The terminal may trigger SIB1 transmission for cell#2 by transmitting a signal (e.g., WUS) requesting SIB1 on cell#2 based on information provided in the SSB (and / or other downlink signal / channel such as SIB1) received from cell#1 and / or predetermined information. For example, the base station receiving the WUS may transmit a specific DL signal / channel (e.g., ACK) on cell#2 (or on cell#1) in response thereto, and transmit SIB1 for cell#2 on cell#2 (or on cell#1). Alternatively, the base station may transmit SIB1 for cell#2 on cell#2 (or on cell#1) without transmitting a specific DL signal / channel (e.g., ACK).

[0274] Below we describe the adaptation of common signal / channel transmission.

[0275] Base stations can apply NES schemes that control the transmission of common signals / channels such as SSB, PRACH, and paging. Energy consumption can be reduced more significantly when SSB is not transmitted completely but is transmitted as needed. However, if SSB that supports time / frequency synchronization or RRM measurement is not transmitted completely, stable operation of terminals for the corresponding cell may not be guaranteed. Considering this, energy saving effects of the base station can be achieved by controlling / changing the SSB transmission pattern (e.g., transmission period, period by SSB candidate index(es), SSB candidate index(es) transmitted within one transmission period, transmission power, etc.) according to the situation.

[0276] In the case of PRACH resources, in the case of contention-based random access, since the base station does not know when the terminal will transmit the PRACH, it is required to always attempt reception within the PRACH resources set for the terminal, which may increase network energy consumption. Considering this, a method for controlling the amount of PRACH resources can be applied. For example, the period of the PRACH resources can be adjusted to be longer so that the base station attempts PRACH reception less frequently. For example, the number of PRACH resources can be adjusted to be smaller, such as a method of pre-configuring PRACH resource sets #1 and #2 and activating only one of the two sets or activating both sets. For example, the amount of RACH resources corresponding to each SSB index can be provided uniformly or non-uniformly.

[0277] In the case of paging, it is defined that paging frames (PF) and / or paging occasions (PO) are distributed on the time axis within a DRX cycle (or paging cycle), and the terminal attempts to receive paging at a specific PF / PO derived from a formula based on its own identification information. If the base station wants to transmit paging to multiple terminals simultaneously, it may need to frequently transmit paging messages according to various terminal identification information values. As a method for reducing the base station energy consumption due to this, a method such as arranging the PF and / or PO as close as possible on the time axis or arranging them on distinct frequency resources within the same time resource can be applied.

[0278] Types of synchronization signals

[0279] The examples of the present disclosure assume two types of synchronization signals. While the term "SSB" is used as an example of a synchronization signal in the following description, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited by that term, and other units with different names that include synchronization signals may replace "SSB."

[0280] For example, assuming on-demand SSB on a specific cell where transmission is initiated by a base station instruction or a terminal request, Type-1 SSB and Type-2 SSB can be distinguished as follows.

[0281] Type-1 SSB may refer to an SSB transmitted periodically on a first cell or on a second cell. If a period, etc. for the SSB is determined / defined / set, the SSB may be continuously transmitted according to the period. Continuous transmission may include transmission without distinction between on and off periods for SSB transmission, or without activation or deactivation. If Type-1 SSB refers to an SSB transmitted on a first cell, the first cell may correspond to a timing reference cell. If Type-1 SSB refers to an SSB transmitted on a second cell, the second cell may be in an intra-band CA or inter-band CA relationship with the first cell. For example, (especially in an inter-band CA environment) the second cell may be set as a timing reference cell for the first cell, or (in an intra-band CA environment) the second cell may be determined / defined as a timing reference cell for the first cell (e.g., a specific cell within the same timing advance group or a PCell or PSCell (primary secondary cell, i.e., a primary cell within a secondary cell group (SCG)). Also, only Type-2 SSBs may be transmitted on a specific cell without Type-1 SSBs.

[0282] Type-2 SSB may refer to an SSB in which transmission on a specific cell is activated through a configuration / instruction of the base station (via RRC / MAC-CE / DCI, etc.) or upon a request of the terminal. For an activated SSB, SSB deactivation may be explicitly configured / instructed via RRC / MAC-CE / DCI, etc. Alternatively, for an SSB in which the number of transmissions or transmission intervals are configured / instructed in the RRC / MAC-CE / DCI instructing SSB activation, the SSB may be deactivated when the corresponding number of transmissions or transmission intervals have expired. Alternatively, if there is a pre-configured / defined number of transmissions or transmission intervals, the SSB may be deactivated when the corresponding number of transmissions or transmission intervals have expired after SSB activation. Alternatively, (if a specific cell is an SCell) the SSB may be deactivated when activation for the specific cell is completed (or when CSI reporting for the specific cell is successfully completed). Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated when the specific cell is deactivated (if the specific cell is an SCell). Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated after a handover from the specific cell to another cell (if the specific cell is a PCell). Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated at the request of the UE.

[0283] As another example, it can be assumed that one or more SSB configurations are configured among different SSB configurations with at least different SSB cycle values, and an SSB corresponding to one of the SSB configurations is transmitted at the base station's instruction or the terminal's request. In this case, adaptation to the SSB cycle can be performed by varying the activated SSB configuration. In this case, Type-1 SSB and Type-2 SSB can be distinguished as follows.

[0284] Type-1 SSB may refer to a reference SSB setting among the configured SSB setting(s). For example, the reference SSB setting may correspond to the SSB setting having the largest SSB period value. For example, if an SSB setting corresponding to a Type-2 SSB is not activated, an SSB setting corresponding to a Type-1 SSB may be activated. Alternatively, if an SSB setting corresponding to a Type-2 SSB is activated, an SSB setting corresponding to a Type-1 SSB may be deactivated. Alternatively, if SSB opportunities specified based on a particular SSB setting (e.g., the reference SSB setting) among the configured SSB settings are a subset of SSB opportunities specified based on other SSB settings (e.g., "extended SSB opportunities"), the reference SSB opportunities may be defined as a Type-1 SSB (regardless of the actual activated SSB setting). In this case, Type-2 SSB can be defined as the remaining SSB opportunities among the extended SSB opportunities (included in the actual activated SSB configuration) excluding the reference SSB opportunities.

[0285] For Type-2 SSB, in addition to the SSB configuration corresponding to Type-1 SSB, one or more SSB configurations for Type-2 SSB can be configured. When an SSB configuration corresponding to Type-2 SSB is activated, all SSBs belonging to the activated SSB configuration can be defined as Type-2 SSBs. Alternatively, if SSB opportunities configured based on a specific SSB configuration (e.g., a reference SSB configuration) among the configured SSB configurations (hereinafter, referred to as "reference SSB opportunities" for convenience) are a subset of SSB opportunities configured based on other configurations (hereinafter, referred to as "extended SSB opportunities" for convenience), the reference SSB opportunities can be defined as Type-1 SSBs (regardless of the actual activated SSB configuration), in which case Type-2 SSBs can be defined as the remaining SSB opportunities among the extended SSB opportunities (in the actual activated configuration) excluding the reference SSB opportunities. One or more SSB configurations may be activated by a configuration / instruction (via RRC / MAC-CE / DCI) of the base station or by a request of the terminal. For an activated SSB configuration, SSB deactivation may be explicitly configured / instructed via RRC / MAC-CE / DCI, etc. Alternatively, for an SSB activated by configuring / instructing the number of transmissions or transmission intervals in the RRC / MAC-CE / DCI instructing the activation of the SSB configuration, when the corresponding number of transmissions or transmission intervals expire, the SSB may be deactivated. Alternatively, if there is a pre-configured / defined number of transmissions or transmission intervals, the SSB may be deactivated when the corresponding number of transmissions or transmission intervals expire after the SSB is activated. Alternatively, (if a specific cell is an SCell) the SSB may be deactivated when activation for the specific cell is completed (or CSI reporting for the specific cell is successfully completed). Alternatively, (if a specific cell is an SCell) the SSB may be deactivated when the specific cell is deactivated.Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated after a handover from a specific cell to another cell (if the specific cell is a PCell). Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated at the request of the terminal.

[0286] As another example, it can be assumed that one or more SSB configurations are configured and an SSB corresponding to one of the SSB configuration(s) is transmitted at the instruction of the base station or upon the request of the terminal. In this case, there is an SSB (e.g., Type-1 SSB) that continues to be transmitted periodically regardless of the activation / deactivation of the corresponding SSB configuration(s), and an SSB configuration to be transmitted in addition to this SSB can be activated / deactivated. At least the SSB period value or SSB time pattern can be different between different SSB configurations. In this case, adaptation to the SSB period can be performed by varying the activated SSB configuration. In this case, Type-1 SSB and Type-2 SSB can be distinguished as follows.

[0287] Type-1 SSB may mean an SSB corresponding to the default SSB setting, and continuous periodic transmission may be guaranteed for Type-1 SSB regardless of the activation / deactivation of the SSB setting(s) corresponding to Type-2 SSB.

[0288] One or more SSB configurations for Type-2 SSB can be configured. One of the one or more SSB configurations can be activated by a configuration / instruction from a base station (via RRC / MAC-CE / DCI) or a request from a terminal. For an activated SSB configuration, SSB deactivation can be explicitly configured / instructed via RRC / MAC-CE / DCI, etc. Alternatively, for an SSB activated by configuring / instructing the number of transmissions or transmission intervals in the RRC / MAC-CE / DCI indicating the activation of the SSB configuration, when the number of transmissions or transmission intervals has expired, the SSB can be deactivated. Alternatively, if there is a pre-configured / defined number of transmissions or transmission intervals, the SSB can be deactivated when the number of transmissions or transmission intervals has expired after the SSB is activated. Alternatively, the SSB can be deactivated when activation for the specific cell is completed (or when CSI reporting for the specific cell is successfully completed) (if the specific cell is an SCell). Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated when the specific cell is deactivated (if the specific cell is an SCell). Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated after a handover from the specific cell to another cell (if the specific cell is a PCell). Alternatively, SSB may be deactivated at the request of the UE.

[0289] In the various examples described above, Type-1 SSB may correspond to an SSB that can assume continuous periodic transmission, and Type-2 SSB may correspond to an SSB that cannot assume continuous periodic transmission. In some of the examples described below, the always-on SSB may correspond to or be replaced by the Type-1 SSB described above, and the on-demand SSB may correspond to or be replaced by the Type-2 SSB described above.

[0290] Transmitting / receiving synchronization signal blocks based on enable / disable

[0291] The network / base station operations based on terminal requests in this disclosure may be applied to the aforementioned Network Energy Saving (NES) or to other fields or applications other than NES. This disclosure primarily describes various examples of SSB transmissions based on terminal requests (e.g., Type-2 SSB or on-demand SSB as described above), with respect to the start and end times of SSB transmission / reception.

[0292] The aforementioned Type-1 SSB (or legacy SSB, or always-on (AO) SSB) is always transmitted until the base station is turned off, and the terminal can perform synchronization and measurement for the corresponding cell based on this SSB. For example, a cell-defining (CD) SSB may correspond to an SSB that is located on the synchronization raster and includes information such as cell identification information and SIB1, and can be utilized for cell detection and initial access. For example, a non-cell-defining (NCD) SSB may correspond to an SSB that is not located on the synchronization raster and does not include cell identification information and SIB1, and is used for time synchronization, radio link measurement, beam failure detection, and the like, but cannot be utilized for cell detection and initial access. Additionally, Type-1 SSB (or legacy / always-on SSB) may not exist in a particular cell, in which case another co-located cell (e.g., reference cell) or SpCell (PCell or PSCell) may be used instead of Type-1 SSB. Type-1 SSB can transmit SSBs corresponding to multiple beam directions according to a specific period.

[0293] Type-2 SSB (or On-Demand (OD) SSB) may correspond to an SSB transmitted for a predetermined time period upon instruction from a base station / terminal. It is necessary to clearly define when Type-2 SSB is actually transmitted / received after being triggered / activated by L1 / L2 / L3 signaling, and when Type-2 SSB is not transmitted continuously after being triggered / activated and when transmission / reception is terminated.

[0294] This disclosure primarily describes examples related to changes in the SSB transmission timing or SSB transmission period in SCells added / activated through Carrier Aggregation (CA). In general, a cell may operate differently in SCells and PCells depending on the UE's circumstances, and the SSB period of a typical cell may be fixed or not change significantly once set. In the case of an NES cell, the period of an SSB that is always transmitted may be set to be relatively long to save energy. In the case of an SCell that always transmits SSBs at a constant period, transmission of an SSB with a relatively short period may be required during the measurement or activation process in an NES situation. In this assumption, an SSB with a long period that is always transmitted may correspond to a Type-1 SSB (or a Legacy SSB or an Always-On (AO) SSB), and an SSB whose transmission is triggered for a specific purpose may correspond to a Type-2 SSB (or an On-Demand (OD) SSB). For OD SSB, the network can trigger to the terminal when necessary, or the terminal can trigger to the base station when necessary, in a specific setting or signaling process.

[0295] The four scenarios in which NES cells operate as SCells are distinguished, as shown in the table below, and additional scenarios may be defined. The SSB cycle may be set differently for each scenario.

[0296] Scenario Index Description S0 State of neighboring cell before SCell is added by RRC S1 State in which SCell is added by RRC and deactivated S2 State in which SCell activation is in progress by SCell activation command through MAC CE S3 State in which SCell activation process is completed (i.e., activated) (e.g., after CSI reporting)

[0297] As described above, SSB transmission of a NES cell can be distinguished into Type-1 SSB (or AO SSB) and Type-2 SSB (or OD SSB). In the S0 scenario, since the neighboring cell is not recognized as a serving cell by the UE, it can be assumed that there is no operation for OD SSB. After receiving a configuration from the network to add a specific cell as an SCell by RRC, the UE can recognize the specific cell as a serving cell. Therefore, when a cell is a neighboring cell before being recognized as a serving cell or is additionally configured as an SCell, only long-period Type-1 SSB (or AO SSB) can be seen by the UE from the cell.

[0298] If a cell is completely co-located or QCL'd with the PCell or another specific reference cell / BWP / carrier, there may be no SSB transmission at all in the S0 scenario. That is, no Type-1 SSB (or AO SSB) may be transmitted from the cell. In this case, depending on the terminal capabilities, the cell in S0 state may operate as an SSB-less cell.

[0299] Indication (e.g., triggering / activating) for Type-2 SSB (or OD SSB) can be applied via DCI signaling method of L1, MAC CE control command of L2, and / or RRC message signaling method of L3. Activation / triggering of such OD SSB can be signaled together with or in conjunction with signaling related to a change in the aforementioned scenario (Sn). Different scenarios in Table 1 may correspond to different time periods. For example, in SCell configuration, activation can be signaled together with SCell addition via RRC signaling, or SCell activation can be indicated via MAC CE signaling after SCell addition via RRC signaling. Accordingly, S1 and S2 in Table 1 may correspond to distinct time periods or may correspond to a single time period. Similarly, the setting and indication (activation / trigger) of an OD SSB may correspond to one time interval associated with one signaling, or the setting and indication (activation / trigger) of an OD SSB may correspond to distinct time intervals associated with distinct signaling.

[0300] Various examples of the present disclosure for this purpose are described below.

[0301] In the present disclosure, triggering or instruction related to transmission of Type-2 (or OD) SSB may be used with the same meaning. In the present disclosure, activation / triggering for transmission of Type-2 (or OD) SSB corresponds to a description from the perspective of a base station, and this may be understood as activation / triggering for reception of Type-2 (or OD) SSB from the perspective of a terminal. Similarly, deactivation / cease (cease) for transmission of Type-2 (or OD) SSB in the present disclosure corresponds to a description from the perspective of a base station, and this may be understood as deactivation / cease for reception of Type-2 (or OD) SSB from the perspective of a terminal.

[0302] FIG. 20 is a drawing for explaining an example of a method performed by a terminal according to the present disclosure.

[0303] In step S2010, the terminal may receive first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block from the network.

[0304] Unlike the conventional Type-1 SSB (or AO SSB) which is transmitted by the cell without separate activation, the synchronization signal block in the example of Fig. 20 is transmitted / received based on an activation / trigger instruction and may correspond to the aforementioned Type-2 (or OD SSB).

[0305] In some examples, the first information may be provided to the terminal via one or more of the downlink control information (DCI) of the first layer, the MAC control element (MAC CE) of the second layer, or the RRC information element of the third layer. For example, the configuration and indication (or trigger / activation) of a synchronization signal block may be indicated by RRC signaling. Alternatively, the synchronization signal block may be configured by RRC signaling, and one or more of the configured synchronization signal blocks may be indicated (or triggered / activated) by the MAC CE and / or DCI.

[0306] In step S2020, the terminal can receive a synchronization signal block from the network on the first resource based on the first information.

[0307] In some examples, multiple opportunities (occasions) during which the synchronization signal block is allowed to be transmitted / received may be preset for the terminal. These multiple opportunities may correspond to periodic time domain resources. For example, the synchronization signal block may be transmitted / received (repeatedly) starting from the first resource and continuing on subsequent opportunities.

[0308] In some examples, the first resource may correspond to the earliest opportunity for a synchronization signal block transmission / reception that occurs after receiving the first information, processing the first information, and / or transmitting a response to the first information. For example, the synchronization signal block may be first actually transmitted / received at the earliest opportunity after receiving the first information. For example, the synchronization signal block may be first actually transmitted / received at the earliest opportunity after receiving the first information and processing (completing) the first information. For example, the synchronization signal block may be first actually transmitted / received at the earliest opportunity after receiving and processing the first information and transmitting a response to the first information (e.g., a HARQ-ACK indicating that the first information has been successfully decoded, or a response message to a request message including the first information).

[0309] For example, it may be assumed that first information is provided to a terminal via a MAC control element in a first cell based on a first subcarrier spacing, and a synchronization signal block is transmitted from a network in a second cell based on a second subcarrier spacing. In this case, the time associated with processing the first information may be calculated based on the first subcarrier spacing, or may be calculated based on a minimum value between the first subcarrier spacing and the second subcarrier spacing.

[0310] In some examples, when a group (or SSB burst) of synchronization signal blocks is configured / defined, the group / burst of one synchronization signal block may include one or more synchronization signal block indices. For example, a synchronization signal block transmitted / received on a first resource (i.e., a resource where a synchronization signal block after activation / triggering is first actually transmitted / received) may correspond to any one of the one or more synchronization signal block indices included in the group / burst of synchronization signal blocks. For example, a synchronization signal block transmitted / received on the first resource may correspond to one of the one or more synchronization signal block indices belonging to the group / burst of synchronization signal blocks transmitted at the earliest opportunity (e.g., index 0 or the first actually transmitted index). A specific index of a synchronization signal block may correspond to a specific beam direction, or may have a QCL relationship with a specific reference signal.

[0311] In some examples, after triggering or activating a synchronization signal block, second information related to stopping or deactivating the synchronization signal block may be received by the terminal from the network. Based on the second information, the terminal may terminate / stop receiving the synchronization signal block from the second resource (or after the second resource, excluding the second resource). That is, the terminal may expect that no synchronization signal block will be transmitted from the network after the second resource (i.e., the terminal may expect that the synchronization signal block will be transmitted from the network in the second resource). Alternatively, the terminal may expect that no synchronization signal block will be transmitted from the network in the second resource and after the second resource (i.e., the terminal may expect that no synchronization signal block will be transmitted from the network in the second resource either).

[0312] In some examples, the second resource may correspond to a time resource that occurs after a predetermined offset after the second information is received. For example, the second resource may not correspond to a synchronization signal block transmission / reception opportunity.

[0313] In some examples, the second resource may correspond to the earliest synchronization signal block transmission / reception opportunity following reception of the second information, processing of the second information, and / or transmission of a response to the second information.

[0314] In some examples, the second information may be provided to the terminal via one or more of the downlink control information (DCI) of the first layer, the MAC control element (MAC CE) of the second layer, or the RRC information element of the third layer.

[0315] The method described in the example of FIG. 20 may be performed by the wireless device (200) of FIG. 3 corresponding to the first node (110) of FIG. 2 described above. For example, one or more processors (202) of the wireless device (200) of FIG. 3 may be configured to receive first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block from a network through one or more transceivers (206), and to receive a synchronization signal block from the network through one or more transceivers (206) on a first resource based on the first information. Furthermore, one or more memories (204) of the wireless device (200) may store commands for performing the method described in the example of FIG. 20 or the examples described below when executed by one or more processors (202).

[0316] FIG. 21 is a drawing illustrating an example of a method performed by a base station according to the present disclosure.

[0317] In step S2110, the base station may transmit first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block to the terminal.

[0318] In step S2120, the base station can transmit a synchronization signal block to the terminal on the first resource based on the first information.

[0319] In some examples, after triggering or activating a synchronization signal block, second information related to stopping or deactivating the synchronization signal block may be transmitted to the terminal. Based on the second information, the base station may terminate / suspend transmission of the synchronization signal block from the second source (and thereafter).

[0320] Specific features related to the first information, the first resource, the second information, and the second resource are the same as those described with reference to the example of FIG. 20, so redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0321] The method described in the example of FIG. 21 may be performed by the wireless device (200) of FIG. 3 corresponding to the second node (120) of FIG. 2 described above. For example, one or more processors (202) of the wireless device (200) of FIG. 3 may be configured to transmit first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block to a terminal via one or more transceivers (206), and to transmit a synchronization signal block to the terminal via one or more transceivers (206) on a first resource based on the first information. Furthermore, one or more memories (204) of the wireless device (200) may store commands for performing the method described in the example of FIG. 21 or the examples described below when executed by one or more processors (202).

[0322] Hereinafter, various examples of the present disclosure for transmitting or receiving various types of synchronization signal blocks (or SSBs) will be described. In the examples below, the terms always-on SSB (or AO SSB) and on-demand SSB (or OD SSB) are primarily used for description, but these correspond to representative examples of the aforementioned Type-1 SSB and Type-2 SSB, and the scope is not limited by the names of the terms.

[0323] In the present disclosure, it is generally assumed that the transmission of OD SSB and AO SSB is transmitted in the form of SSB burst. For example, one SSB burst transmission may correspond to a method of transmitting (e.g., sweeping) SSBs of one or more indices (e.g., SSB#0 to SSB#x) once within a predetermined time interval (e.g., 5 ms, which is half of a 10 ms frame). Different SSB indices may correspond to different beam directions, and the same SSB index may correspond to the same beam direction (or be quasi-co-located (QCL)). That is, an SSB burst may correspond to a set of one or more SSB beams within a predetermined time interval (e.g., 5 ms), which may be referred to as an SSB group in the examples below. For example, in the sub-6 GHz band, up to 8 beams can be included in one SSB burst, and for frequency range 2 (FR2) or millimeter wave (mmwave), up to 64 beams can be included in one SSB burst. Whether a beam / SSB is transmitted among the beam IDs or SSB indices within an SSB burst / group can be set / indicated in bitmap form by information about the SSB time domain position (e.g., the SSB-PositionInBurst parameter) signaled via SIB or RRC (re)configuration. In addition, the 5 ms period during which all SSBs / beams within an SSB burst are transmitted once within the cell (i.e., swept) can correspond to the first 5 ms or the last 5 ms of a 10 ms period. The terminal can blindly detect whether an SSB burst is within the first 5 ms or the last 5 ms of a 10 ms frame (i.e., the half-frame index) without any instruction from the base station.

[0324] In the examples related to OD SSB transmission for a given number of times or for a given time period in the description below, it can include both cases where OD SSB transmission is performed for an endless or infinite number of times after OD SSB trigger / activation (if there is no separate stop / deactivation signaling), and cases where OD SSB transmission is terminated after OD SSB transmission is performed by a limited or finite window size or timer together with OD SSB trigger / activation (even if there is no separate stop / deactivation signaling).

[0325] In the examples below, it may take time after the trigger / activation / on of the OD SSB is signaled / instructed to actually transmit / receive the OD SSB, and it may take time after the cessation / deactivation / off of the OD SSB is signaled / instructed to actually terminate the transmission / reception of the OD SSB. Accordingly, to distinguish it from the signaling time, the time when the transmission / reception of the OD SSB actually starts is referred to as time instance A, and the time when the transmission / reception of the OD SSB actually ends is referred to as time instance B.

[0326] Example 1

[0327] This embodiment relates to a method for determining / defining a time instance A based on specific signaling.

[0328] The point in time when OD SSB is transmitted in the corresponding scenario Sn after the instruction for transmitting OD SSB is signaled at L1 / L2 / L3 can be referred to as time instance A. For example, for each of the scenarios where SCell is added, activated, and activated, the point in time when OD SSB transmission starts when necessary can be referred to as (time) instance A. Instance A can correspond to the point in time when OD SSB is actually transmitted, or from the terminal perspective, it can be said to be the point in time after which OD SSB is expected to be transmitted.

[0329] Example 1-1

[0330] For a specific scenario Sn, the point in time when SSB transmission starts from the next slot / symbol (or from a specific slot / symbol offset) after the RRC message is transmitted can be called instance A.

[0331] For example, for scenario S1, an instruction for OD SSB transmission may be signaled together with the SCell addition (or modification) related configuration. The OD SSB may be received from the network in the slot / symbol following the slot / symbol in which this signaling is received. Alternatively, the terminal may expect OD SSB transmission from the network starting from a predetermined slot / symbol offset from the slot / symbol in which this signaling is received.

[0332] As another example, for an L3 RRC message received on the downlink, the UE may transmit an uplink response message (e.g., a response message to a request message). For example, after the UE receives signaling including an indication for OD SSB transmission, the UE may expect OD SSB transmission from the network starting from the slot / symbol following the slot / symbol in which the UE transmitted the response message (or after a specific slot / symbol offset).

[0333] For example, if a response message is transmitted over PUSCH across multiple slots, the OD SSB may be received in the slot / symbol following (or after a predetermined offset) the last slot in which the UE transmits the response message. Here, the start point of the first slot in which SSB index 0 within the OD SSB burst received by the UE is transmitted may correspond to time instance A. Alternatively, the start point of the first slot in which the first actually transmitted SSB index (which may not be 0) within the OD SSB burst received by the UE is transmitted may correspond to time instance A. For example, one or more SSB indices included in an OD SSB burst may not necessarily include SSB index 0, and the actually transmitted SSB index(es) may be signaled by a parameter configured / indicated for the OD SSB (e.g., ssb-PositionsInBurst). In this disclosure, the first SSB (index) actually transmitted may mean the SSB (index) set / indicated as the first SSB index actually transmitted by the above parameters.

[0334] For example, in scenario S1, signaling can be applied directly to indicate a frame number (e.g., SFN) along with instructions for OD SSB transmission within the SCell addition (or modification) related settings. In this case, the point in time corresponding to the indicated frame number can correspond to instance A.

[0335] If the information indicating SFN is omitted or not defined, a specific point in time is predefined based on SFN=0, and this can be called instance A.

[0336] Example 1-2

[0337] For a specific scenario Sn, the point in time when reception of OD SSB starts from the next slot / symbol (or after a specific slot / symbol offset) after MAC CE corresponding to L2 MAC control command is received may correspond to instance A.

[0338] For example, in scenario S2, if the instruction information to trigger / activate OD SSB is signaled together with the MAC CE related to SCell activation, the terminal can expect OD SSB transmission from the network operator from the next slot / symbol (or after a certain slot / symbol offset) of the slot / symbol in which such signaling is received.

[0339] As another example, after an L2 MAC CE control command is received over the PDSCH and ACK (i.e., indicating successful decoding) information is transmitted in the HARQ feedback for the PDSCH, a new OD SSB transmission may be performed from the network starting from the next slot / symbol (or after a specific slot / symbol offset).

[0340] Example 1-3

[0341] For a particular scenario Sn, the point in time when reception of OD SSB starts from that or the next slot / symbol (or after a particular slot / symbol offset) in which L1 signaling is received may correspond to instance A.

[0342] For example, OD SSB transmission may be performed starting from the corresponding / next slot / symbol (or after a specific slot / symbol) in which L1 DCI (PDCCH) regarding SSB transmission is transmitted.

[0343] Alternatively, uplink L1 signaling may be performed in Scenario S3, which may correspond to PUCCH or PUSCH reception related to CSI reporting. In this case, the UE can expect a new OD SSB transmission from the network starting from the corresponding / next slot / symbol (or after a specific slot / symbol offset) in which an uplink transmission, such as a CSI report, is performed.

[0344] When OD SSB transmission is activated via L1 DCI, the time instance A may correspond to the first slot of the first SSB burst received after slot n or the next slot in which the terminal receives the L1 DCI, or the start boundary of the slot containing the first SSB actually transmitted in the SSB burst. For example, when an SSB burst is defined over multiple slots, actual transmission may not be performed from the first slot depending on the SSB index included in the SSB burst. Therefore, the nominal first slot of an SSB burst and the first slot in which actual transmission is performed can be distinguished.

[0345] In applying the symbol offset in the examples described above, in the case of OD SSB indication through RRC / MAC CE, the symbol that serves as a reference for applying the offset may be the last symbol of a PDSCH transmission including the RRC / MAC CE or the last symbol of a slot including the PDSCH. In the case of OD SSB indication through DCI, the symbol that serves as a reference for applying the offset may be the last symbol of a PDCCH transmission including the DCI or the last symbol of a CORESET or a slot including the PDCCH.

[0346] Example 2

[0347] Transmit / receive opportunities can be set / defined according to the cycle of OD SSB, and instance A can be determined based on the transmit / receive opportunity.

[0348] For example, the transmission period of the OD SSB may be preset or predefined as a value with a certain difference applied to the transmission period of the AO SSB. Here, the difference may be given as a value of 0. Alternatively, the AO SSB and the OD SSB may be set independently of each other and may not be related to each other. That is, the transmission period and starting point (or offset) of the OD SSB may be defined / set / indicated as a difference value with respect to the period and starting point (or offset) of the AO SSB, or the period and starting point (or offset) of the OD SSB may be defined / set / indicated regardless of the period and starting point of the AO SSB.

[0349] Regarding the point in time after L1 / L2 / L3 signaling transmission for OD SSB transmission, the point in time when the configuration for OD SSB transmission is first applied (i.e., the earliest opportunity) may correspond to instance A. The terminal may expect OD SSB transmission from the network from time instance A.

[0350] Here, after setup / signaling for OD SSB, the start boundary of the first slot of the first received SSB burst or the slot containing the first SSB that is actually transmitted in that SSB burst may correspond to time instance A.

[0351] Additionally, after time instance A, an additional X corresponding to RF tuning and terminal preparation time may be added. That is, X may correspond to the processing time of the terminal. For example, depending on whether an AO-SSB exists within the cell / BWP, the period / SCS (subcarrier spacing) of the OD SSB, whether the frequency positions of the AO SSB and OD SSB are the same or different, different X values ​​may be applied, or X=0. The X value may be predefined or may be preset / signaled.

[0352] Example 2-1

[0353] Instance A may be from the time when the transmission period and offset according to the configuration of OD SSB are matched with the opportunity after the time of reception of L1 / L2 / L3 signaling indicating OD SSB transmission (or after a predetermined offset from the time of reception). For example, the terminal may expect OD SSB to be transmitted at the first (or earliest) OD SSB opportunity (or first OD SSB burst) after receiving L1 / L2 / L3 signaling including an indication for OD SSB transmission. An OD SSB opportunity may correspond to a time-frequency resource in which OD SSB transmission is allowed, which appears periodically according to the period and offset for OD SSB transmission, and an OD SSB burst may be transmitted at an OD SSB opportunity.

[0354] FIG. 22 is a drawing for explaining an example of OD SSB transmission / reception according to the present disclosure.

[0355] For example, assume that AO SSBs are transmitted sequentially from SFN 0 with a period of 160 ms, and the offset of the starting point of OD SSB is 0 and the period is set to 20 ms. Accordingly, OD SSB opportunities can be set at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, .... As in the example of Fig. 22(a), it can be assumed that an instruction (trigger / activation) for OD SSB transmission is received via L1 / L2 / L3 signaling at point 170 ms. In this case, according to the OD SSB period of 20 ms, the transmission / reception of OD SSB can be started at point 180 ms corresponding to the next first (or earliest) OD SSB opportunity.

[0356] As another example, in the absence of an AO SSB, the OD SSB opportunity may be set / determined based on the AO SSB transmission cycle of a reference cell (e.g., SpCell or a designated cell).

[0357] As another example, OD SSB opportunities may be established independently of AO SSBs. For example, the offset of the starting point of OD SSB (from SFN=0) may be predefined or pre-established as 0 and the period may be 20 ms. Accordingly, OD SSB opportunities may be established at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, .... As in the example of Fig. 22(a), if an indication (trigger / activation) for OD SSB transmission is received via L1 / L2 / L3 signaling at point 170 ms, since the period of OD SSB is 20 ms, the terminal can expect OD SSB to be transmitted from point 180 ms, which corresponds to the next first (or earliest) opportunity.

[0358] Example 2-2

[0359] After the UE transmits a response message corresponding to L3 signaling including an OD SSB indication (or after a predetermined offset from the transmission time), or after the UE transmits a HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to L2 signaling including an OD SSB indication (or after a predetermined offset from the transmission time), the start boundary of the start slot of the OD SSB burst (or the slot containing the SSB (index) where the first actual transmission of the corresponding SSB burst is performed) may correspond to instance A. Before instance A, the UE may not assume / expect reception of the OD SSB.

[0360] For example, it is assumed that AO SSBs are sequentially transmitted from SFN 0 with a period of 160 ms, and the offset of the starting point of OD SSB is 0 and the period is set to 20 ms. Accordingly, OD SSB opportunities can be set at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, .... As in the example of Fig. 22(b), it can be assumed that after an instruction for OD SSB transmission is received through L2 / L3 signaling (not shown), a HARQ-ACK feedback or L3 response message for it is transmitted at the time point of 170 ms. In this case, according to the OD SSB period of 20 ms, the transmission / reception of OD SSB can be started at the time point of 180 ms corresponding to the next first (or earliest) OD SSB opportunity. For example, even if there is no AO SSB on the SCell, the first returning OD SSB opportunity may correspond to instance A based on the trigger instruction of the OD SSB.

[0361] As another example, in the absence of an AO SSB, the OD SSB opportunity may be set / determined based on the AO SSB transmission cycle of a reference cell (e.g., SpCell or a designated cell).

[0362] As another example, the OD SSB opportunity may be set independently from the AO SSB. For example, the offset of the starting point of the OD SSB (from SFN=0) may be predefined or preset to 0 and the period may be 20 ms. Accordingly, the OD SSB opportunity may be set at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, ... As in the example of Fig. 22(b), if the feedback / response to the OD SSB indication (trigger / activation) is transmitted at the point in time of 170 ms, the terminal may expect the OD SSB to be transmitted from the point in time of 180 ms, which corresponds to the next first (or earliest) opportunity, since the period of the OD SSB is 20 ms.

[0363] Example 2-3

[0364] The first opportunity after the CSI report is transmitted may correspond to instance A. For example, in the example of FIG. 22(b), if the feedback / response to the OD SSB indication is replaced by a CSI report, the OD SSB may be transmitted from the first (or earliest) opportunity after the CSI report, and the terminal may expect it.

[0365] Example 2-4

[0366] Instance A can be set / defined based on the point in time when the scenario changes from Sn to Sn+1.

[0367] As a criterion for changing the scenario from Sn to Sn+1, the following may be applied: reception of L1 / L2 / L3 signaling for OD SSB instruction, transmission of response / feedback for L1 / L2 / L3 signaling, or after a certain processing time has elapsed.

[0368] For example, if the time point of L1 / L2 / L3 signaling reception for OD SSB indication (or a time point after a predetermined offset from the time point of reception) is Sn, the terminal can determine that the time point when the scenario changes from Sn to Sn+1 is instance A.

[0369] Alternatively, if the time point of transmitting the HARQ-ACK feedback or L3 response message for L1 / L2 signaling including the OD SSB indication (or a time point after a predetermined offset from the time point of transmitting) is Sn, the terminal can determine that the time point when the scenario changes from Sn to Sn+1 is instance A.

[0370] Example 2-5

[0371] When OD SSB is indicated (triggered / activated) via L2 MAC CE, the start boundary of the start slot of the SSB burst (or the slot containing the first actually transmitted SSB (index) of the SSB burst) after a point in time (or a point in time after a predetermined offset from the point in time) that additionally takes into account the HARQ feedback transmission for the PDSCH containing L2 MAC CE and the processing time in the MAC entity may be set / defined as Instance A. The UE may not assume / expect reception of OD SSB before Instance A.

[0372] For example, when an OD SSB is indicated (triggered / activated) via an L2 MAC CE, the terminal may expect the OD SSB to be transmitted from time instance A. Here, time instance A may correspond to the start (or boundary) of the first slot containing the first transmitted SSB (index) of the OD SSB burst, and may correspond to a time point T after the time point at which the terminal receives signaling from the base station containing the indication for OD SSB transmission (e.g., the aforementioned L2 MAC CE). The time domain location where OD SSB transmission is allowed (i.e., transmission is possible) may correspond to the time domain resources of the aforementioned OD SSB opportunity, and may be set based on the SFN offset, the half frame index, the period, etc. Here, the value of T may not be less than m+Z+1. Here, in slot n, the terminal completes receiving signaling including the OD SSB indication (i.e., slot n is the last reception slot of MAC CE signaling including the OD SSB indication), and in slot n+m, PUCCH transmission including HARQ-ACK information for the MAC CE can be performed. In addition, Z can correspond to the length of time required for the terminal to process the MAC CE including the OD SSB indication.

[0373] For example, it can be assumed that PDSCH reception including OD SSB related MAC CE is performed in slot n, HARQ-ACK transmission for this is performed after K1 slots, and OD SSB transmission starts after Z slots plus the time for MAC CE decoding processing. Accordingly, the terminal can assume that instance A will be located after slot n+K1+Z, or slot n+K1+Z+1 considering an additional 1 ms (or 1 slot) based on slot n in which L2 MAC CE including OD SSB indication is received.

[0374] Here, Z=3*Nslot subframe,u can be defined as, where u corresponds to the index of SCS, and the number of slots included in the subframe (N) is determined according to the value of u. slot subframe, u) can be different. If we consider NTN (non-terrestrial network), Z=3*N slot subframe,u+ 2 u *k mac can also be defined as, where k mac may correspond to a scheduling offset value provided by the network when the downlink and uplink frame timings at the base station are not aligned.

[0375] In other words, if the terminal receives a MAC CE indicating OD SSB transmission in slot n and sends HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the MAC-CE after K1 slots from slot n, the terminal can regard slot n + K1 + Z as instance A (or at least the terminal can expect to receive OD SSB after slot n + K1 + Z). Alternatively, if the terminal receives a MAC CE indicating OD SSB transmission in slot n and sends HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the MAC CE after K1 slots from slot n, the terminal can assume that OD SSB is not transmitted before slot n + K1 + Z (or slot n + K1 + Z +1).

[0376] For example, if an offset indication is provided to the terminal through upper layer signaling, the terminal may determine a point in time after the indicated offset as instance A. Here, the offset may be set to a value greater than or equal to K1+Z or a value exceeding K1+Z, taking K1 and Z into account. The terminal may assume that the OD SSB will be transmitted after the indicated offset from slot n in which the MAC CE is transmitted. Alternatively, the terminal may consider slot n + offset as instance A.

[0377] In the examples described above, instance A is described as being a specific time after a specific reference time, and the specific time from which reception of OD SSB can be performed is described below.

[0378] An SSB burst may include SSB ID / index(s) corresponding to SSB beam direction(s). If the time point of instance A derived by considering K1 related to the HARQ-ACK feedback time point and Z related to the MAC processing time corresponds to a partial SSB burst during transmission (or sweeping) of SSB IDs of the SSB burst, the terminal may assume that the OD SSB is transmitted from the SSB beam / ID / index after the time point. Alternatively, the OD SSB transmission may start from the first beam / ID / index of all SSB beams / ID / indexes in the full SSB burst after the time point corresponding to the partial SSB burst. In this way, if the point in time of instance A where the terminal assumes that the OD SSB will be received is located in the middle of the SSB burst, the terminal may assume reception of the OD SSB through the SSB ID following the point in time of instance A within the SSB burst, or may assume reception of the OD SSB from the next (entire) SSB burst other than the SSB burst.

[0379] An SSB burst corresponds to the set of all SSB beams / IDs / indices that can be transmitted, and in distinction thereto, an actual SSB burst may correspond to the set of SSB beams / IDs / indices that are actually transmitted (i.e., a subset of the entire SSB beams / IDs / indices). The starting point of instance A, derived by considering K1 related to the HARQ-ACK feedback timing and Z related to the MAC processing time, can be determined as the starting point of the slot containing the first SSB beam / ID / index of the actual SSB burst.

[0380] Example 2-6

[0381] When triggering OD SSB via L3 RRC signaling, the decoding processing time for the corresponding RRC signaling message may be additionally taken into account, and the start boundary of the starting slot of the SSB burst (or the slot containing the first actually transmitted SSB of the SSB burst) after that time (or after a certain offset from that time) may be determined as Instance A. The UE may not assume reception of OD SSB before Instance A.

[0382] For example, the last slot that received L3 signaling including OD SSB indication via RRC signaling is called slot n, and the time required for RRC decoding processing and the time for response preparation (plus the time for completing the response transmission) is 16*N. slot We can assume subframe,u. In this case, slot n + 16*N slot subframe,u or slot n + 16*N slot The terminal can assume that instance A is K time after considering subframe,u+ 1.

[0383] In other words, if the terminal receives RRC signaling indicating OD SSB transmission (i.e., the last PDSCH containing the RRC signaling) in slot n, the terminal transmits OD SSB in slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot We can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance A. Or at least slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can expect to receive an OD SSB after subframe,u+ 1. The RRC signaling may include any RRC message that configures OD SSB-related settings other than RRC setup and RRC resume.

[0384] In this embodiment 2-6, unlike the examples described above, if the RRC signaling is transmitted in segmentation, and the last slot of the first segment of the RRC signaling is called slot n, the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (additionally, the time for completing the response transmission) is K*N slot It can be assumed that there are u slots in a subframe. In this case, slot n + K*N is based on slot n, where the PDSCH of the first segment of RRC signaling is last received. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance A. Or at least slot n + K*N. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The UE can expect to receive an OD SSB after subframe,u+ 1. The RRC signaling may include all RRC messages that configure OD SSB-related settings other than RRC configuration and RRC resume. In addition, K may be 16+(Nseg-1)*10, where Nseg may correspond to the number of segments in the RRC message.

[0385] When transmitting an RRC message segmented and continuously in an RRC dedicated message segment (dedicatedMessageSegment) message, a sequence number (sequenceNumber) may be transmitted together with each transmission. If the slot of the last PDSCH for transmitting the dedicated message segment message of the first sequence (i.e., sequenceNumber=0) is slot n, then considering the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (and additionally the time for completing the response transmission), slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slotThe terminal can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance A. Or at least slot n + K*N. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can expect to receive OD SSB after subframe,u+ 1.

[0386] For example, if an offset is indicated to the UE through higher layer signaling, the UE may determine a point in time after the indicated offset as instance A. Here, the offset may be set to a value equal to or greater than the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (including the time for completing the response transmission) (taking into account the case of RRC segments). The UE may assume that the OD SSB will be transmitted after the indicated offset from slot n in which the last PDSCH of the RRC signaling is received. Alternatively, the UE may consider slot n + offset as instance A.

[0387] In the examples described above, in addition to the RRC procedure delay, the terminal may assume that the starting boundary of the slot where the SSB burst first starts or the slot containing the first actual transmission SSB (index) within the SSB burst is a time instance A, after the slot in which the RRC response is transmitted (or one slot in addition to the slot in which the response is transmitted). The terminal may not assume reception of the OD SSB before instance A.

[0388] FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining RRC processing time according to the present disclosure.

[0389] The performance requirement can be expressed as the time in ms from the end of reception from the network to the terminal on the physical layer of the terminal until the terminal is ready to receive an uplink grant for transmitting a response message from the terminal to the network. This does not include any access delay other than transmission time interval (TTI)-aligned (e.g., delays caused by scheduling, random access procedures, physical layer synchronization, etc. are excluded). For example, in the case of an RRC procedure that triggers BWP switching, the RRC procedure delay may correspond to a predetermined value plus the BWP switching delay. Similarly, after receiving RRC downlink signaling containing an indication (trigger / activation) for OD SSB, a terminal that is ready to receive an uplink grant after the RRC procedure delay may transmit an RRC uplink response after receiving the uplink grant. Here, instance A may be determined as the time point after transmitting the RRC response.

[0390] In the examples described above, instance A is described as being a specific time after a specific reference time, and the specific time from which reception of OD SSB can be performed is described below.

[0391] An SSB burst may include SSB ID / index(s) corresponding to SSB beam direction(s). If the time point of instance A, which is derived by considering the RRC processing time and the RRC response preparation time, corresponds to a partial SSB burst during transmission (or sweeping) of SSB IDs of the SSB burst, the UE may assume that the OD SSB is transmitted from the SSB beam / ID / index after the time point. Alternatively, the OD SSB transmission may start from the first beam / ID / index of all SSB beams / IDs / indexes in the full SSB burst after the time point corresponding to the partial SSB burst. In this way, if the time point of instance A, where the UE assumes that the OD SSB will be received, is located in the middle of the SSB burst, the UE may assume that the OD SSB will be received through the SSB ID following the time point of instance A in the SSB burst, or the UE may assume that the OD SSB will be received from the next (full) SSB burst instead of the SSB burst.

[0392] An SSB burst corresponds to the set of all SSB beams / IDs / indices that can be transmitted, and in distinction thereto, an actual SSB burst may correspond to the set of SSB beams / IDs / indices that are actually transmitted (i.e., a subset of the entire SSB beams / IDs / indices). The starting point of instance A, derived by considering the RRC processing time and the RRC response preparation time, may be determined as the starting point of the slot containing the first SSB beam / ID / index of the actual SSB burst.

[0393] Example 2-7

[0394] It can be assumed that triggering OD SSB via RRC signaling only applies when SCell addition (or modification) and SCell activation are performed simultaneously. That is, if SCell is activated after SCell addition / modification (e.g., SCell activation via MAC CE), OD SSB activation / triggering via RRC signaling may not be applied.

[0395] In this way, when OD SSB activation / trigger is indicated together with SCell activation through RRC, the UE can determine Instance A as follows. For example, after receiving an RRC message including OD SSB activation / trigger, the UE can determine the start of the first SSB burst (wherein the start of the first SSB burst corresponds to the slot containing candidate SSB index 0) as Instance A after a time in ms equal to the value of T_activation_time or T_activation_time_multiple-cells, which is a parameter of SCell activation delay. Alternatively, after receiving an RRC message including OD SSB activation / trigger, the UE can determine the slot containing the first actually transmitted SSB (index) of the first SSB burst as Instance A after a time in ms equal to the value of T_activation_time or T_activation_time_multiple-cells, which is a parameter of SCell activation delay. The UE can assume that there is no OD SSB transmission before Instance A.

[0396] When the SCell activation is performed in RRC and the activation (trigger) of OD SSB is performed, the time from the last slot in which the corresponding RRC message was received to T_activation_time or T_activation_time_multiple-cells can be defined as T_preparation_time. After the time when T_preparation_time is completed or additionally 1 ms (or 1 slot) after that time, the terminal can determine the slot containing the start slot of the first SSB or the SSB (index) that is the first actually transmitted of the corresponding SSB burst as time instance A (the terminal can assume that no OD SSB is transmitted before instance A).

[0397] For example, T_preparation_time may vary depending on the current RRC reset or RRC resume or RRC segment message. For example, if SCell activation is configured / indicated via RRC, assuming T_activation_time, if SCell activation is performed simultaneously with handover, RRC processing time and RRC handover interrupt time for this, T2 (delay until the UE obtains a valid TA (time advance) command for the target PCell from slot n + (T_RRC_process+T_interrupt) / NRslotlength), T3 (delay for applying the received TA for uplink transmission from the target PCell) may be further included. Additionally, if the TCI state is indicated within T_activation_time or T_activation_time_multiple-cells time, HARQ feedback time may be added.

[0398] When SCell activation is performed by RRC, for processing delays of the value of Ndirect (e.g., T_RRC_process + T1(delay from slot n + T_RRC_process / NRslotlength to transmission of RRC reconfiguration complete message) + T_activation_time + T_CSI_Reporting - 3ms), the UE may determine the boundary of the start slot of the first SSB burst received after Ndirect or after the start time of T_activation_time or T_activation_time_multiple-cells within Ndirect in which the activation / trigger for OD SSB was received, or the start slot containing the SSB actually transmitted in that SSB burst, as time instance A. The UE may perform OD SSB reception after instance A.

[0399] In the case of activating OD SSB via RRC signaling, for the above-described examples of determining time instance A, when an RRC message indicating OD SSB transmission is received while a candidate timing (e.g., SFN index, half-frame index, slot index, and / or symbol index) is specified, the candidate timing may be predefined or pre-set via signaling from the base station.

[0400] Example 2-8

[0401] After the last reception slot (or a predetermined time from that slot) of a PDSCH containing an RRC message activating OD SSB, or after a slot (or a predetermined time from that slot) to which time K1 related to HARQ-ACK transmission of that PDSCH is added, or after the last transmission slot (or a predetermined time from that slot) of a PUSCH containing a message responding to an RRC message (e.g., an RRC complete message), the terminal determines the nearest (or earliest) candidate timing (or opportunity) as time instance A, or the slot containing candidate SSB index 0 of the first SSB burst as time instance A, or the slot containing the first actually transmitted SSB index as time instance A.

[0402] For example, it can be assumed that the aforementioned candidate timings (or OD SSB opportunities) are defined / set / indicated in units of 100, 0, 100, 200, 300, ... based on the SFN index. In this case, if an RRC message activating OD SSB is received within SFN index 110, the time position of SFN index 200 (or the time position containing candidate SSB index 0 of the first SSB burst thereafter, or the time position containing the first actually transmitted SSB index) can be the time instance A.

[0403] As another example, if an RRC message activating OD SSB is received within SFN index 190, and the last transmission slot of PUSCH containing RRC complete response (or a slot some time after that slot) belongs to SFN index 220, then the time position of SFN index 300 (or the time position containing candidate SSB index 0 of the first SSB burst thereafter, or the time position containing the first actually transmitted SSB index) can be time instance A.

[0404] Example 2-9

[0405] Through the RRC message that activates OD SSB, it can be directly / explicitly indicated which candidate timing (or which OD SSB opportunity) to base time instance A on.

[0406] For example, it can be assumed that the aforementioned candidate timings (or OD SSB opportunities) are defined / set / indicated in units of 100, 0, 100, 200, 300, ... based on the SFN index. An RRC message for activating OD SSB can be received at a time position within SFN index 150, and the candidate timing (or OD SSB opportunity) value corresponding to time instance A can be set / indicated to SFN index 300 through the RRC message. Accordingly, the time position of SFN index 300 (or the time position including the candidate SSB index 0 of the first SSB burst thereafter, or the time position including the SSB index that is actually transmitted first) can become time instance A.

[0407] In the examples described above, the number of transmissions (or timer / window size) can be specified upon activation (instruction / trigger) of OD SSB. In this case, with respect to the start point of the count (or timer / window) of the number of OD SSB transmissions, the count (or timer / window size) of the number of OD SSB transmissions may start from the slot containing the SSB ID that is first (actually) transmitted thereafter, considering an additional time (X) to the time instance A described above, or the count (or timer / window) of the number of OD SSB transmissions may start from the slot containing the SSB ID that is first (actually) transmitted thereafter. Alternatively, without considering X, the count (or timer / window) of the number of OD SSB transmissions may start from the slot containing the SSB ID that is first (actually) transmitted thereafter, or the count (or timer / window size) of the number of OD SSB transmissions may start from the slot containing the SSB ID that is first (actually) transmitted thereafter, or the count (or timer / window size) of the number of OD SSB transmissions may start from the slot containing the SSB ID that is first (actually) transmitted thereafter,

[0408] Here, the starting point of the count (or timer / window) of the number of OD SSB transmissions may be preset or predefined, whether from the point in time after time instance A, or from the point in time after adding X after time instance A.

[0409] Example 3

[0410] This embodiment relates to a method for determining / defining a time instance B based on specific signaling.

[0411] In the above examples, the time point at which the OD SSB is transmitted in the corresponding scenario Sn after the indication for transmission of the OD SSB is signaled at L1 / L2 / L3 corresponds to time instance A, and time instance B can be defined as the time point at which the transmission of the OD SSB that is transmitted is stopped / ended according to a specific period and / or offset starting from the corresponding scenario Sn. Alternatively, the terminal can expect that the OD SSB that the base station started transmitting from time instance A will not be transmitted from time instance B (or will be transmitted up to time instance B and not transmitted thereafter).

[0412] For example, time instance B may be determined without separate signaling if the number of OD SSB transmissions (or timer / window) is preset / defined, or instance B may be determined based on L1 / L2 / L3 signaling indicating stop / termination of OD SSB transmission. OD SSB may not actually be transmitted from / after instance B, and the terminal may assume / expect that OD SSB will not be transmitted from / after instance B regardless of whether the base station actually transmits OD SSB.

[0413] The expression below that no OD SSB is transmitted / received after instance B (or after an exemplary time position corresponding to instance B) can be replaced with either the case where no OD SSB is transmitted / received after instance B or the case where no OD SSB is transmitted / received up to instance B and no OD SSB is transmitted / received after that.

[0414] Hereinafter, the expression that the transmission of OD SSB is stopped or terminated after instance B may be replaced with either the case where the transmission of OD SSB is stopped / terminated before the initially instructed / determined number of transmissions (timer / window) (including the case of an indefinite or permanent number of transmissions) expires, or the case where the transmission of OD SSB is stopped / terminated upon the expiration of the initially instructed / determined number of transmissions (timer / window).

[0415] Example 3-1

[0416] For a particular scenario Sn, the end point of OD SSB transmission in the next slot / symbol of RRC message transmission (or after a particular slot / symbol offset) may correspond to instance B.

[0417] For example, in case of scenario S1, if an instruction to stop / terminate OD SSB transmission is signaled together within the SCell addition (modification) related settings, the base station may terminate OD SSB transmission in the next slot / symbol of the slot / symbol in which the signaling was transmitted / received, or after a specific slot / symbol offset from the slot / symbol in which the signaling was transmitted / received.

[0418] As another example, when an OD SSB suspend / termination is indicated via an L3 RRC downlink message, a corresponding L3 RRC uplink message may be transmitted. The base station may terminate the OD SSB transmission in the slot / symbol following the slot / symbol in which the UE transmitted (or the base station received) the response message, or after a specific slot / symbol offset from the slot / symbol in which the response message was transmitted / received. Through the RRC message, the UE may expect that the OD SSB transmission for the corresponding SCell has been stopped / terminated / turned off by the base station. For example, if a PUSCH transmission including the response message spans multiple slots, the end boundary of the last slot of the PUSCH transmission or the start boundary of the next slot may correspond to time instance B.

[0419] As another example, in scenario S1, when an instruction for OD SSB transmission is signaled together with the SCell addition (modification) related settings, the signaling may directly / explicitly indicate a frame number (e.g., SFN). The frame number indicated in this way may correspond to time instance B.

[0420] If the information indicating SFN is omitted or not defined, a specific point in time is predefined based on SFN=0, and this can be called instance B.

[0421] Example 3-2

[0422] For a particular scenario Sn, the end point of an OD SSB transmission in the next slot / symbol (or after a particular slot / symbol offset) of an L2 MAC control command or MAC CE transmission may correspond to instance B.

[0423] For example, in scenario S2, if the OD SSB stop / termination is indicated together with the MAC CE related to SCell activation / deactivation, the base station may terminate the OD SSB transmission after the MAC CE transmit / receive slot / symbol, the next slot / symbol of the MAC CE transmit / receive slot / symbol, or a specific slot / symbol offset from the MAC CE transmit / receive slot / symbol.

[0424] As another example, since the L2 MAC CE control command is transmitted over the PDSCH, the base station may terminate the OD SSB transmission after the slot / symbol in which the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback is transmitted or after a specific slot / symbol offset therefrom. This L2 MAC control command may include information indicating / indicating to the terminal that the OD SSB for the corresponding SCell is to be stopped / terminated / off from the base station.

[0425] Example 3-3

[0426] For a particular scenario Sn, the end point of the OD SSB transmission in the next slot / symbol of the L1 signaling transmission (or after a particular slot / symbol offset) may correspond to instance B.

[0427] For example, OD SSB transmission may be stopped / terminated from the next slot / symbol (the next symbol within the slot in which L1 signaling was transmitted / received) or after a specific slot / symbol offset after the slot / symbol in which L1 DCI regarding SSB transmission was transmitted / received via PDCCH.

[0428] As another example, in scenario S3, the uplink L1 signaling may be PUCCH or PUSCH reception related to CSI reporting, and the OD SSB transmission may be stopped / terminated from the next slot / symbol (the next symbol within the slot in which the L1 signaling was transmitted / received) or after a specific slot / symbol offset of the slot / symbol in which the uplink L1 signaling was transmitted / received. The UE may consider / assume / expect that the OD SSB transmission of the base station will be stopped from the corresponding slot / symbol. The L1 signaling may be information received by the UE from the base station that sets / indicates that the OD SSB for the corresponding SCell is stopped / terminated / off.

[0429] The behavior of these terminals may be predefined or preset, which may control whether the terminal considers instance B after the behavior.

[0430] After receiving an instruction to disable or detrigger an OD SSB through L1 DCI, the slot in which the instruction was received or the next slot can be determined as time instance B. If the slot in which the instruction was received or the next slot is during a transmitting SSB burst, the last boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB ID of the SSB burst or the last boundary of the slot containing the actually last transmitted SSB ID can also be determined as time instance B.

[0431] If a deactivation instruction is received via MAC CE while SCell is active, or if a transition to dormant state is indicated in L1 DCI, the point in time when the instruction is received may be determined as instance B.

[0432] Example 3-4

[0433] The base station may terminate the OD SSB transmission in the slot / symbol following a slot / symbol in which a signaling indicating the cessation / termination of OD SSB transmission with a MAC CE related to SCell deactivation is received, or in a slot / symbol after a specific slot / symbol offset from the slot / symbol in which the signaling is received. Alternatively, the base station may terminate the OD SSB transmission in the slot / symbol or a specific slot / symbol offset in which an L2 MAC CE control command is received over a PDSCH and an ACK (decoding success) is transmitted in the HARQ-ACK feedback for the corresponding PDSCH.

[0434] Example 3-5

[0435] After the next slot / symbol (next symbol within the PDCCH transmitted / received slot) containing L1 DCI or a specific slot / symbol offset therefrom, the terminal can assume that there is no OD SSB transmission.

[0436] Example 3-6

[0437] In applying the symbol offset in the examples described above, the symbol that serves as the reference for applying the offset may be the last symbol of a slot including a PDSCH including an RRC / MAC CE. Or, it may be the last symbol of a PDCCH transmission including DCI, or the last symbol of a CORESET or slot including the PDCCH. Or, it may be the last symbol of a PUCCH transmission, or the last symbol of a slot including the PUCCH.

[0438] Example 3-7

[0439] When disabling OD SSB transmission in L2 MAC CE (or instructing to stop OD SSB transmission), the point in time after HARQ-ACK feedback can be determined as instance B by additionally considering MAC decoding processing time.

[0440] For example, it can be assumed that PDSCH reception including OD SSB related MAC CE is performed in slot n, HARQ-ACK transmission for this is performed after K1 slots, and OD SSB transmission starts after Z slots plus the time for MAC CE decoding processing. Accordingly, the terminal can assume that instance A will be located after slot n+K1+Z, or slot n+K1+Z+1 considering an additional 1 ms (or 1 slot) based on slot n in which L2 MAC CE including OD SSB indication is received.

[0441] Here, Z=3*N slot subframe,u can be defined as, where u corresponds to the index of SCS, and the number of slots included in the subframe (N) is determined according to the value of u. slot subframe,u) can be different. If NTN is considered, Z=3*N slot subframe,u+ 2 u *k mac can also be defined as, where k mac may correspond to a scheduling offset value provided by the network when the downlink and uplink frame timings at the base station are not aligned.

[0442] In other words, if the terminal receives a MAC CE indicating the stop / termination of OD SSB transmission in slot n and sends HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the MAC-CE after K1 slots from slot n, the terminal can regard slot n + K1 + Z as instance B (or at least the terminal can expect that OD SSB transmission will be stopped / terminated after slot n + K1 + Z). Alternatively, if the terminal receives a MAC CE indicating the stop / termination of OD SSB transmission in slot n and sends HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the MAC CE after K1 slots from slot n, the terminal can assume that OD SSB will not be transmitted after slot n + K1 + Z (or slot n + K1 + Z +1) (or OD SSB will be transmitted only up to that slot).

[0443] For example, if an offset indication is provided to the terminal through upper layer signaling, the terminal may determine a point in time after the indicated offset as instance B. Here, the offset may be set to a value greater than or equal to K1+Z or a value exceeding K1+Z, taking K1 and Z into account. The terminal may assume that the OD SSB transmission will be stopped / terminated after the indicated offset from slot n in which the MAC CE is transmitted. Alternatively, the terminal may consider slot n + offset as instance B.

[0444] In the examples described above, instance B is described as being a specific time after a specific reference time, and the specific time from which the reception of OD SSB can be stopped is described below.

[0445] An SSB burst may include SSB ID / index(s) corresponding to SSB beam direction(s). If the time point of instance B derived by considering K1 related to HARQ-ACK feedback time point and Z related to MAC processing time corresponds to a partial SSB burst during transmission (or sweeping) of SSB IDs of the SSB burst, the terminal may assume that OD SSB transmission is stopped / terminated from the SSB beam / ID / index after the time point. Alternatively, OD SSB transmission may be stopped / terminated from the first beam / ID / index of all SSB beams / ID / indexes in the full SSB burst after the time point corresponding to the partial SSB burst. In this way, if the point in time of instance B where the terminal assumes that OD SSB transmission will be stopped / terminated is located in the middle of the SSB burst, it may assume that OD SSB transmission through the SSB ID following the point in time of instance B within the SSB burst is stopped / terminated, or it may assume that OD SSB transmission is stopped / terminated from the next (entire) SSB burst rather than the SSB burst in question.

[0446] In the present disclosure, in determining whether the time point of instance B is in the middle of transmission of an SSB burst or not, if the time point of instance B is later than the largest candidate SSB index or Lmax, it may be determined that it is not in the middle of transmission of an SSB burst, or if the time point of instance B is later than the SSB having the largest index among the SSB indices actually transmitted from the ssb-PositionsInBurst parameter set / indicated for OD SSB, it may be determined that it is not in the middle of transmission of an SSB burst.

[0447] Example 3-8

[0448] When indicating the suspension / termination of OD SSB transmission through L3 RRC signaling, the decoding processing time for the corresponding RRC signaling message may be additionally taken into account, so that instance B can be determined after that time (or after a specific offset from that time).

[0449] For example, the last slot that received L3 signaling including an instruction to stop / terminate OD SSB transmission via RRC signaling is called slot n, and the time required for RRC decoding processing and the time for response preparation (plus the time to complete transmission of the response) is 16*N. slot We can assume subframe,u. In this case, slot n + 16*N slot subframe,u or slot n + 16*N slot The terminal can assume that instance B is K hours later considering subframe,u+ 1.

[0450] In other words, if the terminal receives RRC signaling indicating OD SSB transmission (i.e., the last PDSCH containing the RRC signaling) in slot n, the terminal transmits OD SSB in slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot We can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance B. Or at least slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can expect that OD SSB transmission will be stopped / terminated after subframe,u+ 1. The RRC signaling may include all RRC messages that perform OD SSB-related settings other than RRC setup and RRC resume.

[0451] In this embodiment 3-8, unlike the examples described above, if the RRC signaling is transmitted in segmentation, and the last slot of the first segment of the RRC signaling is called slot n, the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (additionally, the time for completing the response transmission) is K*N slot It can be assumed that there are u slots in a subframe. In this case, slot n + K*N is based on slot n, where the PDSCH of the first segment of RRC signaling is last received. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance B. Or at least slot n + K*N. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The UE may expect that the transmission of OD SSB will be stopped / terminated after subframe,u+ 1. The RRC signaling may include all RRC messages that configure OD SSB other than RRC configuration and RRC resume. In addition, K may be 16+(Nseg-1)*10, where Nseg may correspond to the number of segments in the RRC message.

[0452] When transmitting an RRC message segmented and continuously in an RRC dedicated message segment (dedicatedMessageSegment) message, a sequence number (sequenceNumber) may be transmitted together with each transmission. If the slot of the last PDSCH for transmitting the dedicated message segment message of the first sequence (i.e., sequenceNumber=0) is slot n, then considering the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (and additionally the time for completing the response transmission), slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slotThe terminal can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance B. Or at least slot n + K*N. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can expect that OD SSB transmission will stop / terminate after subframe,u+ 1.

[0453] For example, if an offset indication is provided to the terminal through upper layer signaling, the terminal may determine a point in time after the indicated offset as instance A. Here, the offset (e.g., in symbol / slot / frame units) may be set to a value equal to or greater than the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (including the time for completing response transmission) (taking into account the case of RRC segments). The terminal may assume that the OD SSB will be transmitted after the indicated offset from slot n in which the last PDSCH of the RRC signaling is received. Alternatively, the terminal may consider slot n + offset as instance B.

[0454] In the examples described above, in addition to the RRC procedure delay, the terminal may assume that the starting boundary of the slot where the SSB burst first starts or the slot containing the first SSB (index) actually transmitted within the SSB burst is B, after the slot where the RRC response is transmitted (or one slot further after the slot where the response transmission is completed).

[0455] For the RRC processing time, please refer to the example of Fig. 23. For example, after receiving RRC downlink signaling including an instruction to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission, a terminal ready to receive an uplink grant after an RRC procedure delay may transmit an RRC uplink response after receiving the uplink grant. Here, instance B may also be determined at a point in time after transmitting the RRC response.

[0456] In the examples described above, instance B is described as being a specific time after a specific reference time, and the specific time from which OD SSB stop / termination can be performed is described below.

[0457] An SSB burst may include SSB ID / index(s) corresponding to SSB beam direction(s). If the point in time of instance B, which is derived by considering the RRC processing time and the RRC response preparation time, corresponds to a partial SSB burst during transmission (or sweeping) of SSB IDs of the SSB burst, the OD SSB transmission may be applied to be stopped / terminated from that point in time. Alternatively, the point in time when all SSB beams / IDs / indexes within the full SSB burst are completely transmitted after the point in time corresponding to the partial SSB burst may be determined as instance B. In other words, if instance B, where the terminal assumes that OD SSB is not transmitted, is located in the middle of an OD SSB burst, it can assume that OD SSB through a subsequent SSB ID in the same OD SSB burst is not transmitted, or it can assume that OD SSB is not transmitted from the next OD SSB burst other than that OD SSB burst (i.e., transmission of that SSB burst is completed to the end).

[0458] In this case, if the point in time when the actual processing delay is taken into account is the middle of the SSB burst being transmitted, the end boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB of the SSB burst may be called instance B, or the end boundary of the slot containing the last SSB actually transmitted may be called time instance B.

[0459] Example 3-9

[0460] The time instance B for the transmission of OD SSB may be determined through an instruction via L1 / L2 / L3 signaling, as in the examples described above. Alternatively, if the number of transmissions (timer or window size) of OD SSB is indicated at the time of triggering / activating OD SSB, the following examples may be applied to determine the point in time after the number of transmissions (or timer or window) has expired as time instance B.

[0461] After a specific number of transmissions is set / instructed per SSB burst, the end boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB within the SSB burst, or the MAC processing time 3*N in that slot / next slot. slot Instance B can be assumed to be the point in time when subframe, u (e.g., 3 ms) is added, or the point in time when MAC processing time is added plus 1 slot. Alternatively, the end boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB within the SSB burst without considering MAC processing time, or the point in time when 1 slot is added thereto, can be determined as instance B.

[0462] After a specific number of transmissions is set / instructed per SSB burst, the end boundary of the slot containing the last SSB actually transmitted in the SSB burst, or the MAC processing time 3*N in that slot / next slot. slot Instance B can be assumed to be the point in time when subframe, u (e.g., 3 ms) is added, or the point in time when MAC processing time is added plus 1 slot. Alternatively, the end boundary of the slot containing the last SSB actually transmitted in the SSB burst without considering MAC processing time, or the point in time when 1 slot is added thereto, can be determined as instance B.

[0463] If deactivation is performed through a timer, the MAC processing time is 3*N at the time the timer expires. slotInstance B can be assumed to be the point in time when subframe, u (e.g., 3 ms) is added, or the point in time when MAC processing time is added plus 1 slot. Alternatively, the point in time when the corresponding timer expires without considering MAC processing time, or the point in time when 1 slot is added to this, can be determined as instance B.

[0464] If the point in time determined in this way is a point in time during an SSB burst transmission, the end boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB at which the SSB burst ends, or the end boundary of the slot containing the last SSB actually transmitted, or the start of the slot / next slot can be assumed / determined as time instance B.

[0465] In this case, if the point in time when the actual processing delay is taken into account is the middle of the SSB burst being transmitted, the end boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB of the SSB burst may be called instance B, or the end boundary of the slot containing the last SSB actually transmitted may be called time instance B.

[0466] Example 4

[0467] Transmit / receive opportunities can be set / defined according to the cycle of OD SSB, and instance B can be determined based on the transmit / receive opportunities.

[0468] For example, the transmission period of the OD SSB may be preset or predefined as a value with a certain difference applied to the transmission period of the AO SSB. Here, the difference may be given as a value of 0. Alternatively, the AO SSB and the OD SSB may be set independently of each other and may not be related to each other. That is, the transmission period and starting point (or offset) of the OD SSB may be defined / set / indicated as a difference value with respect to the period and starting point (or offset) of the AO SSB, or the period and starting point (or offset) of the OD SSB may be defined / set / indicated regardless of the period and starting point of the AO SSB.

[0469] As to when to stop / terminate transmission of OD SSB after L1 / L2 / L3 signaling transmission for transmission of OD SSB, the last time the setting for transmission of OD SSB is applied may correspond to instance B. The terminal may expect that OD SSB, which started transmission from time instance A, will not be transmitted after time instance B (or will be transmitted until instance B).

[0470] Example 4-1

[0471] After the time of receiving L1 / L2 / L3 signaling indicating the stop / end of OD SSB transmission (or after a predetermined offset from the time of receiving it), the time corresponding to the transmission period and offset and the opportunity according to the setting of OD SSB may correspond to instance B.

[0472] FIG. 24 is a drawing for explaining an example of stopping / terminating OD SSB transmission / reception according to the present disclosure.

[0473] For example, it is assumed that AO SSBs are transmitted sequentially from SFN 0 with a period of 160 ms, and the offset of the starting point of OD SSB is 0 and the period is set to 20 ms. Accordingly, OD SSB opportunities can be set at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, .... It can be assumed that an instruction to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission is received via L1 / L2 / L3 signaling at point 170 ms, as in the example of Fig. 24(a). In this case, according to the OD SSB period of 20 ms, the transmission / reception of OD SSB can be stopped / terminated at point 180 ms corresponding to the next first (or earliest) OD SSB opportunity.

[0474] As another example, in the absence of an AO SSB, the OD SSB opportunity may be set / determined based on the AO SSB transmission cycle of a reference cell (e.g., SpCell or a designated cell).

[0475] As another example, the OD SSB opportunity may be established independently from the AO SSB. For example, the offset of the starting point of the OD SSB (from SFN=0) may be predefined or pre-established as 0 and the period may be 20 ms. Accordingly, the OD SSB opportunity may be established at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, ... If an instruction to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission / reception is received via L1 / L2 / L3 signaling at point 170 ms, as in the example of Fig. 24(a), since the period of OD SSB is 20 ms, the terminal can expect that OD SSB transmission will be stopped / terminate / deactivated from point 180 ms, which corresponds to the next first (or earliest) opportunity.

[0476] Example 4-2

[0477] After the terminal transmits a response message corresponding to L3 signaling including an instruction to stop / terminate OD SSB transmission (or after a predetermined offset from the transmission time), or after the terminal transmits a HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to L2 signaling including an instruction to stop / terminate OD SSB transmission (or after a predetermined offset from the transmission time), the transmission period and offset according to the setting of OD SSB may correspond to an instance B from the time when the opportunity matches.

[0478] For example, it is assumed that AO SSBs are sequentially transmitted from SFN 0 with a period of 160 ms, and the offset of the starting point of OD SSB is 0 and the period is set to 20 ms. Accordingly, OD SSB opportunities can be set at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, .... As in the example of Fig. 24(b), it can be assumed that after an instruction for stopping / terminating / deactivating OD SSB transmission is received through L2 / L3 signaling (not shown), a HARQ-ACK feedback or L3 response message is transmitted at the 170 ms point. In this case, according to the 20 ms period of OD SSB, the transmission / reception of OD SSB can be stopped / terminate / deactivated at the 180 ms point corresponding to the next first (or earliest) OD SSB opportunity.

[0479] As another example, in the absence of an AO SSB, the OD SSB opportunity may be set / determined based on the AO SSB transmission cycle of a reference cell (e.g., SpCell or a designated cell).

[0480] As another example, the OD SSB opportunity may be set independently from the AO SSB. For example, the offset of the starting point of the OD SSB (from SFN=0) may be predefined or preset to 0 and the period may be 20 ms. Accordingly, the OD SSB opportunity may be set at points corresponding to ..., 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 ms, ... As in the example of Fig. 24(b), if the feedback / response to the stop / terminate / deactivate instruction of OD SSB transmission is transmitted at the point in time of 170 ms, since the period of OD SSB is 20 ms, the terminal may expect the OD SSB transmission / reception to be stopped / terminate / deactivated from the point in time of 180 ms, which corresponds to the next first (or earliest) opportunity.

[0481] Example 4-3

[0482] The first opportunity after the CSI report is transmitted may correspond to instance B. For example, in the example of Fig. 24(b), if the feedback / response to the OD SSB instruction is replaced by a CSI report, the OD SSB transmission / reception may be stopped / terminated / deactivated from the first (or earliest) opportunity after the CSI report.

[0483] In this way, whether instance B is determined / applied or not can be predefined or preset to the terminal.

[0484] Example 4-4

[0485] Instance B can be set / defined based on the point in time when the scenario changes from Sn to Sn+1.

[0486] As a criterion for changing the scenario from Sn to Sn+1, the following may be applied: reception of L1 / L2 / L3 signaling for OD SSB instruction, transmission of response / feedback for L1 / L2 / L3 signaling, or after a certain processing time has elapsed.

[0487] For example, if the time point of L1 / L2 / L3 signaling reception for OD SSB indication (or a time point after a predetermined offset from the time point of reception) is Sn, the terminal can determine that the time point when the scenario changes from Sn to Sn+1 is instance B.

[0488] Alternatively, if the time point of transmitting the HARQ-ACK feedback or L3 response message for L1 / L2 signaling including the OD SSB indication (or a time point after a predetermined offset from the time point of transmitting) is Sn, the terminal can determine that the time point when the scenario changes from Sn to Sn+1 is instance B.

[0489] For example, the terminal may assume that the start time of scenario S2 or the start time of scenario S3 corresponds to instance B, where OD SSB transmission is stopped / terminated / deactivated. This behavior of the terminal may be restricted to apply only when there is no AO SSB, or may be restricted to apply only when there is an AO SSB. For example, the start time of S3 may correspond to the time when a CSI report is transmitted from the terminal, or the time when a CSI report is received at the base station.

[0490] Example 4-5

[0491] When suspending / terminating / deactivating OD SSB transmission is indicated through L2 MAC CE, instance B may be determined after a point in time (or a point in time after a predetermined offset from that point in time) that additionally considers the HARQ feedback transmission for PDSCH including L2 MAC CE and the processing time in the MAC entity.

[0492] For example, it can be assumed that PDSCH reception including OD SSB related MAC CE is performed in slot n, HARQ-ACK transmission for this is performed after K1 slots, and OD SSB transmission starts after Z slots plus the time for MAC CE decoding processing. Accordingly, the terminal can assume that instance B will be located after slot n+K1+Z, or slot n+K1+Z+1 considering an additional 1 ms (or 1 slot) based on slot n in which L2 MAC CE including an instruction to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission is received.

[0493] Here, Z=3*N slot subframe,u can be defined as, where u corresponds to the index of SCS, and the number of slots included in the subframe (N) is determined according to the value of u. slot subframe,u) can be different. If NTN is considered, Z=3*N slot subframe,u+ 2 u *k mac can also be defined as, where k mac may correspond to a scheduling offset value provided by the network when the downlink and uplink frame timings at the base station are not aligned.

[0494] In other words, if the terminal receives a MAC CE indicating to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission in slot n and sends HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the MAC-CE after K1 slots from slot n, the terminal can regard slot n + K1 + Z as instance B (or at least the terminal can expect that it will not receive OD SSB after slot n + K1 + Z). Alternatively, if the terminal receives a MAC CE indicating to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission in slot n and sends HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the MAC CE after K1 slots from slot n, the terminal can assume / expect that OD SSB will be transmitted / received only before slot n + K1 + Z (or slot n + K1 + Z +1).

[0495] For example, if an offset indication is provided to the terminal through upper layer signaling, the terminal may determine a point in time after the indicated offset as instance B. Here, the offset may be set to a value greater than or equal to K1+Z or a value exceeding K1+Z, taking K1 and Z into account. The terminal may assume that no OD SSB will be transmitted after the indicated offset from slot n in which the MAC CE is transmitted. Alternatively, the terminal may consider slot n + offset as instance B.

[0496] In the examples described above, instance B is described as being a specific time after a specific reference time, and the specific point in time at which reception of OD SSB can be stopped is described below.

[0497] An SSB burst may include SSB ID / index(s) corresponding to SSB beam direction(s). If the time point of instance B derived by considering K1 related to the HARQ-ACK feedback time point and Z related to the MAC processing time corresponds to a partial SSB burst during transmission (or sweeping) of SSB IDs of the SSB burst, the terminal may assume that OD SSB transmission is stopped / terminated from the SSB beam / ID / index after the time point. Alternatively, the terminal may assume that the partial SSB burst is transmitted and that transmission is stopped / terminated from the next SSB burst. In this way, if the point in time of instance B where the terminal assumes that the transmission of OD SSB will be stopped / terminated is located in the middle of the SSB burst, it may be assumed that the transmission / reception of OD SSB through the SSB ID following the point in time of instance B within the SSB burst will be stopped / terminated, or it may be assumed that the transmission / reception of OD SSB will be stopped / terminated from the next (entire) SSB burst, not the SSB burst in question.

[0498] In this case, if the point in time when the actual processing delay is taken into account is the middle of the SSB burst being transmitted, the end boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB of the SSB burst may be called instance B, or the end boundary of the slot containing the last SSB actually transmitted may be called time instance B.

[0499] Example 4-6

[0500] If the cessation / termination of OD SSB transmission is indicated via L3 RRC signaling, the decoding processing time for the corresponding RRC signaling message may be additionally taken into account, and instance B may be determined after that time (or after a specific offset from that time).

[0501] For example, the last slot that received L3 signaling including the stop / end instruction of OD SSB transmission via RRC signaling is called slot n, and the time required for RRC decoding processing and the time for response preparation (plus the time for completing the response transmission) is 16*N. slot We can assume subframe,u. In this case, slot n + 16*N slot subframe,u or slot n + 16*N slot The terminal can assume that instance A is K time after considering subframe,u+ 1.

[0502] In other words, if the terminal receives RRC signaling indicating the stop / end of OD SSB transmission (i.e., the last PDSCH containing the RRC signaling) in slot n, the terminal transmits the OD SSB transmission in slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot We can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance B. Or at least slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal may expect that transmission / reception of OD SSB will be stopped / terminated after subframe,u+ 1. The RRC signaling may include all RRC messages that perform OD SSB-related settings other than RRC setup and RRC resume.

[0503] In this embodiment 4-6, unlike the examples described above, if the RRC signaling is transmitted in segmentation, and the last slot of the first segment of the RRC signaling is called slot n, the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (additionally, the time for completing the response transmission) is K*N slotIt can be assumed that there are u slots in a subframe. In this case, slot n + K*N is based on slot n, where the PDSCH of the first segment of RRC signaling is last received. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance B. Or at least slot n + K*N. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The UE can expect that OD SSB transmission / reception will be stopped / terminated after subframe,u+ 1. The RRC signaling may include all RRC messages that perform OD SSB-related settings other than RRC setup and RRC resume. In addition, K may be 16+(Nseg-1)*10, where Nseg may correspond to the number of segments in the RRC message.

[0504] When transmitting an RRC message segmented and continuously in an RRC dedicated message segment (dedicatedMessageSegment) message, a sequence number (sequenceNumber) may be transmitted together with each transmission. If the slot of the last PDSCH for transmitting the dedicated message segment message of the first sequence (i.e., sequenceNumber=0) is slot n, then considering the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (and additionally the time for completing the response transmission), slot n + K*N slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can consider subframe,u+ 1 as instance B. Or at least slot n + K*N. slot subframe,u or slot n + K*N slot The terminal can expect that OD SSB transmission / reception will stop / end after subframe,u+ 1.

[0505] For example, if an offset indication is provided to the UE through upper layer signaling, the UE may determine a point in time after the indicated offset as instance B. Here, the offset (e.g., in symbol / slot / frame units) may be set to a value equal to or greater than the time for RRC decoding processing and response preparation (including the time for completing response transmission) (considering the case of RRC segments). The UE may assume that the transmission / reception of OD SSB will be stopped / terminated after the indicated offset from slot n in which the last PDSCH of RRC signaling is received. Alternatively, the UE may consider slot n + offset as instance B.

[0506] For the RRC processing time, please refer to the example of Fig. 23. For example, after receiving RRC downlink signaling including an instruction to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission, a terminal ready to receive an uplink grant after an RRC procedure delay may transmit an RRC uplink response after receiving the uplink grant. Here, instance B may also be determined at a point in time after transmitting the RRC response.

[0507] In the examples described above, instance B is described as being a specific time after a specific reference time, and the specific time from which OD SSB stop / termination can be performed is described below.

[0508] An SSB burst may include SSB ID / index(s) corresponding to SSB beam direction(s). If the point in time of instance B, which is derived by considering the RRC processing time and the RRC response preparation time, corresponds to a partial SSB burst during transmission (or sweeping) of SSB IDs of the SSB burst, the OD SSB transmission may be applied to be stopped / terminated from that point in time. Alternatively, the point in time when all SSB beams / IDs / indexes within the full SSB burst are completely transmitted after the point in time corresponding to the partial SSB burst may be determined as instance B. In other words, if instance B, where the terminal assumes that OD SSB is not transmitted, is located in the middle of an OD SSB burst, it can assume that OD SSB through a subsequent SSB ID in the same OD SSB burst is not transmitted, or it can assume that OD SSB is not transmitted from the next OD SSB burst other than that OD SSB burst (i.e., transmission of that SSB burst is completed to the end).

[0509] In this case, if the point in time when the actual processing delay is taken into account is the middle of the SSB burst being transmitted, the end boundary of the slot containing the last candidate SSB of the SSB burst may be called instance B, or the end boundary of the slot containing the last SSB actually transmitted may be called time instance B.

[0510] Example 5

[0511] This embodiment provides additional examples that can be applied to the various examples described above.

[0512] Example 5-1

[0513] In the various examples of the present disclosure described above, a specific offset may be set as a parameter via an RRC message, or may be indicated semi-statically or dynamically via L2 / L1 signaling.

[0514] It may be predefined for a specific offset. For example, different offsets to be applied to different SCSs may be predefined in a table format, and the base station and terminal may determine / apply the corresponding offset values ​​without separate signaling.

[0515] Example 5-2

[0516] When determining the offset and time instance A and time instance B in signaling related to OD SSB, the cell where OD SSB transmission is performed and the cell where L1 / L2 / L3 signaling for OD SSB is performed may be different.

[0517] In this case, as in the aforementioned embodiment 1 or 3, if the signaling of L3 / L2 / L1 in cell X includes an OD SSB related instruction in cell Y (e.g., OD SSB trigger / activation or OD SSB stop / termination / deactivation), an offset based on cell X may be applied, or an offset based on cell Y may be applied.

[0518] Alternatively, the offset may be applied based on which cell among cell X and cell Y it is applied to, or may be predefined or set in advance through separate signaling.

[0519] If the SCSs operating in cells X and Y are different, the offset may be applied based on the SCS of cell X or the SCS of cell Y. Alternatively, the offset may be applied based on the smallest SCS or the largest SCS among cells X and Y. The SCS based on which the offset is applied between the SCS of cell X and the SCS of cell Y may be predefined, pre-configured through separate signaling, or dynamically (in real time) indicated.

[0520] Example 5-3

[0521] As in the aforementioned embodiment 2 or 4, when instances A and B are determined based on preset OD SSB opportunities rather than signaling timings of L1 / L2 / L3, a time reference such as an offset may be applied based on the cell in which the OD SSB is transmitted.

[0522] Example 5-4

[0523] When the number of transmissions / timer / window size of OD SSB starting from instance A is set, OD SSB can be transmitted for the corresponding number of transmissions or until the corresponding timer / window expires without any instruction to instance B. Here, the instruction to instance B may correspond to an instruction to stop / terminate / deactivate OD SSB transmission.

[0524] Alternatively, if the number of transmissions is indicated after instance A, and instance B is indicated before the number of OD SSBs indicated for transmission is completed, the terminal can immediately stop / suspend transmission regardless of the indicated number of transmissions.

[0525] Alternatively, if a window / timer, etc. is indicated after instance A, and instance B is indicated before the indicated window / timer expires, the terminal can immediately stop / suspend transmission regardless of whether it is in the middle of a window of the indicated length or whether the timer is running.

[0526] As another example, if the number of transmissions, window length, and timer values ​​for OD SSB transmissions are not set or are set to values ​​corresponding to infinite or persistent, OD SSB transmissions can continue to be transmitted periodically by default.

[0527] In this case, if instance A is established via RRC, periodic transmission of OD SSBs may continue. This behavior may be restricted to apply only when AO SSBs are not present.

[0528] In this case, trigger / activation instructions for OD SSB received before the number of transmissions, window length, or timer value expires may be ignored. This terminal behavior may be predefined or preset.

[0529] Example 5-5

[0530] The designation of a reference cell for an SSB-less SCell may only be made when there is no transmission-related information, such as the SSB period of the SCell. If SSB reception from the designated reference cell is not smooth, the following examples may apply.

[0531] The terminal can report to the network through various uplink channels that SSB reception from the currently designated reference cell is not smooth, and can deactivate the SCell if it is activated or has been activated.

[0532] In a non-SSB SCell, the RRC parameters related to the addition of the SCell may include instructions to trigger / activate the OD SSB by the UE upon receiving the RRC signal. Furthermore, if the SCell to be added is a non-SSB cell, the RRC parameters may include instructions to distinguish whether the synchronization-related signals will be referenced to the SSB of the reference cell or to the OD SSB transmitted from the SCell at the UE's request.

[0533] Example 5-6

[0534] Providing information to the terminal to trigger / activate OD SSB through L3 command / signaling may be limited to only when SCell addition and SCell activation are simultaneously configured / instructed through L3 (or RRC) signaling.

[0535] Example 5-7

[0536] When indicating to a terminal via L1 DCI for Instance A and Instance B, this may be done via group-common DCI rather than terminal-specific DCI. Accordingly, information regarding the transmission (trigger / activation) and termination (stop / termination / deactivation) of OD SSB can be simultaneously indicated to multiple terminals.

[0537] For example, information about instances A and B that can be applied simultaneously to multiple terminals may be preset via SIB or may be signaled directly via PDCCH including L1 DCI.

[0538] Example 5-8

[0539] In the examples described above, the slot offset or symbol offset may also include a case where the value of the offset is 0.

[0540] In determining instance A and / or instance B, SCS may additionally be considered for slot offset and / or symbol offset. The SCS of the OD SSB and the SCS of the L1 / L2 / L3 signaling that triggers the OD SSB (or indicates the start of transmission) may be the same. If the SCS of the OD SSB and the SCS of the L1 / L2 / L3 PDCCH or PDSCH associated with instance A / B are different, the following examples may be applied regarding which SCS is used as a reference for applying the slot offset / symbol offset.

[0541] Example 5-9

[0542] The slot offset / symbol offset may be determined based on the SCS of the OD SSB. Alternatively, the slot offset / symbol offset may be determined based on the SCS of the PDCCH or PDSCH that triggers the OD SSB (or indicates the start of OD SSB transmission).

[0543] It may be predefined or preset based on which SCS it is based on.

[0544] For example, a larger SCS among the SCS of the OD SSB and the SCS of the signaling channel for the OD SSB may be applied as a reference, or a smaller SCS may be applied as a reference.

[0545] When a symbol / slot offset is determined based on a specific SCS, the boundary of the slot / symbol to which the offset is applied may not be aligned with the boundary of the slot / symbol based on the SCS of the OD SSB. In this case, the slot / symbol boundary based on the earliest OD SSB SCS after the point in time at which the offset is applied may be defined as time instance A / B.

[0546] When time instances A / B are determined based on base station signaling, different offsets may be applied depending on whether the signaling method is RRC / MAC CE / DCI. For example, when time instances A / B are determined after offset X from the time of RRC signaling reception and after offset Y from the time of MAC CE signaling reception, the values ​​of offset X and offset Y may be different.

[0547] Example 5-10

[0548] As mentioned above, the offset may be different for L1 / L2 / L3 signaling, or the level or unit of the offset (e.g., symbol unit or slot unit) may be different.

[0549] For example, for L2 MAC CE, a slot level / unit offset may be applied, and for L1 DCI, a symbol level / unit offset may be applied.

[0550] Example 5-11

[0551] If another OD SSB is triggered / activated from instance A' while an OD SSB is being transmitted, the previous OD SSB may be stopped / aborted and the new OD SSB may be transmitted. Alternatively, if the opportunities (time-frequency resources) of the ongoing OD SSB and the new OD SSB do not overlap, both OD SSBs may be transmitted. If two OD SSBs overlap at a particular time, one may be dropped.

[0552] For example, if two OD SSBs are scheduled to be transmitted simultaneously after instance A', it can be predefined which OD SSB is dropped (e.g., the later-indicated OD SSB is dropped). Alternatively, it can be pre-configured via source layer signaling which OD SSB is dropped. Alternatively, if two OD SSBs are scheduled to be transmitted simultaneously, and one OD SSB is a CD-SSB and the other is a NCD-SSB, the NCD-SSB can be dropped.

[0553] Alternatively, if transmission of two OD SSBs is allowed simultaneously, one OD SSB is a CD SSB and the other OD SSB is a NCD SSD, then simultaneous transmission may be allowed.

[0554] The OD SSB associated with the SCell activation procedure may be configured as an NCD-SSB or assumed by the UE to be an NCD-SSB. The OD SSB associated with cell on / off may be configured as an NCD-SSB or a CD-SSB or assumed by the UE to be an NCD-SSB or a CD-SSB.

[0555] Example 5-12

[0556] With respect to slot offset / symbol offset and instance A / B, when OD SSB transmission is triggered / instructed via L1 DCI or L2 MAC CE, information on slot offset or symbol offset may be limited to being indicated to the terminal as a single field.

[0557] Example 5-13

[0558] When triggering of an OD SSB is indicated through L1 DCI signaling, it may be indicated which OD SSB setting among multiple OD SSB settings set by upper layers for the OD SSB of the corresponding (S)Cell of the corresponding DCI is applied. For example, triggering / activating or stopping / terminating / deactivating each of multiple OD SSBs may be indicated by a bit value. Alternatively, no OD SSB setting may be indicated and an OD SSB setting corresponding to a predefined default index may be applied.

[0559] When terminal-specific OD SSB related signaling is provided, triggering or deactivation of OD SSB can be indicated through a single bit in DCI based on the existing C-RNTI, in which case the OD SSB setting set by the upper layer can be applied, or the OD SSB setting corresponding to a predefined index can be applied.

[0560] When OD SSB related signaling is provided in a group-common manner, a new RNTI-based DCI may be defined to indicate OD SSB triggering or deactivation for each cell in a bitmap manner corresponding to multiple cells.

[0561] The number of transmissions (or timer value or window length) of OD SSBs triggered in this way can be performed continuously without being reset or separately instructed (unless stopped / terminated / deactivated by separate signaling).

[0562] Example 5-14

[0563] When deactivation of OD SSB is indicated through L1 DCI signaling, if the value of the 1-bit field in the DCI is the first value, the existing state is maintained, and if the value is the second value, if OD SSB is triggered, deactivation may be indicated. In this case, activation of OD SSB may not be indicated through L1 DCI signaling, but only deactivation may be indicated.

[0564] For terminal-specific signaling, deactivation of the OD SSB being transmitted can be indicated by including a 1-bit field in the existing C-RNTI-based DCI.

[0565] For group-common signaling, OD SSB deactivation for each cell may be indicated in a bitmap manner by defining a new RNTI-based DCI corresponding to multiple cells.

[0566] Example 5-15

[0567] When OD SSB is activated based on the number of transmissions, if the OD SSB of the finite or infinite number of transmissions is triggered again before the finite or infinite number of transmissions is completed, the OD SSB can be transmitted based on the newly triggered number of transmissions, overriding the previously indicated number of transmissions.

[0568] Example 5-16

[0569] When OD SSB is activated based on the number of transmissions, signaling for deactivation of OD SSB is applied only for continuous or persistent OD SSB transmissions, and deactivation signaling can be ignored for OD SSB transmissions with a finite number of transmissions.

[0570] Example 5-17

[0571] When OD SSB is enabled based on a timer, if the OD SSB of the finite or infinite timer is triggered again before the finite or infinite timer expires, the previously indicated timer value may be overridden and the OD SSB may be transmitted based on the newly triggered timer value.

[0572] Example 5-18

[0573] When OD SSB is enabled based on a timer, signaling for deactivation of OD SSB is applied only for continuous or persistent OD SSB transmissions, and for OD SSB transmissions with a finite timer, deactivation signaling can be ignored.

[0574] Example 5-19

[0575] In a non-aligned CA situation with offset timing between SpCell and SCell, time instances A and B of OD SSB can be determined based on frame / subframe / slot boundaries relative to the corresponding SCell.

[0576] Example 5-20

[0577] When OD SSB is triggered via RRC signaling, the "time required for RRC decoding processing and time for response preparation" described as being taken into account in determining time instances A and B in the examples described above may also be defined as the total processing delay of RRC. The additional time described above may also be taken into account in addition to this total processing delay of RRC.

[0578] Example 5-21

[0579] In scenario S2, when SCell is disabled, the number of transmissions of OD SSB, timer value, or window length may be limited to be set / indicated to a finite value.

[0580] According to the various examples of the present disclosure described above, since the time points at which OD SSB transmission starts and ends can be clearly defined / determined between the network and the terminal, operations based on OD SSB can be performed accurately and efficiently. If the network and the terminal do not have a common understanding of the time points at which OD SSB transmission starts / ends, the terminal cannot properly perform synchronization or measurement for a specific serving cell based on OD SSB. Therefore, to prevent this problem, it is necessary to clearly define / determine the time points at which OD SSB transmission starts / ends.

[0581] The embodiments described above are combinations of components and features of the present disclosure in a predetermined form. Each component or feature should be considered optional unless explicitly stated otherwise. Each component or feature may be implemented without being combined with other components or features. Furthermore, it is also possible to form embodiments of the present disclosure by combining some components and / or features. The order of operations described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be changed. Some components or features of one embodiment may be included in another embodiment or may be replaced with corresponding components or features of another embodiment. It is self-evident that claims that do not have an explicit citation relationship in the patent claims may be combined to form embodiments or incorporated as new claims through post-application amendments.

[0582] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Therefore, the above detailed description should not be construed as limiting in any respect, but rather as illustrative. The scope of the present disclosure should be determined by a reasonable interpretation of the appended claims, and all modifications within the scope of equivalents of the present disclosure are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0583] The scope of the present disclosure includes software or machine-executable instructions (e.g., an operating system, an application, firmware, a program, etc.) that cause operations according to the methods of various embodiments to be executed on a device or a computer, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having such software or instructions stored thereon and executable on the device or computer. Instructions that can be used to program a processing system to perform the features described in the present disclosure can be stored on / in a storage medium or a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product including such a storage medium can be used to implement the features described in the present disclosure. The storage medium can include, but is not limited to, high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory devices, and can include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. The memory optionally includes one or more storage devices remotely located from the processor(s). The memory or, alternatively, the non-volatile memory device(s) within the memory comprise a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The features described in this disclosure may be incorporated into software and / or firmware stored on any of the machine-readable media, which may control the hardware of the processing system and allow the processing system to interact with other mechanisms that utilize results according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Such software or firmware may include, but is not limited to, application code, device drivers, operating systems, and execution environments / containers.

[0584] Here, the wireless communication technology implemented in the device of the present disclosure may include not only LTE, NR, and 6G, but also Narrowband Internet of Things for low-power communication. For example, NB-IoT technology may be an example of LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) technology and may be implemented with standards such as LTE Cat NB1 and / or LTE Cat NB2, and is not limited to the above-described names. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication technology implemented in the device of the present disclosure may perform communication based on LTE-M technology. For example, LTE-M technology may be an example of LPWAN technology and may be called by various names such as eMTC (enhanced Machine Type Communication). For example, LTE-M technology can be implemented by at least one of various standards such as 1) LTE CAT 0, 2) LTE Cat M1, 3) LTE Cat M2, 4) LTE non-BL (non-Bandwidth Limited), 5) LTE-MTC, 6) LTE Machine Type Communication, and / or 7) LTE M, and is not limited to the above-described names. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication technology implemented in the device (100, 200) of the present disclosure can include at least one of ZigBee, Bluetooth, and Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) considering low-power communication, and is not limited to the above-described names. For example, ZigBee technology can create personal area networks (PAN) related to small / low-power digital communication based on various standards such as IEEE 802.15.4, and can be called by various names.

[0585] The method proposed in this disclosure is explained with a focus on examples applied to 3GPP LTE / LTE-A, 5G, and 6G systems, but can be applied to various wireless communication systems in addition to 3GPP LTE / LTE-A, 5G, and 6G systems.

Claims

1. A step of receiving first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block from a network by a terminal; and Based on the first information, a step of receiving the synchronization signal block from the network by the terminal on the first resource is included. A method wherein the first resource corresponds to the earliest occasion after one or more of receiving the first information, processing the first information, or transmitting a response to the first information.

2. In paragraph 1, A method wherein a plurality of opportunities for transmitting the synchronization signal block are preset for the terminal.

3. In paragraph 2, The above multiple opportunities correspond to periodic time domain resources, the method.

4. In paragraph 1, A method in which the first information is provided to the terminal through one or more of the downlink control information of the first layer, the medium access control (MAC) control element of the second layer, or the radio resource control (RRC) information element of the third layer.

5. In paragraph 1, Based on the first information being provided to the terminal through the MAC control element in the first cell based on the first subcarrier spacing, and the synchronization signal block being transmitted from the network in the second cell based on the second subcarrier spacing, A method wherein the time associated with processing the first information is calculated based on the first subcarrier spacing or based on the minimum value between the first subcarrier spacing and the second subcarrier spacing.

6. In paragraph 1, The above method is: A method further comprising the step of receiving, by the terminal, second information from the network related to stopping or deactivating the synchronization signal block after triggering or activating the synchronization signal block.

7. In paragraph 6, A method in which, based on the second information, reception of the synchronization signal block from the second resource is terminated.

8. In paragraph 6, A method wherein, after the second resource, or after the second resource and the second resource, the synchronization signal block is not expected to be transmitted from the network.

9. In paragraph 6, A method wherein the second resource corresponds to a time resource after a predetermined offset after receiving the second information.

10. In paragraph 6, A method wherein the second resource corresponds to the earliest opportunity after one or more of receiving the second information, processing the second information, or transmitting a response to the second information.

11. In paragraph 6, A method in which the second information is provided to the terminal through one or more of the downlink control information of the first layer, the MAC control element of the second layer, or the RRC information element of the third layer.

12. In paragraph 1, A method wherein the above synchronization signal block corresponds to one of one or more synchronization signal block indices belonging to a synchronization signal block group.

13. In paragraph 1, A method wherein the synchronization signal block corresponds to one of one or more synchronization signal block indices belonging to the synchronization signal block group transmitted at the earliest opportunity.

14. In paragraph 1, The above synchronization signal block is an on-demand SSB (synchronization signal / PBCH (physical broadcast channel) block).

15. One or more transceivers; and comprising one or more processors connected to said one or more transceivers, One or more of the above processors: Receiving first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block from a network via said one or more transceivers; and Based on the first information, the synchronization signal block is set to be received from the network through the one or more transceivers on the first resource, The terminal, wherein the first resource corresponds to the earliest occasion after one or more of receiving the first information, processing the first information, or transmitting a response to the first information.

16. A step of transmitting first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block to a terminal by a base station; and Based on the first information, a step of transmitting the synchronization signal block to the terminal by the base station on the first resource is included. A method wherein the first resource corresponds to the earliest occasion after one or more of receiving the first information, processing the first information, or transmitting a response to the first information.

17. One or more transmitters and receivers; and comprising one or more processors connected to said one or more transceivers, One or more of the above processors: Transmitting first information related to triggering or activating a synchronization signal block to a terminal via one or more transceivers; and Based on the first information, the synchronization signal block is set to be transmitted to the terminal through the one or more transceivers on the first resource, A base station, wherein the first resource corresponds to the earliest occasion after one or more of receiving the first information, processing the first information, or transmitting a response to the first information.

18. One or more processors; and A processing device comprising one or more computer memories operatively connected to said one or more processors and storing instructions for performing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 based on execution by said one or more processors.

19. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing one or more instructions that are executed by one or more processors to control the performance of a method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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