Terminal, radio communication method, and base station
The solution for conditional cell switching in future wireless systems involves determining cell switching based on target cell conditions, allowing continuous data communication by using TCI states without RACH, addressing throughput issues.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- NTT DOCOMO INC
- Filing Date
- 2025-11-04
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-15
AI Technical Summary
The challenge in future wireless communication systems is the unclear control of conditional cell switching (CLTM) leading to decreased communication throughput due to improper cell switching operations.
A terminal and base station implementation that determines cell switching using a target cell satisfying specific conditions, enabling transmission of an uplink signal with acquired Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state, facilitating proper cell switching without random access channel (RACH) requirements.
Enables seamless and efficient cell switching by ensuring the UE can maintain data communication during cell changes, avoiding interruptions typically associated with RRC reconfigurations.
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Figure JP2025038642_15052026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Terminal, Wireless Communication Method, and Base Station
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a terminal, a wireless communication method, and a base station in a next-generation mobile communication system.
[0002] In a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network, Long Term Evolution (LTE) was specified for the purpose of further high-speed data rates, low latency, etc. (Non-Patent Document 1). Also, for the purpose of further large capacity and sophistication of LTE (Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP (registered trademark)) Release (Rel.) 8, 9), LTE-Advanced (3GPP Rel. 10-14) was specified.
[0003] Successor systems to LTE (for example, also referred to as 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G+ (plus), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), New Radio (NR), 3GPP Rel. 15 and later, etc.) are also being considered.
[0004] 3GPP TS 36.300 V8.12.0 "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 8)", April 2010
[0005] In a future wireless communication system, it is assumed that conditional cell switch (also referred to as Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM)) will be supported. For example, it is conceivable that an LTM procedure is triggered by a UE based on conditions set by the network.
[0006] However, it is unclear how to control the specific operation / procedures when CLTM is supported. This could lead to a decrease in communication throughput due to the inability to achieve proper cell switching.
[0007] Therefore, one of the objectives of this disclosure is to provide a terminal, a wireless communication method, and a base station that can properly perform cell switching when CLTM is supported.
[0008] A terminal according to one aspect of the present disclosure is characterized by having, when Random Access Channel (RACH)-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM) is applied, a control unit that determines the switching of a serving cell using a target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions, and a transmission unit that transmits the first uplink (UL) signal after the switch to the target cell using the acquired Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state of the target cell.
[0009] According to one aspect of this disclosure, cell switching can be properly performed when CLTM is supported.
[0010] Figure 1A shows an example of UE mobility in Rel. 17. Figure 1B shows an example of UE mobility in Rel. 18. Figure 2 shows an example of the LTM procedure in Rel. 18. Figure 3 is a flowchart outlining the disclosure. Figure 4 shows an example of the schematic configuration of a wireless communication system according to one embodiment. Figure 5 shows an example of the configuration of a base station according to one embodiment. Figure 6 shows an example of the configuration of a user terminal according to one embodiment. Figure 7 shows an example of the hardware configuration of a base station and user terminal according to one embodiment. Figure 8 shows an example of a vehicle according to one embodiment.
[0011] (Inter-cell mobility) It is being considered that a UE may make UL transmissions to one or more cells / TRPs. In this case, the following Scenario 1 or Scenario 2 is possible. In this disclosure, a serving cell may be interpreted as a TRP within a serving cell. Layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) and DCI / Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) may be interpreted as mutually exclusive. In this disclosure, a PCI different from the Physical Cell Identity (PCI) of the current serving cell may be simply referred to as a "different PCI". Non-serving cells, cells with different PCIs, and additional cells may be interpreted as mutually exclusive.
[0012] <Scenario 1> Scenario 1 is, for example, a scenario that corresponds to inter-cell mobility in a multi-TRP, but it may also be a scenario that does not correspond to inter-cell mobility in a multi-TRP.
[0013] (1) The UE receives from the serving cell the SSB settings for beam measurement of the TRP corresponding to a PCI different from that of the serving cell, and the settings necessary to use wireless resources for data transmission and reception (including resources for the different PCI). (2) The UE performs beam measurement of the TRP corresponding to the different PCI and reports the beam measurement results to the serving cell. (3) Based on the above report, the Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) status associated with the TRP corresponding to the different PCI is activated by L1 / L2 signaling from the serving cell. (4) The UE transmits and receives using a dedicated channel on the TRP corresponding to the different PCI. (5) The UE must always cover the serving cell, including in the case of multiple TRPs. The UE must use common channels from the serving cell (Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), Paging Channel (PCH)), etc., as in conventional systems.
[0014] In Scenario 1, when the UE sends and receives signals with the additional cell / TRP (the TRP corresponding to the PCI of the additional cell), the serving cell (the UE's assumption of the serving cell) remains unchanged. The UE sets higher-layer parameters related to the PCI of the non-serving cell from the serving cell. Scenario 1 may be applied, for example, in Rel. 17.
[0015] Figure 1A shows an example of UE movement in Rel. 17. It assumes a UE moving from a PCI#1 cell (serving cell) to a PCI#3 cell (additional cell) (overlapping with the serving cell). In this case, Rel. 17 does not support L1 / L2 switching of serving cells.
[0016] An additional cell is a cell that has an additional PCI that is different from the PCI of the serving cell. UEs can receive and transmit UE-dedicated channels (UE-dedicated CH) from additional cells. On the other hand, UEs need to be within the coverage of the serving cell in order to receive UE common channels (e.g., system information / paging / short messages). If a UE moves outside the coverage of the serving cell, a cell switchover (also called L3 mobility) is required (e.g., RRC reconfiguration).
[0017] <Scenario 2> In Scenario 2, L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility (e.g., L1L2-triggered mobility (LTM)) is applied. With L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, serving cell changes can be made using functions such as beam control without performing RRC reconfiguration. In other words, transmission and reception with candidate cells / additional cells are possible without handover. Since handover requires RRC reconnection and other factors, resulting in a period of no data communication, applying L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility that does not require handover allows data communication to continue even when the serving cell is changed. Scenario 2 may be applied, for example, in Rel. 18. In Scenario 2, for example, the following procedure is performed.
[0018] (1) The UE receives configuration information (e.g., SSB settings) from the current serving cell regarding cells with different PCIs (additional cells / candidate cells / target serving cells) for beam measurement / serving cell changes. (2) The UE performs beam measurements on cells using different PCIs and reports the measurement results to the serving cell. (3) The UE may receive the configuration of cells with different PCIs (serving cell / candidate cell configurations) via upper-layer signaling (e.g., RRC). In other words, pre-configuration regarding serving cell changes may be performed. This configuration may be performed together with the configuration in (1) or separately. (4) Based on the above report, the TCI status of cells with different PCIs may be activated by L1 / L2 signaling in accordance with the serving cell change. The activation of the TCI status and the serving cell change may be performed separately. (5) The UE changes the serving cell (or assumed serving cell) and starts receiving / transmitting using the pre-configured individual UE channel and TCI state.
[0019] In other words, in Scenario 2, the serving cell (the assumed serving cell in the UE) is updated by L1 / L2 signaling. Scenario 2 may also be applied in Rel. 18.
[0020] Figure 1B shows an example of UE movement in Rel. 18. In Rel. 18, serving cells are switched by L1 / L2 (e.g., DCI / MAC CE). Here, we show a case where L1 / L2 signaling switches from PCI#1, which corresponds to the current serving cell (e.g., Current serving cell), to PCI#3, which corresponds to the candidate cell (e.g., Target serving cell).
[0021] The UE can receive and transmit common channels (e.g., system information / paging / short messages) and UE-only channels to and from the new serving cell (target serving cell #3). This allows the UE to be excluded from the coverage of the previous serving cell PCI #1.
[0022] (L1-L2-triggered mobility (LTM) in Rel. 18) Figure 2 shows an example of the LTM procedure in Rel. 18. Here, the LTM operation is shown in the steps of LTM preparation (e.g., LTM preparation), early sync (e.g., Early sync), LTM execution (e.g., LTM execution), and LTM completion (e.g., LTM completion), but the LTM steps are not limited to these. Some steps (or operations included in steps) may be omitted, the order of operations included in some steps and other operations included in other steps may be swapped, and other steps (or other operations) may be added. In this disclosure, early sync may be read as sync.
[0023] <LTM preparation> In LTM preparation, a UE connected to a serving cell via RRC (e.g., UE in RRC_CONNECTED) sends a measurement report. The measurement report may be an L3 measurement report. The base station (or source base station / serving cell) prepares the LTM candidate based on the measurement report sent from the UE.
[0024] The base station performs LTM candidate configuration (e.g., LTM candidate configuration) using RRC (e.g., RRC reconfiguration). The LTM candidate configuration may also configure information about candidate cells in the UE.
[0025] <Early sync> The UE performs early sync with the candidate cells (e.g., Early sync). DL / UL early sync with candidate cells may be performed by the UE after the RRC setting of the LTM candidate cells (e.g., RRC reset). UL early sync may be performed after the measurement (e.g., L1 measurement) or measurement report (e.g., L1 measurement report) of the LTM implementation step.
[0026] <LTM Execution> The UE performs a measurement (e.g., an L1 measurement) on the configured candidate cells and sends a measurement report. The measurement report may be an L1 measurement report. The base station (or source base station / serving cell) makes an LTM decision (e.g., an LTM decision) based on the measurement report sent from the UE. The base station sends a cell switch command (e.g., MAC CE) to the UE.
[0027] The UE performs cell switching using a cell switch command (e.g., MAC CE). For example, based on the cell switch command, the UE may detach from the source (e.g., source cell) and apply the settings (e.g., target configurations) of the target cell to which it will switch.
[0028] After receiving a cell switch command, the UE may perform a random access procedure. For example, if the UE does not have a valid timing advance for the target cell / candidate cell (or the cell to be switched to), it may perform a random access procedure to obtain the TA value for the target cell. On the other hand, if the UE has a valid timing advance (TA) for the target cell / candidate cell (or the cell to be switched to), it does not need to perform a random access procedure (or may omit / skip the random access procedure).
[0029] The UE operation for acquiring the TA for the target cell / candidate cell (or the cell to which the switch will occur) may be performed before receiving the cell switch command. At least one of several TA acquisition methods may be supported for acquiring the TA of a candidate cell, such as TA acquisition using RACH (e.g., RACH-based solutions) or TA acquisition without using RACH (RACH-less solutions).
[0030] Methods for obtaining TA using RACH may support methods with and without RAR monitoring. The TA acquisition method may be interpreted as a TA acquisition scheme, TA acquisition type, or TA acquisition procedure. In this disclosure, TA acquisition, TA measurement, TA calculation, TA determination, and TA determination may be interpreted as mutually exclusive.
[0031] For example, the UE may obtain the candidate cell's TA by sending a RACH (e.g., PDCCH ordered RACH) instructed / triggered by the PDCCH to the candidate cell. Information about the candidate cell's TA (e.g., TA value) may be included in the RACH response signal (e.g., RAR). The RAR may be transmitted from the serving cell or from the candidate cell. Alternatively, the candidate cell's TA may be obtained using a RACH triggered by the UE or a RACH triggered at a higher layer in the network. The PDCCH order may be triggered by the source cell (or serving cell) alone.
[0032] Alternatively, the UE may obtain the TA of a candidate cell by transmitting a signal other than RACH to the candidate cell. Information regarding the candidate cell's TA (e.g., TA value) may be provided to the UE by the base station. As a signal other than RACH, for example, SRS may be applied (SRS-based TA measurement (e.g., SRS-based TA measurement)).
[0033] Alternatively, the UE may measure / calculate / acquire the TA for a candidate cell based on DL signals (e.g., downlink reference signals) transmitted from each cell (e.g., candidate cell / serving cell). The method by which the UE acquires the TA for a candidate cell based on DL signals transmitted from one or more cells may be called UE-based TA measurement.
[0034] In UE-based TA measurement, the downlink reference signal may be a predetermined DL signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (e.g., SSB) / CSI-RS, etc.). For example, the UE may measure the difference in reception timing of DL signals from multiple cells (or two cells) and obtain the TA of a candidate cell.
[0035] Multiple cells may include a reference cell (e.g., a serving cell). In this case, the UE may calculate the required TA for the candidate cell based on the reception timing of the reference cell (and the TA value of the reference cell) and the timing difference between the reference cell and the candidate cell. The UE may also obtain the TA of the candidate cell using a timing advance command (TAC) transmitted from the serving cell. Note that TA acquisition without using RACH may also be performed before receiving the cell switch command. Furthermore, TA acquisition may be performed in the UL synchronization step (e.g., early UL synchronization).
[0036] <LTM Completion> The LTM cell switch procedure may be completed when the UE sends a predetermined message to the target cell / candidate cell. The predetermined message may be an RRC reconfiguration complete message (for example, an RRCReconfigurationComplete message).
[0037] In the case of a RACH-based LTM, the UE may determine that the LTM has been successfully executed if the random access procedure completes successfully.
[0038] In the case of a RACH-less LTM, the UE may determine that the LTM has been successfully completed when the UE determines that the network has successfully received the initial UL data. For example, in a RACH-less LTM, the UE may send an RRC reconfiguration completion message and the initial data to the target cell. The UE may determine that it has successfully received the initial UL data by receiving a PDCCH addressing the UE's C-RNTI in the target cell. This PDCCH corresponds to a PDCCH that schedules a new transmission following the initial UL data.
[0039] (Conditional Handover (CHO)) Conditional Handover (CHO) from Rel. 16 onwards is described below. CHO is applied, for example, to Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN). NTN supports the following additional trigger conditions for a UE to perform CHO to a candidate cell: - Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement-based event A4. - Time-based trigger conditions. - Location-based trigger conditions.
[0040] Time-based or location-based trigger conditions are always set in conjunction with one of the measurement-based trigger conditions (CHO events A3 / A4 / A5 described below). How the UE evaluates time-based or location-based trigger conditions together with RRM measurement-based events depends on the UE implementation.
[0041] In CHO, the same procedure as in the LTM preparation phase of LTM in Rel. 18 is followed. However, CHO differs from LTM in Rel. 18 in the following ways: - Early synchronization is performed in LTM but not in CHO. - Early L1 measurement reports are performed in LTM, but may or may not be performed in CHO. - Mobility determination is performed by NW (based on L1 beam report) in LTM, but by UE (based on L3 measurement results and CHO conditions) in CHO. - In LTM, the cell switch command MAC CE is transmitted. - In CHO, after the UE receives the CHO configuration via RRC signaling, it starts evaluating the CHO execution conditions for the candidate cell(s). - After mobility determination, RACH is required in CHO, but may not be required in LTM.
[0042] (ReportConfigNR) The ReportConfigNR, an information element of RRC, defines the trigger criteria for NR measurement report events, CHO, Conditional PSCell Addition (CPA), Conditional PSCell Change (CPC) events, or Layer 2 UE-to-Network (L2U2N) relay measurement report events. For events labeled AN (N is 1 or 2) as shown below, the measurement report events and CHO, CPA, and CPC events are based on the measurement results of cells derived based on the SS / PBCH block or CSI-RS. Note that serving, adjacent, and PCell / PSCell may be interpreted as the measurement results of the serving cell, adjacent cell, and PCell / PSCell (L1-RSRP / L1-SINR, etc.).
[0043] Event A1: The service becomes better than the absolute threshold. Event A2: The service becomes worse than the absolute threshold. Event A3: The adjacent cell has an offset amount better than the PCell / PSCell. Event A4: The adjacent cell becomes better than the absolute threshold. Event A5: The PCell / PSCell becomes worse than absolute threshold 1, and the adjacent cell / SCell becomes better than another absolute threshold 2. Event A6: The adjacent cell has a larger offset amount than the SCell.
[0044] Event D1: The distance between the UE and the reference location (referenceLocation1) becomes larger than the set threshold (distanceThreshFromReference1), and the distance between the UE and the reference location (referenceLocation2) becomes shorter than the set threshold (distanceThreshFromReference2). Conditional Event A3: The conditional reselection candidate has an offset amount better than the PCell / PSCell. Conditional Event A4: The conditional reselection candidate becomes better than the absolute threshold. Conditional Event A5: The PCell / PSCell becomes worse than absolute threshold 1, and the conditional reselection candidate becomes better than another absolute threshold 2. Conditional Event D1: The distance between the UE and the reference location (referenceLocation1) becomes larger than the set threshold (distanceThreshFromReference1), and the distance between the UE and the reference location of the conditional reconfiguration candidate (referenceLocation2) becomes shorter than the set threshold (distanceThreshFromReference2).
[0045] Conditional event T1: The time measured by the UE exceeds the set threshold t1-Threshold but is less than t1-Threshold + duration. Event X1: The UE of the serving L2U2N relay deteriorates compared to absolute threshold 1, and the NR cell improves compared to another absolute threshold 2. Event X2: The UE of the serving L2U2N relay deteriorates compared to the absolute threshold. For event I1, the measurement report event is based on the Cross Link Interference (CLI) measurement result, which is derived based on SRS-RSRP or CLI-RSSI. Event I1: The interference becomes higher than the absolute threshold.
[0046] (Conditional LTM (CLTM)) By means of RRC signaling / MAC CE, execution conditions for each candidate cell may be set for the UE. The UE may evaluate whether it satisfies the execution conditions for each candidate cell and switch the serving cell to a candidate cell that satisfies the execution conditions. Such an operation may be referred to as CLTM. Since the UE can perform cell switching without receiving a cell switch command MAC CE such as the LTM in Rel. 18 from the NW, fast cell switching can be realized.
[0047] Examples of the provision / signaling / evaluation of execution conditions (e.g., execution conditions) for candidate cells will be described when CLTM is supported.
[0048] The execution conditions (or may simply be referred to as "conditions") may include at least one of an event, a reference signal type (RS type), a reference signal configuration (RS configuration), and a measurement quantity. The reference signal type (RS type) may indicate SSB / CSI-RS. The measurement quantity may indicate L1-RSRP / L3-RSRP / SINR / RSRQ.
[0049] The execution conditions may be set separately for each candidate cell (for example, different conditions may be supported). Alternatively, the execution conditions may be set in common for multiple candidate cells (for example, a group of candidate cells) or for all candidate cells. Alternatively, some of the execution conditions may be set in common for each candidate cell, while the rest are set separately. Some of the execution conditions may be events, and the rest may be condition values, etc. Of course, this is not limited to these.
[0050] The number of candidate cells for which implementation conditions are provided may be defined in advance by the specification, set by the UE from the network (e.g., base stations), or determined based on UE capabilities. For example, the number of cells for which implementation conditions are provided may be the same as the set candidate cells, or it may be less than the total number of set candidate cells.
[0051] The settings for the implementation conditions (e.g., detailed settings) may be the same as the settings for the existing system. The settings for the existing system may be, for example, the settings supported by CHO supported in Rel. 16 (e.g., settings based on L3 measurement).
[0052] Alternatively, the settings for the implementation conditions may be the same as new condition settings for event-triggered L1 reporting (e.g., event-triggered L1 report). An example of a condition (or event) is shown below. Event A2: The measurement result of the serving cell is worse than the threshold. Event A3: The measurement result of the adjacent cell (the measurement result plus an offset) is better than the measurement result of the SpCell (the measurement result plus an offset). Event A4: The measurement result of the adjacent cell (the measurement result plus an offset) is better than the threshold. Event A5: The measurement result of the SpCell is worse than the first threshold, and the measurement result of the adjacent cell (the measurement result plus an offset) is better than the second threshold. Event A6: The measurement result of the adjacent cell (the measurement result plus an offset) is better than the measurement result of the serving cell (Secondary Cell (SCell)) (the measurement result plus an offset). Event I1: The interference measurement result is higher than the threshold. Event A4': The measurement result of one beam from an adjacent cell is better than the threshold. Event A4'': The statistical value (e.g., mean, sum, etc.) of the measurement results of multiple beams (e.g., the best X beams) is better than the threshold. X may be fixed or it may be set by upper-layer signaling, etc. Event A4''': The L1-RSRP measurement result of one beam from an adjacent cell is better than the threshold. Event A4'''': The L1-RSRP of each of the X beams from adjacent cells is better than the threshold.
[0053] The applicable conditions / events are not limited to those listed above; multiple events may be applied in combination, or other events may be applied.
[0054] In CLTM, it is being considered that RACH-less conditional intra-CU LTM, RACH-based conditional intra-CU LTM, and UE-based TA measurement mechanisms will support conditional intra-CU LTM, early acquisition of TA by PDCCH, activation / deactivation of early candidate TCI states, and initial UL transmission based on configuration grants in target cells in RACH-less CLTM.
[0055] (Analysis) As mentioned above, it is anticipated that future wireless communication systems (e.g., Rel. 19 and later) will support conditional cell switching (also called Conditional L1 / L2-triggered mobility (CLTM)). For example, the UE could trigger an LTM procedure based on conditions set from the network.
[0056] However, it is unclear how to control the specific operation / procedures when CLTM is supported. This could lead to a decrease in communication throughput due to the inability to achieve proper cell switching.
[0057] Therefore, the inventors conceived a method for properly performing cell switching when CLTM is supported.
[0058] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Each wireless communication method according to the embodiments may be applied individually or in combination.
[0059] (Various substitutions) In this disclosure, words enclosed in parentheses () may indicate an explanation of the preceding word (e.g., an explanation of spelling), a paraphrase, a specific example, or supplementary explanation. Also, in this disclosure, words enclosed in square brackets [] may be interpreted as part of the overall meaning of the text, or they may be interpreted as being excluded (ignored). Note that parentheses () and square brackets [] may be used for purposes / meanings other than those described above.
[0060] In this disclosure, "A / B" and "at least one of A and B" may be interpreted as mutually exclusive. In this disclosure, "A / B / C" may mean "at least one of A, B, and C".
[0061] In this disclosure, terms such as notice, activate, deactivate, indicate (or specify), select, configure, update, and determine may be interpreted interchangeably. In this disclosure, terms such as support, control, controllable, operate, and capable of operating may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0062] In this disclosure, Radio Resource Control (RRC), RRC parameters, RRC messages, higher-layer parameters, fields, Information Elements (IE), settings, etc., may be interpreted interchangeably. In this disclosure, Medium Access Control elements (MAC Control Elements (CE)), update commands, activation / deactivation commands, etc., may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0063] In this disclosure, the upper layer signaling may be any or a combination thereof, such as Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information, and other messages (e.g., messages from the core network, such as positioning protocol messages (e.g., NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPPa) / LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)) messages).
[0064] In this disclosure, MAC signaling may include, for example, MAC Control Elements (MAC CEs) and MAC Protocol Data Units (PDUs). Broadcast information may include, for example, Master Information Blocks (MIBs), System Information Blocks (SIBs), Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSIs), and Other System Information (OSIs).
[0065] In this disclosure, physical layer signaling may include, for example, Downlink Control Information (DCI) and Uplink Control Information (UCI).
[0066] In this disclosure, base station, gNB, network (NW), source gNB, target gNB, and source cell may be interpreted as interchangeable.
[0067] In this disclosure, cell group, serving cell group, master cell group (MCG), and secondary cell group (SCG) may be interpreted interchangeably. L1 / L2, L1 / L2 signaling, and DCI / MAC CE may be interpreted interchangeably. A serving cell may be replaced with a cell that transmits PDSCH. A candidate cell may mean a candidate cell that becomes a serving cell through L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. L1 / L2-triggered mobility (LTM), L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, and CLTM may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0068] In this disclosure, cell, PCI, serving cell, source serving cell, source cell, CC, BWP, BWP within CC, and band may be interpreted as equivalent to each other. In this disclosure, cell, PCI, cell with additional PCI, additional cell, other cell, non-serving cell, cell with a different PCI, candidate cell, candidate serving cell, cell with a PCI different from the current serving cell's PCI, another serving cell, and target cell may be interpreted as equivalent to each other. A target cell may be a cell selected from among several candidate cells. In this disclosure, cell, base station (gNB) within a cell, base station (gNB) of a cell, and base station (gNB) may be interpreted as equivalent to each other.
[0069] In this disclosure, the terms "event," "conditions for the event," and "implementation conditions" may be interpreted interchangeably. The terms "conditions for the event" and "implementation conditions" may also mean conditions for cell switching. The terms "candidate cell," "target cell," and "base station / gNB of the candidate cell / target cell" may be interpreted interchangeably. In this disclosure, "cell switch" may mean a switch of a serving cell (a switch to a candidate cell / target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions).
[0070] Event trigger beam reports, event trigger reports, beam reports, and CSI reports may be interpreted as interchangeable. An event trigger beam report may also be an L1 / L3 beam report. An event trigger beam report may be a report sent when the conditions for the event set by the above reporting configuration (ReportConfigNR), or the conditions / events for the above-mentioned conditional LTM (CLTM), are met. The base station may make decisions regarding the LTM based on the event trigger beam report. Beam reports / reports and CSI reports may be interpreted as interchangeable.
[0071] In this disclosure, evaluation based on implementation conditions may mean determining / evaluating whether a candidate cell satisfies the implementation conditions. MAC CE in each embodiment may be replaced with DCI. TA and TCI states may be interchangeable. TA, TA group (TAG), and TA command may be interchangeable.
[0072] (Wireless Communication Method) Figure 3 is a flowchart outlining the present disclosure. Note that each embodiment may be based on the premise of applying RACH-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM). The UE evaluates whether the candidate cell / beam satisfies the conditions for implementing CLTM (S101). If a candidate cell that satisfies the conditions exists (YES in S102), the TCI state / TA of the candidate cell (target cell) that will become the new serving cell is acquired (S103).
[0073] Then, the UE determines and performs the switching of the serving cell using a candidate cell (target cell) / beam that satisfies the implementation conditions (S104). The UE uses the acquired TCI state / TA of the target cell to transmit the first UL signal after the switch to the target cell (S105). Note that the order of S101 to S104 is not limited to the order shown above (the order in Figure 3). The acquisition of TA / TCI in S103 will be explained in the second / third embodiments described later.
[0074] The UE may determine that the LTM has been successfully completed when it determines that the network has successfully received the initial UL data. The CLTM in this disclosure may include some of the processing in the LTM described in Rel. 18 above.
[0075] The UE may initiate an evaluation based on the implementation conditions using RRC reconfiguration signaling / new MAC CE from the NW. Alternatively, it may update / activate actual cells for condition evaluation. Furthermore, the UE may send an event-triggered beam report to the NW prior to cell switching to notify candidate cells.
[0076] <First Embodiment> In order to reliably execute RACH-less CLTM, the UE needs to know the state of the TA / TCI before the first UL transmission of the target cell. This embodiment describes the process related to the UE obtaining the state of the TA / TCI of the target cell.
[0077] <<Option 1>> The UE may assume that the pre-configured candidate cells for CLTM are valid candidate cells and begin evaluating the valid candidate cells based on the implementation conditions. Alternatively, the UE may begin evaluating the candidate cells corresponding to the TA / TCI status only when the TA / TCI status has been acquired / notified (for example, based on TA measurement by the UE, early TA acquisition instruction by PDCCH, activation / deactivation of the early candidate TCI status, etc.).
[0078] <<Option 2>> If the UE makes a CLTM decision after an evaluation based on the implementation conditions, it may decide / select only the candidate cells corresponding to the acquired TA / TCI status as target cells.
[0079] <<Option 3>> If the UE makes a CLTM decision after an evaluation based on the implementation conditions, the UE may select a candidate cell for which the corresponding TA / TCI status has not been obtained as the target cell. In this case, the UE may perform a RACH-based CLTM instead of a RACH-less CLTM. The UE may obtain the TA / TCI status of the candidate cell by sending a RACH (e.g., PDCCH ordered RACH) to the candidate cell.
[0080] If the UE has obtained a TCI state, the UE may send a PRACH using the SSB / CSI-RS index of the QCL type D source RS configured in the TCI state. If the UE has not obtained a TCI state, the UE may use the RACH resource in ReconfigWithSync to perform a RACH procedure with non-collision random access (CFRA) / collision random access (CBRA).
[0081] <<Option 4>> The UE may request the TA / TCI status of the specified candidate cell / target cell via a new request (RRC / MAC CE) from the NW. The new request may include at least one piece of information: candidate cell ID(s), TA acquisition request, or TCI status acquisition request. This information may be common to all specified candidate cells or may differ for each specified candidate cell. Variation: If the UE sends an L1 beam report, that L1 beam report may be considered an implicit request for the candidate cells included in the L1 beam report.
[0082] <<Supplement>> The acquisition of TCI status may mean activating candidate TCI statuses (multiple TCI statuses) for candidate cells. Alternatively, the acquisition of TCI status may mean activating a specific TCI status for a candidate cell.
[0083] The TA / TCI state may be interpreted as CSI, or TA / TCI state / CSI.
[0084] According to this embodiment, CLTM processing can be performed appropriately depending on whether or not the TA / TCI status is acquired.
[0085] <Second Embodiment> In a RACH-less CLTM, if multiple TCI states are activated for a target cell, at least one of the following options may be applied to ensure that the NW and UE have a common understanding of the beam / TCI state for the first UL transmission to the target cell. The UE may use the TCI state corresponding to the acquired / selected target cell for the first UL transmission at the target cell.
[0086] <<Option 1>> The UE receives a second MAC CE indicating the TCI state of the target cell, separate from the first MAC CE that activates the TCI state of the candidate cell. The UE activates one TCI state indicated by the second MAC CE from among the multiple TCI states activated for each candidate cell. The UE may use the TCI state indicated by the second MAC CE for the first UL transmission after the cell switch. One of the following options may be applied to the second MAC CE.
[0087] Option 1-1: One second MAC CE provides instructions for the TCI status of one candidate cell. In this case, the same format as the conventional LTM candidate TCI status activation MAC CE can be reused.
[0088] Option 1-2: A second MAC CE provides instructions for the TCI status of multiple candidate cells.
[0089] The second MAC CE in Option 2 may be replaced with DCI.
[0090] <<Option 2>> The UE may, according to a rule, select from among several activated TCI states which TCI state to use for the first UL transmission to the target cell. This rule may be defined in the specification or may be pre-configured for the UE by RRC signaling. The TCI state to use for the first UL transmission may be, for example, the first TCI state, or the TCI state with the smallest ID.
[0091] <<Option 3>> The UE may select one of several activated TCI states based on its implementation. The NW sends several configuration grant PUSCH resource settings to the UE. Each setting is associated with one TCI state / SSB index. The UE then selects a configuration grant PUSCH resource according to the associated TCI state. The NW may blind decode several configuration grant resources to identify the configuration grant resource selected by the UE.
[0092] <<Variations>> From among the multiple activated TCI states, the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal with the largest L1-RSRP / SINR (e.g., SS / PBCH or CSI-RS) may be selected and used for the first UL transmission in the target cell.
[0093] According to this embodiment, the initial UL transmission in the target cell can be appropriately executed using the acquired TCI state.
[0094] <Third Embodiment> For example, in Rel. 18 LTM, early TA acquisition by PDCCH is performed without RAR. For example, in such a case, when applying a RACH-less CLTM, the UE may apply at least one of the following options to know the TA for the first UL transmission of the target cell. The UE may use the acquired TA for the first UL transmission in the target cell.
[0095] <<Option 1>> To obtain early TA via PDCCH, support receiving Random Access Responses (RARs) containing the TA of candidate / target cells, and even if a RAR is received, the UE may transmit UE capability information indicating that it supports receiving RAR responses for candidate cells. In this case, for example, the UE may determine the TA of a candidate cell based on DL transmissions (e.g., RARs) that are fed back to the PRACH transmission.
[0096] <<Option 2>> The UE may receive a new MAC CE indicating the TA of the candidate cell / target cell. For example, the following options may apply:
[0097] Option 2-1: The new MAC CE shows one candidate cell and its corresponding TA.
[0098] Option 2-2: The new MAC CE displays multiple candidate cells and their corresponding TAs.
[0099] Option 2-3: The MAC CE indicating TA may be the same as the second MAC CE indicating the TCI state for the candidate cell of Option 1 of the second implementation expectation, or it may be a different MAC CE. If they are the same, the new single MAC CE can indicate both the TA and TCI states for the candidate cell for CLTM.
[0100] The new MAC CE in Option 2 may be replaced with DCI.
[0101] <<Other>> After obtaining a TA, the UE may use a timer for each candidate cell to verify whether the TA is valid. For example, the timer starts when a TA is indicated from the network for a candidate cell. If the UE does not make a CLTM decision or send the first UL at the target cell before the timer expires, the UE determines that the TA for that candidate cell is invalid. If the UE makes a CLTM decision or sends the first UL at the target cell before the timer expires, the UE determines that the TA for that candidate cell is valid.
[0102] According to this embodiment, the initial UL transmission in the target cell can be appropriately executed using the acquired TA state.
[0103] <Supplement> <<Notification of Information to UE>> In the embodiments described above, notification of any information from the Network (NW) (e.g., Base Station (BS)) to the UE (in other words, reception of any information from the BS at the UE) may be performed using physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI), higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, MAC CE), specific signals / channels (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, reference signal), or a combination thereof.
[0104] If the above notification is made by a MAC CE, the MAC CE may be identified by the inclusion of a new Logical Channel ID (LCID) not defined in existing standards in the MAC subheader.
[0105] If the above notification is made by DCI, the notification may be made by a specific field of the DCI, a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) used to scramble the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) bits assigned to the DCI, or the format of the DCI.
[0106] Furthermore, notification of any information to the UE in the above-described embodiment may be periodic, semi-persistent (triggered by instructions from the UE or gNB), or aperiodic (triggered by instructions from the UE or gNB).
[0107] In the embodiments described above, the UE may receive information from the NW as at least one of the following QCL rules: • QCL type A. • QCL type B. • QCL type C. • QCL type D.
[0108] In the embodiments described above, the QCL source RS for each QCL type may be at least one of the following RSs: • SSB; • CSI-RS with / without repetition; • TRS; • DMRS for PDCCH / PDSCH.
[0109] In the embodiments described above, information from the network may be set / instructed by the following methods: - Common to multiple UEs, or individual to a UE. - Cell-specific, or common to multiple cells. - Per UE / Per CC / Per BWP / Per band / Per cell / Per cell group (CG).
[0110] <<Notification of Information from UE>> Notification of any information from the UE to the NW in the embodiments described above (in other words, transmission / reporting of any information from the UE to the BS) may be performed using physical layer signaling (e.g., UCI), higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, MAC CE), specific signals / channels (e.g., PUCCH, PUSCH, PRACH, reference signals), or a combination thereof.
[0111] If the above notification is made by a MAC CE, the MAC CE may be identified by the inclusion of a new LCID not specified in existing standards in the MAC subheader.
[0112] If the above notice is made by the UCI, the notice may be transmitted using PUCCH or PUSCH.
[0113] Furthermore, the notification of any information from the UE in the above-described embodiment may be periodic, semi-persistent (triggered by instructions from the UE or gNB), or aperiodic (triggered by instructions from the UE or gNB).
[0114] <<Regarding the application of each embodiment>> In UE / BS, specific (one or more) processes / operations / controls / assumptions / information for at least one of the embodiments described above may be applied (or used) if any or more of the following conditions are met: - A higher-layer parameter indicating the specific process / operation / control / assumption / information is set; - The specific process / operation / control / assumption / information is determined based on the relevant higher-layer parameter; - The specific process / operation / control / assumption / information is designated / activated / triggered by MAC CE / DCI / UCI / Resource / Channel / RS; - A specific UE capability indicating (or related to) the specific process / operation / control / assumption / information is reported or supported; - The application of the specific process / operation / control / assumption / information is determined based on specific conditions.
[0115] The above-mentioned specific UE capability may indicate at least one of the following: - Supporting the above-mentioned specific processing / operation / control / assumption / information; - Supporting the UE to acquire the TCI state / TA of the target cell before CLTM; - Supporting the activation of multiple TCI states of the target cell before CLTM; - Supporting early TA acquisition of PDCCH by RAR of candidate cells before CLTM; - Supporting the reception of a new MAC CE indicating one TCI state / TA per candidate cell before CLTM; - Supporting a timer for TA verification per candidate cell before CLTM.
[0116] In this disclosure, "to support" and "whether or not to support" may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0117] Furthermore, the above-mentioned specific UE capability may be a capability that applies across all frequencies (commonly regardless of frequency), a capability per frequency (e.g., one or a combination thereof, such as cell, band, band combination, BWP, component carrier, etc.), a capability per frequency range (e.g., Frequency Range 1 (FR1), FR2, FR3, FR4, FR5, FR2-1, FR2-2), a capability per subcarrier spacing (SCS), or a capability per feature set (FS) or feature set per component-carrier (FSPC).
[0118] Furthermore, the specific UE capabilities described above may be capabilities that apply across all duplexing schemes (common to all duplexing schemes regardless of the duplexing scheme), or they may be capabilities specific to each duplexing scheme (e.g., Time Division Duplex (TDD), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)).
[0119] If the above conditions are not met, UE / BS may follow the behavior specified in existing 3GPP releases.
[0120] (Note) The following inventions are added with respect to the first / second embodiments of the present disclosure. [Note 1] A terminal having: a control unit that determines a switch of a serving cell using a target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions when Random Access Channel (RACH)-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM) is applied; and a transmission unit that transmits the first uplink (UL) signal after the switch to the target cell using the acquired Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state of the target cell. [Note 2] The terminal according to Note 1, wherein the control unit determines only candidate cells corresponding to the acquired TCI state as the target cell. [Note 3] The terminal according to Note 1 or Note 2, further having a receiving unit that receives a second MAC CE indicating the TCI state of the target cell, separate from a first Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) that activates the TCI state of a candidate cell. [Note 4] The terminal described in any of Notes 1 to 3, wherein the control unit selects from a plurality of activated TCI states the TCI state to be used for the first UL transmission to the target cell according to a rule.
[0121] (Note) The following inventions are added with respect to the first and third embodiments of this disclosure. [Note 1] A terminal having: a control unit that determines the switch of a serving cell using a target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions when Random Access Channel (RACH)-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM) is applied; and a transmission unit that transmits the first uplink (UL) signal after the switch to the target cell using the acquired Timing Advance (TA) of the target cell. [Note 2] The terminal according to Note 1, wherein the control unit determines only candidate cells corresponding to the acquired TA as the target cell. [Note 3] The terminal according to Note 1 or Note 2, further having a receiving unit that receives a Random Access Response (RAR) indicating the TA of the target cell. [Note 4] The terminal according to any one of Notes 1 to 3, further having a receiving unit that receives a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) indicating the TA of the target cell.
[0122] (Wireless Communication System) The configuration of a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of this disclosure will be described below. In this wireless communication system, communication is performed using any of the wireless communication methods according to the above embodiments of this disclosure, or a combination thereof.
[0123] Figure 4 shows an example of a schematic configuration of a wireless communication system according to one embodiment. The wireless communication system 1 (which may also be simply called system 1) may be a system that realizes communication using Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5th generation mobile communication system New Radio (5G NR), etc., as specified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
[0124] Furthermore, the wireless communication system 1 may support dual connectivity between multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs) (Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity (MR-DC)). MR-DC may include dual connectivity between LTE (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)) and NR (E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC)), dual connectivity between NR and LTE (NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC)), and the like.
[0125] In EN-DC, the LTE (E-UTRA) base station (eNB) is the Master Node (MN), and the NR base station (gNB) is the Secondary Node (SN). In NE-DC, the NR base station (gNB) is the MN, and the LTE (E-UTRA) base station (eNB) is the SN.
[0126] The wireless communication system 1 may support dual connectivity between multiple base stations within the same RAT (for example, dual connectivity where both MN and SN are NR base stations (gNB) (NR-NR Dual Connectivity (NN-DC))).
[0127] The wireless communication system 1 may include a base station 11 that forms a macrocell C1 with relatively wide coverage, and base stations 12 (12a-12c) located within the macrocell C1 that form a small cell C2 that is narrower than the macrocell C1. User terminals 20 may be located within at least one cell. The arrangement, number, shape, size, etc., of each cell and user terminal 20 are not limited to the configuration shown in the figure. Hereinafter, when base stations 11 and 12 are not distinguished, they will be collectively referred to as base station 10.
[0128] The wireless communication system 1 may utilize Multi Input Multi Output (MIMO). For example, one cell may be formed by one antenna / base station 10, or by multiple antennas / base stations 10. One [virtual] cell (which may be called a supercell, for example) may be composed of multiple [virtual] cells (which may be called subcells, for example). A supercell may correspond to a cell with a fixed physical range, and a subcell may correspond to a cell whose physical range fluctuates quasi-statically / dynamically. In this case, the wireless communication system 1 may be called a cell-free system.
[0129] The user terminal 20 may be connected to at least one of the multiple base stations 10. The user terminal 20 may utilize at least one of Carrier Aggregation (CA) using multiple Component Carriers (CC) and Dual Connectivity (DC).
[0130] Each CC may be included in at least one of the first frequency band (Frequency Range 1 (FR1)) and the second frequency band (Frequency Range 2 (FR2)). A macrocell C1 may be included in FR1, and a small cell C2 may be included in FR2. For example, FR1 may be a frequency band of 6 GHz or less (sub-6 GHz), and FR2 may be a frequency band above 24 GHz. Note that the frequency bands and definitions of FR1 and FR2 are not limited to these, and for example, FR1 may be in a frequency band higher than FR2.
[0131] Furthermore, the user terminal 20 may communicate in each CC using at least one of Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD).
[0132] Multiple base stations 10 may be connected by wire (e.g., optical fiber compliant with Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), X2 / Xn interface, etc.) or wireless (e.g., NR communication). For example, when NR communication is used as a backhaul between base stations 11 and 12, base station 11, which is the upstream station, may be called an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) donor, and base station 12, which is the relay station, may be called an IAB node.
[0133] Base station 10 may be connected to the core network 30 via other base stations 10 or directly. The core network 30 may include at least one of the following: Evolved Packet Core (EPC), 5G Core Network (5GCN), Next Generation Core (NGC), etc.
[0134] The core network 30 may include network functions (NF) such as User Plane Function (UPF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Application Function (AF), Data Network (DN), Location Management Function (LMF), and Operation, Administration and Maintenance (Management) (OAM). Multiple functions may be provided by a single network node. Furthermore, communication with an external network (e.g., the Internet) may occur via the DN.
[0135] The user terminal 20 may be a terminal that supports at least one of the following communication methods: LTE, LTE-A, 5G, etc.
[0136] In the wireless communication system 1, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based wireless access scheme may be used. For example, Cyclic Prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-OFDM), etc., may be used in at least one of the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL).
[0137] The wireless access method may also be called a waveform. In wireless communication system 1, other wireless access methods (for example, other single-carrier transmission methods, other multi-carrier transmission methods) may be used for the UL and DL wireless access methods.
[0138] In the wireless communication system 1, a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Broadcast Channel (PBCH), or a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) may be used as the downlink channel, which is shared by each user terminal 20.
[0139] Furthermore, in the wireless communication system 1, the uplink channel may include a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), or the like, all of which are shared by each user terminal 20.
[0140] User data, higher-layer control information, and System Information Blocks (SIBs) are transmitted via PDSCH. User data and higher-layer control information may also be transmitted via PUSCH. Furthermore, Master Information Blocks (MIBs) may be transmitted via PBCH.
[0141] Lower-layer control information may be transmitted by PDCCH. The lower-layer control information may include, for example, Downlink Control Information (DCI) which includes scheduling information for at least one of PDSCH and PUSCH.
[0142] Furthermore, the DCI that schedules PDSCH may be called DL assignment, DL DCI, etc., and the DCI that schedules PUSCH may be called UL grant, UL DCI, etc. Furthermore, PDSCH may be read as DL data, and PUSCH may be read as UL data.
[0143] PDCCH detection may utilize a Control Resource Set (CORESET) and a search space. A CORESET corresponds to the resources used to search for DCIs. A search space corresponds to the search area and search method for PDCCH candidates. A single CORESET may be associated with one or more search spaces. A UE may monitor CORESETs associated with a given search space based on the search space configuration.
[0144] A single search space may correspond to one or more PDCCH candidates corresponding to aggregation levels. One or more search spaces may be referred to as a search space set. In this disclosure, "search space," "search space set," "search space configuration," "search space set configuration," "CORESET," and "CORESET configuration" may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0145] PUCCH may transmit uplink control information (UCI) including at least one of channel state information (CSI), delivery acknowledgment information (for example, Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK), ACK / NACK, etc.), and scheduling request (SR). PRACH may transmit a random access preamble for establishing a connection with the cell.
[0146] In this disclosure, downlinks, uplinks, etc., may be expressed without the prefix "link." Also, the prefix "physical" may be omitted from the names of various channels.
[0147] In the wireless communication system 1, a synchronization signal (SS), a downlink reference signal (DL-RS), etc., may be transmitted. In the wireless communication system 1, the DL-RS may include a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a positioning reference signal (PRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), etc.
[0148] The synchronization signal may be, for example, at least one of a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS). A signal block including SS (PSS, SSS) and PBCH (and DMRS for PBCH) may be called an SS / PBCH block, SS Block (SSB), etc. Note that SS, SSB, etc. may also be called reference signals.
[0149] Furthermore, in the wireless communication system 1, the uplink reference signal (UL-RS) may include a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. The DMRS may also be called a user-specific reference signal (UE-specific Reference Signal).
[0150] (Base Station) Figure 5 shows an example of the configuration of a base station according to one embodiment. The base station 10 includes a control unit 110, a transmitting / receiving unit 120, a transmitting / receiving antenna 130, and a transmission line interface 140. Note that one or more of the control unit 110, the transmitting / receiving unit 120, the transmitting / receiving antenna 130, and the transmission line interface 140 may be provided.
[0151] In this example, the functional blocks of the characteristic parts of this embodiment are mainly shown, and it may be assumed that the base station 10 also has other functional blocks necessary for wireless communication. Some of the processing of each part described below may be omitted.
[0152] The control unit 110 controls the entire base station 10. The control unit 110 can be composed of a controller, control circuit, etc., as described based on common understanding in the technical field related to this disclosure.
[0153] The control unit 110 may control signal generation, scheduling (e.g., resource allocation, mapping), etc. The control unit 110 may also control transmission and reception, measurement, etc., using the transmitting / receiving unit 120, transmitting / receiving antenna 130, and transmission path interface 140. The control unit 110 may generate data to be transmitted as signals, control information, sequences, etc., and transfer them to the transmitting / receiving unit 120. The control unit 110 may also perform call processing of communication channels (setting, releasing, etc.), status management of the base station 10, management of wireless resources, etc.
[0154] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 may include a baseband unit 121, a radio frequency (RF) unit 122, and a measurement unit 123. The baseband unit 121 may include a transmission processing unit 1211 and a reception processing unit 1212. The transmitting / receiving unit 120 can be composed of a transmitter / receiver, RF circuit, baseband circuit, filter, phase shifter, measurement circuit, transmitting / receiving circuit, etc., as described based on common understanding in the art relating to this disclosure.
[0155] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 may be configured as an integrated transmitting / receiving unit, or it may be composed of a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. The transmitting unit may consist of a transmitting processing unit 1211 and an RF unit 122. The receiving unit may consist of a receiving processing unit 1212, an RF unit 122 and a measuring unit 123.
[0156] The transmitting and receiving antenna 130 can be composed of an antenna described based on common understanding in the art relating to this disclosure, such as an array antenna.
[0157] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 may transmit the downlink channel, synchronization signal, downlink reference signal, etc. The transmitting / receiving unit 120 may also receive the uplink channel, uplink reference signal, etc.
[0158] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 may use digital beamforming (e.g., precoding), analog beamforming (e.g., phase rotation), or the like to form at least one of the transmitting beam and the receiving beam.
[0159] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 (transmission processing unit 1211) may perform processing on data and control information acquired from the control unit 110, for example, at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer (e.g., RLC retransmission control), and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer (e.g., HARQ retransmission control), to generate a bit sequence to be transmitted.
[0160] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 (transmission processing unit 1211) may perform transmission processing on the bit sequence to be transmitted, such as channel coding (which may include error correction coding), modulation, mapping, filtering, discrete Fourier transform (DFT) processing (if necessary), inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing, precoding, and digital-to-analog conversion, and output a baseband signal.
[0161] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 (RF unit 122) may perform modulation, filtering, amplification, etc., of the baseband signal to the radio frequency band and transmit the signal in the radio frequency band via the transmitting / receiving antenna 130.
[0162] On the other hand, the transmitting / receiving unit 120 (RF unit 122) may perform amplification, filtering, demodulation to a baseband signal, etc., on the radio frequency band signal received by the transmitting / receiving antenna 130.
[0163] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 (receiving processing unit 1212) may apply reception processing such as analog-to-digital conversion, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing, Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) processing (if necessary), filtering, demapping, demodulation, decoding (may include error correction decoding), MAC layer processing, RLC layer processing, and PDCP layer processing to the acquired baseband signal to acquire user data, etc.
[0164] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 (measurement unit 123) may perform measurements related to the received signal. For example, the measurement unit 123 may perform Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements, Channel State Information (CSI) measurements, etc., based on the received signal. The measurement unit 123 may also measure received power (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)), reception quality (e.g., Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)), signal strength (e.g., Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)), propagation path information (e.g., CSI), etc. The measurement results may be output to the control unit 110.
[0165] The transmission path interface 140 may send and receive signals (backhaul signaling) with devices included in the core network 30 (e.g., network nodes that provide NF), other base stations 10, etc., and may acquire and transmit user data (user plane data), control plane data, etc. for the user terminal 20.
[0166] In this disclosure, the transmitting and receiving units of the base station 10 may consist of at least one of a transmitting / receiving unit 120, a transmitting / receiving antenna 130, and a transmission path interface 140.
[0167] The base station 10 may be separated into three elements: a Radio Unit (RU), a Distributed Unit (DU), and a Central Unit (CU). For example, the RU may implement RF processing (digital beamforming, digital-to-analog conversion, analog beamforming, etc.) and lower-level physical layer functions (precoding, IFFT, FFT, etc.). The DU may implement higher-level physical layer functions (coding to resource element mapping, etc.), MAC layer functions, and RLC layer functions. The CU may implement PDCP layer, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, and RRC layer functions.
[0168] In this disclosure, base station 10 may include a single device that implements all the functions of RU, DU, and CU, or it may include multiple devices that each implement some of the functions of RU, DU, and CU and are connected to each other. In this disclosure, base station 10 may be interpreted as RU / DU / CU.
[0169] The control unit 110 may assume that when Random Access Channel (RACH)-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM) is applied, a switch of the serving cell using a target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions will be determined.
[0170] The transmitting / receiving unit 120 may receive the first uplink (UL) signal after the switch, transmitted using the Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state / Timing Advance (TA) of the target cell acquired by the UE, in the target cell.
[0171] (User Terminal) Figure 6 shows an example of the configuration of a user terminal according to one embodiment. The user terminal 20 includes a control unit 210, a transmitting / receiving unit 220, and a transmitting / receiving antenna 230. Note that one or more of the control unit 210, the transmitting / receiving unit 220, and the transmitting / receiving antenna 230 may be provided.
[0172] In this example, the functional blocks of the characteristic parts of this embodiment are mainly shown, and it may be assumed that the user terminal 20 also has other functional blocks necessary for wireless communication. Some of the processing of each part described below may be omitted.
[0173] The control unit 210 controls the entire user terminal 20. The control unit 210 can be composed of a controller, control circuit, etc., as described based on common understanding in the technical field related to this disclosure.
[0174] The control unit 210 may control signal generation, mapping, etc. The control unit 210 may also control transmission and reception, measurement, etc., using the transmitting / receiving unit 220 and the transmitting / receiving antenna 230. The control unit 210 may generate data to be transmitted as signals, control information, sequences, etc., and transfer them to the transmitting / receiving unit 220.
[0175] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 may include a baseband unit 221, an RF unit 222, and a measurement unit 223. The baseband unit 221 may include a transmission processing unit 2211 and a reception processing unit 2212. The transmitting / receiving unit 220 can be composed of a transmitter / receiver, RF circuit, baseband circuit, filter, phase shifter, measurement circuit, transmitting / receiving circuit, etc., as described based on common understanding in the art relating to this disclosure.
[0176] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 may be configured as an integrated transmitting / receiving unit, or it may be composed of a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. The transmitting unit may consist of a transmitting processing unit 2211 and an RF unit 222. The receiving unit may consist of a receiving processing unit 2212, an RF unit 222 and a measuring unit 223.
[0177] The transmitting and receiving antenna 230 can be composed of an antenna described based on common understanding in the art relating to this disclosure, such as an array antenna.
[0178] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 may receive the downlink channel, synchronization signal, downlink reference signal, etc. The transmitting / receiving unit 220 may also transmit the uplink channel, uplink reference signal, etc.
[0179] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 may use digital beamforming (e.g., precoding), analog beamforming (e.g., phase rotation), or the like to form at least one of the transmitting beam and the receiving beam.
[0180] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 (transmission processing unit 2211) may perform PDCP layer processing, RLC layer processing (e.g., RLC retransmission control), MAC layer processing (e.g., HARQ retransmission control), etc., on data and control information acquired from the control unit 210 to generate a bit sequence to be transmitted.
[0181] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 (transmission processing unit 2211) may perform transmission processing on the bit sequence to be transmitted, such as channel coding (which may include error correction coding), modulation, mapping, filtering, DFT processing (if necessary), IFFT processing, precoding, and digital-to-analog conversion, and output a baseband signal.
[0182] Whether or not to apply DFT processing may be based on the transform precoding settings. The transmitting / receiving unit 220 (transmission processing unit 2211) may perform DFT processing as part of the transmission process to transmit a channel (for example, PUSCH) using a DFT-s-OFDM waveform if transform precoding is enabled for that channel, or it may not perform DFT processing as part of the transmission process if transform precoding is not enabled for that channel.
[0183] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 (RF unit 222) may perform modulation, filtering, amplification, etc., of the baseband signal to the radio frequency band and transmit the signal in the radio frequency band via the transmitting / receiving antenna 230.
[0184] On the other hand, the transmitting / receiving unit 220 (RF unit 222) may perform amplification, filtering, demodulation to a baseband signal, etc., on the radio frequency band signal received by the transmitting / receiving antenna 230.
[0185] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 (receiving processing unit 2212) may apply reception processing such as analog-to-digital conversion, FFT processing, IDFT processing (if necessary), filtering, demapping, demodulation, decoding (may include error correction decoding), MAC layer processing, RLC layer processing, and PDCP layer processing to the acquired baseband signal to acquire user data, etc.
[0186] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 (measuring unit 223) may perform measurements related to the received signal. For example, the measuring unit 223 may perform RRM measurement, CSI measurement, etc., based on the received signal. The measuring unit 223 may also measure received power (e.g., RSRP), received quality (e.g., RSRQ, SINR, SNR), signal strength (e.g., RSSI), propagation path information (e.g., CSI), etc. The measurement results may be output to the control unit 210.
[0187] The measurement unit 223 may derive channel measurements for CSI calculation based on channel measurement resources. Channel measurement resources may be, for example, Non Zero Power (NZP) CSI-RS resources. The measurement unit 223 may also derive interference measurements for CSI calculation based on interference measurement resources. Interference measurement resources may be at least one of the following: NZP CSI-RS resources for interference measurement, CSI-Interference Measurement (IM) resources, etc. CSI-IM may also be called CSI-Interference Management (IM), and may be interpreted interchangeably with Zero Power (ZP) CSI-RS. In this disclosure, CSI-RS, NZP CSI-RS, ZP CSI-RS, CSI-IM, CSI-SSB, etc., may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0188] In this disclosure, the transmitting unit and receiving unit of the user terminal 20 may be composed of at least one of a transmitting / receiving unit 220 and a transmitting / receiving antenna 230.
[0189] The transmitting / receiving unit 220 may perform at least some of the processing of the transmitting / receiving unit described in the appendix above.
[0190] The control unit 210 may perform at least some of the processing of the control unit described in the appendix above.
[0191] (Hardware Configuration) The block diagram used in the description of the above embodiment shows functional units. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or it may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wired or wireless connections). A functional block may also be realized by combining the above one device or the above multiple devices with software.
[0192] Here, functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, decision, determination, calculation, calculation, processing, derivation, investigation, exploration, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, consideration, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating (mapping), and assigning. For example, a functional block (configuration part) that enables transmission may be called a transmitting unit or transmitter. In all cases, as mentioned above, the method of implementation is not particularly limited.
[0193] For example, a base station, user terminal, etc. in one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that processes the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a base station and user terminal according to one embodiment. The base station 10 and user terminal 20 described above may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, memory 1002, storage 1003, communication device 1004, input device 1005, output device 1006, bus 1007, etc.
[0194] In this disclosure, terms such as apparatus, circuit, device, section, and unit are interchangeable. The hardware configuration of the base station 10 and the user terminal 20 may include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or it may be configured without some of the devices.
[0195] For example, although only one processor 1001 is shown in the diagram, there may be multiple processors. Furthermore, the processing may be performed by one processor, or it may be performed by two or more processors simultaneously, sequentially, or by other means. Note that the processor 1001 may be implemented using one or more chips.
[0196] Each function in the base station 10 and the user terminal 20 is realized, for example, by loading predetermined software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, which allows the processor 1001 to perform calculations and control communication via the communication device 1004, or control at least one of reading and writing data in the memory 1002 and storage 1003.
[0197] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer, for example, by running an operating system. The processor 1001 may be composed of a central processing unit (CPU) that includes interfaces with peripheral devices, control devices, arithmetic units, registers, etc. For example, at least a part of the control unit 110 (210) and the transmitting / receiving unit 120 (220) described above may be implemented by the processor 1001.
[0198] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads programs (program code), software modules, data, etc., from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002 and executes various processes accordingly. The program used is one that causes the computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above embodiment. For example, the control unit 110 (210) may be implemented by a control program stored in the memory 1002 and running on the processor 1001, and other functional blocks may be implemented similarly.
[0199] The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: Read Only Memory (ROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), or other suitable storage medium. The memory 1002 may also be called a register, cache, or main memory. The memory 1002 can store executable programs (program code), software modules, etc., for carrying out a wireless communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0200] The storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: a flexible disk, a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a Compact Disk (Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM)), a Digital Use Disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a removable disk, a hard disk drive, a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, stick, key drive), a magnetic stripe, a database, a server, or other suitable storage medium. The storage 1003 may also be called an auxiliary storage device.
[0201] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting / receiving device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, etc. The communication device 1004 may be configured to include, for example, a high-frequency switch, duplexer, filter, frequency synthesizer, etc., in order to implement at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). For example, the above-mentioned transmitting / receiving unit 120 (220), transmitting / receiving antenna 130 (230), etc., may be implemented by the communication device 1004. The transmitting / receiving unit 120 (220) may be implemented with physically or logically separated transmitting unit 120a (220a) and receiving unit 120b (220b).
[0202] The input device 1005 is an input device that accepts input from an external source (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, etc.). The output device 1006 is an output device that outputs to an external source (e.g., a display, speaker, light-emitting diode (LED) lamp, etc.). The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be configured as an integrated unit (e.g., a touch panel).
[0203] Furthermore, each device, such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or different buses may be configured for each device.
[0204] Furthermore, the base station 10 and the user terminal 20 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of each functional block may be implemented using such hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these hardware components.
[0205] Furthermore, devices included in the core network 30 (for example, network nodes that provide NF) may also be implemented using the functional block / hardware configuration described above.
[0206] (Variations) Terms used in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, channel, symbol and signal (signal or signaling) may be used interchangeably. Also, a signal may be a message. A reference signal may be abbreviated as RS and may be called a pilot, pilot signal, etc., depending on the applicable standard. Also, a component carrier (CC) may be called a cell, frequency carrier, carrier frequency, etc.
[0207] A wireless frame may consist of one or more periods (frames) in the time domain. Each of these periods (frames) constituting a wireless frame may be called a subframe. Furthermore, a subframe may consist of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.
[0208] Here, the neurology may be communication parameters applied to at least one of the transmission and reception of a signal or channel. The neurology may be, for example, at least one of the following: subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame configuration, specific filtering processes performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, and specific windowing processes performed by the transceiver in the time domain.
[0209] A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols or Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols). Alternatively, a slot may be a time unit based on neurology.
[0210] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain. Minislots may also be called subslots. Minislots may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called a PDSCH (PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using minislots may be called a PDSCH (PUSCH) mapping type B.
[0211] Wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols all represent units of time when transmitting a signal. Wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols may each be referred to by different names. Furthermore, the units of time such as frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols in this disclosure may be interpreted as interchangeable.
[0212] For example, one subframe may be called a TTI, multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, and one slot or one mini-slot may be called a TTI. In other words, at least one of a subframe and a TTI may be a subframe in existing LTE (1 ms), a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing a TTI may be called a slot, mini-slot, etc., instead of a subframe.
[0213] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, the base station schedules each user terminal to allocate wireless resources (such as the frequency bandwidth and transmission power available to each user terminal) in TTI units. However, the definition of TTI is not limited to this.
[0214] TTI may be a transmission time unit for channel-encoded data packets (transport blocks), code blocks, code words, etc., or it may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the actual time interval (e.g., number of symbols) in which the transport block, code block, code word, etc. are mapped may be shorter than the TTI.
[0215] Furthermore, if one slot or one mini-slot is referred to as a TTI, then one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more mini-slots) may constitute the minimum time unit for scheduling. In addition, the number of slots (number of mini-slots) that constitute this minimum time unit for scheduling may be controlled.
[0216] A TTI with a time length of 1 ms may be called a normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, mini slot, sub slot, slot, etc.
[0217] Furthermore, long TTIs (e.g., normal TTIs, subframes, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a time length exceeding 1 ms, and short TTIs (e.g., shortened TTIs, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a TTI length less than that of a long TTI but 1 ms or more.
[0218] A Resource Block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and in the frequency domain, it may contain one or more consecutive subcarriers. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be the same regardless of the neurology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be determined based on the neurology.
[0219] Furthermore, an RB may contain one or more symbols in the time domain and may have the length of one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI. One TTI, one subframe, etc., may each consist of one or more resource blocks.
[0220] One or more RBs may also be called Physical RBs (PRBs), Sub-Carrier Groups (SCGs), Resource Element Groups (REGs), PRB pairs, RB pairs, etc.
[0221] Furthermore, a resource block may consist of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource area comprising one subcarrier and one symbol.
[0222] A Bandwidth Part (BWP), also known as a partial bandwidth, may represent a subset of consecutive common resource blocks (RBs) for a given neurology in a given carrier. These common RBs may be identified by an index of the RBs relative to a common reference point of the carrier. The PRBs may be defined and numbered within a given BWP.
[0223] A BWP may include UL BWP (BWP for UL) and DL BWP (BWP for DL). One or more BWPs may be configured within a single carrier for a UE.
[0224] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE does not need to assume that it will transmit or receive a predetermined signal / channel outside of the active BWP. In this disclosure, terms such as "cell" and "carrier" may be read as "BWP".
[0225] The structures of wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols described above are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a wireless frame, the number of slots per subframe or wireless frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, and the number of symbols, symbol length, and cyclic prefix (CP) length within the TTI can be varied in various ways.
[0226] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc., described in this disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values from a predetermined value, or corresponding other information. For example, wireless resources may be indicated by a predetermined index.
[0227] The names used for parameters and other elements in this disclosure are not restrictive in any way. Furthermore, mathematical formulas and other elements using these parameters may differ from those expressly disclosed in this disclosure. Various channels (PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements can be identified by any suitable name, and therefore, the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not restrictive in any way.
[0228] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of the various different techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.
[0229] Furthermore, information, signals, etc., can be output from upper layers to lower layers and from lower layers to upper layers, or to at least one of the two. Information, signals, etc., may also be input and output via multiple network nodes.
[0230] Input and output information and signals may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or managed using a management table. Input and output information and signals may be overwritten, updated, or appended to. Output information and signals may be deleted. Input information and signals may be transmitted to other devices.
[0231] Any information described in this disclosure (e.g., variables, constants, parameters) may be communicated from any first device (e.g., UE / base station) to any second device (e.g., base station / UE) that indicates / specifies (or relates to) the value of such any information, even if not specifically stated in the embodiments described above.
[0232] Information notification is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be carried out by other means. For example, information notification in this disclosure may be carried out by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling), other signals, or a combination thereof.
[0233] Physical layer signaling may also be called Layer 1 / Layer 2 (L1 / L2) control information (L1 / L2 control signals), L1 control information (L1 control signals), etc. RRC signaling may also be called RRC messages, for example, RRC Connection Setup messages, RRC Connection Reconfiguration messages, etc. MAC signaling may also be communicated using, for example, MAC Control Elements (CEs).
[0234] Furthermore, notification of the specified information (for example, notification that "X is the case") is not limited to explicit notification, but may also be made implicitly (for example, by not notifying the specified information or by notifying other information).
[0235] The determination may be made by a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), by a boolean value represented as true or false, or by a numerical comparison (for example, a comparison with a predetermined value).
[0236] Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, and so on, whether they are called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or by any other name.
[0237] Furthermore, software, instructions, information, etc., may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technology (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) and wireless technology (such as infrared or microwave), then at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included in the definition of a transmission medium.
[0238] The terms “system” and “network” as used in this disclosure may be used interchangeably. “Network” may also mean the equipment included in the network (e.g., base stations).
[0239] In this disclosure, terms such as “precoding,” “precoder,” “weight (precoding weight),” “quasi-co-location (QCL),” “transmission configuration indication state (TCI state),” “spatial relation,” “spatial domain filter,” “transmit power,” “phase rotation,” “antenna port,” “layer,” “number of layers,” “rank,” “resource,” “resource set,” “beam,” “beam width,” “beam angle,” “antenna,” “antenna element,” “panel,” “UE panel,” “transmitting entity,” and “receiving entity” may be used interchangeably.
[0240] In this disclosure, "antenna port" may be interpreted interchangeably with "antenna port for any signal / channel" (e.g., a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) port). In this disclosure, "resource" may be interpreted interchangeably with "resource for any signal / channel" (e.g., a reference signal resource, an SRS resource, etc.). Resources may include time / frequency / code / spatial / power resources. Furthermore, a spatial domain transmit filter may include at least one of a spatial domain transmit filter and a spatial domain receive filter.
[0241] The above group may include, for example, at least one of the following: a spatial relationship group, a code division multiplexing (CDM) group, a reference signal (RS) group, a control resource set (CORESET) group, a PUCCH group, an antenna port group (e.g., a DMRS port group), a layer group, a resource group, a beam group, an antenna group, or a panel group.
[0242] Furthermore, in this disclosure, terms such as beam, SRS Resource Indicator (SRI), CORESET, CORESET pool, PDSCH, PUSCH, Codeword (CW), Transport Block (TB), and RS may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0243] Furthermore, in this disclosure, TCI state, downlink TCI state (DL TCI state), uplink TCI state (UL TCI state), unified TCI state, common TCI state, joint TCI state, etc., may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0244] Furthermore, in this disclosure, terms such as "QCL," "QCL assumption," "QCL relationship," "QCL type information," "QCL property / properties," "specific QCL type (e.g., Type A, Type D) properties," and "specific QCL type (e.g., Type A, Type D)" may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0245] In this disclosure, terms such as index, identifier (ID), indicator, indication, and resource ID may be interpreted interchangeably. In this disclosure, terms such as sequence, list, set, group, cluster, subset may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0246] Furthermore, the spatial relationship information Identifier (ID) (TCI state ID) and spatial relationship information (TCI state) may be interpreted as mutually exclusive. "Spatial relationship information (TCI state)" may be interpreted as mutually exclusive as "a set of spatial relationship information (TCI state)," "one or more pieces of spatial relationship information," etc. TCI state and TCI may be interpreted as mutually exclusive. Spatial relationship information and spatial relationship may be interpreted as mutually exclusive.
[0247] In this disclosure, terms such as “Base Station (BS),” “wireless base station,” “fixed station,” “NodeB,” “eNB (eNodeB),” “gNB (gNodeB),” “access point,” “Transmission Point (TP),” “Reception Point (RP),” “Transmission / Reception Point (TRP),” “panel,” “cell,” “sector,” “cell group,” “carrier,” and “component carrier” may be used interchangeably. Base stations may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.
[0248] A base station may house one or more (e.g., three) cells. If a base station houses multiple cells, the entire coverage area of the base station may be divided into several smaller areas, each of which may also be provided with communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (Remote Radio Head (RRH))). The terms “cell” or “sector” refer to part or all of the coverage area of at least one of the base station and / or base station subsystems that provide communication services in that coverage.
[0249] In this disclosure, the transmission of information by a base station to a terminal may be interpreted as the base station instructing the terminal to perform a control / operation based on said information.
[0250] In this disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," and "terminal" may be used interchangeably.
[0251] A mobile station may also be called a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other appropriate term.
[0252] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a wireless communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may also be a device mounted on a moving object, the moving object itself, etc.
[0253] The term "mobile object" refers to any movable object, regardless of its speed, and naturally includes cases where the mobile object is stationary. Examples of such mobile objects include, but are not limited to, vehicles, transport vehicles, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, connected cars, excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders, dump trucks, forklifts, trains, buses, handcarts, rickshaws, ships and other watercraft, airplanes, rockets, satellites, drones, multicopters, quadcopters, balloons, and items carried on them. Furthermore, such mobile objects may be autonomously driven objects operating based on operational commands.
[0254] The mobile entity may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane), an unmanned mobile entity (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device that does not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an Internet of Things (IoT) device such as a sensor.
[0255] Figure 8 shows an example of a vehicle according to one embodiment. The vehicle 40 includes a drive unit 41, a steering unit 42, an accelerator pedal 43, a brake pedal 44, a shift lever 45, left and right front wheels 46, left and right rear wheels 47, an axle 48, an electronic control unit 49, various sensors (including a current sensor 50, a rotation speed sensor 51, a pneumatic pressure sensor 52, a vehicle speed sensor 53, an acceleration sensor 54, an accelerator pedal sensor 55, a brake pedal sensor 56, a shift lever sensor 57, and an object detection sensor 58), an information service unit 59, and a communication module 60.
[0256] The drive unit 41 consists of, for example, at least one of an engine, a motor, or an engine-motor hybrid. The steering unit 42 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handle) and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels 46 and the rear wheels 47 based on the operation of the steering wheel operated by the user.
[0257] The electronic control unit 49 consists of a microprocessor 61, memory (ROM, RAM) 62, and communication ports (e.g., input / output (IO) ports) 63. Signals from various sensors 50-58 installed in the vehicle are input to the electronic control unit 49. The electronic control unit 49 may also be called an Electronic Control Unit (ECU).
[0258] Signals from various sensors 50-58 include current signals from current sensor 50 for sensing motor current, rotational speed signals of front wheels 46 / rear wheels 47 acquired by rotational speed sensor 51, air pressure signals of front wheels 46 / rear wheels 47 acquired by air pressure sensor 52, vehicle speed signals acquired by vehicle speed sensor 53, acceleration signals acquired by acceleration sensor 54, accelerator pedal depression amount signals acquired by accelerator pedal sensor 55, brake pedal depression amount signals acquired by brake pedal sensor 56, operation signals of shift lever 45 acquired by shift lever sensor 57, and detection signals acquired by object detection sensor 58 for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc.
[0259] The information service unit 59 consists of various devices for providing (outputting) various types of information such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, including a car navigation system, audio system, speakers, display, television, and radio, and one or more ECUs that control these devices. The information service unit 59 uses information acquired from external devices via a communication module 60 or the like to provide various types of information / services (for example, multimedia information / multimedia services) to the occupants of the vehicle 40.
[0260] The information service unit 59 may include input devices that accept input from the outside (e.g., keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, touch panel, etc.) or output devices that perform output to the outside (e.g., display, speaker, LED lamp, touch panel, etc.).
[0261] The driver assistance system unit 64 consists of various devices that provide functions to prevent accidents or reduce the driver's workload, such as millimeter-wave radar, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), cameras, positioning locators (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)), map information (e.g., High Definition (HD) maps, Autonomous Vehicle (AV) maps), gyro systems (e.g., Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), Inertial Navigation System (INS)), artificial intelligence (AI) chips, and AI processors, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driver assistance system unit 64 also transmits and receives various information via the communication module 60 to realize driver assistance functions or autonomous driving functions.
[0262] The communication module 60 can communicate with the microprocessor 61 and components of the vehicle 40 via the communication port 63. For example, the communication module 60 sends and receives data (information) via the communication port 63 to the drive unit 41, steering unit 42, accelerator pedal 43, brake pedal 44, shift lever 45, left and right front wheels 46, left and right rear wheels 47, axle 48, the microprocessor 61 and memory (ROM, RAM) 62 in the electronic control unit 49, and various sensors 50-58 provided in the vehicle 40.
[0263] The communication module 60 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 61 of the electronic control unit 49 and can communicate with external devices. For example, it can send and receive various types of information to and from external devices via wireless communication. The communication module 60 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 49. The external device may be, for example, the base station 10 or the user terminal 20 described above. Alternatively, the communication module 60 may be, for example, at least one of the base station 10 and the user terminal 20 (it may function as at least one of the base station 10 and the user terminal 20).
[0264] The communication module 60 may transmit at least one of the following to an external device via wireless communication: signals from the various sensors 50-58 input to the electronic control unit 49, information obtained based on said signals, and information based on input from an external source (user) obtained via the information service unit 59. The electronic control unit 49, the various sensors 50-58, the information service unit 59, etc., may also be called input units that accept input. For example, the PUSCH transmitted by the communication module 60 may include the information based on the above input.
[0265] The communication module 60 receives various information (traffic information, signal information, inter-vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from an external device and displays it on the information service unit 59 installed in the vehicle. The information service unit 59 may also be called an output unit, which outputs information (for example, it outputs information to devices such as displays and speakers based on the PDSCH (or data / information decoded from the PDSCH) received by the communication module 60).
[0266] Furthermore, the communication module 60 stores various information received from external devices in a memory 62 that can be used by the microprocessor 61. Based on the information stored in the memory 62, the microprocessor 61 may control the drive unit 41, steering unit 42, accelerator pedal 43, brake pedal 44, shift lever 45, left and right front wheels 46, left and right rear wheels 47, axle 48, various sensors 50-58, etc., which are provided in the vehicle 40.
[0267] Furthermore, the term "base station" in this disclosure may be interpreted as "user terminal." For example, the various aspects / embodiments of this disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a user terminal is replaced with communication between multiple user terminals (which may be called, for example, Device-to-Device (D2D), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)). In this case, the user terminal 20 may have the functions of the base station 10 described above. Also, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be interpreted as terms corresponding to terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, "sidelink"). For example, uplink channel, downlink channel, etc., may be interpreted as sidelink channel.
[0268] Similarly, the term "user terminal" in this disclosure may be replaced with "base station." In this case, the base station 10 may be configured to have the same functions as the user terminal 20 described above.
[0269] In this disclosure, operations performed by a base station may, in some cases, be performed by its upper node. In a network including one or more network nodes having base stations, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with terminals may be performed by the base station, one or more network nodes other than the base station (for example, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (S-GW), etc., but not limited to these), or a combination thereof.
[0270] Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be used individually, in combination, or switched between as needed during execution. Furthermore, the processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc., of each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be rearranged in order, provided they are consistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present various step elements using exemplary order and are not limited to the specific order presented.
[0271] Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure is Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), xth generation mobile communication system (xG (where x is, for example, an integer or decimal)), Future Radio Access (FRA), New-Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM®), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi®), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX®), IEEE 802.20, systems utilizing Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth®, or other appropriate wireless communication methods, and next-generation systems extended, modified, created, or defined based thereon may also be applied. Furthermore, multiple systems may be applied in combination (for example, a combination of LTE or LTE-A and 5G).
[0272] In this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based solely on" unless otherwise specified. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based solely on" and "based at least on."
[0273] Any reference to elements using the designations “first,” “second,” etc., as used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Accordingly, the references to the first and second elements do not imply that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must precede the second element in any way.
[0274] The term “determining” as used in this disclosure may encompass a wide variety of actions. For example, “determining” may be considered to mean judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, or inquiring (e.g., searching in tables, databases, or other data structures), ascertaining, etc.
[0275] Furthermore, "judgment (decision)" may be considered as "judging (deciding)" things like receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory).
[0276] Furthermore, “judgment (decision)” may be considered as “judgment (decision)” of resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. In other words, “judgment (decision)” may be considered as “judgment (decision)” of some action. In this disclosure, “judgment (decision)” may be interpreted as mutually interchangeable with the actions described above.
[0277] Furthermore, in this disclosure, “determine / determining” may be interpreted as “assume / assuming,” “expect / expecting,” or “consider / considering.” In addition, in this disclosure, “not expecting to do…” may be interpreted as “expecting not to do….”
[0278] In this disclosure, "expect" may be rephrased as "be expected." For example, "expect(s) ..." (where "..." may be expressed as a that clause, an infinitive, etc.) may be rephrased as "be expected ..." or "do (the verb without "to" if "..." is an infinitive)." Similarly, "does not expect ..." may be rephrased as "be not expected ..." or "do not (the verb without "to" if "..." is an infinitive)." Furthermore, "An apparatus A is not expected ..." may be rephrased as "An apparatus B other than apparatus A does not expect ... from apparatus A" (for example, if apparatus A is a UE, apparatus B may be a base station).
[0279] The term "maximum transmit power" as used in this disclosure may mean the maximum transmit power, the nominal UE maximum transmit power, or the rated UE maximum transmit power.
[0280] As used in this disclosure, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and any variations thereof mean any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are “connected” or “coupled” with each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, “connection” may be replaced with “access.”
[0281] In this disclosure, when two elements are connected, they can be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using one or more wires, cables, printed electrical connections, etc., and, in some non-exclusive and non-exclusive examples, electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency domain, microwave domain, and optical (both visible and invisible) domain.
[0282] In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combine" may be interpreted similarly to "different."
[0283] Where the terms “include,” “including,” and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, as is the term “comprising.” Furthermore, the term “or” as used in this disclosure is not intended to mean exclusive OR.
[0284] In this disclosure, if articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include the fact that the noun following these articles is plural.
[0285] In this disclosure, "less than or equal to," "less than," "greater than or equal to," "more than," and "equal to" may be interpreted interchangeably. In addition, in this disclosure, words meaning "good," "bad," "big," "small," "high," "low," "early," "slow," "wide," and "narrow" may be interpreted interchangeably, not limited to the positive, comparative, and superlative degrees. In addition, in this disclosure, words meaning "good," "bad," "big," "small," "high," "low," "early," "slow," "wide," and "narrow" may be interpreted interchangeably, not limited to the positive, comparative, and superlative degrees, by adding "i-th" (where i is any integer) to the expression (for example, "highest" may be interpreted interchangeably with "i-th highest").
[0286] In this disclosure, "of," "for," "regarding," "related to," and "associated with" may be interpreted as being interchangeable.
[0287] In this disclosure, phrases such as "when A, B", "if A, then B", "B upon A", "B in response to A", "B based on A", "B during / while A", "B before A", "B at (the same time as) / on A", "B after A", "B since A", and "B until A" may be interchangeable. Furthermore, A, B, etc., may be replaced with appropriate expressions such as nouns, gerunds, or regular sentences depending on the context. The time difference between A and B may be approximately zero (immediately after or immediately before). Additionally, a time offset may be applied to the time when A occurs. For example, "A" may be interpreted as "before / after the time offset when A occurs". The time offset (e.g., one or more symbols / slots) may be predetermined or determined by the UE based on notified information.
[0288] In this disclosure, timing, time, duration, time instance, any unit of time (e.g., slot, subslot, symbol, subframe), period, occasion, resource, etc., may be interpreted interchangeably.
[0289] Although the invention described herein has been explained in detail above, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the invention described herein is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The descriptions herein are illustrative and not intended to be restrictive in any way to the invention described herein.
[0290] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-195984, filed on November 8, 2024. All of its contents are included here.
Claims
1. A terminal having, when Random Access Channel (RACH)-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM) is applied, a control unit that determines the switching of a serving cell using a target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions, and a transmission unit that transmits the first uplink (UL) signal after the switch to the target cell using the acquired Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state of the target cell.
2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines only candidate cells corresponding to the acquired TCI state as the target cells.
3. The terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving unit that receives a second MAC CE indicating the TCI state of a target cell, separate from a first Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) that activates the TCI state of a candidate cell.
4. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit selects from a plurality of activated TCI states a TCI state to be used for the first UL transmission to the target cell, according to a rule.
5. A wireless communication method for a terminal, comprising the steps of: determining a switch of a serving cell using a target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions when Random Access Channel (RACH)-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM) is applied; and transmitting the first uplink (UL) signal after the switch to the target cell using the acquired Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state of the target cell.
6. A base station having: a control unit that assumes that when Random Access Channel (RACH)-less Conditional L1L2-triggered mobility (CLTM) is applied, a switching of a serving cell using a target cell that satisfies the implementation conditions is determined; and a receiving unit that receives the first uplink (UL) signal after the switch, transmitted using the Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state of the target cell acquired by the terminal, in the target cell.