Event triggered TCI activation of neighbor cell
The event-triggered TCI activation method addresses mobility challenges in 5G networks by enabling UE-based detection and activation of TCI states with neighboring cells, enhancing connectivity and reducing latency in 5G wireless systems.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/CN2024/110578
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-08-08
- Publication Date
- 2026-02-12
AI Technical Summary
Existing 5G wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing mobility between cells, particularly in scenarios where event-triggered Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) activation is not effectively utilized, leading to suboptimal connectivity and latency issues.
A method and apparatus for enhanced mobility functionality in 5G networks by enabling event-triggered TCI activation, where a user equipment (UE) detects specific events and activates corresponding TCI states with neighboring base stations, and communicates these changes to the network, facilitating improved beam management and reduced latency.
This approach enhances mobility management by optimizing beam alignment and reducing latency through proactive TCI state activation based on detected events, thereby improving connectivity and network performance.
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Figure CN2024110578_12022026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
EVENT TRIGGERED TCI ACTIVATION OF NEIGHBOR CELLFIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates generally to wireless technology and more particularly to event triggered Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) activation of a neighbor cell.BACKGROUND
[0002] Fifth generation mobile network (5G) is a wireless standard that aims to improve upon data transmission speed, reliability, availability, and more. 5G may also be referred to as new radio (NR) . The wireless standard includes numerous procedures that may be implemented by a transmitting device or a receiving device that improves the latency, the speed, and the reliability of uplink and downlink transmissions.
[0003] Mobility management is a function of a cellular network that allows a user equipment (UE) to move from one location to another while maintaining connectivity to the underlying network. Enhancements and improvements to mobility may be realized.SUMMARY
[0004] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to 5G new radio (NR) operating in the licensed spectrum or in the shared and unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) .
[0005] In an aspect, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in communication with a network, includes transmitting, to a first base station, a first indication that the UE supports event triggered transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation, receiving, from the first base station, configuration information includes one or more events and corresponding one or more TCI states, detecting occurrence of an event of the one or more events, and in response to detecting the occurrence of the event, activating a TCI state that corresponds to the event, the TCI state being associated with a second base station, and transmitting, to the first base station, a second indication that the TCI state that is associated with the second base station is active.
[0006] In an aspect, a method, performed by first base station of a network, includes receiving, from a user equipment (UE) , a first indication that the UE supports event triggered transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation, in response to receiving the first indication that the UE supports event triggered TCI activation, transmitting to the UE, configuration information which includes one or more events and corresponding one or more TCI states, for the UE to detect occurrence of an event of the one or more events, and receiving, from the UE, a second indication that a TCI state that corresponds to the event and that is associated with a second base station is active.
[0007] In an aspect, a base station comprises a one or more antenna arrays and a processor that is configured to cause the base station to perform the methods described. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) comprises a one or more radios and a processor that is configured to cause the UE to perform the methods described. In an aspect, a processor (e.g., a baseband processor) of a UE or a base station is configured to perform the methods described. In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable memory may store instructions that, when executed by such a processor, causes the UE or the base station to perform the methods described.
[0008] Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates uplink and downlink communications, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates an example block diagram of a user equipment (UE) , in accordance with an embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a base station (BS) , in accordance with an embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates an example block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0015] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of lower layer triggered mobility (LTM) in a telecommunications network, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0016] FIG. 7 illustrates an example transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0017] FIG. 8 shows two example scenarios associated with latency when performing layer 1 (L1) reporting and L1 measurement, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 9 shows an example of event triggered TCI activation, in accordance with one embodiment.
[0019] FIG. 10 shows an example of delay uncertainty, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0020] FIG. 11 shows examples of the UE transmitting the TCI activation indication to the network, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0021] FIG. 12 illustrates an example UE-based method for mobility using an LTM procedure with enhanced TCI activation, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 13 illustrates an example network-based method for mobility using an LTM procedure with enhanced TCI activation, in accordance with an embodiment.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] A method and apparatus is described that relates to wireless communication between a UE and network and operations that provides enhanced mobility functionality between a UE and network, based on event-triggered TCI activation respective of an LTM procedure.
[0024] It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components (e.g., network and UE components) , structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description.
[0025] Reference in the specification to “some aspects” or “an aspect” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the aspect can be included in at least one aspect of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in some aspects” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same aspect.
[0026] In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and “connected, ” along with their derivatives, may be used. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two or more elements, which may or may not be in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, co-operate or interact with each other. “Connected” is used to indicate the establishment of communication between two or more elements that are coupled with each other.
[0027] The processes depicted in the figures that follow, are performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc. ) , software (such as is run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine) , or a combination of both. Although the processes are described below in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.
[0028] The terms “server, ” “client, ” and “device” are intended to refer generally to data processing systems rather than specifically to a particular form factor for the server, client, and / or device.
[0029] A downlink QCL indication for downlink reference signals can be defined by a TCI state. QCL helps a UE communicate more effectively, by using a signal that originates from a first port to help communicate over a second port. Two signals transmitted from a same antenna port shall experience the same radio channel, but signals that are transmitted from two different antenna ports experience different radio conditions. Radio channels from two different antenna ports can have common properties. In such cases the antenna ports can be deemed to be QCL.
[0030] For example, a signal ‘A’ and signal ‘B’ transmitted from Antenna Port A and Antenna Port A can be received by a UE. These signals can experience common radio channel properties such as, for example, Doppler spread. In such a case, antenna port A and antenna port B are said to be QCL antenna port. Similarly, signal A and signal B are said to be QCL signals. In other words, two antenna ports are said to be quasi co-located if properties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on the other antenna port is conveyed. Thus, a UE can infer properties for a first channel from second channel, and then use those properties to help decode messages received through the first channel.
[0031] The radio channel properties that can be common (and thus inferred) across the antenna ports includes Doppler spread / shift, average delay, delay spread, average gain and spatial receiver parameters. A UE can use QCL for channel estimation, frequency offset error estimation and synchronization procedures. For example, if the UE knows that the radio channels corresponding to two different antenna ports are QCL in terms of Doppler shift, the UE can determine Doppler shift for one antenna port and then apply the result on both antenna ports for channel estimation. As such, the UE is not required to calculate Doppler shift for both antenna ports separately.
[0032] 5G supports multi-antenna transmission, beam-forming, and simultaneous transmission from multiple geographically separates sites. Channels of different antenna ports that are relevant for a UE may differ, for example, in terms of radio channel properties. QCL antenna port may be geographically separated. Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) is a signaling framework used by a telecommunication network to indicate a beam for a target channel or signal to be received by the user equipment (UE) . A TCI may indicate a source reference signal (RS) and an intended quasi co-location (QCL) type.
[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified example wireless communication system, according to some aspects. It is noted that the system of FIG. 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and that features of this disclosure may be implemented in any of various systems, as desired.
[0034] As shown, the example wireless communication system includes a base station 102A which communicates over a transmission medium with one or more user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N. Each of the user devices may be referred to as a “user equipment” (UE) .
[0035] The base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site (a “cellular base station” ) and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with the UEs 106A through 106N.
[0036] The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a “cell. ” The base station 102A and the UEs 106 may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs) , also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces) , LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , 5G new radio (5G NR) , HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD) , etc. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’ . Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternately be referred to as ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’ .
[0037] As shown, the base station 102A may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN) , and / or the Internet, among various possibilities) . Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communication between the user devices and / or between the user devices and the network 100. In particular, the cellular base station 102A may provide UEs 106 with various telecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and / or data services.
[0038] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B ... 102N) operating according to the same or a different cellular communication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs 106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.
[0039] Thus, while base station 102A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs 106A-N as illustrated in FIG. 1, each UE 106 may also be capable of receiving signals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or more other cells (which might be provided by base stations 102B-N and / or any other base stations) , which may be referred to as “neighboring cells” . Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communication between user devices and / or between user devices and the network 100. Such cells may include “macro” cells, “micro” cells, “pico” cells, and / or cells which provide any of various other granularities of service area size. For example, base stations 102A-B illustrated in FIG. 1 might be macro cells, while base station 102N might be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.
[0040] In some aspects, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB” . In some aspects, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs) . In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.
[0041] Note that a UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc. ) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces) , LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD) , etc. ) . The UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS) , one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H) , and / or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.
[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates UE 106A that can be in communication with a base station 102 through uplink and downlink communications, according to some aspects. The UEs may each be a device with cellular communication capability such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.
[0043] The UE may include a processor that is configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE may perform any of the method aspects described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE may include a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that is configured to perform any of the method aspects described herein, or any portion of any of the method aspects described herein.
[0044] The UE may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some aspects, the UE may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio and / or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc. ) , or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing) . Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.
[0045] In some aspects, the UE may include separate transmit and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE may include one or more radios which are shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios which are used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE might include a shared radio for communicating using either of LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1xRTTor LTE or GSM) , and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.
[0046] FIG. 3 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a communication device 106, according to some aspects. It is noted that the block diagram of the communication device of FIG. 3 is only one example of a possible communication device. According to aspects, communication device 106 may be a UE device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device) , a tablet and / or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communication device 106 may include a set of components 300 configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC) , which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components 300 may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for the various purposes. The set of components 300 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device 106.
[0047] For example, the communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash 310) , an input / output interface such as connector I / F 320 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; dock; charging station; input devices, such as a microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices, such as speakers; etc. ) , the display 360, which may be integrated with or external to the communication device 106, and cellular communication circuitry 330 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 (e.g., BluetoothTM and WLAN circuitry) . In some aspects, communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown) , such as a network interface card, e.g., for Ethernet.
[0048] The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 and 336 as shown. The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 may also couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337 and 338 as shown. Alternatively, the short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas 335 and 336 in addition to, or instead of, coupling (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas 337 and 338. The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 and / or cellular communication circuitry 330 may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration.
[0049] In some aspects, as further described below, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains (including and / or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicated processors and / or radios) for multiple radio access technologies (RATs) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR) . In addition, in some aspects, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a single transmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to specific RATs. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g., LTE, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radio that may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 5G NR, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and the shared transmit chain.
[0050] The communication device 106 may also include and / or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of various elements, such as display 360 (which may be a touchscreen display) , a keyboard (which may be a discrete keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touchscreen display) , a mouse, a microphone and / or speakers, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of various other elements capable of providing information to a user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.
[0051] The communication device 106 may further include one or more smart cards 345 that include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC (s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card (s) ) cards 345.
[0052] As shown, the SOC 300 may include processor (s) 302, which may execute program instructions for the communication device 106 and display circuitry 304, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display 360. The processor (s) 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor (s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry 304, short range wireless communication circuitry 229, cellular communication circuitry 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some aspects, the MMU 340 may be included as a portion of the processor (s) 302.
[0053] As noted above, the communication device 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless and / or wired communication circuitry. The communication device 106 may also be configured to determine a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station. Further, the communication device 106 may be configured to group and select CCs from the wireless link and determine a virtual CC from the group of selected CCs. The wireless device may also be configured to perform a physical downlink resource mapping based on an aggregate resource matching patterns of groups of CCs.
[0054] As described herein, the communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a communications device 106 and a base station. The processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) . Alternatively (or in addition) , processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) . Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 302 of the communication device 106, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.
[0055] In addition, as described herein, processor 302 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor 302 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor 302. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processor (s) 302.
[0056] Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry 330 and short-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry 330 and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in short range wireless communication circuitry 329. Thus, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry 330. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry 230. Similarly, the short-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may include one or more ICs that are configured to perform the functions of short-range wireless communication circuitry 32. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of short-range wireless communication circuitry 329.
[0057] FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a base station 102, according to some aspects. It is noted that the base station of FIG. 4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include processor (s) 404 which may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor (s) 404 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor (s) 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory (ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.
[0058] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to the telephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0059] The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility related services and / or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices serviced by the cellular service provider) .
[0060] In some aspects, base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB” . In such aspects, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs) . In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs. In some aspects, the base station can operate in 5G NR-U mode.
[0061] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR, 5G NR-U, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.
[0062] The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the base station 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 may include an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE as well as a 5G NR radio for performing communication according to 5G NR and 5G NR-U. In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable of performing communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc. ) .
[0063] As described further subsequently herein, the BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting implementation of features described herein. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) . Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) , or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 404 of the BS 102, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein.
[0064] In addition, as described herein, processor (s) 404 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor (s) 404. Thus, processor (s) 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor (s) 404. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processor (s) 404.
[0065] Further, as described herein, radio 430 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio 430. Thus, radio 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of radio 430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of radio 430.
[0066] FIG. 5 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some aspects. It is noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of FIG. 5 is only one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to aspects, cellular communication circuitry 330 may be included in a communication device, such as communication device 106 described above. As noted above, communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device) , a tablet and / or a combination of devices, among other devices.
[0067] The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 a-b and 336 as shown (in FIG. 3) . In some aspects, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains (including and / or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicated processors and / or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR) . For example, as shown in FIG. 5, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a modem 510 and a modem 520. Modem 510 may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, and modem 520 may be configured for communications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as 5G NR.
[0068] As shown, modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and a memory 516 in communication with processors 512. Modem 510 may be in communication with a radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 and transmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some aspects, receive circuitry 532 may be in communication with downlink (DL) front end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335a.
[0069] Similarly, modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory 526 in communication with processors 522. Modem 520 may be in communication with an RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry 544. In some aspects, receive circuitry 542 may be in communication with DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335b.
[0070] In some aspects, a switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 534 to uplink (UL) front end 572. In addition, switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 544 to UL front end 572. UL front end 572 may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Thus, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmit according to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 510) , switch 570 may be switched to a first state that allows modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry 534 and UL front end 572) . Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmit according to the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 520) , switch 570 may be switched to a second state that allows modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry 544 and UL front end 572) .
[0071] As described herein, the modem 510 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features or for determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors 512 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) . Alternatively (or in addition) , processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) . Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 512, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.
[0072] In addition, as described herein, processors 512 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors 512 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors 512. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processors 512.
[0073] As described herein, the modem 520 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for determining a physical downlink shared channel scheduling resource for a user equipment device and a base station, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors 522 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer- readable memory medium) . Alternatively (or in addition) , processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) . Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 522, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.
[0074] In addition, as described herein, processors 522 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors 522. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processors 522.
[0075] 5G supports multi-antenna transmission, beam-forming, and simultaneous transmission from multiple geographically separates sites. Channels of different antenna ports that are relevant for a UE may differ, for example, in terms of radio channel properties. QCL antenna port may be geographically separated. Massive MIMO (mMIMO) and beamforming are used in radio access technology (RAT) cell networks such as NR and LTE. Generally, beamforming transmission uses multiple antennas to control the direction of a wave-front by appropriately weighting the magnitude and phase of individual antenna signals in an array of multiple antennas. The same signal may be sent from multiple antennas that have sufficient space between them. In any given location, the receiver (e.g., of a UE) may receive multiple copies of the same signal. Depending on the location of the receiver, the signals may be in opposite phases, destructively averaging each other out, or constructively sum up if the different copies are in the same phase, or anything in between. Analog and digital beamforming is supported in NR. In digital beamforming, a signal is pre-coded (amplitude and phase modifications) in baseband processing before RF transmission. Multiple beams (e.g., one per UE) can be formed simultaneously from the same set of antenna elements. In MU-MIMO operation, multiple TRX chains can be transmitted by a base station, one per each simultaneous MU-MIMO user. Digital beamforming improves the cell capacity as the same PRBs (frequency / time resources) can be used to transmit data simultaneously for multiple users. With analog beamforming, the signal phases of individual antenna signals are adjusted in RF domain. Analog beamforming impacts the radiation pattern and gain of the antenna array, thus improves coverage. Unlike in digital beamforming, only one beam per set of antenna elements can be formed. The antenna gain boost provided by the analog beamforming overcomes partly the impact of high pathloss in mmWave, and is therefore a pre-requisite for NR network operation which operates in the mmWave frequency range.
[0076] Massive multi-input multi-output (mMIMO) is a system a base station includes many antennas (e.g., 32 or more logical antenna ports per base station) . For example, an antenna array may include ‘X’ number of omni elements, with at least 1 / 2 wavelength spacing in between the antenna elements. The ‘X’ number of elements transmit numerous distinct streams of data via plurality of logical antenna ports, one stream for each UE. All streams are individually transmitted using the same physical resource blocks, e.g., the same time / frequency resources. The data streams do not interfere between each other because each of them has a distinct radiation pattern (through beamforming) , where the signal strength in the direction of the target UE is optimized, and in the directions of the other UEs the signal strength is minimized.
[0077] 5G physical channels provide flexible communication between the 5G base stations and the UEs. 5G NR has specified the physical channels for 5G networks that can be used either for Downlink or Uplink communication. 5G NR physical channels used for uplink communication includes the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) , and the physical random-access channel (PRACH) . Uplink signals such as DM-RS, PT-RS, and SRS are also supported. 5G NR supports the simultaneous transmission on PUSCH and PUCCH. PUSCH is typically used to carry the user data and optionally, can carry uplink control information (UCI) . PDSCH stands for Physical Downlink Shared Channel and is a channel used to deliver data from the base station (e.g., gNb) to the user equipment (UE) in the downlink direction. PDSCH supports high data rates and low latency for a wide range of applications and services. It uses advanced modulation and coding schemes, as well as multiple antenna techniques such as MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) , to maximize spectral efficiency and improve the overall performance of the network. PDSCH is also used in conjunction with other channels, such as the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) , to support features such as channel state information reporting, scheduling and retransmission of data packets, and HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) feedback. PDSCH enables the delivery of high-speed data and low-latency services to users in the downlink direction, and supports a range of advanced features and capabilities that promote efficient and reliable operation of the network.
[0078] Carrier aggregation (CA) is a technique that mobile carriers may use to increase network capacity and speeds. CA operations may include using or combining multiple carriers simultaneously to create a wider channel for data transmission and reception, which may result in increased data throughput and reduced latency. CA may be performed by splitting and combining signals in the media access control (MAC) layer, whereas dual connectivity (DC) uses traffic splits in the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer.
[0079] A UE may change physical location within a network. The network may include a plurality of cells (e.g., base stations) . When UE moves from one location to another, the network may designate a different cell to be the primary cell or serving cell for the UE. In the handover procedure, a UE may send a measurement report with neighbor cell physical cell identity (PCI) and signal strength to the serving cell. The network may look at various conditions (e.g., triggering events) and if one of conditions are satisfied for a triggering event, start the handover procedure to the best target cell according to the triggering event. The target cell of the network may complete the handover procedure with the UE. The target cell may be within the same radio access technology (RAT) or a different RAT.
[0080] Generally, a network may configure a UE through radio resource control (RRC) signaling. How the network configures a UE may depend on various factors including network conditions (e.g., bandwidth, coverage, network capabilities, etc. ) and UE conditions (e.g., UE capabilities, UE model, UE location, UE state, etc. ) . RRC signaling includes specified protocols that define how UE and network are to interact to perform connection establishment and release functions, broadcast of system information, radio bearer establishment, reconfiguration and release, RRC connection mobility procedures, paging notification and release and outer loop power control. The network may use the RRC protocols (which may be referred to as an RRC layer) to configure UE and control planes according to the network status. RRC operation includes a state machine which defines certain specific states of a UE such as RRC connected, RRC idle, etc. A UE is allocated different network resources depending on the current state of the UE.
[0081] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) is a control plane network function (NF) in the 5G core network (5GC) . The AMF manages access and mobility for 5G devices, including providing Registration Management, Reachability Management, Connection Management, and Mobility Management. Registration Management allows a UE to register and de-register with the 5G system. Connection Management establishes and release the control plane signaling connections between the UE and AMF. Reachability Management ensures that a UE is always reachable. Mobility Management includes network operation (e.g., signaling, tracking, and recordkeeping) to maintain knowledge where different UEs are located within the cellular network. The UE performs periodic registration updates after it is initially registered, and may signal the network periodically with updates for the network to track each UE.
[0082] A UE or network may perform operations to enhance measurement for mobility management, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
[0083] Handover may be based on L3 measurement report from UE. The network provides the L3 measurement configuration to UE. A UE performs a neighbor cell measurement and reports the measurement result to the network. When serving cell quality becomes worse, the UE starts to perform neighboring cell measurements. A UE initiates the measurement report of its neighbor when an agreed upon report condition is met (e.g., periodical report, or event triggered report) . Based on the UE measurement report which the UE sends to the network, the network decides to switch to a target cell for handover.
[0084] Under L3 based mobility, L3 measurement is based on cell specific measurement performed by the UE. The UE derives a cell specific measurement result based on measuring signal strength of one or more beams of the cell (e.g., all the transmitted beams of the cell) . The UE generates and sends a measurement report to the network that includes the determined cell quality, and optional beam results for the triggered cell and serving cell (s) in a measurement report (MR) .
[0085] Lower layer (layer 1 and layer 2) triggered mobility (LTM) is a handover procedure that reduces the time it takes to interrupt a handover. It is a new procedure in 5G Advanced that combines the beam managing framework with the mobility framework. LTM is applicable to all frequency bands and can be used for UEs configured to use carrier aggregation. It allows a serving cell to change via L1 / L2 signaling while keeping the configuration of the upper layers intact.
[0086] Based on L3 measurement report, the network (NW) may decide one or more LTM candidate cells and provide the LTM candidate cell configuration to UE via RRC signaling. The configuration may include IDs of the candidate cells and conditions upon which to perform measurements of those cells. Based on one or more L1 measurement reports from the UE, the NW changes UE serving cell by a cell switch command (e.g., through MAC CE) . The candidate config ID in cell switch command refers to the configuration provided by the network to the UE through RRC in advance.
[0087] Measurement for LTM may be performed by a UE via two different procedure, an L3 measurement procedure and L1 measurement procedure. Regarding L3 measurement procedure, UE may use existing L3 measurement procedure for LTM. The UE performs L3 measurement procedure for LTM to help the network decide which is a preferred LTM candidate, and provides the LTM candidate configuration to the UE with the preferred LTM candidate. Regarding L1 measurement procedure, the UE performs L1 measurement upon receiving the LTM candidate configuration. Based on the L1 measurement report of the candidate cell, the network makes the LTM decision and sends to the UE, an LTM cell switch command (e.g., via MAC CE) to trigger UE to perform cell switch. As such, existing measurement for UE mobility can be summarized as follows: mobility mechanisms are based on L3 measurement. The UE performs L3 measurement, and the network uses the result for handover (HO) and / or conditional handover (CHO) , and a combination of L3 measurement and L1 measurement is used for LTM mobility. Further, L3 measurement procedure is designed based on cell specific measurement result -both the reported measurement results and the trigger conditions are based on cell specific results rather than beam specific results (e.g., a strength of a single beam) .
[0088] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of lower layer triggered mobility (LTM) in a telecommunications network, in accordance with an aspect. Lower layer may refer to layer 1 (L1) or layer 2 (L2) , and LTM may refer to a mobility process that relies on lower layer based signal measurements or cell switch command to initiate switching from one serving cell to another. LTM may be supported by a telecommunications network 608 which may be referred to simply as a network. The network 608 may comprise a plurality of cells, such as serving cell 604 which is the cell that UE 602 is currently registered to, and one or more neighbor cells 606. Each cell comprises a corresponding base station. A serving cell 604 may be a current cell that a UE has selected and is ‘camped’ on. A neighbor cell 606 may be a cell that UE 602 can detect and communicate with, but is not synchronized with, and has no allocated network resources with which to perform uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) with. Each base station may transmit data and reference signal (s) on beams (e.g., serving beam, beam #1, beam #2, beam #3, etc. ) Aspects such as the number of beams and the number of cells are merely illustrative and in reality, each cell may comprise more or less beams, and a network may comprise more or less cells, such as more or less neighbor cells. The UE 602 may correspond to UE 106, as described in other sections.
[0089] As discussed, as a UE 602 moves from one location to another, a mobility process such as LTM may be performed by the UE 602 and network 608 to continuously select the best cell to act as the serving cell for the UE 602. In the LTM procedure, early TCI activation for neighbor cell 606 may help reduce the time for the UE 602 to switch to a new serving cell. Early TCI activation may refer to TCI activation before cell switching is performed. More generally, TCI activation may refer to the UE activating settings according to a TCI state, where the UE uses those settings to measure or connect with a particular beam (e.g., an SSB) , these settings may identify the beam and associated QCL information and other network resources (e.g., bandwidth part, cell ID, etc. ) .
[0090] UE 602 may measure different beams from the serving cell and neighbor cells. These beams may be referred to as downlink beams that are transmitted from the current serving cell 604. Further, the UE may measure different beams transmitted from a neighbor cell (e.g., beam #1, beam#2, beam#3) . Each beam may correspond to a beamformed signal such as, for example, phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) , sounding reference signal (SRS) , channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) , common reference signal (CRS) , synchronization signal (SS) or SS block (SSB) , pre-coding matrix indicator (PMI) based traffic beam, or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) . For example, serving cell 604 may transmit SSBs in different directions relative to the base station, for UE 602 to measure. Beams may be identified based on signature and / or index. The UE 602 may be configured with transmission configuration information (TCI) and TCI states, where each TCI state may correspond to a beam and the requisite beam information for the UE to identify a given beam and perform the measurement.
[0091] FIG. 7 shows an example transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, which the network 608 may preconfigure a UE with. A UE may be configured with multiple TCI states through RRC signaling, or dynamically (e.g., over DCI) . The network (e.g., through the serving cell) may transmit these TCI states to the UE for storage, and the base station may activate one of these TCI states through a TCI activation command (e.g., operation 614) . Additionally, or alternatively, as described in the present disclosure, the UE may activate a TCI based on one or more criteria without a TCI activation command. Each TCI state typically includes QCL-relationships between downlink reference signals (e.g., in a CSI-RS set) and downlink ports (e.g., PDSCH DMRS ports) . A reference signal may be referred to as a beam and may be transmitted as a synchronization signal block (SSB) by a base station with various different patterns depending on subcarrier spacing, sub carrier spacing, frequency range, and / or other parameters. A UE can be configured with a list of TCI-State configurations. The TCI state can include a TCI state ID such as, for example, ‘0’ , ‘1’ , ‘2’ , or any symbol that is unique to a defined TCI state. Thus, different TCI states can have different TCI state IDs. The TCI state can define different QCL data (e.g., ‘qcl-Type1’ , ‘qcl-Type2’ ) . Each of these QCL data can be associated with a reference signal, and a QCL type (e.g., typeA, typeB, typeC, or typeD) . Optionally, each QCL data can define a cell index which can be used to identify a cell (e.g., a primary cell (PCell) and / or a secondary cell (SCell) , a neighbor cell, etc., ) that that is in communication with a UE. Also optional, the bwp-Id (carrier bandwidth part identifier) can be defined. A BWP is a contiguous set of physical resource blocks that are selected from a contiguous subset of the common resource blocks for a given numerology (u) on a given carrier. Each TCI state may be associated with a different reference beam. Typically, a UE is configured with measurement configuration that the UE uses to measure beams from the serving cell as well as neighbor cell. The UE sends a measurement report out periodically to the serving cell and, based on this measurement report, the serving cell determines whether to trigger a switch to a neighbor cell.
[0092] Referring back to FIG. 6, it should be understood that to measure strength of a beam, a UE 602 may use a radio frequency (RF) receiver to sense electromagnetic energy at a particular time and / or frequency. The UE may detect the strength of a beam under a variety of techniques such as, for example, a reference signal received power (RSRP) , a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) , a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , a signal to noise ratio (SNR) , or signal to noise interference ratio (SINR) . The UE may compare this measurement to a corresponding threshold value (e.g., a threshold RSRP, etc. ) . The UE may also compare beams to each other (e.g., a strength of a beam of a neighbor cell to a strength of a current serving beam) .
[0093] Mobility may be triggered based on a beam measurement result, which may include a beam specific measurement result in layer 3 (L3) , layer 2 (L2) , or layer 1 (L1) . Layer 1 describes the physical (PHY) layer. In this layer, operations are performed relating to error detection on the transport channel and indication to higher layers, power weighting of physical channels, modulation and demodulation of physical channels, frequency and time synchronization, radio characteristics measurements and indication to higher layers, MIMO antenna processing, transmit diversity, digital and analog beamforming, RF processing, and other PHY layer operations. Layer 2 refers to media access control (MAC) , radio link control (RLC) , and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. Layer 2 may be dedicated or generally used for beam management, random access procedure, mapping between logical channels and transport channels, and other functionality. Layer 3 may be referred to as the RRC layer. In layer 3, operations performed relate to broadcasting of system information to NAS and AS, connecting-maintenance-release of RRC connection, mobility functions, cell addition and cell release, UE measurement reporting, configuration / control of UE reporting, UE based mobility, and other layer 3 operations.
[0094] In NR handover types until NR Release 17, a serving cell change is triggered by layer 3 (L3) measurements and is done by RRC signaling (i.e., Reconfiguration with Synchronization information element) for change of primary cell (PCell) and primary secondary cell (PSCell) . All cases require reconfiguration of upper layers (e.g., RRC or PDCP) and / or resetting of lower layers (e.g., MAC and / or PHY) which leads to longer latency, larger overhead and longer interruption time than beam level mobility.
[0095] More recently, NR Release 18 has introduced layer 1 (L1) / L2 based mobility also known as lower layer triggered mobility (LTM) to enable a serving cell handover via L1 / L2 signaling, while keeping configuration of the upper layers and / or minimizing changes of configuration of the lower layers. This helps to reduce the latency, overhead and interruption time during handover. The Release 18 LTM supports both intra-distributed unit (DU) and intra-central unit (CU) -inter-DU mobility. The Release 19 LTM supports inter-CU as well. During the LTM, user plane is continued whenever possible (e.g., intra-DU) , without reset, with the target cell to avoid data loss and the additional delay of data recovery. Further, security is not updated in the LTM procedure.
[0096] LTM timeline 618 shows a simplified LTM procedure, where the network transmits a TCI activation command to the UE to get the UE to perform TCI activation. At operation 610, a base station (e.g., a serving cell 604) may transmit LTM configuration data to a UE (e.g., 602) . This may be performed via RRC or other signaling. The LTM configuration may trigger L1 reporting by the UE at a periodicity (Treport) indicated by the LTM configuration. The UE 602 may perform measurements of serving cell 604 (e.g., serving beam) and one or more neighbor cells 606 and their one or more beams such as beam #1, beam #1, and beam #3. Upon performance of the measurements, UE 602 may, at operation 612, transmit an L1 report that includes the signal strengths measured of each beam. The gNB (e.g., serving cell 604) receives L1 measurement report from a UE, and uses these measurements as a basis for determining whether the UE should switch cells. For example, if the measured beam of the neighbor cell 606 is better than the serving beam of the serving cell by a threshold amount, the network 608 may determine that the UE 602 should switch to the neighbor cell 606.
[0097] At operation 614, the base station (e.g., serving cell 604) may transmit a cell switch command (e.g., through MAC CE or other signaling) which indicates an LTM candidate configuration that the gNB previously prepared and provided to the UE through RRC signaling. For example, the UE 602 may have stored in memory, a plurality of TCI states each corresponding a beam in the serving cell or a neighbor cell. The cell switch command (TCI activation signal) may indicate which TCI state the UE is to internally activate. In response to receiving this command, the UE 602 switches to the target configuration (e.g., a TCI state corresponding to one of the beams of neighbor cell 606) . The serving cell 604 and neighbor cell 606 engage in additional intercell signaling (not shown) to trigger the cell switch of the UE 602 to neighbor cell 606. This intercell signaling is known and established, and may include the serving cell 604 transmitting UE identity information, session information, handover cause, and other data to the neighbor cell 606, and the neighbor cell 606 generally acknowledging and accepting the handover request.
[0098] The activation of the TCI state for the UE prior to this intercell signaling is a benefit of the LTM procedure that can be used to reduce the mobility latency. For example, when configured by the network, TCI states may be activated of one or multiple cells that are different from the current serving cell. The TCI states of the LTM candidate cells (e.g., neighbor cell 606) can be activated in UE 602 in advance of the cell switch (prior to the neighbor cell becoming the serving cell) , which allows the UE 602 to be downlink synchronized with neighbor cell 606, thereby facilitating a faster cell switch to neighbor cell 606 when a cell switch is triggered. The UE may use the activated TCI state to measure and perform time and frequency fine synchronization with the associated beam.
[0099] Aspects of the present disclosure may further improve on the early TCI activation shown by LTM timeline 618, by implementing one or more mechanisms to reduce potential latency and delays that may be inherent in the timeline shown in LTM timeline 618.
[0100] FIG. 8 shows two example scenarios associated with latency when performing L1 reporting and L1 measurement, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0101] As described with respect to FIG. 6, during an LTM procedure, a network is configured to trigger TCI activation based on a received UE report. The network uses this UE report to determine which Tx beam from neighbor cell is the most suitable beam for the UE. Periodic, semi-persistent and aperiodic L1 reporting of neighbor cell may be transmitted by a UE to a base station.
[0102] In periodic and semi-persistent reporting, Treport may be different from L1 measurement period. This difference may be caused due to one report configuration covering multiple reference signals (e.g., SSBs, etc. ) and the potential for the measurement period of different reference signals on different carrier frequencies being different. As a result, delay is potentially introduced between when the UE completes the measurement when the UE transmits the L1 report.
[0103] This delay may occur between when the UE first completes the measurement when the UE transmits the L1 report. This delay may be caused due to differences between the L1 measurement period and the period for reporting (Treport) . In a first case, the delay is caused when L1 measurement period is greater than Treport. In a second case, the delay is caused when L1 measurement period is shorter than Treport.
[0104] In aperiodic reporting, UE L1 report is triggered by network. It is up to network implementation when to trigger the L1 reporting. For instance, network would trigger it once serving cell / beam quality becomes poor. Or neighbor cell L3 measurement becomes good enough. It is noteworthy that L3 measurement period typically is longer than L1 measurement since in L3 measurement, a UE may need to measure more carriers than for L1 measurement, and number of samples per carrier is also more for L3 measurement than that is needed in L1 measurement. Therefore, even with aperiodic reporting, the extra latency may result between the last measurement and L1 reporting.
[0105] Based on the reasons above, unwanted latency may be introduced into the LTM procedure. As a result of this latency, TCI activation and cell switching may be delayed. Since mobility is time sensitive, aspects of the present disclosure may improve TCI actuation associated with a neighbor cell and reduce LTM latency.
[0106] FIG. 9 shows an example of event triggered TCI activation, according to an aspect. A UE 902 may be communicatively coupled to a base station 904 of a cellular network. Base station 904 may be associated with a serving cell (e.g., 604) of the UE 902.
[0107] At operation 906, the UE reports to the network, capability reporting that indicates to the network that the UE 902 supports event triggered TCI activation of one or more neighbor cells. The capability reporting may comprise one or more different UE capabilities, to indicate to the network which of the event triggered TCI activation capabilities the UE supports.
[0108] In an example, the capability reporting may indicate that the UE supports L3 measurement based event triggered TCI activation. In an example, the capability reporting may indicate that the UE supports L1 measurement based event triggered TCI activation. In an example, the capability reporting may indicate that the UE supports location based event triggered TCI activation. In an example, the UE may indicate that it supports at least one of the mentioned capabilities. The capability of each UE may be different, so the network may tailor the next operation according to the UE's indicated capability.
[0109] At operation 908, the base station 904 transmits to the UE 902, event configuration information. This event configuration information configures the UE 902 to perform event triggered TCI activation as well as including an event for the TCI activation. The base station 904 may provide an associated event for each target TCI in all candidate cells. In an embodiment, depending on the capability of the UE, the base station 904 configures events that correspond to the UE capability. For example, in response to the UE indicating a capability for L1 triggered TCI activation, the UE may specify event configuration 908 to specify layer 1 or layer 2 events such as LTM1, LTM2, LTM3, LTM4, LTM5, etc. In response to the UE indicating a capability for L3 triggered TCI activation, the network may specify layer 3 events such as Events A1-A6, and so on.
[0110] Base station 904 may configure UE 902 with different types of events which may correspond to different configured TCI within the UE 902, or alternatively, with the same event with different thresholds. To save signaling overhead, RRC can be designed in the way that same event applies to all TCI in the same cell. The base station 904 may transmit event configuration that comprises any one of the following events: A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, D1, D2, H1, H2, A3H1, A3H2, A4H1, A4H2, A5H1, A5H2, LTM1, LTM2, LTM3, LTM4, LTM5 equivalent events that may be defined in the future.
[0111] For example, event configuration may indicate that TCI #1 (corresponding to beam #1 of neighbor cell 606) is associated with event A3 with threshold of 3dB. Similarly, event configuration may indicate that TCI #2 (corresponding to beam #2 of neighbor cell 606) is associated with event LTM3 with threshold 3dB. The UE may perform measurements associated with beam #1 according to TCI #1 to detect whether the event A3 satisfies threshold of 3dB, and / or perform measurements associated with beam #2 according to TCI #2 to detect whether event LTM3 satisfies the threshold of 3dB.
[0112] At operation 910, the UE 902 performs RRC processing to decode the received event configuration information, which tells the UE which beams to monitor and which events are associated with each beam.
[0113] At operation 912, the UE 902 performs beam measurements to monitor for the conditions according to the received event configuration. In an embodiment, the event configuration may configure the UE to monitor the conditions with the same requirements as the corresponding measurement requirements. For example, if L1 RSRP based event is configured, UE performs L1 RSRP measurement on both serving and neighbor cells periodically. Existing L1 RSRP measurement period such as those defined in TS38.133 section 9.5 for serving cell and TS38.133 section 9.14, 9.15 for a neighbor cell, the contents of which are now incorporated by reference, can be configured.
[0114] At operation 914, the UE 902 may perform beam measurements and detect that the conditions associated with an event and a corresponding target TCI are satisfied. In response, the UE may proceed to operation 916 and automatically activate the target. If the conditions of the event are not satisfied, the UE may continue performing operation 912 and monitor for satisfaction of the event.
[0115] The UE performs autonomous TCI activation 916 of the target TCI in response to the UE identifying that the event associated with the target TCI (as specified in the event configuration) has occurred. This autonomous TCI activation 916 is performed unilaterally by the UE, without a TCI activation command from the network.
[0116] UE 902 may operate under latency requirements such that TCI activation is performed by the UE 902 within an acceptable time when a corresponding condition is met. In an embodiment, the UE 902 receives event configuration at operation 908 at a slot n, the UE completes TCI activation within a time period starting at time of slot n, where the time period can be expressed as:
[0117] slot n + TRRC + Tevent_DU + TIdentify + Tfine_tracking, where:
[0118] TRRC is the RRC processing time for event triggered TCI activation,
[0119] Tevent_DU is the delay uncertainty which is the time from when the UE successfully decodes an event triggered TCI activation command until a condition exists at the measurement reference point which will trigger the TCI activation,
[0120] TIdentify is the time from end of Tevent_DU until UE identifies the condition is met,
[0121] Tfine_tracking is the time for UE to perform T / F fine tracking before TCI activation, Tfine_tracking = Tfirst-SSB + TSSB-proc, where Tfirst-SSB is time to first SSB transmission when the target SSB is within active BWP, otherwise, Tfirst-SSB is time to first SSB transmission overlapping with measurement gap if the SSB needs to be measured within measurement gap, and TSSB-proc is the SSB processing time, which may be 2ms by default.
[0122] At operation 918, the UE transmits a second indication to the base station 904 notifying the base station 904 that the UE 902 has activated the target TCI. UE 902 may include in the second indication, which TCI (e.g., a TCI ID) and which neighbor cell (e.g., PCI or cell ID) that the UE has activated. This second indication can be sent via RRC, MAC or UCI.
[0123] Although not shown, base station 904 may respond to this second indication or from a subsequent layer 1 report, by engaging in handover signaling with a second base station of the neighbor cell associated with the activated TCI. This signaling mechanism results in a handover of the UE 902 to the second base station at target beam associated with the activated TCI.
[0124] As described above, event configuration 908 may comprise one or more events and the TCI identifier or beam associated with the event, as well as a threshold associated with the satisfaction of that event. Depending on the event, each threshold may be different. For example, event configuration may comprise Event A1 at threshold 2dB, corresponding to TCI #1 (corresponding to beam #1) .
[0125] Events may comprise one or more of the following:
[0126] Event A1: Serving becomes better than absolute threshold;
[0127] Event A2: Serving becomes worse than absolute threshold;
[0128] Event A3: Neighbor becomes amount of offset better than PCell / PSCell;
[0129] Event A4: Neighbor becomes better than absolute threshold;
[0130] Event A5: PCell / PSCell becomes worse than absolute threshold1 AND Neighbour / SCell becomes better than another absolute threshold2;
[0131] Event A6: Neighbour becomes amount of offset better than SCell;
[0132] Event D1: Distance between UE and a reference location referenceLocation1 becomes larger than configured threshold distanceThreshFromReference1 and distance between UE and a reference location referenceLocation2 becomes shorter than configured threshold distanceThreshFromReference2;
[0133] Event D2: Distance between UE and a moving reference location based on movingReferenceLocation and its corresponding satellite ephemeris and epoch time broadcast in SIB19 for the serving cell becomes larger than configured threshold distanceThreshFromReference1 and distance between UE and a moving reference location determined based on referenceLocation2 becomes shorter than configured threshold distanceThreshFromReference2;
[0134] Event H1: Aerial UE altitude becomes higher than a threshold;
[0135] Event H2: Aerial UE altitude becomes lower than a threshold;
[0136] Event A3H1: Neighbour becomes offset better than SpCell and the Aerial UE altitude becomes higher than a threshold;
[0137] Event A3H2: Neighbour becomes offset better than SpCell and the Aerial UE altitude becomes lower than a threshold;
[0138] Event A4H1: Neighbour becomes better than threshold1 and the Aerial UE altitude becomes higher than a threshold2;
[0139] Event A4H2: Neighbour becomes better than threshold1 and the Aerial UE altitude becomes lower than a threshold2;
[0140] Event A5H1: SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2 and the Aerial UE altitude becomes higher than a threshold3;
[0141] Event A5H2: SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2 and the Aerial UE altitude becomes lower than a threshold3.
[0142] Event LTM1: Beam of serving cell becomes better than absolute threshold;
[0143] Event LTM2: Beam of serving cell becomes worse than absolute threshold;
[0144] Event LTM3: Beam of candidate cell becomes amount of offset better than beam of serving cell;
[0145] Event LTM4: Beam of candidate cell becomes better than absolute threshold;
[0146] Event LTM5: Beam of serving cell becomes worse than absolute threshold1 AND Beam of candidate cell becomes better than another absolute threshold2.
[0147] FIG. 10 shows an example of delay uncertainty, in accordance with an embodiment. The y-axis may represent the UE monitoring of whether an event is satisfied. Although shown as a signal strength measurement, this may also be a distance, altitude, or other parameter corresponding to the event that is configured. Tevent_DU represents the time from when the UE receives event configuration (shown as RRC) to the time when the threshold condition of the event is actually satisfied.
[0148] Tidentify represents the time from when the condition of the event is satisfied to the time when the UE detects that the condition of the event is satisfied. This Tidentify may align with the end of a measurement cycle of the UE. The measurement cycle is the measurement period of the UE, which as discussed, may also be configured by the network.
[0149] For example, assuming that the event configuration configures LTM2 event for TCI#3, the UE may measure the serving beam and, when the serving beam becomes worse than a defined absolute threshold (e.g., ‘y’ dBm) , the UE may determine that the threshold is met and, at the end of that measurement cycle, detect that the condition of LTM2 is satisfied. The same application may be applied for any of the other events mentioned.
[0150] FIG. 11 shows examples of the UE transmitting the TCI activation indication to the network, in accordance with some embodiments. When the UE transmits the indication to the network (e.g., with a TCI ID and indication of the neighbor cell) , different timing may be utilized, in accordance with two embodiments.
[0151] In a first embodiment, the UE transmits the TCI activation indication (also referred to as the second indication) upon end of Tidentify, shown as TX time 1102. Tidentify may refer to the time after the event has actually occurred, when the UE recognizes that the event has occurred. Tidentify may align with the end of a measurement cycle.
[0152] In a second embodiment, the UE transmits the TCI activation indication upon end of Tfine_tracking, shown as TX time 1104. As described in other sections, Tfine_tracking may be defined as the time for UE to perform T / F fine tracking before TCI activation. This may be expressed based on: Tfine_tracking = Tfirst-SSB + TSSB-proc, where Tfirst-SSB is time to first SSB transmission when the target SSB is within active BWP, otherwise, Tfirst-SSB is time to first SSB transmission overlapping with measurement gap if the SSB needs to be measured within measurement gap, and TSSB-proc is the SSB processing time, which may be 2ms by default.
[0153] FIG. 12 illustrates an example UE-based method 1200 for mobility using an LTM procedure with enhanced TCI activation, in accordance with an embodiment. Although the example method depicts a sequence of operations, the sequence may be altered without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, some of the operations depicted may be performed in parallel or in a different sequence that does not materially affect the function of the method. In other examples, different components of an example device or system that implements the method may perform functions at substantially the same time or in a specific sequence.
[0154] Method 1200 may be performed by processing logic of a UE. Processing logic may include a combination of hardware (e.g., passive or active electronic components, programmable logic, a processor, a baseband processor, a transmitter, a receiver, an antenna, etc. ) and software (e.g., machine-executable instructions stored in computer-readable memory) .
[0155] Aspects associated with method 1200 may correspond to aspects described with respect to other figures and the described enhancements to LTM procedure relating to event-based TCI activation without receiving a TCI activation command from the network.
[0156] At block 1202, a UE transmits, to a first base station, a first indication that the UE supports event triggered transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation. As described, the first indication indicates UE capability such as, for example, L3 measurement based event triggered TCI activation, L1 measurement based event triggered TCI activation, and / or location based event triggered TCI activation.
[0157] At block 1204, the UE receives, from the first base station, configuration information comprising one or more events and corresponding one or more TCI states. As described, the received configuration information may be determined by the base station to correspond to the capability that the UE indicates support for at block 1202.
[0158] For example, the first indication may comprise an indication that the UE supports layer 3 (L3) measurement event triggered TCI activation. This UE capability indicates that the UE may activate its TCI without a network activation signal, based on a layer 3 measurement event. The configuration information may comprise a layer 3 event (e.g., one of event A1-A6) and a threshold associated with the layer 3 event.
[0159] In another example, the first indication comprises an indication that the UE supports layer 1 (L1) measurement event triggered TCI activation. With this capability, the UE may activate its TCI without a network activation signal, based on a layer 1 measurement event. The configuration information may comprise a layer 1 (e.g., event LTM1-LTM5) event and a threshold associated with the layer 1 event.
[0160] In another example, the first indication comprises an indication that the UE supports location based event triggered TCI activation (that the UE may activate its TCI based on a location based event) . The configuration information may, in such a case, comprise a location based event such as, for example, event H1, event H2, event A3H1, event A3H2, event A4H1, event A4H2, event A5H1, or event A5H2.
[0161] In an embodiment, the configuration information may indicate that the events and thresholds are to be the same as already configured L3 measurement events. This may reduce signaling overhead and complexity.
[0162] At block 1206, the UE detects occurrence of an event of the one or more events. For example, the event may require that the UE measure a beam of the serving cell and a beam of the neighbor cell and compare the difference against a specified threshold to determine if the event has occurred. Each event may have its own measurement requirements (e.g., specifying different beams or UE location or altitude) and the corresponding threshold may be specified in the configuration information.
[0163] At block 1208, in response to detecting the occurrence of the event, the UE activates a TCI state that corresponds to the event, the TCI state being associated with a second base station. Activation of a TCI may include the UE writing to one or more internal settings representing which TCI state (and corresponding QCL and beam information) will be associated with a new serving cell and new serving beam for the UE.
[0164] In an embodiment, activating the at least one TCI state that is associated with the second base station is performed within a time period comprising a combination of the following: a first time to process a radio resource control (RRC) signal comprising the configuration information, a second time from when the UE receives the configuration information until the occurrence of the at least one event, a third time from the occurrence of the at least one event to when the UE detects the occurrence of the at least one event, and a fourth time associated with the UE performing fine tracking of a synchronization signal block (SSB) before activating the TCI state. For example, the UE may operate under the latency requirements described with respect to operation 914. The UE performs the fine tracking of the SSB based on the information of the TCI state which is being activated, for example, the beam associated with that TCI state is tracked using the associated QCL and network resources specified in that TCI state. The UE can readily use this fine tracked SSB of the neighbor cell to connect to the neighbor cell when the cell switch occurs.
[0165] At block 1210, the UE transmits, to the first base station, a second indication that the TCI state that is associated with the second base station is active. In an embodiment, the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted upon an end of the third time (e.g., TX time 1102) when the UE detects the occurrence of the at least one event. In an embodiment, the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted upon an end of the fourth time (e.g., TX time 1104) when the UE completes performing the fine tracking.
[0166] In an embodiment, the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In another embodiment, the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted via media access control (MAC) signaling. In another embodiment, the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted via uplink control information (UCI) signaling.
[0167] Generally, the UE activates the TCI state without receiving a signal from the first base station to activate the TCI state. The first base station may be associated with a serving cell of the UE, and the second base station may be associated with a non-serving cell (e.g., a neighbor cell) .
[0168] FIG. 13 illustrates an example network-based method 1300 for mobility using an LTM procedure with enhanced TCI activation, according to an aspect. Although the example method depicts a sequence of operations, the sequence may be altered without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, some of the operations depicted may be performed in parallel or in a different sequence that does not materially affect the function of the method. In other examples, different components of an example device or system that implements the method may perform functions at substantially the same time or in a specific sequence.
[0169] Method 1300 may be performed by processing logic of a base station. Processing logic may include a combination of hardware (e.g., passive or active electronic components, programmable logic, a processor, a baseband processor, a transmitter, a receiver, an antenna, etc. ) and software (e.g., machine-executable instructions stored in computer-readable memory) .
[0170] Aspects associated with method 1300 may correspond to aspects described with respect to other figures such as the described enhancements to LTM procedure where a UE may perform event-based TCI activation without receiving a TCI activation command from the network. For example, aspects of method 1300 may correspond to method 1200, where the operations are performed from the perspective of a base station that is associated with the current serving cell of a UE.
[0171] At block 1302, a first base station receives, from a user equipment (UE) , a first indication that the UE supports event triggered transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation. As described, the first indication indicates UE capability such as, for example, L3 measurement based event triggered TCI activation, L1 measurement based event triggered TCI activation, and / or location based event triggered TCI activation.
[0172] At block 1304, in response to receiving the first indication that the UE supports event triggered TCI activation, the first base station transmits to the UE, configuration information comprising one or more events and corresponding one or more TCI states, for the UE to detect occurrence of an event of the one or more events. In an embodiment, this may include determining the one or more events that correspond to the capability indicated by the UE in the first indication. For example, if the UE supports L3 measurement event triggered TCI activation, the base station may transmit in the configuration information, one or more L3 events (e.g., events A1-A6) , if the UE supports L1 measurement event triggered TCI activation, the base station may transmit in the configuration information, one or more L1 events, and if the UE supports location based event triggered TCI activation, the base station may transmit in the configuration information, one or more location-based events, and so on.
[0173] At block 1306, the first base station receives, from the UE, a second indication that a TCI state that corresponds to the event and that is associated with a second base station is active. The UE activates its TCI based on detecting that the event has occurred, by monitoring for occurrence of the event using the parameters provided in the event configuration provided at block 1304. In an embodiment, in response to the first base station receiving the second indication, the first base station may initiate and perform handover signaling with the second base station to coordinate a handover of the UE to the second base station, where the second base station will act as the new serving cell for the UE.
[0174] In an aspect of method 1200 and method 1300, the UE transmitting the capability information is optional. The network may infer the UE capability as being L3 measurement event TCI activation capable, or L1 measurement event TCI activation capable, or location based event TCI activation capable, based on one or more factors (e.g., other data associated with that UE, the time, the location, etc. ) . As such, operation 906 and its corresponding method operations (e.g., 1202, 1302) may be omitted based on such inference.
[0175] Portions of what was described above may be implemented with logic circuitry such as a dedicated logic circuit or with a microcontroller or other form of processing core that executes program code instructions. Thus, processes taught by the discussion above may be performed with program code such as machine-executable instructions that cause a machine that executes these instructions to perform certain functions. In this context, a “machine” may be a machine that converts intermediate form (or “abstract” ) instructions into processor specific instructions (e.g., an abstract execution environment such as a “virtual machine” (e.g., a Java Virtual Machine) , an interpreter, a Common Language Runtime, a high-level language virtual machine, etc. ) , and / or, electronic circuitry disposed on a semiconductor chip (e.g., “logic circuitry” implemented with transistors) designed to execute instructions such as a general-purpose processor and / or a special-purpose processor. Processes taught by the discussion above may also be performed by (in the alternative to a machine or in combination with a machine) electronic circuitry designed to perform the processes (or a portion thereof) without the execution of program code.
[0176] The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purpose, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs) , RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.
[0177] A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer) . For example, a machine-readable medium includes read only memory ( “ROM” ) ; random access memory ( “RAM” ) ; magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc.
[0178] A baseband processor (also known as baseband radio processor, BP, or BBP) is a device (achip or part of a chip) in a network interface that manages radio functions, such as communicating (e.g., TX and RX) over an antenna.
[0179] An article of manufacture may be used to store program code. An article of manufacture that stores program code may be embodied as, but is not limited to, one or more memories (e.g., one or more flash memories, random access memories (static, dynamic, or other) ) , optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or other type of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Program code may also be downloaded from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a propagation medium (e.g., via a communication link (e.g., a network connection) ) .
[0180] The preceding detailed descriptions are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the tools used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.
[0181] It should be kept in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “transmitting” , “sending” , “selecting, ” “determining, ” “receiving, ” “forming, ” “grouping, ” “aggregating, ” “generating, ” “removing, ” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
[0182] The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the operations described. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be evident from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.
[0183] It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.
[0184] The foregoing discussion merely describes some exemplary aspects of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, the accompanying drawings and the claims that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
A method, performed by user equipment (UE) in communication with a network, comprising:transmitting, to a first base station, a first indication that the UE supports event triggered transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation;receiving, from the first base station, configuration information comprising one or more events and corresponding one or more TCI states;detecting occurrence of an event of the one or more events; andin response to detecting the occurrence of the event, activating a TCI state that corresponds to the event, the TCI state being associated with a second base station; andtransmitting, to the first base station, a second indication that the TCI state that is associated with the second base station is active.The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication comprises an indication that the UE supports the event triggered TCI activation based on a layer 3 event, and wherein the configuration information comprises one or more layer 3 events and a threshold associated with each of the one or more the layer 3 events.The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication comprises an indication that the UE supports the event triggered TCI activation based on a layer 1 event, and wherein the configuration information comprises one or more layer 1 events and a threshold associated with each of the one or more the layer 1 events.The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one event is indicated to be the same as an existing corresponding configured measurement.The method of claim 1, wherein activating the at least one TCI state that is associated with the second base station is performed within a time period comprising a combination of the following: a first time to process a radio resource control (RRC) signal comprising the configuration information, a second time from when the UE receives the configuration information until the occurrence of the at least one event, a third time from the occurrence of the at least one event to when the UE detects the occurrence of the at least one event, and a fourth time associated with the UE performing fine tracking of a synchronization signal block (SSB) before activating the TCI state.The method of claim 5, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted upon an end of the third time when the UE detects the occurrence of the at least one event.The method of claim 5, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted upon an end of the fourth time when the UE completes performing the fine tracking.The method of claim 1, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.The method of claim 1, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted via media access control (MAC) signaling.The method of claim 1, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is transmitted via uplink control information (UCI) signaling.The method of claim 1, wherein the UE activates the TCI state without receiving a signal from the first base station to activate the TCI state.The method of claim 1, wherein the first base station is associated with a serving cell of the network and the second base station is associated with a neighbor cell of the network.A baseband processor of a user equipment (UE) , configured to cause the UE to perform any one of the methods of claims 1-12.A user equipment (UE) comprising:at least one radio; anda processor, configured to perform the method of any one of claim 1-12.A method, performed by first base station of a network, comprising:receiving, from a user equipment (UE) , a first indication that the UE supports event triggered transmission configuration indicator (TCI) activation;in response to receiving the first indication that the UE supports event triggered TCI activation, transmitting to the UE, configuration information comprising one or more events and corresponding one or more TCI states, for the UE to detect occurrence of an event of the one or more events; andreceiving, from the UE, a second indication that a TCI state that corresponds to the event and that is associated with a second base station is active.The method of claim 15, wherein the first indication comprises an indication that the UE supports the event triggered TCI activation based on a layer 3 event, and wherein the configuration information comprises one or more layer 3 events and a threshold associated with each of the one or more the layer 3 events.The method of claim 15, the first indication comprises an indication that the UE supports the event triggered TCI activation based on a layer 1 event, and wherein the configuration information comprises one or more layer 1 events and a threshold associated with each of the one or more the layer 1 events.The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one event is indicated to be the same as an existing corresponding configured measurement.The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one TCI state that is associated with the second base station is activated by the UE within a time period comprising a combination of the following: a first time to process a radio resource control (RRC) signal comprising the configuration information, a second time from when the UE receives the configuration information until the occurrence of the at least one event, a third time from the occurrence of the at least one event to when the UE detects the occurrence of the at least one event, and a fourth time associated with the UE performing fine tracking of a synchronization signal block (SSB) before activating the TCI state.The method of claim 19, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is received upon an end of the third time when the UE detects the occurrence of the at least one event.The method of claim 19, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is received upon an end of the fourth time when the UE completes performing the fine tracking.The method of claim 15, wherein the second indication that the TCI state is active is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.The method of claim 15, wherein the first indication that the TCI state is active is received via media access control (MAC) signaling.The method of claim 15, wherein the first indication that the TCI state is active is received via uplink control information (UCI) signaling.The method of claim 15, wherein the first base station receives the second indication that the TCI state associated with the second base station is active, without the first base station transmitting a signal to the UE to activate the TCI state.The method of claim 15, wherein the first base station is associated with a serving cell of the network and the second base station is associated with a neighbor cell of the network.A processor of a base station, configured to cause the base station to perform any one of the methods of claims 15-26.A base station comprising:a processor, configured to perform the method of any one of claims 15-26.
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