Random access method and device

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a random access method and device are provided. In an example aspect, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system comprising: receiving second configuration information including information of first-random access resource, information of paging cycles, first information indicating a part of the paging cycles, information of paging frames, third indication information of a part of the paging frames; receiving DCI including information related to activation of the first-random access resource; performing random access based on activated random access resource, wherein monitoring occasions of the DCI is determined based on the part of paging frames in the part of paging cycles.

Description

RANDOM ACCESS METHOD AND DEVICE

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically, to a random access method and device.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in "Sub 6GHz" bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in "Above 6GHz" bands referred to as mmWave including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BWP (BandWidth Part), new channel coding methods such as a LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step RACH for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using OAM (Orbital Angular Momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] In order to meet the increasing demand for wireless data communication services since the deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved 5G or pre-5G communication systems. Therefore, 5G or pre-5G communication systems are also called "Beyond 4G networks" or "Post-LTE systems".

[0009] In order to achieve a higher data rate, 5G communication systems are implemented in higher frequency (millimeter, mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands. In order to reduce propagation loss of radio waves and increase a transmission distance, technologies such as beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beamforming and large-scale antenna are discussed in 5G communication systems.

[0010] In addition, in 5G communication systems, developments of system network improvement are underway based on advanced small cell, cloud radio access network (RAN), ultra-dense network, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation, etc.

[0011] In 5G systems, hybrid FSK and QAM modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as advanced access technologies have been developed.

[0012] Embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for effectively providing a service in a wireless communication system.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:

[0014] receiving second configuration information including information of first-random access resource, information of paging cycles, first information indicating a part of the paging cycles, information of paging frames, third indication information of a part of the paging frames;

[0015] receiving DCI including information related to activation of the first-random access resource;

[0016] performing random access based on activated random access resource,

[0017] wherein monitoring occasions of the DCI is determined based on the part of paging frames in the part of paging cycles.

[0018] In an implementation, the second configuration information further comprises one of:

[0019] information of paging occasions, second information indicating a part of the paging occasions;

[0020] information indicating a UE or a UE group to perform monitoring of the DCI based on paging cycles;

[0021] information indicating a UE or a UE group to perform monitoring of the DCI based on paging frames;

[0022] information indicating a UE or a UE group to perform monitoring of the DCI based on paging occasions.

[0023] In an implementation, the first information includes a first parameter and a second parameter,

[0024] the part of paging cycles are determined based on the first parameter and the second parameter.

[0025] In an implementation, index number T_index of the part of paging cycles satisfies: t_index mod the first parameter = the second parameter.

[0026] In an implementation, the third indication information includes a third parameter and a fourth parameter, or includes information related to offset of paging frames, or includes information related to index of the part of paging frames,

[0027] system frame number (SFN) of the part of paging frames satisfies: [floor (SFN / T)] mod the third parameter = the fourth parameter, wherein, T is a paging frame cycle and is in units of radio frames.

[0028] In an implementation, the part of paging frames are used for UEs belonging to at least two paging groups to receive the DCI, or

[0029] the part of paging occasions are used for UEs belonging to at least two paging subgroups to receive the DCI.

[0030] In an implementation, performing random access based on activated random access resources, comprises:

[0031] selecting activated first-random access resource to perform random access after first time domain location,

[0032] wherein, the first time domain location is no earlier than the time when the DCI is received and has at least a first time offset relative to the time when the DCI is received, and the first time offset is greater than or equal to 0.

[0033] In an implementation, the first time domain location is determined based on at least one of: a paging cycle in which the DCI is received, a third-period related to random access resource, and a configured second-period related to activation period of the first-random access resource.

[0034] Wherein, the first time domain location is starting or end of one of: the last radio frame, the last paging frame, the last paging occasion associated with the last paging frame, of the paging cycle in which the DCI is received, or corresponds to starting or end of the first paging frame of next paging cycle of the paging cycle in which the DCI is received.

[0035] In an implementation, the first time domain location corresponds to starting or end of one or more paging frames in a paging cycle,

[0036] each of the one or more paging frames is used for UEs belonging to at least two paging groups to receive the DCI.

[0037] In an implementation, the first time domain location is determined based on starting of next third-period of a third-period in which the DCI is received,

[0038] wherein, the third-period is at least one of: an association pattern period between SSB and the first-random access resource, an association period between SSB and the first-random access resource, and a mapping cycle between SSB and the first-random access resource, a period of the first-random access resource.

[0039] In an implementation, the second-period is a modification period, and the first time domain location is determined based on end of a modification period in which the DCI is received or starting of a next modification period.

[0040] In an implementation, the DCI includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate at least one of: whether the first-random access resource is activated, whether an activation state of the first-random access resource is changed, or activated first-random access resource.

[0041] In an implementation, the activated first-random access resource is one of: configured first-random access resource, valid first-random access resource, or valid RO resource mapped to an SSB index.

[0042] In an implementation, the first indication information includes at least one of: information related to PRACH configuration of the activated first-random access resource, bitmap information of the activated first-random access resource, information related to the SSB index to which the activated first-random access resource is mapped, information related to a period related to mapping of an SSB to the activated first-random access resource, information related to time unit index corresponding to the activated first-random access resource, and information related to frequency unit index corresponding to the activated first-random access resource.

[0043] In an implementation, the first-random access resource is deactivated after a first time duration from the first time domain location,

[0044] wherein, the first time duration is a predetermined first time duration or a modification period, or is determined based on second indication information included in the first-DCI, and the second indication information indicates a time duration during which the first-random access resource is activated.

[0045] In an implementation, the second indication information includes at least one of: a multiple of a paging cycle corresponding to the first time duration, information indicating starting a timer related to the first time duration, and the first time duration corresponding to the UE or a type of the UE.

[0046] In an implementation, the predetermined first time duration includes at least one of: a predetermined time duration, a predetermined number of first-random access occasions (ROs), a predetermined number of periods related to the first-ROs, a predetermined number of periods related to mapping between SSB and first-ROs, and a predetermined number of times for transmitting preambles on the first-ROs.

[0047] In an implementation, if an interval between the first time domain location and the time when the DCI is received is not greater than a first time interval, an interval between the selected first-random access resource and the time when the DCI is received is not less than the first time interval; otherwise, the selected first-random access resource is the first first-random access resource after the first time domain location.

[0048] In an implementation, the DCI further includes fourth indication information indicating a type of the first-period.

[0049] In an implementation, the DCI is scrambled by at least one of: a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) dedicated to activating the first-random access resource, a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI), a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

[0050] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:

[0051] transmitting a random access message using second-random access resource;

[0052] receiving random access response (RAR) or DCI scheduling the RAR, the RAR or the DCI including information related to activation of first-random access resource;

[0053] selecting activated first-random access resource to perform random access.

[0054] In an implementation, the information related to activation of first-random access resource is a subheader dedicated to activating the first-random access resource.

[0055] In an implementation, the random access message is used to request activation of first-random access resource.

[0056] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a base station in a communication system, comprising:

[0057] transmitting second configuration information including information of first-random access resource, information of paging cycles, first information indicating a part of the paging cycles, information of paging frames, third indication information of a part of the paging frames;

[0058] transmitting DCI including information related to activation of the first-random access resource;

[0059] receiving a random access signal transmitted by a UE,

[0060] wherein, the first information and the third indication information are used to determine monitoring occasions of the DCI.

[0061] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a base station in a communication system, comprising:

[0062] receiving a first random access message, the first random access message being received using second-random access resource;

[0063] transmitting random access response (RAR) or DCI scheduling the RAR, the RAR or the DCI including information related to activation of first-random access resource;

[0064] receiving a second random access message, the second random access message being transmitted based on activated first-random access resource or second-random access resource.

[0065] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, comprising:

[0066] a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive signals;

[0067] a controller configured to control the UE to perform a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0068] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a base station in a communication system, comprising:

[0069] a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive signals;

[0070] a controller configured to control the base station to perform a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0071] Embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for effectively providing a service in a wireless communication system.

[0072] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0073] FIG. 2a illustrates example wireless transmit paths according to the present disclosure;

[0074] FIG. 2b illustrates example wireless receive paths according to the present disclosure;

[0075] FIG. 3a illustrates an example UE according to the present disclosure;

[0076] FIG. 3b illustrates an example gNB according to the present disclosure;

[0077] FIG. 3c illustrates a schematic diagram of a 4-step random access procedure according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0078] FIG. 3d illustrates a schematic diagram of a frequency domain resource group according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0079] FIG. 3e illustrates a schematic diagram of an anchor carrier and a supplementary carrier according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0080] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0081] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a first-period related to monitoring location of first-downlink control information (DCI) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0082] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of the effective time of the first-DCI at the cell level (shown as the first time location in FIG. 6) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0083] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of the effective time of the first-DCI at the cell level (shown as the second time location in FIG. 7) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0084] FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of the effective time of the first-downlink control information at the cell level (shown as the third time location in FIG. 8) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0085] FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic diagram of first-radio frames related to monitoring location of the first-DCI (at the first-radio frame level) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0086] FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic diagram of starting (the fourth time location in FIG. 10) of the activated first-RO determined according to a third-period related to random access according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0087] FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0088] FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0089] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0090] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0091] It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0092] The term "include" or "may include" refers to the existence of a corresponding disclosed function, operation or component which can be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure and does not limit one or more additional functions, operations, or components. The terms such as "include" and / or "have" may be construed to denote a certain characteristic, number, step, operation, constituent element, component or a combination thereof, but may not be construed to exclude the existence of or a possibility of addition of one or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components or combinations thereof.

[0093] The term "or" used in various embodiments of the present disclosure includes any or all of combinations of listed words. For example, the expression "A or B" may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B.

[0094] Unless defined differently, all terms used herein, which include technical terminologies or scientific terminologies, have the same meaning as that understood by a person skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. Such terms as those defined in a generally used dictionary are to be interpreted to have the meanings equal to the contextual meanings in the relevant field of art, and are not to be interpreted to have ideal or excessively formal meanings unless clearly defined in the present disclosure.

[0095] The various embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems, such as: a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a broadband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, a general packet radio service (GPRS), a long term evolution (LTE) system, a LTE Frequency division duplex (FDD) system, a LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, an universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR) system, etc. In addition, the various embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to future oriented communication technologies.

[0096] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0097] The wireless network 100 includes a gNodeB (gNB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 also communicates with at least one Internet Protocol (IP) network 130, such as the Internet, a private IP network, or other data networks.

[0098] Depending on a type of the network, other well-known terms such as "base station" or "access point" can be used instead of "gNodeB" or "gNB". For convenience, the terms "gNodeB" and "gNB" are used in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access for remote terminals. And, depending on the type of the network, other well-known terms such as "mobile station", "user station", "remote terminal", "wireless terminal" or "user apparatus" can be used instead of "user equipment" or "UE". For convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this patent document to refer to remote wireless devices that wirelessly access the gNB, no matter whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile phone or a smart phone) or a fixed device (such as a desktop computer or a vending machine).

[0099] gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of User Equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 of gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs include a UE 111, which may be located in a Small Business (SB); a UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi Hotspot (HS); a UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R); a UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R); a UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cellular phone, a wireless laptop computer, a wireless PDA, etc. GNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 of gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs include a UE 115 and a UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101-103 can communicate with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A, WiMAX or other advanced wireless communication technologies.

[0100] The dashed lines show approximate ranges of the coverage areas 120 and 125, and the ranges are shown as approximate circles merely for illustration and explanation purposes. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with the gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on configurations of the gNBs and changes in the radio environment associated with natural obstacles and man-made obstacles.

[0101] As will be described in more detail below, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 include a 2D antenna array as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays.

[0102] Although FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the wireless network 100, various changes can be made to FIG. 1. The wireless network 100 can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement, for example. Furthermore, gNB 101 can directly communicate with any number of UEs and provide wireless broadband access to the network 130 for those UEs. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 can directly communicate with the network 130 and provide direct wireless broadband access to the network 130 for the UEs. In addition, gNB 101, 102 and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0103] FIGs. 2a and 2b illustrate example wireless transmission and reception paths according to the present disclosure. In the following description, the transmission path 200 can be described as being implemented in a gNB, such as gNB 102, and the reception path 250 can be described as being implemented in a UE, such as UE 116. However, it should be understood that the reception path 250 can be implemented in a gNB and the transmission path 200 can be implemented in a UE. In some embodiments, the reception path 250 is configured to support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0104] The transmission path 200 includes a channel coding and modulation block 205, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210, a size N Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block 215, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 220, a cyclic prefix addition block 225, and an up-converter (UC) 230. The reception path 250 includes a down-converter (DC) 255, a cyclic prefix removal block 260, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 265, a size N Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 270, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 275, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 280.

[0105] In the transmission path 200, the channel coding and modulation block 205 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (such as Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (such as using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)) to generate a sequence of frequency-domain modulated symbols. The Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210 converts (such as demultiplexes) serial modulated symbols into parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is a size of the IFFT / FFT used in gNB 102 and UE 116. The size N IFFT block 215 performs IFFT operations on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time-domain output signal. The Parallel-to-Serial block 220 converts (such as multiplexes) parallel time-domain output symbols from the Size N IFFT block 215 to generate a serial time-domain signal. The cyclic prefix addition block 225 inserts a cyclic prefix into the time-domain signal. The up-converter 230 modulates (such as up-converts) the output of the cyclic prefix addition block 225 to an RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal can also be filtered at a baseband before switching to the RF frequency.

[0106] The RF signal transmitted from gNB 102 arrives at UE 116 after passing through the wireless channel, and operations in reverse to those at gNB 102 are performed at UE 116. The down-converter 255 down-converts the received signal to a baseband frequency, and the cyclic prefix removal block 260 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time-domain baseband signal. The Serial-to-Parallel block 265 converts the time-domain baseband signal into a parallel time-domain signal. The Size N FFT block 270 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency-domain signals. The Parallel-to-Serial block 275 converts the parallel frequency-domain signal into a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 280 demodulates and decodes the modulated symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0107] Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmission path 200 similar to that for transmitting to UEs 111-116 in the downlink, and may implement a reception path 250 similar to that for receiving from UEs 111-116 in the uplink. Similarly, each of UEs 111-116 may implement a transmission path 200 for transmitting to gNBs 101-103 in the uplink, and may implement a reception path 250 for receiving from gNBs 101-103 in the downlink.

[0108] Each of the components in FIGs. 2a and 2b can be implemented using only hardware, or using a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a specific example, at least some of the components in FIGs. 2a and 2b may be implemented in software, while other components may be implemented in configurable hardware or a combination of software and configurable hardware. For example, the FFT block 270 and IFFT block 215 may be implemented as configurable software algorithms, in which the value of the size N may be modified according to the implementation.

[0109] Furthermore, although described as using FFT and IFFT, this is only illustrative and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Other types of transforms can be used, such as Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) functions. It should be understood that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer which is a power of 2 (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).

[0110] Although FIGs. 2a and 2b illustrate examples of wireless transmission and reception paths, various changes may be made to FIGs. 2a and 2b. For example, various components in FIGs. 2a and 2b can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. Furthermore, FIGs. 2a and 2b are intended to illustrate examples of types of transmission and reception paths that can be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture can be used to support wireless communication in a wireless network.

[0111] FIG. 3a illustrates an example UE 116 according to the present disclosure. The embodiment of UE 116 shown in FIG. 3a is for illustration only, and UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a UE has various configurations, and FIG. 3a does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific implementation of the UE.

[0112] UE 116 includes an antenna 301, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 302, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 303, a microphone 304, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 305. UE 116 also includes a speaker 306, a controller / processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface 308, an input device(s) 309, a display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 includes an operating system (OS) 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0113] The RF transceiver 302 receives an incoming RF signal transmitted by a gNB of the wireless network 100 from the antenna 301. The RF transceiver 302 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 305, where the RX processing circuit 305 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuit 305 transmits the processed baseband signal to speaker 306 (such as for voice data) or to controller / processor 307 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0114] The TX processing circuit 303 receives analog or digital voice data from microphone 304 or other outgoing baseband data (such as network data, email or interactive video game data) from controller / processor 307. The TX processing circuit 303 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 receives the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuit 303 and up-converts the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0115] The controller / processor 307 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute an OS 312 stored in the memory 311 in order to control the overall operation of UE 116. For example, the controller / processor 307 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceiver 302, the RX processing circuit 305 and the TX processing circuit 303 according to well-known principles. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 307 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0116] The controller / processor 307 is also capable of executing other processes and processes residing in the memory 311, such as operations for channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. The controller / processor 307 can move data into or out of the memory 311 as required by an execution process. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 307 is configured to execute the application 313 based on the OS 312 or in response to signals received from the gNB or the operator. The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to an I / O interface 308, where the I / O interface 308 provides UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices such as laptop computers and handheld computers. I / O interface 308 is a communication path between these accessories and the controller / processor 307.

[0117] The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to the input device(s) 309 and the display 310. An operator of UE 116 can input data into UE 116 using the input device(s) 309. The display 310 may be a liquid crystal display or other display capable of presenting text and / or at least limited graphics (such as from a website). The memory 311 is coupled to the controller / processor 307. A part of the memory 311 can include a random access memory (RAM), while another part of the memory 311 can include a flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0118] Although FIG. 3a illustrates an example of UE 116, various changes can be made to FIG. 3a. For example, various components in FIG. 3a can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. As a specific example, the controller / processor 307 can be divided into a plurality of processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Furthermore, although FIG. 3a illustrates that the UE 116 is configured as a mobile phone or a smart phone, UEs can be configured to operate as other types of mobile or fixed devices.

[0119] FIG. 3b illustrates an example gNB 102 according to the present disclosure. The embodiment of gNB 102 shown in FIG. 3b is for illustration only, and other gNBs of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a gNB has various configurations, and FIG. 3b does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific implementation of a gNB. It should be noted that gNB 101 and gNB 103 can include the same or similar structures as gNB 102.

[0120] As shown in FIG. 3b, gNB 102 includes a plurality of antennas 370a-370n, a plurality of RF transceivers 372a-372n, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 374, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 376. In certain embodiments, one or more of the plurality of antennas 370a-370n include a 2D antenna array. gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 378, a memory 380, and a backhaul or network interface 382.

[0121] RF transceivers 372a-372n receive an incoming RF signal from antennas 370a-370n, such as a signal transmitted by UEs or other gNBs. RF transceivers 372a-372n down-convert the incoming RF signal to generate an IF or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 376, where the RX processing circuit 376 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. RX processing circuit 376 transmits the processed baseband signal to controller / processor 378 for further processing.

[0122] The TX processing circuit 374 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, network data, email or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 378. TX processing circuit 374 encodes, multiplexes and / or digitizes outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. RF transceivers 372a-372n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from TX processing circuit 374 and up-convert the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via antennas 370a-370n.

[0123] The controller / processor 378 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 378 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceivers 372a-372n, the RX processing circuit 376 and the TX processing circuit 374 according to well-known principles. The controller / processor 378 can also support additional functions, such as higher-level wireless communication functions. For example, the controller / processor 378 can perform a Blind Interference Sensing (BIS) process such as that performed through a BIS algorithm, and decode a received signal from which an interference signal is subtracted. A controller / processor 378 may support any of a variety of other functions in gNB 102. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 378 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0124] The controller / processor 378 is also capable of executing processes and other processes residing in the memory 380, such as a basic OS. The controller / processor 378 can also support channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 378 supports communication between entities such as web RTCs. The controller / processor 378 can move data into or out of the memory 380 as required by an execution process.

[0125] The controller / processor 378 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 382. The backhaul or network interface 382 allows gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems through a backhaul connection or through a network. The backhaul or network interface 382 can support communication over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when gNB 102 is implemented as a part of a cellular communication system, such as a cellular communication system supporting 5G or new radio access technology or NR, LTE or LTE-A, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs through wired or wireless backhaul connections. When gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with a larger network, such as the Internet, through a wired or wireless local area network or through a wired or wireless connection. The backhaul or network interface 382 includes any suitable structure that supports communication through a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or an RF transceiver.

[0126] The memory 380 is coupled to the controller / processor 378. A part of the memory 380 can include an RAM, while another part of the memory 380 can include a flash memory or other ROMs. In certain embodiments, a plurality of instructions, such as the BIS algorithm, are stored in the memory. The plurality of instructions are configured to cause the controller / processor 378 to execute the BIS process and decode the received signal after subtracting at least one interference signal determined by the BIS algorithm.

[0127] As will be described in more detail below, the transmission and reception paths of gNB 102 (implemented using RF transceivers 372a-372n, TX processing circuit 374 and / or RX processing circuit 376) support aggregated communication with FDD cells and TDD cells.

[0128] Although FIG. 3b illustrates an example of gNB 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 3b. For example, gNB 102 can include any number of each component shown in FIG. 3a. As a specific example, the access point can include many backhaul or network interfaces 382, and the controller / processor 378 can support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another specific example, although shown as including a single instance of the TX processing circuit 374 and a single instance of the RX processing circuit 376, gNB 102 can include multiple instances of each (such as one for each RF transceiver).

[0129] The time domain unit (also called time unit) in this application may be: an OFDM symbol, an OFDM symbol group (consisting of multiple OFDM symbols), a slot, a slot group (consisting of multiple slots), a subframe, a subframe group (consisting of multiple subframes), a system frame, a system frame group (consisting of multiple system frames); may also be in absolute time units, such as 1 millisecond, 1 second, etc.; the time unit may also be a combination of multiple granularities, such as N1 slots plus N2 OFDM symbols.

[0130] The frequency domain unit (also called frequency unit) in this application may be: a subcarrier, a subcarrier group (consisting of multiple subcarriers), a resource block (RB), which may also be called a physical resource block (PRB), a resource block group (consisting of multiple RBs), a bandwidth part (BWP), a bandwidth part group (consisting of multiple BWPs), a band / carrier, a band group / carrier group; may also be in absolute frequency domain units, such as 1 Hz, 1 kHz, etc.; the frequency domain unit may also be a combination of multiple granularities, such as M1 PRBs plus M2 subcarriers.

[0131] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0132] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to aid the reader in understanding the present disclosure. They are not intended, nor should they be construed, to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, based upon this disclosure, that changes may be made to the embodiments and examples shown without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0133] Those skilled in the art will understand that, as used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," "the," and "the" may include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should be further understood that the term "including" / "comprising" used in the specification of this application refers to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof. It will be understood that when we refer to an element as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it may be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. Further, "connected" or "coupled" as used herein may include wirelessly connected or wirelessly coupled. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes all or any units and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0134] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the prior art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless specifically defined herein.

[0135] Those skilled in the art may understand that the "terminal" and "terminal device" used herein include both devices for wireless signal receivers, which only have devices for wireless signal receivers without transmitting capabilities, and devices for receiving and transmitting hardware, which have devices for receiving and transmitting hardware capable of bidirectional communication on a bidirectional communication link. Such devices may include: cellular or other communications devices with single line displays or multi-line displays or cellular or other communications devices without multi-line displays; a PCS (Personal Communications Service), which may combine capabilities of voice, data processing, facsimile and / or data communications; a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that may include a radio frequency receiver, pager, Internet / intranet access, web browser, notepad, calendar and / or a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver; a conventional laptop and / or palmtop computer or other device having and / or including a radio frequency receiver. As used herein, a "terminal", "terminal device" may be portable, transportable, installed in a vehicle (aeronautical, maritime, and / or land), or adapted and / or configured to operate locally, and / or operate in a distributed fashion, at any other location on earth and / or space. The "terminal" and "terminal device" used herein may also be a communication terminal, an Internet terminal, a music / video playback terminal, such as a PDA, an MID (Mobile Internet Device) and / or a mobile phone with music / video playback function, or a smart TV, a set-top box and other devices.

[0136] The term "send" in the present invention may be used interchangeably with "transmit", "report", "notify", etc. without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0137] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to aid the reader in understanding the present disclosure. They are not intended, nor should they be construed, to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, based upon this disclosure, that changes may be made to the embodiments and examples shown without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0138] The transmission link of the wireless communication system mainly includes: a downlink communication link from 5G gNB to User Equipment (UE), and an uplink communication link from UE to the network.

[0139] Nodes used for positioning measurement in wireless communication systems, such as current wireless communication systems, include: UEs that initiate positioning request messages, Location Management Function (LMF) used for UE positioning and delivery of positioning assistance data, gNBs or Transmission-Reception Points (TRPs) that broadcast positioning assistance data and perform uplink positioning measurement, and UEs used for downlink positioning measurement. In addition, the method of the present invention may also be extended to application in other communication systems, such as automotive communication (V2X), for example, sidelink communication, in which case the transmission and reception point or UE may be any device in V2X.

[0140] Transmission in the wireless communication system includes: transmission from the base station (gNB) to the User Equipment (UE) (called downlink transmission), the corresponding slot is called a downlink slot, and transmission from the UE to the base station (called uplink transmission), the corresponding slot is called an uplink slot.

[0141] In wireless communication systems, such as LTE or NR systems, a 2-step or 4-step random access procedure is used to establish the link between the device and the base station. The base station periodically transmits the synchronization signal and broadcast channel to the user through the synchronization signal block (SSB, synchronization signal / PBCH block, or called the first downlink reference signal), and the periodicity is the synchronization signal block periodicity (SSB periodicity), or is also called the synchronization signal block burst periodicity (SSB burst periodicity). Meanwhile, the base station will configure a random access configuration period (physical random access channel configuration period, PRACH configuration period), and configure a certain number of random access transmission occasions (also called random access occasions, PRACH transmission occasions, ROs) within this period.

[0142] In New Radio (NR) communication systems, before radio resource control is established, such as during the random access procedure, the performance of random access directly affects the user experience. In traditional wireless communication systems, such as LTE and LTE-Advanced, or in 5G or NR systems, the random access procedure is applied to multiple scenarios such as establishing initial links, cell handover, re-establishing uplink links, RRC connection reestablishment, etc., and is classified as contention-based random access and contention-free random access according to whether the user exclusively occupies preamble resource. Since in contention-based random access, each user selects a preamble sequence from the same preamble sequence resource when trying to establish an uplink link, multiple users may select the same preamble sequence and transmit it to the base station. Therefore, the collision resolution mechanism is an important research direction in random access. How to reduce the probability of conflict and how to quickly resolve conflict that has occurred are key metrics that affect the performance of random access.

[0143] FIG. 3c illustrates a schematic diagram of a 4-step random access procedure according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the contention-based random access procedure is divided into four steps, as shown in FIG. 3c. In the first step, the UE randomly selects a preamble sequence (also interchangeably referred to as "preamble" herein) from the preamble sequence resource pool and transmits it to the base station. The base station performs correlation detection on the received signal to identify the preamble sequence transmitted by the UE. In the second step, the base station transmits a random access response (RAR) to the UE. The RAR may include a random access preamble sequence identifier, a timing advance indication determined based on the time delay estimation between the UE and the base station, a temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and / or time-frequency resource allocated for the next uplink transmission of the UE (time-frequency resource may refer to time domain resource and / or frequency domain resource). The UE is to search for the PDCCH carrying the response based on the RA-RNTI associated with the PRACH occasion where the random access preamble sequence is transmitted. The RA-RNTI associated with the PRACH occasion (e.g., RO) where the random access preamble sequence is transmitted may be based on the index of the first OFDM symbol of the PRACH occasion, the index of the first slot of the PRACH occasion in the system frame, the index of the PRACH occasion in the frequency domain, the UL carrier used for random access preamble transmission. For example, RA-RNTI may be calculated according to the following formula:

[0144] RA-RNTI = 1 + s_id + 14Хt_id + 14Х80Хf_id + 14Х80Х8Хul_carrier_id,

[0145] where s_id is the index of the first OFDM symbol of the PRACH occasion (0 s_id < 14), t_id is the index of the first slot of the PRACH occasion in the system frame (0 t_id < 80), wherein, the subcarrier spacing used to determine t_id is based on the value of for = {0, 1, 2, 3}, and for = {5, 6}, t_id is the index of the 120 kHz slot containing the PRACH occasion in the system frame (0 t_id < 80), f_id is the index of the PRACH occasion in the frequency domain (0 f_id < 8), ul_carrier_id is the UL carrier used for random access preamble transmission (0 for NUL carrier, 1 for SUL carrier).

[0146] In the third step, the user transmits a third message (message 3, Msg3) to the base station based on the information in the RAR. Msg3 contains information such as user terminal identifier and RRC link request, where the user terminal identifier is unique to the user and is used to resolve conflict; in the fourth step, the base station transmits a conflict resolution identification to the user, including the identifier of the user terminal that wins in the conflict resolution. After detecting its own identifier, the user upgrades the temporary C-RNTI to C-RNTI, transmits an ACK signal to the base station, completes the random access procedure, and waits for the scheduling from the base station. Otherwise, the user will start a new random access procedure after a delay.

[0147] For the contention-free random access procedure, since the base station knows the user identifier, a preamble sequence may be allocated to the user. Therefore, when transmitting the preamble sequence, the user does not need to randomly select a sequence, but uses the allocated preamble sequence. After detecting the allocated preamble sequence, the base station will transmit a corresponding random access response, including information such as timing advance and uplink resource allocation, etc. After receiving the random access response, the user considers that the uplink synchronization has been completed and waits for further scheduling from the base station. Therefore, the contention-free random access procedure only includes two steps: step one is to transmit the preamble sequence; Step two is to transmit a random access response.

[0148] For example, the random access procedure applies to the following scenarios:

[0149] 1. Initial access in RRC_IDLE;

[0150] 2. Re-establish RRC connection;

[0151] 3. Cell handover;

[0152] 4. Downlink data arrives in the RRC connected state and a random access procedure is requested (when the uplink is asynchronous);

[0153] 5. Uplink data arrives in the RRC connected state and a random access procedure is requested (when the uplink is asynchronous or no resource is allocated to the scheduling request in the PUCCH resource);

[0154] 6. Positioning.

[0155] Among the configured ROs, valid ROs may be determined therefrom based on a method for determining validity of a RO, satisfying that all SSBs can be mapped onto corresponding valid ROs within an association period (a certain time span or time duration). In a mapping cycle from SSB to RO, all SSBs in an SSB periodicity may be mapped to required random access resource exactly. There may be one or more mapping cycles in an association period. An SSB-to-RO association pattern period includes one or more association periods, and the SSB-to-RO association patterns per or in each or every association pattern period are the same.

[0156] The base station may configure a random access configuration period (for example, PRACH configuration period), and a certain number of ROs are configured within this period. By using a certain validity determination method or validity rule, valid ROs are determined from the configured ROs so that all SSBs may be mapped to corresponding valid ROs within an association period (a certain time duration), and in a mapping cycle from SSB to RO, all SSBs in an SSB periodicity may be mapped to required random access resource exactly. There may be one or more mapping cycles in an association period. An SSB-to-RO association pattern period includes one or more association periods, and the SSB-to-RO association patterns per or in each or every association pattern period are the same.

[0157] In the embodiment of the present invention, the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may be used to schedule DL transmission on PDCCH and UL transmission on PUSCH, wherein the downlink control information (DCI) on the PDCCH includes:

[0158] -Downlink assignment, which at least includes modulation and coding scheme, resource allocation and hybrid ARQ information related to DL-SCH;

[0159] -Uplink scheduling grant, which at least includes modulation and coding scheme, resource allocation and hybrid ARQ information related to UL-SCH.

[0160] In addition to scheduling, PDCCH may also be used for:

[0161] -activating and deactivating configured PUSCH transmission using configured grant;

[0162] -activation and deactivation of PDSCH semi-persistent transmission;

[0163] - notifying one or more UEs of the slot format;

[0164] -notifying one or more UEs of PRBs and OFDM symbols, wherein the UE may assume that no transmission is intended for the UE;

[0165] -transmitting TPC commands of PUCCH and PUSCH;

[0166] - transmitting, by one or more UE, one or more TPC commands for SRS transmission;

[0167] -switching the active bandwidth part of the UE;

[0168] -starting random access procedure;

[0169] -instructing the UE to monitor PDCCH during the next DRX on-duration ;

[0170] -in the IAB context, representing the availability of soft symbols of the IAB-DU;

[0171] -triggering a single HARQ-ACK codebook feedback;

[0172] -for the operation for shared spectrum channel access, including at least one of:

[0173] -triggering a search space set group switch;

[0174] -indicating available RB sets and channel occupancy duration to one or more UEs;

[0175] -indicating the configured grant PUSCH downlink feedback information (CG-DFI).

[0176]

[0177] In describing a wireless communication system and in the present disclosure described below, higher layer signaling or higher layer signal may be a signal transfer method for transferring information from a base station to a terminal through a downlink data channel in the physical layer or from a terminal to a base station through an uplink data channel in the physical layer, and examples of the signal transfer method may include a signal transfer method for transferring information through radio resource control (RRC) signaling, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) signaling or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0178] In the following description of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may be signaling corresponding to at least one or a combination of one or more of the following signaling.

[0179] -MIB (main information block)

[0180] -SIB (system information block) or SIB X (X = 1,2, ...)

[0181] -RRC signaling

[0182] - MAC CE

[0183] The physical layer (Layer 1(L1)) signaling may be a signaling corresponding to at least one or a combination of one or more of the following signaling.

[0184] -PDCCH (physical downlink control channel)

[0185] -DCI (downlink control information)

[0186] -UE specific DCI

[0187] -group common DCI

[0188] - common DCI

[0189] -scheduling DCI (for example, DCI for scheduling downlink or uplink data)

[0190] -non- scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI other than DCI for scheduling downlink or uplink data)

[0191] -PUCCH (physical uplink control channel)

[0192] -UCI (uplink control information)

[0193] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the uplink control signaling may include physical layer signaling and / or higher layer signaling. As mentioned above, the physical layer signaling may include UCI and / or PUCCH, and the higher layer signaling may include RRC signaling and / or MAC CE.

[0194] In embodiments of the present disclosure, downlink control signaling may include physical layer signaling and / or higher layer signaling. As mentioned above, the physical layer signaling may include one or more of PDCCH, DCI, UE-specific DCI, group common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (for example, DCI for scheduling downlink or uplink data), and non-scheduling DCI, and the higher layer signaling may include one or more of MIB, SIB or SIB X (X = 1,2, ...), RRC signaling or MAC CE. Therefore, "configuring or indicating X through downlink control signaling" will be understood as configuring or indicating X through physical layer signaling, or configuring or indicating X through higher layer signaling, or configuring or indicating X through a combination of higher layer signaling and physical layer signaling.

[0195] Random access is an important research direction in communication systems. How to improve random access performance of a user is an urgent issue to be solved. According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the random access performance of the UE may be enhanced, or the random access performance of the UE may be enhanced while saving the power consumption at the network side or the UE.

[0196] It should be noted that the problems that may be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the problems mentioned in the above and following descriptions, but may also solve all problems that may actually be solved according to the technical essence of the present disclosure.

[0197] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure and the technical effects produced by the technical solutions of the present disclosure will be described below through the description of several exemplary implementations. It should be pointed out that the following embodiments may be referred to, referenced or combined with each other, and the same terms, similar features, similar implementation steps, etc. in different implementations will not be described repeatedly.

[0198] Furthermore, in some cases, random access resource, such as dedicated random access resource or so-called extra / additional random access resource, may be configured for other features, such as network energy saving (NES). A method of performing random access in case that random access resource is configured for other features (e.g., NES) needs to be considered. According to example embodiments of the present disclosure, methods for random access in a system where random access resource is configured for other features (e.g., NES), such as at least some of aspects for random access configuration, random access resource determination, SSB to RO (SSB-RO) mapping, activation of random access resource, monitoring of activation indication of random access resource, etc., are proposed

[0199] It should be noted that the problems that may be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the problems mentioned in the above and following descriptions, but may also solve all problems that may actually be solved according to the essence of the technology of the present disclosure, nor do all or each of described problems need to be solved. The scope of the present disclosure is presented by the technical essence disclosed therein.

[0200] For convenience of description, random access associated with a specific feature (e.g., NES) (e.g., random access resource configured for the specific feature may be used for random access and the specific feature) may be referred to as "first type random access" (or, "first-random access" for short), resource configured for the first-random access is referred to as "first-random access resource" (e.g., may include first type random access occasions (ROs) or first-ROs), and so on. Legacy random access may be referred to as "normal random access" or "second-random access", and resource corresponding to the second-random access may be referred to as "normal random access resource" (e.g., including normal ROs) or "second-random access resource" (e.g., may include second type ROs or second-ROs).

[0201] It should be noted that in this disclosure, PRACH is used as the uplink channel related to random access for description, but this is only exemplary, and PRACH may also be replaced by other uplink channels, such as physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), physical uplink Control channel (PUCCH), etc.

[0202] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the configuration information includes at least one of information configured by the base station, information indicated in received signaling, information configured by higher-layer, preconfigured information, or predetermined information. Further, the configuration information may also be a set of configuration information; it may also be multiple sets of configuration information, and the UE or node may select one set of configuration information to use based on predetermined conditions; it may also be a set of configuration information, and the set of configuration information includes multiple subsets, and the UE or node may select a subset to use according to predetermined conditions.

[0203] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a method 400 performed by a UE in a communication system provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes: steps S410, S420, S430, etc. It should be noted that at least one of the above operations may be omitted, or additional operations, for example, one or more operations in the methods described in various embodiments of the present disclosure, may be included.

[0204] As shown in FIG. 4, method 400 may include:

[0205] Step 410: the UE obtains configuration information related to monitoring first-DCI. Information related to activation of the first-random access resource may be included in the first-DCI.

[0206] Step 420: the UE receives the first-DCI. For example, according to the configuration information, the UE accordingly monitors the first-DCI to receive the first-DCI, thereby obtaining information related to the activation of the first-random access resource in the first-DCI.

[0207] Step 430: the UE selects the activated first-random access resource to perform random access. For example, the UE may select random access resource from the activated first-random access resource, or may select random access resource from normal random access resource. After the first-random access resource is activated, there are more available random access resource for selection by the UE, thereby enhancing random access performance.

[0208] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the meaning of the UE monitoring the first-DCI is equivalent to the UE monitoring the monitoring occasions (such as the first-occasions mentioned in the present disclosure) of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to receive or detect the first-DCI.

[0209] In addition, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the meaning of receiving or detecting the first-DCI at the UE is equivalent to the UE receiving or detecting the first-DCI format. In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the meaning that the UE uses the random access resource (e.g., the first-RO or the second-RO) to make / initiate / perform random access is equivalent to the UE initiating random access according to the random access resource, that is, the UE selects random access resource, and transmit the PRACH preamble on the random access resource.

[0210] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the occasions for the UE to monitor the first-DCI may be configured to be in some specific periods instead of in all periods, or the occasions for the UE to monitor the first-DCI may be configured to be in some specific monitoring radio frames (for example, specific paging frames) instead of in all monitoring radio frames, which may better achieve energy saving at the UE and / or network side.

[0211] In some embodiments, the occasions for the UE to monitor the first-DCI may be determined based on the configuration information, the configuration information is received from the base station, or the configuration information may be predetermined.

[0212] In some embodiments, the configuration information includes information on granularity related to occasions for monitoring DCI. For example, the configuration information includes one of: information indicating a UE or a UE group to perform monitoring of the DCI based on paging cycles; information indicating a UE or a UE group to perform monitoring of the DCI based on paging frames; information indicating a UE or a UE group to perform monitoring of the DCI based on paging occasions. For example, the UE may determine the granularity of occasions where it needs to monitor DCI based on the UE type information (such as IOT UE or UE supporting ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) services, etc.) and the above-mentioned information on granularity related to occasions for monitoring DCI. For example, a UE that supports URLLC services may determine that it monitors the DCI based on the paging occasions based on the above-mentioned information on granularity related to occasions for monitoring DCI, a UE that does not support URLLC services may determine that it monitors the DCI based on the paging frames or paging cycles based on the above-mentioned information on granularity related to occasions for monitoring DCI. The configuration information may enable the UE to select an appropriate time granularity for monitoring the DCI according to its own type (such as granularity at paging cycle level, granularity at paging frame level or granularity at paging occasion level), saving system signaling overhead and conducive to system energy saving.

[0213] In some embodiments, the occasion for the UE to monitor the first-DCI may be configured to be in specific monitoring radio frames or monitoring occasions (for example, specific paging frames or specific paging occasions), whereby all UEs in the cell monitor the first-DCI in the configured monitoring radio frames or monitoring occasions. In this way, all UEs in the cell or UEs belonging to different paging groups or paging subgroups may monitor DCI at the same location, which may simplify implementation and save signaling overhead. In addition, potentially, since all UEs in the cell may receive the first-DCI at the specific location, the network side may perform processing for procedure related to random access for potentially all UEs in the cell after the monitoring location, which may improve network-side efficiency or better achieve network-side energy saving.

[0214] In some embodiments, after receiving the first-DCI, the UE may select the first-random access resource to perform random access at a time location with a certain time offset from the time when the first-DCI is received. In other words, not for all UEs, the first-random access resource is activated after the information related to activation included in the first-DCI is received, but for some UEs, after a certain time offset from receiving the first-DCI, the first-random access resource is activated and is available to be selected by the UE for random access.

[0215] For example, for UE1 that is the first one receiving the first-DCI in the period related to monitoring of the first-DCI (for example, called the first-period), the first-random access resource is not activated or in an available state until after time offset 1; for UE2 that is the last one receiving the first-DCI in the first-period, the first-random access resource may be activated after the UE2 receives or obtains the information related to activation in the first-DCI, or may not be activated or in an available state until after a time offset 2. Time offset 1 may be set to be greater than time offset 2. Additionally, time offset 2 may be set to be equal to 0 or greater than 0. In this way, the first-random access resource may be activated or in an available state after all UEs or all UEs in the cell may receive or obtain the information related to activation in the first-DCI (for example, it may be called after the first-DCI or information related to activation takes effect, or after the validity duration for the first-DCI or information related to activation starts). Therefore, the network side may expect the UE to perform random access through the first-random access resource until the validity duration starts or after the time when the first-random access resource is activated, thereby better achieving network side energy saving.

[0216] In some embodiments, the starting of the validity duration of the first-DCI or information related to activation may be determined based on a period for monitoring the first-DCI, or based on a period related to the first-random access resource, or based on other periods configured by the system.

[0217] For example, the starting of the validity duration may be set to the end of the first-period in which the first-DCI is monitored (for example, a paging-related cycle, a DRX-related cycle, a period dedicated to monitoring the first-DCI, etc.), the end of the last monitoring radio frame in the first-period for monitoring the first-DCI, the end of the last occasion associated with the last monitoring radio frame, the start of the next first-period, and so on. Note that the above-mentioned "end" may also be replaced by "starting", that is, the starting of the validity duration may be determined based on the starting of the first-period, the last monitoring radio frame, the last occasion.

[0218] For example, the starting of the validity duration may be set to the starting of a period related to the first-random access resource. For example, if the location where the first-DCI is received corresponds to a third-period of the first-random access resource, the starting of the validity duration is set to the starting, or the first-RO, or the first valid RO, etc., of next third-period of the third-period. For example, the third-period may be one of a PRACH configuration period, a first-RO to SSB association period, a first-RO to SSB mapping cycle, and a first-RO to SSB association pattern period. In this way, it may be simpler for the UE to select random access resource (e.g., ROs).

[0219] In some embodiments, the starting of the validity duration may be determined based on a configured second-period. For example, the starting of the validity duration may be set to the starting of the next second-period.

[0220] In some embodiments, the occasions for the UE to monitor the first-DCI may be configured to be in some specific periods instead of in all periods, or the occasions for the UE to monitor the first-DCI may be configured to be in some specific monitoring radio frames (e.g., specific paging frames) rather than in all monitoring radio frames. After receiving the first-DCI, the UE may select the first-random access resource to perform random access at a time location with a certain time offset from the time when the first-DCI is received. In other words, not for all UEs, the first-random access resource is activated after receiving the information related to activation included in the first-DCI, but for some UEs, the first-random access resource is activated, available for selection by the UE for random access after a certain time offset from receiving the first-DCI. The configuration of occasions for the UE to monitor the first-DCI and the configuration or determination of the start time when the first-random access resource is activated may be based on the above description, or based on the descriptions in other example implementations throughout the text.

[0221] In some embodiments, the information related to activation of the first-random access resource may be received through the RAR during the random access procedure. For example, the UE performs random access through normal random access resource, and the network side may determine whether to activate the first-random access resource based on the current load situation, and transmit it to the UE through RAR.

[0222] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, for convenience of description, random access associated with a specific feature (such as NES) (e.g., random access resource may be used for random access and the specific feature) may be referred to as "first type random access" or "first-random access" for short, resource configured for the first-random access is referred to as "first-random access resource" or "first type RO" or "first-RO" for short, or "first-PRACH occasion", and so on. Legacy random access may be referred to as "normal random access" or "second-random access", and resource corresponding to the second-random access may be referred to as "normal random access resource" or "normal RO" or "second-random access resource", etc.

[0223] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the described random access resource may be ROs or other random access resource.

[0224] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, on the basis of not changing the second-random access resource, random access resource, such as the first-random access resource, may be configured additionally for other features (for example, network energy saving (NES) features), and random access is performed in case that random access resource is configured for other features (such as NES) to improve the performance of random access.

[0225] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a UE is provided to receive downlink control information (DCI) transmitted by a base station to determine available or activated PRACH resource among preconfigured PRACH resource, wherein the preconfigured PRACH resource may also be the first-RO resource, and its physical meaning is the same as the first-RO described in this disclosure.

[0226] In order to efficiently utilize PRACH resources, the PRACH resources preconfigured by the base station (e.g., network side) need to be activated through signaling or notified through signaling that the preconfigured PRACH resources are available before they may be used, which includes but is not limited to cell-common PRACH resources configured through system information, and / or dedicated PRACH resources configured through UE-specific signaling, etc. That is, the configuration of PRACH resources is not equal to PRACH resources being valid, and PRACH resources need to be further activated or indicated that the preconfigured PRACH resources are available before they take effect. If the configured PRACH resources are not activated or it's notified that the preconfigured PRACH resources are available, then the above mentioned preconfigured PRACH resources are not available to the UE.

[0227] In this way, it may ensure that the number of activated PRACH resources matches the real-time load of the network, thereby avoiding waste of PRACH resources and achieving network energy saving, and it may also avoid the case of congestion in network access and achieve efficient use of PRACH resources.

[0228] Note that the PRACH resources involved in this disclosure may also be replaced by a PRACH resource set, where the PRACH resource set refers to a set including a group of PRACH resources, which may also be called a PRACH resource collection. Optionally, a PRACH resource set may correspond to a PRACH-related configuration, including, for example, configuration related to PRACH time domain resources, configuration related to PRACH frequency domain resources, configuration related to PRACH preambles, etc. Configurations related to different PRACH resource sets may be different or partially the same, for example, the configuration related to PRACH frequency domain resources and the configuration related to preambles are the same; configuration of PRACH time domain resources are different, for example different random access configuration indexes (e.g., higher layer parameter prach-ConfigurationIndex) are used.

[0229] Optionally, the PRACH resource set includes but is not limited to at least one of:

[0230] (1) a set of a part of ROs in the PRACH resource pool, that is, a set of PRACH resources on a group of ROs;

[0231] (2) a set of a part of PRACH time units in the PRACH resource pool. For example, the time unit may specifically refer to the slot, that is, a set of PRACH resources on a group of PRACH slots.

[0232] (3) a set of a part of RPACH frequency domain resources in the PRACH resource pool, that is, a set of PRACH resources on a set of PRACH frequency domain resources;

[0233] (4) a set of a part of PRACH preambles in the PRACH resource pool, that is, a set of PRACH resources corresponding to a group of PRACH preambles

[0234] (5) a set of a part of PRACH preambles on a part of ROs in the PRACH resource pool, that is, a set of PRACH resources corresponding to a part of PRACH preambles on a group of ROs.

[0235] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a section of continuous spectrum resource is referred to as a "frequency domain resource group". A UE may transmit or receive physical channels and / or physical signals on a frequency domain resource group. It may be understood that a frequency domain resource group is a section of continuous spectrum resource that UE may use to transmit or receive signals. As shown in FIG. 3d, the first downlink frequency domain resource group has a bandwidth of X MHz, including X0 subcarriers, and the second downlink frequency domain resource group has a bandwidth of Y MHz and Y0 subcarriers. In some embodiments, there is a certain gap between the subcarrier with the highest index of the first downlink frequency domain resource group and the subcarrier with the lowest index of the second downlink frequency domain resource group, for example, Z MHz. In some embodiments, the subcarrier with the highest index of the first downlink frequency domain resource group and the subcarrier with the lowest index of the second downlink frequency domain resource group may be continuous.

[0236] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the frequency domain resource group may also be equivalently replaced by one of: carrier, bandwidth part (BWP), carrier clip or carrier segment, etc.

[0237] Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the first downlink frequency domain resource group may be referred to as the first frequency domain resource group and the second downlink frequency domain resource group as the second frequency domain resource group. Alternatively, the first frequency domain resource group includes a first uplink frequency domain resource group and a first downlink frequency domain resource group, and the second frequency domain resource group includes a second uplink frequency domain resource group and a second downlink frequency domain resource group.

[0238] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-ROs and the second-ROs may be configured on the same or different frequency domain resource groups (such as carriers or uplink BWP resources). For example, in a scenario where multiple carriers (frequency domain resource groups) are deployed in a service cell, the functions of the multiple carriers may be different. For example, one of the multiple carriers is called an anchor carrier, the second-ROs may be configured on the anchor carrier, and the first-ROs may be configured on a non-anchor carrier. Wherein, the anchor carrier has at least one of the following functions:

[0239] (1) provide initial synchronization and basic system information transmission for UEs in the cell. For example, synchronization signal (SS), physical broadcast channel and the first system information block should at least be transmitted periodically on the downlink anchor carrier. Among them, the synchronization signal includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), for example, the anchor carrier should at least transmit SSB and SIB1 for cell defining (CD);

[0240] (2) providing the initial random access function for UEs in the cell, for example, the uplink anchor carrier should be configured with resources of cell-common physical random access channels;

[0241] (3) providing mobility management function for UEs in the cell. For example, the UE only performs measurements for purpose of radio resource management (RRM) based on reference signals (such as SSB and / or CSI-RS (channel state information-reference signal)) on the downlink anchor carrier, without performing RRM measurements on other carriers.

[0242] In order to achieve the above functions, the frequency of an anchor carrier is generally lower than other carriers, thereby having a larger coverage. In addition, the anchor carrier may also provide basic data transmission function for UEs in the cell, but the peak rate of data transmission provided by the anchor carrier is low because of its small bandwidth.

[0243] A carrier other than the anchor carrier may be used as a supplement to the anchor carrier, so it is called a supplementary carrier. For a downlink supplementary carrier (SDL), SDL is mainly used to supplement data transmission services, for example, providing data transmission services with higher peak rate than the anchor carrier; for an uplink supplementary carrier (SUL), the SUL is used to supplement data transmission services and / or to supplement coverage, for example, to provide data transmission services with higher peak rate than the anchor carrier and / or to provide wider coverage than the anchor carrier.

[0244] As shown in FIG. 3e, carrier f1 is an anchor carrier, which may provide basic coverage and data transmission services for the cell, and carrier f2 and carrier f3 are supplementary carriers, which may provide data service supplements for the hot spots in the cell.

[0245] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, an anchor carrier may also be referred to as other technical terms such as a main carrier, or a normal carrier etc., and may correspond to the above-mentioned first frequency domain resource group, and a supplementary carrier may also be referred to as other technical terms such as a non-anchor carrier, a secondary carrier, a data carrier etc., and may correspond to the above-mentioned second frequency domain resource group.

[0246] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the technical solution is explained with the first-ROs and the second-ROs are configured on the same frequency domain resource group (for example, the same carrier or uplink BWP resources), but it should be noted that the application scope of the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to this, and it may also be applied to the case that the first-ROs and the second-ROs are configured on different frequency domain resource groups.

[0247] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described from more aspects below in conjunction with some examples.

[0248] For example, in an implementation, in step S410, the UE receives configuration information related to first-downlink control information, where the first-downlink control information is used to determine the activated first-random access resource, and the configuration information includes information related to receiving the first-downlink control information;

[0249] In step S420, the UE receives the first-downlink control information, wherein the first-downlink control information includes a first indication indicating first-random access resources (written as first-RO resources or first-ROs),

[0250] In step S430, the UE selects a first-RO resource and initiates random access, wherein the first-RO resource is determined according to the first indication, and the start time of activation of the first-RO resource is related to the first indication described in step S420.

[0251] Description related to first-RO random resource configuration

[0252] In the disclosed embodiment, before or in step S410, the method further includes: receiving configuration information (first configuration information) related to first-PRACH resources (first-RO resources) and second-PRACH resources (second-RO resources), wherein the second-RO resource is available to be used without being activated or indicated to be available, and the first-RO resource is only available to be used after being activated or indicated to be available.

[0253] That is, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the configured random access resources (RO resources) are classified as two types according to whether activation is required:

[0254] （1） a first-RO resource (which may be one or multiple, and in case of multiple, it may be called a first-RO resource set), which needs to be activated to be used, that is, the first-PRACH resource set does not mean to be valid or take effect with being configured, but needs to be activated or indicated to be available through signalling;

[0255] （2） a second-RO resource (which may be one or multiple, and in case of multiple, it may be called a second-RO resource set), which may be used without activation, that is, the second-RO resource means to be valid as long as it is configured and may be used for random access;

[0256] Alternatively, the second-RO resource may be referred to as a default RO resource, a RO resource not need to be activated, a basic RO resource, or a normal RO resource, and the first-RO resource may be referred to as a non-default RO resource, a RO resource need to be activated, an extra or additional RO resource. In practical applications, the RO resources configured by the base station may include the above two types of RO resources to achieve a better compromise between reducing access delay and network energy saving.

[0257] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, unless it is described in the context as one first-RO or multiple first-ROs, for example, the UE randomly selects one first-RO or a group of first-ROs for initiating the random access procedure, that is, the UE selects one first-RO from one or more first-RO resources, then, the first-RO resource or the first-RO described in this disclosure refers to one or multiple PRACH occasions, and does not distinguish between singular and plural forms.

[0258] Description related to the UE receiving the first-downlink control information

[0259] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE may obtain configuration information related to random access resource (first configuration information) through system information, for example, through the IE RACH-ConfigCommon in the system information. In case that the first-RO resource is pre-configured or the configuration information of the first-RO resource is included in the system information IE RACH-ConfigCommon, the UE considers the first-RO resource determined based on the configuration information of the first-RO as an inactive / non-activated first-RO resource before receiving the first-downlink control information, where the non-activated first-RO resource may be understood as an unavailable first-RO resource, that is, the UE cannot transmit a PRACH preamble on the non-activated first-RO to initiate a random access procedure.

[0260] In case that the first-RO resource is preconfigured, or the system information IE RACH-ConfigCommon includes the configuration information of the first-RO resource, the UE receives first-downlink control information, and the first-downlink control information is used to determine that the preconfigured first-RO resource is activated, for example, the first-downlink control information is used to indicate that one or more first-ROs in the preconfigured first-RO resource are activated, wherein the configuration information related to the first-downlink control information may be obtained through system messages (for example, through higher-layer RRC signaling). After receiving the first-downlink control information transmitted by the base station, the UE selects an available preconfigured first-RO resource to initiate random access procedure.

[0261] Wherein the first configuration information comprises at least one of:

[0262] In an optional implementation, the configuration information related to random access resource includes a combination of one or more of the following:

[0263] (1) time domain related configuration information for the random access resource, including a combination of one or more of the following:

[0264] 1. time domain related configuration information of the first-random access resource, including a combination of one or more of the following:

[0265] a random access configuration (e.g., PRACH configuration) index (e.g., higher layer parameter prach-ConfigurationIndex, according to the configuration, the random access preamble format, the random access configuration period (also referred to as the first-random access period), the number and location of random access frames in the random access configuration period, the indexes of subframes or slots in a random access frame, the start symbol location of the random access preamble in a subframe or slot, the number of random access slots in a random access subframe, the number of ROs in a random access slot, the number of OFDM symbols occupied in an RO, etc.) may be determined;

[0266] 2. time domain related configuration information of the second-random access resource, such as a random access configuration index; a mapping cycle of SSB-second-RO (mapping between SSB and second-random access resource); an association period of SSB-second-RO; an association pattern period of SSB-second-RO, etc. Wherein, the time domain related configuration information of the second-random access resource may be different from the time domain related configuration information of the first-random access resource, for example, the random access configuration index is not equal to the random access configuration index in the time domain related configuration information of the first-random access resource;

[0267] (2) frequency domain related configuration information for the random access resource including a combination of one or more of the following:

[0268] 1. the number of frequency division multiplexed (FDM) ROs (which may be written as, the total number of ROs, or the number of frequency domain resources of the random access resource, such as the higher-layer parameter msg1-FDMTotal), the number of ROs is the number of frequency domain ROs over one random access time unit, including the first-ROs and the second-ROs;

[0269] 2. frequency domain related configuration information of the first-random access resource, including a combination of one or more of the following:

[0270] 1) a random access preamble root sequence index for the first-random access;

[0271] 2) the number of random access preambles for the first-random access, e.g., the number of random access preambles for the first-random access on one first-RO;

[0272] 3) the number of frequency division multiplexed (FDM) first-ROs for the first-random access (may be written, for example, as higher layer parameter msg1-FDM2, or as the number of frequency domain resources of first-random access resource);

[0273] 4) the frequency start (location) of the first-ROs for the first-random access (e.g. higher layer parameter msg1-FrequencyStart2, or, written as the frequency start offset of the first-ROs) to determine the offset of the lowest first-RO in the frequency domain, respectively corresponding to PRB 0. This value is configured so that the corresponding first-ROs are completely within the bandwidth of the uplink bandwidth part (UL BWP). The frequency starting of the first-ROs also refers to the frequency starting of the first first-RO, and ROs in other frequency domain locations are calculated based on the location of the first first-RO, the size of the frequency domain resource occupied by one RO, and / or the frequency domain gap between ROs;

[0274] 5) a frequency offset of first-ROs for the first-random access, the offset is a frequency offset relative to a frequency start of the second-ROs, which may be one or more frequency domain units;

[0275] 3. frequency domain related configuration information of the second-random access resource, including the number of frequency division multiplexed (FDM) second-ROs (for example, the higher-layer parameter msg1-FDM, or written as the number of frequency domain resources of the second-random access resource); the frequency start (location) of the second-ROs (or, alternatively, written as the frequency start offset of the second-ROs, such as the higher layer parameter msg1-FrequencyStart), which is used to determine the offset of the lowest second-RO in the frequency domain, respectively corresponding to PRB 0;

[0276] (3) power related configuration information of the first-random access, including at least one of: a target received power for the first-random access preamble; the pathloss compensation factor alpha used for the first-random access (for example, alphaХpathloss, when alpha is less than 1, it indicates that partial pathloss compensation is performed; alpha = 1, indicating full pathloss compensation; alpha > 1, indicating excess pathloss compensation. Such configuration may additionally enable the UE to gain a power increase when transmitting PRACH preamble on the first-RO while using the target received power for the normal PRACH preamble); a power increase difference (e.g., delta value) for the first-random access, a power ramping priority and / or a power step for the first-random access; a threshold for the number associated with the first-ROs, etc., the threshold for the number is used to determine the value of the power step;

[0277] Optionally, when the UE selects the first-RO to transmit the PRACH preamble, the first-RO dedicated power related configuration described above is used; the transmission power P is determined based on one or more of the target received power P0, alphaХpathloss, delta, power ramping stepХthe number of retransmissions;

[0278] (4) indication information on whether only an activated first-random access resource (which may be written as an activated first-RO) can be selected;

[0279] When this field is configured or the field indicates that the UE can only select the activated first-RO resource, the UE may only select the activated first-RO to initiate a random access procedure; when the field is not configured or when the field does not indicate that the UE can only select the activated first-RO resource, the UE may select an RO in the union of the activated first-ROs and the second-ROs to initiate a random access procedure.

[0280] (5) indication information on whether selection of the activated first-random access resource (which may be written as activated first-RO) is prioritized;

[0281] When the field is configured or the field indicates that the UE prioritizes selecting the activated first-RO resource, the UE prioritizes selecting an activated first-RO to initiate a random access procedure when the first-RO resource is activated (for example, prioritizes randomly selecting an RO in the first-RO resource to initiate a random access procedure); when the field is not configured or when the field does not indicate that the UE prioritizes selecting the activated first-RO resource, the UE may randomly select an RO in the union of the activated first-ROs and the second-ROs to initiate a random access procedure.

[0282] (6) ratio of SSB to first-RO mappings (SSB-first-RO) (e.g., information indicating how many SSBs are mapped on one first-RO, see e.g. higher layer parameter ssb-perRO);

[0283] (7) a threshold for the number of PRACH preamble transmissions. When the number of transmitting a PRACH preamble on the first-random access resource exceeds the threshold, the UE selects to transmit a PRACH preamble on the second-random access resource.

[0284] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the configuration information related to the random access resource further includes at least one of:

[0285] (1) configuration information related to indication of the first-random access resource (e.g., additional PRACH resource (additional PRACH configuration)), for example, the configuration information may include information for indicating a mask index (or called first-RO mask index, the first mask index may be indicated, for example, by a higher-layer parameter addtionnalRO-MaskIndex) of additional PRACH occasions (also called first-ROs), the higher-layer parameter is used to indicate or determine the first-random access resource, such as first-RO(s) that is available / usable or that may be used to transmit the PRACH, among the first-ROs (if configured). Alternatively, the first mask index may also indicate or determine the unavailable / unusable RO(s) among the configured first-ROs. For convenience of description, in the following description, taking the first mask index being used to indicate or determine the available / usable first-RO(s) as an example for description. In addition, in an implementation, the first-RO determined according to the first mask index is an available / usable RO, which means that the determined first-RO is a potentially available / usable RO, and whether it may be used by the UE for PRACH transmission needs to be determined according to other steps. For example, if the determined available / usable first-RO is indicated to be activated through the first-DCI or by other means, the first-RO may actually be used by the UE for PRACH transmission, the available / usable first-RO determined according to the first mask index described below may represent a potentially available / usable RO. Alternatively, in other implementations, the available / usable first-RO determined according to the first mask index described below may represent the actually available / usable first-RO.

[0286] Wherein, the first-RO(s) determined according to the first-RO mask index is a subset of the first-ROs (written as the first-RO subset), the first-RO subset may be used for transmitting the PRACH, and the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index includes valid first-RO(s), and / or the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index is associated with SSB indexes, wherein the UE acquires according to a higher-layer parameter related to the location of SSB (for example, ssb-PositionsInBurst (included in SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon)). Alternatively, the first-RO mask index may be a 4-bit indication.

[0287] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, it may be considered that the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index includes valid first-RO(s), and / or the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index is associated with SSB indexes, wherein the UE obtains according to the higher-layer parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst (in SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon).

[0288] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, all the first-ROs may be replaced by valid first-ROs, for example, ROs determined to be valid after validity determination among all the first-ROs are the valid first-ROs.

[0289] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first-RO determined according to the first mask index is a valid RO that does not overlap with the second-ROs, that is, an RO that overlaps with the second-ROs is considered as an invalid RO, and will not be indicated by the first mask index or included in the first-RO(s) determined according to the first mask index.

[0290] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide possible implementations of the first-RO mask index. For example, the first-RO mask index may indicate the SSB-RO PRACH association period (also referred to herein as PRACH association period or association period for short), and the first-RO subset in the indicated association period is activated or deactivated, or the first-RO subset in the indicated association period may or may not be used for transmitting a PRACH, or, the first-RO subset in the indicated association period may be used for transmitting a PRACH (if activated by the first-DCI), wherein the first-RO subset includes valid first-RO(s), and / or the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index is associated with SSB indexes, wherein the UE obtains according to the higher-layer parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst (in SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon). The UE receiving the first mask index may obtain the PRACH association period indicated by the first mask index, and determine the first-RO(s) in the indicated PRACH association period as potential available / usable RO(s), or determine the first-RO(s) in the indicated PRACH association period as unavailable / unusable RO(s).

[0291] For example, the first-RO mask index may be realized by a look-up table. For example, if the first-RO mask index is in n bits, it may indicate 2^n cases (for example, if the first-RO mask index is in 4 bits, it may indicate 2^4 = 16 cases), where the 2^n cases may include at least one of:

[0292] (1) indicating a single PRACH association period, for example, the k-th PRACH association period starting from the PRACH association period with index 1 or the (k-1)-th PRACH association period starting from the PRACH association period with index 0 or starting from SFN=0 in a PRACH association pattern period, where k is less than or equal to the number of PRACH association periods per PRACH association pattern period. For example, a PRACH association pattern period includes 8 association periods (for example, association period index is 1,2,...,8), and the first-RO mask index indicates k=2, then the association period indicated by the first-RO mask index starts from the starting of a PRACH association pattern period (for example, from the starting of the association period with index 1) or SFN=0, that is, the indicated association period index is 2;

[0293] (2) indicating every k-th PRACH association period, for example, every k-th PRACH association period starting from a PRACH association period with index 1 or 0, or starting from SFN=0, or a PRACH association period satisfying mod(j,k)=0, where j is the index of a PRACH association period within a PRACH association pattern period, j and k are less than or equal to the number of PRACH association periods in a PRACH association pattern period. For example, a PRACH association pattern period includes 8 association periods (for example, association period index is 0,1,...,7), and the first-RO mask index indicates k=4, then the association periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are PRACH association periods satisfying mod(j, 4)=0 starting from the starting of a PRACH association pattern period (for example, from the starting of the association period with index 0) or SFN=0, the indicated association period indexes are 0, 4.

[0294] (3) indicating every k-th PRACH association period starting from the k2-th PRACH association period, for example, in a PRACH association pattern period, every k-th PRACH association period starting from the PRACH association period with index 1 or 0, or starting from SFN=0, the PRACH association period(s) satisfying mod(j,k)=k2, where j is the index of a PRACH association period in a PRACH association pattern period, j, k and k2 are less than or equal to the number of PRACH association periods in a PRACH association pattern period. For example, a PRACH association pattern period includes 8 association periods (for example, association period index is 0,1,...,7), and the first-RO mask index indicates k = 4 and k2 = 2, then the association periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are PRACH association periods satisfying mod(j, 4)=2 starting from the starting of a PRACH association pattern period (for example, from the starting of the association period with index 0) or starting from SFN=0, then the indicated association period indexes are 2,6;

[0295] (4) indicating m2 consecutive PRACH association periods, for example, the first or last m2 consecutive PRACH association periods in a PRACH association pattern period, for example, a PRACH association pattern period includes 8 association periods (for example, the association period index is 1, 2,.., 8), and the first-RO mask index indicates m2=2. Then the association periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first two association periods starting from the starting of a PRACH association pattern period (for example, from the starting of the association period with index 1) or starting from SFN=0, that is, the indicated association period indexes are 1 and 2, where m2 is less than or equal to the number of association periods in a PRACH association pattern period;

[0296] (5) indicating the first m2 consecutive PRACH association periods starting from the PRACH association period index with index m1, for example, a PRACH association pattern period includes 8 association periods (for example, the association period index is 1, 2,.., 8), and the first-RO mask index indicates m1=4 and m2=3, then the association periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first 3 association periods starting from the association period with index 4, that is, the indicated association period indexes are 4, 5 and 6, where m1 is less than or equal to the number of association periods in a PRACH association pattern period, and m2 is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to the number of association periods in a PRACH association pattern period;

[0297] (6) indicating all PRACH association periods with even indexes, for example, indicating all PRACH association periods with even indexes in a PRACH association pattern period;

[0298] (7) indicating all PRACH association periods with odd indexes, for example, indicating all PRACH association periods with odd indexes in a PRACH association pattern period;

[0299] (8) indicating all PRACH association periods, for example, indicating all PRACH association periods within a PRACH association pattern period;

[0300] (9) indicating the m2-th association period every m1 association periods, for example, within a PRACH association pattern period, starting from the starting of the corresponding PRACH association period(s) with indexes satisfying mod(j,m1)=0, the index of the PRACH association period is m2, where j is the index of a PRACH association period within a PRACH association pattern period, j is less than or equal to the number of PRACH association periods in a PRACH association pattern period, m1 is less than or equal to the number of association periods in a PRACH association pattern period, and m2 is less than or equal to m1. For example, a PRACH association pattern period includes 8 association periods (for example, association period indexes are 0, 1, ..., 7), and the first-RO mask index indicates m1=4 and m2=1, then the association periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first association period among four association periods starting from the PRACH association period with an association period index satisfying mod(j, 4)=0, that is, the corresponding association period indexes are 0 and 4.

[0301] (10) indicating the first m2 of every m1 association periods, for example, within a PRACH association pattern period, the first m2 PRACH association periods starting from the starting of the corresponding PRACH association period with PRACH association period index satisfying mod(j,m1)=0, where j is the index of PRACH association period within a PRACH association pattern period, j is less than or equal to the number of PRACH association periods in a PRACH association pattern period, m1 is less than or equal to the number of association periods in a PRACH association pattern period, and m2 is less than or equal to m1. For example, a PRACH association pattern period includes 8 association periods (for example, association period indexes are 0, 1, ..., 7), and the first-RO mask index indicates m1=4 and m2=2, then the association periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first 2 association periods among the four association periods starting from the PRACH association period with an association period index satisfying mod(j, 4)=0, that is, the corresponding association period indexes are 0 and 4).

[0302] As an example, Table 1 gives an example of the mapping relationship between the index value of the first-RO mask index (shown as additionalRO-MaskIndex as a non-limiting example of the first-RO mask index) and the indicated PRACH association period (s) allowed during a PRACH association pattern period. For example, in the example shown in Table 1, specifically, index 0 corresponds to all PRACH association periods during a PRACH association pattern period. In this way, first-ROs in all PRACH association periods in a PRACH association pattern period indicated by index 0 become available / usable ROs or are allowed for PRACH transmission, or first-ROs in these indicated RACH association periods are not available / usable (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association period for the specific method description, case (8)). Indexes 1-8 indicate a single PRACH association period in a PRACH association pattern period, thereby indicating that first-RO(s) in the corresponding PRACH association period is allowed for PRACH transmission (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association period for the specific method description, case (1)); indexes 9 to 11 indicate every k-th PRACH association period in a PRACH association pattern period, thus indicating that first-ROs in the corresponding PRACH association periods are allowed for PRACH transmission (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association period for the specific method description, case (3)); indexes 12-15 indicate the first m2 PRACH association periods in a PRACH association pattern period, thus indicating that first-ROs in the corresponding first m2 PRACH association periods are allowed for PRACH transmission (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association period for the specific method description, case (4)).

[0303] Table 1: additionalRO-MaskIndex index value

[0304]

[0305] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the PRACH association period index P_ra {1,2, ..., S} or P_ra {0,2, ..., S-1} is indexed in an increasing order for PRACH association periods from the first frame or from the frame 0 within an association pattern period, where S is the number of association periods in an association pattern period, and the indexing of the PRACH association period may be reset per association pattern period.

[0306] The advantage of using the PRACH association period index to determine the first-RO subset is that, compared with the indication at an SSB-RO level, this method may effectively achieve indication at an association period level, and the network may indicate the UE to transmit PRACH only in the indicated association period through the PRACH association period index indicated by the first mask index, and not transmit PRACH in other association periods, thus reducing the time for the network in detecting the random access preamble in multiple association periods, helping the network to enter deep sleep and obtaining energy-saving gains.

[0307] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide another possible implementation of the first-RO mask index. For example, the first-RO mask index indicates the SSB-RO PRACH association pattern period (also referred to as PRACH association pattern period or association pattern period for short), and the first-RO subset in the indicated association pattern period is activated or deactivated, or, the first-RO subset in the indicated association pattern period may or may not be used for transmitting PRACH, or the first-RO subset in the indicated association period may be used for transmitting PRACH (if activated by the first-DCI), wherein the first-RO subset includes valid first-ROs, and / or, the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index is associated with SSB indexes, wherein the UE obtains according to the higher layer parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst (in SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon). The UE receiving the first mask index may obtain the PRACH association pattern period indicated by the first mask index, and determine first-ROs in the indicated PRACH association pattern period as potential available / usable ROs, or determine first-ROs in the indicated PRACH association pattern period as unavailable / unusable ROs.

[0308] For example, the first-RO mask index may be realized by a look-up table. For example, if the first-RO mask index is in n bits, it may indicate 2^n cases (for example, if the first-RO mask index is in 4 bits, it may indicate 2^4 = 16 cases), where the 2^n cases may include at least one of:

[0309] (1) indicating a single PRACH association pattern period, for example, the k-th PRACH association pattern period in a fourth period, where k is less than or equal to the number of PRACH association pattern periods in the fourth period. For example, a fourth period includes 8 association pattern periods (for example, the association pattern period indexes are 1, 2,.., 8), and the first-RO mask index indicates k=2, then the association pattern periods indicated by the first-RO mask index, starting from SFN=0, the indicated association pattern period index is 2;

[0310] (2) indicating every k-th PRACH association pattern period, for example, in a fourth period, every k-th PRACH association pattern period, or PRACH association pattern periods satisfying mod(j,k)=0, where j is the index of a PRACH association pattern period in a fourth period, and j and k are less than or equal to the number of PRACH association pattern periods in a fourth period. For example, a fourth period includes 8 association pattern periods (for example, association pattern period indexes are 0, 1, ..., 7), and the first-RO mask index indicates k=4, then the association pattern periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are PRACH association pattern periods satisfying mod(j, 4)=0 starting from the starting of a fourth period (for example, from the starting of an association pattern period with index 0) or SFN=0, the indicated PRACH association pattern period indexes are 0, 4.

[0311] (3) indicating every k-th PRACH association pattern period from the k2-th PRACH association period, for example, in a fourth period, the PRACH association pattern periods satisfying mod(j, k)=k2, where j is the index of a PRACH association pattern period in a fourth period, and j, k and k2 are less than or equal to the number of PRACH association pattern periods in a fourth period. For example, a fourth period includes 8 association pattern periods (for example, association pattern period indexes are 0, 1, ..., 7), and the first-RO mask indicates k = 4 and k2 = 2, then the association pattern periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are PRACH association pattern periods satisfying mod(j, 4)=2 starting from the starting of a fourth period (for example, from the starting of an association pattern period with index 0) or starting from SFN=0, the indicated association pattern period indexes are 2, 6.

[0312] (4) indicating m2 consecutive PRACH association pattern periods, for example, the first or last m2 consecutive PRACH association pattern periods in a fourth period, for example, a fourth period includes 8 association pattern periods (for example, the association pattern period indexes are 1, 2,.., 8), and m2 indicated by the first-RO mask index is 2, then the association pattern periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first two association pattern periods starting from the starting of a fourth period (for example, starting from the starting of an association pattern period with index 1) or starting from SFN=0, the indicated association pattern period indexes are 1 and 2, where m2 is less than or equal to the number of association pattern periods in a fourth period;

[0313] (5) indicating the first m2 consecutive PRACH association pattern periods starting from the PRACH association pattern period index with index m1, for example, a fourth period includes 8 association pattern periods (for example, the association pattern period indexes are 1, 2,.., 8), and the first-RO mask indicates m1 = 4 and m2 = 3, then the association pattern periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first 3 association pattern periods starting from the association pattern period with index 4, that is, the indicated association pattern period indexes are 4, 5 and 6, where m1 is less than or equal to the number of association pattern periods in a fourth period, and m2 is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to the number of association pattern periods in a fourth period;

[0314] (6) indicating all PRACH association pattern periods with even indexes, for example, indicating all PRACH association pattern periods with even indexes in a fourth period;

[0315] (7) indicating all PRACH association pattern periods with odd indexes, for example, indicating all PRACH association pattern periods with odd indexes in a fourth period;

[0316] (8) indicating all PRACH association pattern periods, for example, indicating all association pattern periods in a fourth period;

[0317] (9) indicating the m2-th association pattern period of every m1 association pattern periods, for example, in a fourth period, the association pattern periods with index m2 for the PRACH association pattern period of the m1 association pattern periods starting from the starting of the corresponding PRACH association pattern period where the PRACH association pattern period index satisfies mod(j,m1)=0, where j is the index of the PRACH association pattern period in a fourth period, j is less than or equal to the number of PRACH association pattern periods in a fourth period, m1 is less than or equal to the number of association pattern periods in a fourth period, and m2 is less than or equal to m1. In this case, m2 may represent the logical index of the indicated association pattern period in the corresponding m1 association pattern periods. For example, a fourth period includes 8 association pattern periods (for example, association pattern period indexes are 0, 1, ..., 7), and the first-RO mask index indicates m1=4 and m2=1, then the association pattern periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first association pattern period of 4 PRACH association pattern periods starting from the PRACH association pattern period with association pattern period indexes satisfying mod(j, 4)=0 (that is, association pattern periods with indexes 0 and 4), that is, the corresponding association pattern period indexes are 0, 4.

[0318] (10) indicating the first m2 association pattern periods of every m1 association pattern periods, for example, in a fourth period, the first m2 association pattern periods of m1 association pattern periods from the starting of the corresponding PRACH association pattern period with a PRACH association pattern period index satisfying mod(j,m1)=0, where j is the index of PRACH association pattern period in a fourth period, j is less than or equal to the number of PRACH association pattern periods in a fourth period, m1 is less than or equal to the number of association pattern periods in a fourth period, and m2 is less than or equal to m1. For example, a fourth period includes 8 association pattern periods (for example, association pattern period indexes are 0, 1, ..., 7), and the first-RO mask index indicates m1=4 and m2=2, then the association pattern periods indicated by the first-RO mask index are the first 2 association pattern periods of 4 association pattern periods starting from the PRACH association pattern period with an association pattern period index satisfying mod(j, 4)=0 (that is, association pattern periods with indexes 0 and 4), that is, the corresponding association pattern period indexes are 0, 1, 4 , 5.

[0319] As an example, Table 2 gives an example of the mapping relationship between the index value of the first-RO mask index (shown as additionalRO-MaskIndex as a non-limiting example of the first-RO mask index) and the indicated PRACH association pattern period (s2) allowed during a fourth period. In the example shown in Table 2, specifically, the index 0 corresponds to all PRACH association pattern periods during a fourth period, for example, the first-ROs in all PRACH association pattern periods is allowed for PRACH transmission or is unavailable / unusable (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association pattern period for the specific method description, case (8)); indexes 1-8 indicate a single PRACH association pattern period during a fourth period, for example, the first-ROs in the indicated corresponding PRACH association pattern period are allowed for PRACH transmission or unavailable / unusable (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association pattern period, case (1)); indexes 9-11 indicate every k-th PRACH association pattern period during a fourth period, for example, the first-ROs in the indicated corresponding PRACH association pattern periods are allowed for PRACH transmission or unavailable / unusable (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association pattern period, case (3)); indexes 12-15 indicate the first m2 PRACH association pattern periods during a fourth period, for example, the first-ROs in the indicated corresponding PRACH association pattern periods are allowed for PRACH transmission or unavailable / unusable (see the possible embodiment where the first-RO mask index indicates the association pattern period, case (4)).

[0320] Table 2: additionalRO-MaskIndex index value

[0321]

[0322] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the fourth period starting from frame 0 includes one or more association pattern periods. Preferably, the fourth period may be predetermined by the protocol, for example, equal to the maximum value of an SSB-RO association pattern period, for example, 160 milliseconds; preferably, the periods of all association pattern periods included in a fourth period are the same, for example, if a fourth period includes four association pattern periods, the periods of the four association pattern periods are all the same, for example, the periods are all 40 milliseconds; preferably, in case that a fourth period includes multiple association pattern periods, the mapping patterns between first-ROs and SSB indexes in these multiple association pattern periods are the same; optionally, a fourth period is equal to a multiple of the maximum value of an SSB-RO association pattern period, such as 160 milliseconds, 320 milliseconds, 480 milliseconds, 640 milliseconds, etc., the multiple may be predetermined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling (such as RRC signaling); optionally, the number of association pattern periods included in a fourth cycle is M_t, for example, M_t=8 or 16, where M_t may be predetermined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling).

[0323] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the PRACH association pattern period index S2 {1,2, ..., S2} or S2 {0,2, ..., S2-1} is indexed in an increasing order for PRACH association pattern periods from the first frame or from the frame 0 in a fourth period, where S2 is the number of PRACH association pattern periods in a fourth period, and the indexing of the PRACH association pattern period may be reset per fourth period.

[0324] Using the PRACH association pattern period index to determine the first-RO subset has the advantages that, compared with indication at SSB-RO level, this method may effectively realize indication at association pattern period level, and the mapping pattern of SSB-RO is unchanged within each or every or per association pattern period, which is convenient for the network to configure random access resources. Moreover, the network may indicate the UE to transmit a PRACH only in the indicated association pattern period through the PRACH association pattern period index indicated by the first mask index, and not transmit a PRACH in other association pattern periods, thus reducing the time for the network in detecting the random access preamble in multiple association pattern periods, helping the network to enter a deep sleep and obtaining energy-saving gains.

[0325] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-RO mask index is used to indicate a single PRACH mask of an additional PRACH resource subset (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter prach-Mask-SubsetIdentification-Dyn), the PRACH mask is used to identify or indicate the additional PRACH resource subset (e.g., the first-RO subset), the PRACH mask may be applied to the time domain adaptation of the first-random access resource based on DCI format 1_0, and the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI format 1_0 is scrambled by P-RNTI; or the CRC of the DCI format 1_0 is scrambled by C-RNTI.

[0326] On the premise of not changing the physical meaning, the PRACH mask may be replaced by a PRACH mask related to NES feature, an NES PRACH mask, a first-RO mask or a first mask, etc.

[0327] The first-RO mask is used to determine a first-PRACH resource subset (i.e., a first-RO subset) among the first-PRACH resources configured according to the above-mentioned higher layer parameter.

[0328] For the first-RO mask index provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-RO or the range or scope of the first-RO indicated by the first-RO mask index may be related to a second-PRACH configuration period, the second-PRACH configuration period is the PRACH configuration period corresponding to the second-RO, for example, provided by the second-PRACH configuration index corresponding to the second-RO of the higher layer parameter.

[0329] The first-RO or the range of the first-RO indicated by the first-RO mask index may be related to the second-PRACH configuration period, which has the beneficial effects that it can solve the following problem: when the association period or association pattern period of the first-RO do not match with the association period or the association pattern period or PRACH configuration period of the second-RO, the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index and the second-RO cannot be more concentrated in the time domain, thus causing the base station to have to detect PRACH more frequently, and to be unable to enter deep sleep, which affects network energy saving.

[0330] For example, in a second-PRACH configuration period, the first-RO mask index indicates the first-ROs after a first time reference point in the second-PRACH configuration period; Alternatively, per or in each or every or all second-PRACH configuration periods, the first-RO mask index indicates the first-ROs after the first time reference point per or in each or every second-PRACH configuration period.

[0331] Specifically, the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index includes one or more first-ROs per or in each or every second-PRACH configuration period, which are the first-ROs indicated by the first-RO mask index after the first time reference point per or in each or every second-PRACH configuration period.

[0332] The first time reference point may be a combination of one or more of the following:

[0333] 1) the end (e.g., the last symbol) of the last second-RO in one or each or every or per second-PRACH configuration period; Or,

[0334] 2) the end (for example, the last symbol) of the last slot or the second-PRACH slot (the second-PRACH slot corresponds to the slot where the second-RO is located) in one or each or every or per second-PRACH configuration period; or

[0335] 3) the starting of one or each or every or per second-PRACH configuration period, for example, the starting is the system frame number n_f, which satisfies the formula: n_f mod x=y, where x and y are determined according to the second-PRACH configuration index.

[0336] Another possible implementation of the first-RO mask index provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is that the first-RO mask index may indicate an integer number p of consecutive PRACH association periods or PRACH association pattern periods of first-ROs after the first time reference point;

[0337] Alternatively, the first-RO mask index may indicate an integer number p of consecutive complete PRACH association periods or PRACH association pattern periods of first-ROs after the first time reference point;

[0338] Where the values of p may be 1,2,3,...,P_t (for example, P_t=16).

[0339] In another possible implementation of the first-RO mask index provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the range or scope of the first-PRACH association period(s) (index(es)) indicated by the first-RO mask index is determined according to the second-PRACH configuration period and the PRACH association period of the first-ROs (written as the first-PRACH association period).

[0340] In a possible implementation, according to the second-PRACH configuration period and the PRACH association period of the first-ROs, it may be determined that in the second-PRACH configuration period,

[0341] 1) the maximum value N _ i of the first-PRACH association period index that the first-RO mask index may indicate; Or,

[0342] 2) the upper limit value N _ up of the range or scope of the first-PRACH association period indexes that the first-RO mask index may indicate;

[0343] Optionally, the indexing of the first-PRACH association periods is reset per second-PRACH configuration period.

[0344] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the method for determining the N_i or the N_up may be the same, and the method for determining the N_i will be described as an example below. It may be understood that the method for determining the N_i may also be applied to determining the N_up.

[0345] A possible implementation for determining N_i is that, N_i needs to satisfy:

[0346] 1) the duration of N _ i consecutive first-PRACH association periods is less than or equal to (or not greater than) the second-PRACH configuration period (or the duration of the second-PRACH configuration period); Or,

[0347] 2) N_i = floor (second-PRACH configuration period / first-PRACH association period), where floor (.) is a floor function.

[0348] In another possible implementation of the first-RO mask index provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the range or scope of the first-PRACH association pattern period (index) indicated by the first-RO mask index is determined according to the second-PRACH configuration period and the PRACH association pattern period of the first-ROs (writing the first-PRACH association pattern period).

[0349] In a possible implementation, according to the second-PRACH configuration period and the PRACH association pattern period of the first-ROs, it may be determined that in the second-PRACH configuration period,

[0350] 1) the maximum value N _ i of the first-PRACH association pattern period index that the first-RO mask index may indicate; Or,

[0351] 2) the upper limit value N _ up of the range or scope of the first-PRACH association pattern period indexes that may be indicated by the first-RO mask index;

[0352] Optionally, the indexing of the first-PRACH association pattern periods is reset per second-PRACH configuration period.

[0353] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method for determining the N_i or the N_up may be the same, and the method for determining the N_i will be described as an example below. It may be understood that the method for determining the N_i may also be applied to determining the N_up.

[0354] A possible implementation for determining the N_i is that N_i needs to satisfy:

[0355] 1) the duration of N _ i consecutive first-PRACH association pattern periods is less than or equal to (or not greater than) the second-PRACH configuration period (or the duration of the second-PRACH configuration period); Or,

[0356] 2) N_i = floor (second-PRACH configuration period / first-PRACH association pattern period), where floor (.) is a floor function.

[0357] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method for performing PRACH transmission on additional PRACH resources includes at least one of:

[0358] (1) in a possible implementation, for PRACH transmission on additional PRACH resources, if a higher-layer parameter additionalRO-MaskIndex (the first-RO mask index) is provided, a subset of first-ROs configured according to a higher-layer parameter related to the first-random access (if configured) may be determined through the first-RO mask index, the subset of first-ROs are activated by default, and the activated first-RO subset may be used for transmitting random access preambles;

[0359] (2) in a possible implementation, for PRACH transmission on additional PRACH resources, if a higher-layer parameter additionalRO-MaskIndex (the first-RO mask index) is provided, a subset of first-ROs configured according to a higher-layer parameter related to the first- random access (if configured) (i.e., the first-RO subset) may be determined through the first-RO mask index. If the first-RO subset is activated by the first-DCI, for example, by a field related to activation or deactivation of the first-RO subset in the first-DCI, first-ROs in the first-RO subset may be used to transmit the PRACH; otherwise, first-ROs in the first-RO subset may not be used to transmit the PRACH; alternatively, if the first-RO subset is deactivated by the first-DCI, for example, by the field related to activation or deactivation of the first-RO subset in the first-DCI being indicated as deactivation, then first-ROs in the first-RO subset may not be used for transmitting PRACH; otherwise, first-ROs in the first-RO subset may be used to transmit PRACH.

[0360] The first-DCI may include a 1-bit indication field, which is used to indicate whether the first-RO subset is activated or deactivated; or to indicate that that activation state of the first-RO subset has changed. One possible implementation is that when the indication field is "1", it indicates that the first-RO subset is activated or the activation state of the first-RO subset changes (for example, if the first-RO subset has already been activated, the indication field "1" indicates that the first-RO subset is deactivated; if the first-RO subset has not been activated, the indication field "1" indicates that the first-RO subset is activated); conversely, when the indication field is "0", it indicates that the first-RO subset has been deactivated or the activation state of the first-RO subset has not changed (for example, if the first-RO subset has already been activated, the indication field "0" indicates that the first-RO subset is still in the activated state; if the first-RO subset has not been activated, the indication field "0" indicates that the first-RO subset is still in un-activated state);

[0361] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for a type 1 random access procedure (or a contention-based four-step random access procedure), the UE is provided with the number N of SSB indexes associated with a single first-RO and the number R of contention-based preambles for each or every or per SSB index per or in each or every valid first-RO through the higher layer parameter ssb-perAdditionalRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB. The UE is provided with a first-RO mask index through a higher-layer parameter related to the first-RO mask index, and determines a first-RO subset that may be used for transmitting the PRACH among first-ROs associated with the SSB index. Among them, the higher-layer parameter ssb-perAdditionalRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB may be included in the configuration related to the first-random access resource (for example, through RRC signaling configuration), this parameter is used to determine the information of the number of SSBs associated with each or every or per RACH occasion (for example, the first-RO) and indicate the number of contention-based preambles for each or every or per SSB.

[0362] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for a type 2 random access procedure (or called a contention-based two-step random access procedure) sharing PRACH occasions with a type 1 random access procedure, the UE is provided with the number N of SSB indexes associated with a first-RO through a higher layer parameter ssb-perAdditionalRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB, and the number of contention-based preambles Q per SSB index per first-RO is provided through msgA-CB-PreamblesPerSSB-PerSharedRO. The UE is provided with a first-RO mask index through a higher-layer parameter related to the first-RO mask index, and determines a first-RO subset associated with the SSB index. If the UE is provided with a PRACH mask index through msgA-SSB-SharedRO-MaskIndex, wherein the PRACH mask index indicates a subset of the first-RO subset (writing as a new first-RO subset), wherein the first-RO subset is a subset of first-ROs determined according to the first-RO mask index, and the first-RO subset may be used for transmitting PRACH, the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index includes valid first-ROs, and / or the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index is associated with SSB indexes, wherein the UE obtains according to the higher-layer parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst(SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon); the new first-RO subset is associated with the SSB index indicated by the SSB index field of the PDCCH order, then PRACH transmission may be performed in the first-RO(s) in the new first-RO subset associated with the same SSB index in an SSB-RO mapping cycle.

[0363] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for the PRACH transmission of the UE triggered by the PDCCH order, the method for performing PRACH transmission on additional PRACH resources includes at least one of:

[0364] (1) if the value of the random access preamble index field is not zero, the RO on which the PRACH transmission is performed is determined based on the RO indication field (for detailed description, please see related description of RO (normal RO, non-additional RO, or called second-RO) / ARO (additional RO, or called first-RO) indicator hereafter), and, the PRACH mask index field indicates ROs for PRACH transmission, the ROs are associated with the SSB index indicated by the SSB index field in the PDCCH order, and, if configured, the cell indication field indicates the cell for PRACH transmission;

[0365] (2) If the RO indication field in the PDCCH order indicates the first-RO, and the PRACH mask index is provided to the UE via PRACH Mask Index and / or msgA-SSB-SharedRO-MaskIndex and / or ssb-SharedRO-MaskIndex, then the PRACH transmission may be performed on the first-RO within a subset of the first-RO subset indicated by the PRACH mask index (written as the new first-RO subset), associated with the same SSB index within an SSB-RO mapping cycle.

[0366] Wherein, the first-RO subset is a subset of first-ROs determined according to the first-RO mask index, the first-RO subset may be used for transmitting PRACH, and the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index may include valid first-ROs, and / or the first-RO subset determined according to the first-RO mask index is associated with SSB indexes, wherein the UE obtains according to the higher-layer parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst (included in SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon); the new first-RO subset is associated with the SSB index indicated by the SSB index field in the PDCCH order.

[0367] (3) if the first-RO subset is not activated, and the RO indication field included in the PDCCH order indicates the first-RO, the UE ignores the RO indication field and transmits the PRACH on the second-RO, and / or the UE transmits the PRACH on the second-RO, wherein the second-RO is associated with the SSB index indicated by the SSB index field in the PDCCH order, and the cell indication field (if configured) indicates the cell for PRACH transmission.

[0368] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, if at least one of the following conditions is met, the UE uses the first-RO mask index or considers the first-RO mask index to be valid:

[0369] (1) The PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are different;

[0370] (2) The PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are the same, and the first configuration information includes the time-domain offset of the first-RO resource relative to the second-RO resource. Preferably, the time-domain offset is not zero, and the time-domain offset is in units of time units, such as frame offset, subframe offset or slot offset. For example, if the frame number n_f where the second-RO resource is located satisfies n_f mod x=y, then the frame number where the first-RO resource is located satisfies n_f mod x=y' where y'=(y+d_y) mod x, d_y is the time-domain offset of the first-RO resource relative to the second-RO resource, x and y are determined according to the first-PRACH configuration index and / or second-PRACH configuration index;

[0371] (3) The PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are the same, and the first configuration information includes a period scaling (period scaling) of the first-RO resource relative to the second-RO resource. Preferably, the period scaling is not 1. For example, if the frame number n_f where the second-RO resource is located satisfies n_f mod x'=y, then the frame number where the first-RO resource is located satisfies n_f mod x'=y, where x'= x, is the period scaling factor, x and y are determined according to the first-PRACH configuration index and / or second-PRACH configuration index; a scaling of 2 means that the period of the first-RO is twice that of the second-RO, and a scaling of 1 means that the period of the first-RO is the same as that of the second-RO;

[0372] (3) The PRACH periods corresponding to the PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are different, that is, the PRACH periods indicated by the first-PRACH configuration index and the second-PRACH configuration index are different, for example, the PRACH configuration indicated by the first-PRACH configuration index corresponds to n_f mod x1=y1, and the PRACH configuration indicated by the second-PRACH configuration index corresponds to n_f mod x2=y2, where x1 is different from x2, and / or y1 is different from y2; n_f is the frame number where a RO is located, x2 and y2 are determined according to the second-PRACH configuration index, and x1 and y1 are determined according to the first-PRACH configuration index and / or second-PRACH configuration index;

[0373] (4) The first-RO and the second-RO do not completely overlap or partially overlap or do not overlap in the time domain.

[0374] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, if the CRC of DCI format 1_0 is scrambled by C-RNTI, and the field of "frequency domain resource assignment" is all 1, then the DCI format 1_0 is for the random access procedure initiated by the PDCCH order, and the DCI format 1_0 includes at least one of the following fields:

[0375] * random access preamble index (ra-PreambleIndex)-6 bits;

[0376] * UL / SUL indicator-1 bit. If the value of "random access preamble index" is not all zeros, and the UE is configured with supplementaryUplink (in ServingCellConfig) in the cell, this field indicates on which uplink carrier the PRACH is transmitted; otherwise, the field remains unused.

[0377] * RO (normal RO, non-additional RO, i.e. second-RO) / ARO(additional RO, i.e. first-RO) indicator, which may also be called an RO indication field, is used to indicate on which RO to transmit a PRACH, for example, whether to transmit a PRACH on the first-RO or the second-RO. Optionally, if the value of "random access preamble index" is not all zeros, this field indicates on which RO a PRACH is transmitted; otherwise, the field remains unused.

[0378] Optionally, if the UE is configured with the first-RO through a higher-layer parameter related to the first-random access, the number of bits in this field is 1; otherwise it is 0 bit.

[0379] Optionally, the RO / ARO indicator is used to indicate whether the PRACH transmission is on the first-RO or the second-RO (for example, a normal RO or a non-additional RO or a default RO). One possible embodiment is that when the indication field is "1", it indicates that the PRACH transmission is on the first-RO, and when the indication field is "0", it indicates that the PRACH transmission is on the second-RO;

[0380] Optionally, the RO / ARO indicator is used to indicate whether the PRACH transmission is on the first-RO. One possible embodiment is that when the indication field is "1", it indicates that the PRACH transmission is on the first-RO, and when the indication field is "0", it indicates that the PRACH transmission is not on the first-RO (for example, the UE may consider that the PRACH transmission is on the second-RO or other available ROs in this case);

[0381] * a first-RO activation indicator, if the value of "random access preamble index" is not all zero, this field is used to indicate that the first-RO subset (if configured by a higher layer parameter) is activated or deactivated; otherwise, the field remains unused. For details, please see the 1-bit indication field included in the first-DCI mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

[0382] Optionally, if the UE is configured with the first-RO through the higher-layer parameter related to the first-random access, the number of bits in this field is 1; otherwise it is 0 bit.

[0383] * SSB index-6 bits. If the value of "random access preamble index" is not all zeros, this field indicates the SSB used to determine the PRACH occasion; otherwise, the field remains unused.

[0384] * PRACH mask index-4 bits. If the value of "random access preamble index" is not all zeros, this field indicates the PRACH occasion associated with the SSB indicated by the "SSB index" field; otherwise, the field remains unused.

[0385] * Cell indicator-used to indicate the cell for PRACH transmission. If the UE is configured with this field through the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSync-Config, the number of bits is C (the number of cells configured by the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig); otherwise it is 0 bit. The bit field index 0 is mapped to the serving cell, and the remaining bit field indexes are mapped to the candidate cells according to the ascending order of the candidate cell identifiers configured by ltm-CandidateId.

[0386] * PRACH association indicator-0 or 1 bit

[0387] ** If the UE is configured with tag-Id2, and it is not configured with coresetPoolIndex or a coresetPoolIndex of value 0 is configured for the first CORESET, and a coresetPoolIndex of value 1 is configured for the second CORESET, then this field is 1 bit.

[0388] *** If the UE is provided with SSB-MTC-AdditionalPCI, this field indicates the PCI associated with the PRACH transmission. The bit field index 0 is mapped to the PCI of the serving cell, and the bit field index 1 is mapped to the active additional PCI.

[0389] *** If the UE is not provided with SSB-MTC-AdditionalPCI, this field indicates the PL-RS associated with the PRACH transmission. The bit field index 0 is mapped to the downlink RS which is quasi-co-located with the DM-RS of the PDCCH order, and the bit field index 1 is mapped to the SSB indicated by the SSB index field in the DCI format.

[0390] ** Otherwise, the field is 0 bit.

[0391] * PRACH retransmission indicator-0 or 1 bit

[0392] ** If the UE is configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig, this field is 1 bit, indicating the initial transmission or retransmission of a PRACH, if the "Cell Indicator" field indicates a candidate cell; if the indicated cell is a serving cell but not a candidate cell, this field reamains unused.

[0393] ** Otherwise, the field is 0 bit.

[0394] * Reserved bits,

[0395] ** If the DCI format 1_0 for random access procedure initiated by a PDCCH order includes an RO / ARO indicator or a first-RO activation indicator; alternatively, if the UE is configured with the first-RO through a higher-layer parameter related to the first-random access, and the DCI format 1_0 for the random access procedure initiated by the PDCCH order includes the RO / ARO indicator or the first-RO activation indicator, the number of reserved bits is determined according to the following rules:

[0396] *** 11 bits: applicable to cells with shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or for cells monitoring DCI format in common search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is not configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0397] *** bits: applicable to cells with shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or for cells monitoring DCI format in common search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0398] *** bits: applicable to cells without shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or to cells in frequency range 2-1, or to cells monitoring DCI format in UE-specific search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0399] *** 9 bits: Other cases.

[0400] ** If DCI format 1_0 for random access procedure initiated by a PDCCH order includes an RO / ARO indicator and a first-RO activation indicator, or if the UE is configured with the first-RO through a higher-layer parameter related to the first-random access and DCI format 1_0 for random access procedure initiated by a PDCCH order includes an RO / ARO indicator and a first-RO activation indicator, the number of reserved bits is determined according to the following rules:

[0401] *** 10 bits: it is suitable for applicable to cells with shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or cells monitoring DCI format in common search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is not configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0402] *** 9- bits: applicable to cells with shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or cells monitoring DCI format in common search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0403] *** 7- bits: applicable to cells without shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or to cells in frequency range 2-1, or to cells monitoring DCI format in UE-specific search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0404] *** 8 bits: Other cases.

[0405] ** If the UE is not provided with the higher-layer parameter related to the first-random access, the number of reserved bits is determined according to the following rules:

[0406] *** 12 bits: applicable to cells with shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or cells monitoring DCI format in common search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is not configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0407] *** 11- bits: applicable to cells with shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or cells monitoring DCI format in common search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0408] *** 9- bits: applicable to cells without shared spectrum access in frequency range 1, or to cells in frequency range 2-1, or to cells monitoring DCI format in UE-specific search space in frequency range 2-2, and the UE is configured with the higher-layer parameter EarlyUlSyncConfig.

[0409] *** 10 bits: Other cases.

[0410] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE determines the PRACH configuration or PRACH configuration index of the first-ROs according to the PRACH configuration or PRACH configuration index corresponding to the second-ROs (i.e., the higher-layer parameter prach-ConfigurationIndex). Here, in order to distinguish the PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-ROs and the second-ROs, the PRACH configuration index corresponding to configuring the first-RO is expressed as the first-PRACH configuration index, and the PRACH configuration index corresponding to configuring the second-RO is expressed as the second-PRACH configuration index, wherein the first / second-PRACH configuration index is used to configure the available set of PRACH occasions that may be used to transmit the random access preamble of Msg1, that is, the available first-RO set / second-RO set.

[0411] In some embodiments, the UE determines the second-PRACH configuration information according to the second-PRACH configuration index, determines the first-PRACH configuration information according to the first-PRACH configuration index and the second-PRACH configuration index,

[0412] Optionally, the first-PRACH configuration information and the second-PRACH configuration information include the same preamble format configuration;

[0413] Wherein the second-PRACH configuration index indicates one configuration in a PRACH configuration set or table, such as PRACH configuration corresponding to a specified row of configuration information in the PRACH configuration table, wherein the PRACH configuration set or table includes multiple different PRACH configurations (for example, 256 PRACH configurations), and each or every or per PRACH configuration includes configuration information related to the random access preamble format;

[0414] The first-PRACH configuration index corresponds to a configuration subset (referred to as PRACH configuration subset) in a PRACH configuration set or table, for example, the PRACH configuration corresponding to one or more rows of configuration information in the PRACH configuration table. Specifically, the first-PRACH configuration index indicates a configuration after PRACH configurations included in the PRACH configuration subset are re-indexed according to the indexing method for the first-PRACH configuration, wherein all PRACH configurations included in the PRACH configuration subset correspond to the same preamble format configuration. Optionally, the number of all PRACH configurations included in the PRACH configuration subset does not exceed 32, that is, the configuration of the first-ROs may be determined by the indication information of no greater than, or less than or equal to 5 bits.

[0415] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the indexing method for the first-PRACH configuration is that the PRACH configurations in the PRACH configuration subset are indexed consecutively from 0 according to the ascending order of the second-PRACH configuration index, wherein the PRACH configuration indicated by the first-PRACH configuration index 0 in the PRACH configuration subset corresponds to the PRACH configuration corresponding to the smallest second-PRACH configuration index in the PRACH configuration subset.

[0416] As an example, if the UE determines that the random access preamble format is 3 according to the second-PRACH configuration information indicated by the second-PRACH configuration index (for example, an 8-bit PRACH configuration index), the PRACH configuration subset corresponding to the first-PRACH configuration index includes all PRACH configurations with the random access preamble format of 3, for example, the 27 PRACH configurations indicated by the second-PRACH configuration indexes 40 to 66 (i.e., {40,41,42, ..., 66}), according to the first-PRACH indexing method, the PRACH configurations in this PRACH configuration subset are indexed consecutively from 0 according to the ascending order of the second-PRACH configuration index, then the first-PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to this PRACH configuration subset is {0,1,2, ..., 26}. The PRACH configuration corresponding to the first-PRACH configuration index 0 corresponds to the PRACH configuration corresponding to the second-PRACH configuration index 40, and the PRACH configuration corresponding to the first-PRACH configuration index 26 corresponds to the PRACH configuration corresponding to the second-PRACH configuration index 66.

[0417] The advantages of determining the first-PRACH configuration according to the above-mentioned PRACH configuration subset are that the number of bits required to indicate the first-PRACH configuration may be reduced, and the first-RO resources may be configured with fewer bits, which is helpful to simplify the random access configuration of the system and reduce the signaling overhead. For example, no more than, or less than or equal to 5 bits may be used to indicate a PRACH configuration in a PRACH configuration subset (corresponding to the first-PRACH configuration information), which saves at least 3 bits of signaling overhead compared with 8 bits.

[0418] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE determines whether the first-RO resource is configured or whether the PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the configured first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are the same according to a higher-layer configuration parameter, such as the first configuration information.

[0419] In some embodiments, if the configuration information of the first-RO resource is not included in the first configuration information, for example, the first-PRACH configuration index is not configured, the UE considers that the first-RO resource is not configured; otherwise, the UE considers that the first-RO resource is configured.

[0420] In some embodiments, the UE determines whether the first-RO resource is configured according to an indication on whether the first-RO resource is configured included in the first configuration information. For example, one of two cases is indicated by 1 bit, where case 1 is that the first-RO resource is configured and case 2 is that the first-RO resource is not configured.

[0421] In some embodiments, the UE determines whether the PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are the same according to an indication included in the first configuration information. For example, one of the following cases is indicated by 1 bit:

[0422] (1) The PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are the same;

[0423] (2) The PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are different.

[0424] In some embodiments, the UE determines whether the first-RO resource is configured, and / or whether the PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the configured first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are the same, according to an indication included in the first configuration information, for example, indicating by greater than 1 bit, for example, 2 bits indicates one of the following cases:

[0425] (1) the first-RO resource is not configured;

[0426] (2) the first-RO resource is configured and the PRACH configuration index of the first-RO resource is different from that of the second-RO resource;

[0427] (3) the first-RO resource is configured and the PRACH configuration index of the first-RO resource is the same as that of the second-RO resource;

[0428] (4) The first-RO resource is configured and the PRACH configuration index of the first-RO resource is the same as the PRACH configuration index of the second-RO resource, but at least one of the following PRACH-related configurations is different: the random access preamble format, the random access configuration period (also called the first-random access period), the number and location of random access frames in the random access configuration period, indexes of subframes or slots in a random access frame, start symbol location of a random access preamble in a subframe or slot, the number of random access slots in a random access subframe, the number of ROs in a random access slot, the number of OFDM symbols occupied in a RO, etc.).

[0429] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, if the PRACH configuration indexes corresponding to the first-RO resource and the second-RO resource are the same, that is, the first-PRACH configuration index and the second-PRACH configuration index are the same, the UE determines the first-RO resource using the PRACH configuration indicated by the second-PRACH configuration index and ignores the first-PRACH configuration index (if configured); otherwise, the UE determines the first-RO resource using the PRACH configuration indicated by the first-PRACH configuration index.

[0430] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE monitors one or more first-occasions in a first-period to receive the first-downlink control information, and initiates a random access procedure on the first-RO resource.

[0431] Wherein, the first-period may be configured by system information and may include one or more first-radio frames, and a first-radio frame may include one or more first-occasions; optionally, the first-radio frame may include one or more first-occasions or start points of the first-occasions. For example, the first-period may be a period dedicated to monitoring the first-DCI, or a period related to monitoring of paging-related control information or other control information or a period related to DRX (where the monitoring occasions of the first-DCI are configured within this period). For example, the first-radio frame may be a radio frame dedicated to monitoring the first-DCI, or may also be a radio frame related to monitoring of paging-related control information or other control information. For example, the first-occasion may be an occasion dedicated to monitoring of the first-DCI, or may also be an occasion related to monitoring of paging-related control information or other control information.

[0432] Note that the first-period referred to in the present invention may also be written as a first cycle;

[0433] Optionally, the above-mentioned first-period may be at least one of the following or may have the same configuration as at least one of the following: a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle, a paging cycle, a dedicated period preconfigured in system information (such as SIB1) for monitoring the first-downlink control information, and a modification period.

[0434] Optionally, the time duration of the first-period may be a multiple of a time duration corresponding to at least one of: a DRX cycle, an eDRX cycle, a paging cycle, and a modification period.

[0435] Optionally, the above-mentioned first-occasion may be a paging occasion (PO), or an occasion dedicated to transmitting the first-downlink control information. For example, the UE may monitor the PDCCH carrying the first-downlink control information on the first-occasion.

[0436] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-occasion is a set of consecutive S*X PDCCH monitoring occasions (MOs), which may include multiple time units (such as subframes or OFDM symbols), and the UE may monitor the first-downlink control information in the PDCCH monitoring occasions, where S is the number of actually transmitted SSBs determined according to ssb-PositionsInBurst in the system information configuration, X is nrofPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionPerSSB-InPO configured in the system information, otherwise is equal to 1. The [x*S + K]-th PDCCH monitoring occasion in the first-occasion corresponds to the K-th transmitted SSB, where x = 0, 1,..., X-1, K = 1, 2,..., S. The PDCCH monitoring occasions for transmitting the first-downlink control information not overlapping with the uplink symbol (determined according to tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon) are indexed consecutively from zero from the first PDCCH monitoring occasion in the first-radio frame.

[0437] When firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO in the system information exists, the start PDCCH monitoring occasion number of the (i_s+1)-th first-occasion is the (i_s+1) value of the firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO parameter; otherwise, it is equal to i_s*S*X.

[0438] Optionally, if X > 1, when the UE detects PDCCH transmission according to the P-RNTI in the first-occasion for it, the UE does not need to monitor subsequent PDCCH monitoring occasions in the first-occasion.

[0439] Optionally, in multi-beam operation, the UE assumes that the same first-downlink control information is repeated in all transmitted beams, so the selection of the beam to receive the first-downlink control information depends on the UE implementation.

[0440] Optionally, if the UE has obtained the system information including the configuration of the first-RO resource but has not received the associated availability indication information obtained according to the first-downlink control information, the UE considers the configured first-RO resource as unavailable.

[0441] Optionally, if the configuration information related to the first-RO in the system information has been changed, the UE considers its configured first-RO as unavailable until receiving an associated availability indication included in the first-downlink control information.

[0442] Optionally, for idle / inactive UEs, if the first-RO resource is configured, the UE considers that the availability indication of the first-RO resource based on the first-downlink control information, such as the availability indication included in the first-downlink control information, is always enabled according to the configuration.

[0443] Optionally, when the information on activation related to the first-RO resource is updated, that is, when the activated RO of the first-ROs changes, the UE may obtain the indication information of the activation of the first-RO through the first-downlink control information transmitted by the base station.

[0444] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE may receive multiple PDCCHs in a first-period, and the PDCCHs provide the first-downlink control information.

[0445] Wherein, the first-downlink control information indicates that the first-RO resource is available or is activated in a certain number of frames, and the certain number of frames may be called a validity duration of the first-RO resource, and the validity duration may be configured by higher-layer RRC signaling, or determined according to second indication in the first-downlink control information, and the duration may be one frame or multiple frames. In an implementation, the UE may also receive information indicating a multiple of a series of frames, so that the UE may use the multiple of a series of frames and the number of frames corresponding to a certain number of frames indicated in the first-downlink control information to determine the validity duration, or called an activation duration.

[0446] Wherein the time when receiving the last PDCCH among the multiple PDCCHs is smaller than the time when receiving the multiple of a series of frames.

[0447] For example, the UE receives two PDCCHs at times t1 and t2 respectively in a first-period, such as the first and second PDCCHs, and the first-downlink control information carried by the two PDCCHs indicates that the first-RO resource is available in 2 frames. In addition, the UE also receives information about the multiple of the validity duration at time t3. For example, according to the information, time duration of the validity duration indicates a multiple of 4, then the first-RO resource is available in 2*4 = 8 frames, wherein the time t2 when receiving the second PDCCH is smaller than the time t3 when receiving the multiple of a series of frames.

[0448] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the first-occasion associated with the first-radio frame may start in the first-radio frame or after the first-radio frame. The PDCCH monitoring occasions included in the first-occasion may span multiple radio frames. When the search space associated with the first-occasion is configured as a non-zero SearchSpaceId, the PDCCH monitoring occasions in the first-occasion may span multiple periods of the search space associated with the first-occasion.

[0449] In an implementation, the UE monitors one or more first-occasions per or in each or every first-period for receiving the first-downlink control information;

[0450] Alternatively, the UE monitors one or more first-occasions in specific first-period(s) or in specific first-radio frame(s) for receiving the first-downlink control information. The UE does not monitor one or more first-occasions other than in the specific first-period(s) or specific first-radio frame(s) for receiving the first-downlink control information.

[0451] The specific first-period may be determined based on first information indicating part of first-periods among the first-periods, or the specific first-radio frame may be determined based on third indication information of part of the first-radio frames. For example, the first information may include a first parameter x2 and a second parameter y2, and the third indication information may include a third parameter x1 and a fourth parameter y1, or include information related to a radio frame offset, or include information related to indexes of the part of the first-radio frames (for example, as described in conjunction with FIG. 9, the third indication information may indicate the n-th first-radio frame or multiple first-radio frames).

[0452] For example, the SFN of the first-radio frame included in the specific first-period or of the specific first-radio frame satisfies the formula: [floor (SFN / T)] mod x1 = y1, where SFN is the frame number of the first-radio frame, T is the first-period, in units of radio frames, x1 and y1 may be obtained through higher-layer RRC signaling or downlink control information or PDCCH, and the values of x1 and y1 are integers greater than or equal to 0.

[0453] As an example, FIG. 5 illustrates that the first-downlink control information is transmitted not in all first-radio frames, but only in the first-radio frames corresponding to SFNs 32 and 48 as shown in FIG. 5, the first downlink control information is transmitted, and the UE needs to monitor the first-downlink control information in the first-radio frames during the first-period corresponding to the group of radio frames corresponding to SFNs 32 and 48. Wherein, x1 and y1 are 2 and 1 respectively, the first-period is 32 frames, the radio frame offset is 0, and the first-period includes two first-radio frames, then the SFNs corresponding to all the first-radio frames maybe determined by the formula related to the SFN of the first-radio frame mentioned above, that is, the SFNs of the first-radio frames are 0, 16, 32, 48, 96, 112, etc. According to [floor (SFN / 32)] mod 2 = 1, the SFNs of the first-radio frames that satisfy this formula are 32, 48, while SFNs of 0, 16, 96, 112 do not satisfy, that is, the UE needs to monitor the first-downlink control information in the first-radio frames of SFN = 32, 48, etc., but does not need to monitor the first-downlink control information in the first-radio frames of SFN = 0, 16, 96, 112, etc.

[0454] Alternatively, the index T_index of the above-mentioned specific first-period satisfies T_index mod x2 = y2, where x2 and y2 may be obtained through higher-layer RRC signaling or downlink control information or PDCCH, and the values of x2 and y2 are integers greater than or equal to 0. Optionally, the boundary of the first-period may be determined by the SFN value, and the SFN satisfies SFN mod m_T = 0, where m_T is the number of radio frames constituting the first-period, which may be configured by system information.

[0455] As an example, the first-period with index 0 includes radio frames with SFN of 0, 1,..., m_T-1, and the first-period with index 1 includes radio frames with SFN of m_T, m_T+1,..., 2*m_T-1, that is, the first-period with index k includes radio frames with SFN of k*m_T, k*m_T+1,..., (k+1)*m_T-1.

[0456] In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the SFN of the above-mentioned first-radio frame may be determined based on receiving configuration information related to the first-downlink control information (for example, referred to as second configuration information), where the configuration information includes at least one of:

[0457] (1) information related to the first-period (T);

[0458] the first-period includes one or more radio frames, and the UE monitors the first-DCI during the first-period;

[0459] (2) information related to a radio frame offset and information related to a period, including a radio frame offset (F_offset) and a first-period (T);

[0460] (3) the number of first-occasions (Ns) in a first-radio frame;

[0461] (4) a total number of first-radio frames (N) in a first-period, e.g., a DRX cycle in RRC IDLE state;

[0462] In an implementation, the SFN of the first-radio frame is determined by (SFN + F_offset) mod T = (T div N)*(UE_ID mod N), where F_offset is a radio frame offset, T is the first-period, N is the total number of first-radio frames in a first-period, and UE_ID is a temporary identifier assigned to the UE by the core network for connecting to the network, e.g. 5G-S-TMSI.

[0463] In an implementation, the index of the first-occasion (i_s) is determined by the following formula: i_s = floor (UE_ID / N) mod Ns, where N is the total number of first-radio frames in a first-period, Ns is the number of first-occasions in a first-radio frame, and UE_ID is a temporary identifier allocated to the UE by the core network for connecting to the network, e.g. 5G-S-TMSI.

[0464] Optionally, the first-period T in the formula provided in the above implementation is determined by the UE-specific first-period configured by the RRC (if configured), the UE-specific first-period configured by the upper layer (if configured), and the default first-period broadcast in the system information.

[0465] Optionally, the first-period T in the formula provided in the above implementation is determined by the shortest value among the UE-specific first-period and the default first-period broadcast in the system information.

[0466] Description related to the content of the first-downlink control information

[0467] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-downlink control information includes information related to the activation of the first-random access resource, such as a first indication, which is used to indicate that all or part of the first-RO resource is activated or deactivated, which may specifically include but be not limited to at least one of:

[0468] (1) a 1-bit indication field for indicating that the preconfigured first-RO is activated, the field may be 1-bit indication information.

[0469] A possible implementation is that 1 represents that the first-RO is activated, and 0 represents that the first-RO is not activated or unavailable; another possible implementation is that 1 represents that the first-RO is activated, and 0 represents that the activation state of the first-RO remains unchanged. For example, before receiving the first-downlink control information, the state of the first-RO is the activated state, then after receiving the first-downlink control information, if the indication information on the first-RO being activated is 0, it means that the first-RO remains activated. If the indication information on the first-RO being activated is 1, it means that the first-RO is in activated state, that is, it remains in the activated state; another possible implementation is that 1 represents that the activation state of the first-RO has changed, and 0 represents that the activation state of the first-RO remains unchanged. For example, before receiving the first-downlink control information, the state of the first-RO is the activation state, then after receiving the first-downlink control information, if the indication information on the first-RO being activated is 1, it means that the first-RO is in a non-activated or unavailable state; if the indication information on the first-RO being activated is 0, indicating that the first-RO maintains an activated state;

[0470] (2) information related to PRACH configuration corresponding to the activated one or more first-RO resources respectively;

[0471] For example, the first indication indicates an index number of configuration of one or more first-RO resources, and the indicated index number corresponds to the configuration of the one or more first-RO resources, and the first-RO resource determined according to the configuration of the one or more first-RO resources is activated. Wherein, each or every or per configuration of first-RO resource corresponds to an information element (IE) used to configure PRACH resources, and each or every or per configuration of first-RO resource is configured or associated with a corresponding index number.

[0472] (3) bitmap information for indicating whether multiple first-RO resources are activated, respectively;

[0473] The first indication indicates information on whether one or more first-RO resources are activated respectively through bitmap information, each or every or per information bit in the bitmap corresponds to one preconfigured first-RO resource, each or every or per configuration of first-RO resource corresponds to an information element (IE) for configuring the PRACH resource, and each or every or per configuration of first-RO resource is configured or associated with one bit in the bitmap information.

[0474] (4) indication information of a PRACH resource index related to an SSB index;

[0475] For example, a PRACH mask index, the PRACH mask index indicates the first-random access resource associated with one or more SSB indexes. For example, the PRACH mask index may be used to indicate that all first-random access resources are available; or, the even-numbered first-random access resource is available; or, odd-numbered first-random access resources are available; the first-random access resource with index x is available (the range of index x_p is determined based on the frequency index range of the first-random access resource, for example, it may be 0 ~ Mf-1, where Mf is the frequency division multiplexing (FDM) for the first-random access, or, the range of the index x_p is determined based on the number of first-random access resources in a radio frame, for example, if there are Mt first-ROs in a radio frame, the range of the index may be 0 ~ Mt-1);

[0476] (5) an index of a period of the mapping of SSB and first-random access resource for activation;

[0477] The information may indicate the first-random access resource within a certain time period range, such as an index of a mapping cycle of SSB-first-RO or a mapping period of SSB-first-RO, etc., used to indicate one or more mapping periods of SSB-first-RO, and the first-random access resource included in the mapping period is activated or deactivated. For example, the index 0 or 1 may indicate that the first-random access resource within the first mapping period of SSB-first-RO is activated or deactivated; or indicate that the first-random access resource within the current or next mapping period is activated or deactivated;

[0478] (6) a PRACH association period index;

[0479] The information may also indicate the first-random access resource within a certain time period range, e.g., indicating one or more PRACH association periods (SSB-first type RO association period index), the first-random access resources included in the association periods are activated or deactivated, e.g., index 0 or 1 may indicate that the first-random access resource within the first one of PRACH association periods is activated or deactivated; or indicate that the first-random access resource in the current or next association period is activated or deactivated;

[0480] (7) PRACH association pattern period index;

[0481] The information may also indicate the first-random access resource within a certain time period range, e.g. indicating one or more PRACH association pattern periods (SSB-first type RO association pattern periods), the first-random access resources included in the association pattern periods are activated or deactivated, e.g. index 0 or 1 may indicate that the first-random access resource within the first-PRACH association pattern period is activated or deactivated; or indicate that the first-random access resource in the current or next associated pattern period is activated or deactivated;

[0482] (8) a time unit index.

[0483] The information may also indicate the first-random access resource within a certain time period range.

[0484] Optionally, the time unit index may indicate a system frame number (SFN, also referred to as a radio frame number) of the activated first-random access resource, which is used to indicate one or more radio frames, the first-random access resource included in the radio frame is activated or deactivated. For example, SFN 0 may indicate that the first-random access resource in the first one of radio frames is activated or deactivated.

[0485] Optionally, the time unit index may indicate a slot index of the activated first-random access resource, which is used to indicate one or more slots, the first-random access resource included in the slot is activated or deactivated.

[0486] Optionally, the time unit index may indicate the symbol index of the activated first-random access resource, which is used to indicate one or more symbols, the first-random access resource included in the symbol is activated or deactivated.

[0487] (9) a frequency unit index;

[0488] The information may indicate the first-random access resource within a certain frequency domain range. For example, the frequency unit index may indicate a BWP index, a subcarrier index, a PRB index, a sub-band index (e.g., a band is divided into multiple sub-bands, each or every or per sub-band corresponds to a sub-band index), an index of a frequency domain RO (e.g., 4 frequency domain ROs are configured, corresponding to frequency domain indexes 0, 1, 2, 3 respectively), etc. of the activated first-random access resource, which is used to indicate that the corresponding first-random access resource is activated or deactivated.

[0489] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-downlink control information also includes information related to a validity duration of the activated first-RO resource, such as a second indication, which is used to indicate the time duration of validity (or validity duration for short) of the first-RO resource., the unit of the validity duration may be one or more first-periods or a radio frame or a multiple of a radio frame. Optionally, the first-period may be a default paging cycle.

[0490] Optionally, when the second indication is absent, the UE assumes that the default validity duration is two first-periods or one modification period mentioned-above.

[0491] Optionally, the second indication is valid only when the UE is configured with the first-RO resource or receives a valid system message including the first-RO resource configuration information.

[0492] In an implementation, the second indication provides / indicates a multiple, the unit of the multiple is the number of frames that the first-period lasts, and the multiple may be, for example, an integer of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. For example, when the number of frames included in the first-period is 32 frames, if the multiple indicated by the second indication is 1, the time duration of the validity duration of the first-RO resource is the number of frames included in 1 first-period, that is, 32 frames.

[0493] Optionally, the second indication may also be considered to activate a timer, and before the timer expires, the first-RO for the second indication is considered to be an activated RO, and the time duration of the timer may be the number of frames included in one or more first-periods.

[0494] The beneficial effect of the second indication is that a UE-specific first-RO validity duration may be indicated for one or more UEs monitoring the same or different first-occasions, and for UEs receiving the first-downlink control information at different first-occasions, different first-RO validity durations may be indicated through the first-downlink control information, which is beneficial to the base station to flexibly control different random access requirements for different UEs, indicate random access resources with different validity durations, meet the needs of different UEs for random access delay, and help to energy saving of the network.

[0495] In an implementation, the first-DCI may further include information indicating a UE group, wherein multiple UEs included in the UE group have the same first ID or type-related information, and the first ID may be a TMSI or a UE-specific ID configured by higher-layer RRC signaling or a specific ID related to UE type information. Optionally, the first ID may be determined according to the service supported by the UE or the type of UE. For example, for a UE with high random access delay requirements, such as a UE that supports URLLC services, it may be assigned to a first ID group; for a UE with low random access delay requirements, such as a UE that does not support URLLC services, an IOT type UE, it may be assigned to an second ID group. All UEs belonging to the first ID group correspond to the same first-radio frames or first-occasions, all UEs belonging to the second ID group correspond to new first-radio frames or new second occasions. The UEs belonging to the first ID group may receive the first-downlink control information in the first-radio frames or first-occasions, and time duration of the validity duration of the first-RO resource indicated by the first-downlink control information is longer than time duration of the validity duration of the first-RO resource indicated by the first-downlink control information received by the UEs belonging to the second ID group in the new first-radio frames or new second occasions. Through this implementation, the base station may indicate the corresponding random access resource validity duration for UEs with the same or similar random access requirements, meeting the random access requirements of different UE types or UE services, on the premise of not affecting the random access performance of the UE, the energy consumption of the base station for detecting PRACH is reduced, which helps to achieve network energy saving.

[0496] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-downlink control information also includes a fourth indication, which is used to indicate to the UE the configuration related to the first-period, that is, the fourth indication may indicate whether the value of the first-period T in the above formula is determined based on the configuration related to the UE-specific first-period, or based on the configuration related to the cell-specific first-period. For example, the UE is configured with a cell-specific first-period T_cell and a UE-specific first-period T_ue, where T_cell may be greater than T_ue. According to the fourth indication, the UE determines that the UE needs to use the configuration related to the UE-specific first-period, then the value of the first-period T1 in the above formula is T_ue, that is, T1 = T_ue.

[0497] The method of carrying the first-downlink control information

[0498] (1) The first-downlink control information is scrambled by a dedicated predetermined RNTI (Radio Network Temporary Identity);

[0499] The first-downlink control information may be scrambled by a dedicated RNTI, the dedicated RNTI may be a predetermined or preconfigured RNTI value used to transmit the first-downlink control information, and the DCI carried by the PDCCH may use the existing DCI format (such as DCI format 1_0, DCI format 2_7), or a newly defined DCI format.

[0500] For example, DCI format 1_0 scrambled by C-RNTI, such as a PDCCH order;

[0501] (2) The first-downlink control information is scrambled by SI-RNTI (System Information-RNTI, System Information Radio Network Temporary Identifier), for example, based on PDCCH transmission used to schedule system information PDSCH;

[0502] The first indication may be indicated by the first-downlink control information scrambled by the SI-RNTI, such as carried by the scheduling PDCCH of the system information. For example, the first indication may be indicated by a reserved bit or a reserved state value in the scheduling PDCCH of the system information.

[0503] (3) The first-downlink control information is scrambled by RA-RNTI (random access-RNTI, random access radio network temporary identifier), for example, based on PDCCH transmission used to schedule random access response (RAR) PDSCH;

[0504] The first indication may be indicated by the first-downlink control information scrambled by the RA-RNTI, such as carried by the scheduling PDCCH of the RAR. For example, the first indication may be indicated by a reserved bit or a reserved state value in the downlink control information for the RAR scheduling. The benefit of carrying the information related to activation of the first-random access resource through the first-downlink control information scrambled by RA-RNTI is that the network may transmit the information on the activation of the first-RO resource to the UE flexibly and with low delay, so that the UE may select the activated first-random access resource and / or the second-random access resource to perform random access, enhancing the performance of random access of the UE.

[0505] For example, after initiating a random access procedure by selecting the second-random access resource, the UE starts to detect the RAR. If the UE receives the first indication based on the RA-RNTI before detecting the RAR, where the first indication may indicate that the first-RO resource is activated, then the UE stops detecting the RAR or does not detect the RAR (if the UE has not started detecting the RAR), the UE may select a RO in the activated first-RO resource or the ROs in the union of the activated first-RO resource and the second-random access resource to reinitiate the random access procedure.

[0506] For another example, after initiating a random access procedure by selecting the second-random access resource, the UE starts to detect the RAR. If the UE receives a first indication based on the RA-RNTI before detecting the RAR, where the first indication may indicate that the first-RO resource is activated, if the UE does not detect the RAR within the RAR detection window, the UE may select a RO in the activated first-RO resource or the ROs in the union of the activated first-RO resource and the second-random access resource to reinitiate the random access procedure.

[0507] For another example, after initiating a random access procedure by selecting the first-random access resource, the UE starts to detect the RAR. If the UE receives a first indication based on the RA-RNTI before detecting the RAR, where the first indication may indicate that the first-RO resource is deactivated, if the UE does not detect the RAR within the RAR detection window, the UE may select the second-random access resource to re-initiate the random access procedure; alternatively, the first indication may indicate that the first-RO resource is partially deactivated, and if the UE does not detect the RAR within the RAR detection window, the UE may select an RO in the union of the second-random access resource and the partially activated first-random access resource to re-initiate the random access procedure.

[0508] (4) The first-downlink control information is scrambled by P-RNTI (Paging-RNTI, paging radio network temporary identifier), for example, based on PDCCH transmission used to schedule paging message PDSCH;

[0509] The first indication may be indicated by the first-downlink control information scrambled by the P-RNTI, such as by the scheduling PDCCH of the paging message. For example, the first indication may be indicated by a reserved bit or reserved state value in the scheduling PDCCH of the paging message.

[0510] For example, the first-downlink control information may be in DCI format 1_0 scrambled by P-RNTI. Optionally, the first indication may indicate the first indication according to a reserved bit or a reserved state value in a short message of DCI format 1_0.

[0511] Using the DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI to determine whether the first-RO resource is activated may be used to support the adaptation mechanism of the first-RO resource for both idle and connected UEs, which may simplify the dynamic control of the random access resource and improve the signaling efficiency by using the same signaling for both scenarios; and, because the UE will always receive DCI format 1_0, it will not cause additional wake-up of the UE.

[0512] Optionally, information related to activation of the first-random access resource, such as the first indication, may also be carried through MAC layer signaling. In an implementation, the MAC layer signaling used to carry the first indication may include but is not limited to at least one of:

[0513] (1) MAC subheader included in MAC PDU (Protocol Data Unit) used to carry RAR;

[0514] For example, the first indication may be carried by adding a dedicated MAC subheader in the RAR PDU. For example, newly defining a MAC subheader to indicate the first indication, and the MAC subheader is included in the RAR PDU and carried through the RAR PDSCH.

[0515] (2) MAC RAR;

[0516] For example, the first indication may be indicated through MAC RAR, for example, a predetermined or preconfigured PRACH preamble is used to request activation of PRACH resources, and the RAR corresponding to this PRACH preamble is used to carry the first indication, for example, by redefining the information content in the existing RAR to carry the first indication.

[0517] For example, the UE may use the second-random access resource to perform random access, and the network side may determine whether to activate the first-random access resource based on the current network load condition. If it is determined to activate the first-random access resource, the network may transmit information related to activation of the first-random access resource to the UE through the RAR or the PDCCH or DCI that schedules the RAR, so that the UE is enabled to select the activated first-random access resource and / or the second-random access resource to perform random access, thereby enhancing the performance of random access at the UE, and also improve the flexibility at the network side.

[0518] Validity duration of First-RO Resource

[0519] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, step S430 may further include that the UE selects the RO and PRACH preamble from the activated random access resources to initiate the random access procedure within a predetermined validity duration, for example, according to the request of the higher layer to initiate the random access, wherein the validity duration refers to the validity duration of first-RO resource activation, and the first-RO resources outside the validity duration are considered to be the deactivated first-RO resources.

[0520] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the validity duration of the first-RO resource refers to the validity duration during which the first-RO resource is activated, wherein the activated first-RO resource may include only the valid first-RO resource; alternatively, the activated first-RO resource may include the valid first-RO resource and the invalid first-RO resource, wherein the valid first-RO resource refers to the first-RO resource satisfying a first condition, and the invalid first-RO resource refers to the first-RO resource not satisfying the first condition.

[0521] Alternatively, the validity duration of the first-RO resource may also refer to the validity duration of the first-downlink control information.

[0522] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the UE configured with the first-RO resource receives the first-downlink control information, it may consider that the first-RO resource determined based on the first-downlink control information is activated immediately; alternatively, it may consider that the first-RO resource determined based on the first-downlink control information needs to be activated after the start of the validity duration associated with the first-RO resource and remain activated during the validity duration.

[0523] Wherein the activated first-RO resource may include only the valid first-RO resource; alternatively, the activated first-RO resource may include the valid first-RO resource and the invalid first-RO resource, wherein the valid first-RO resource refers to the first-RO resource satisfying the first condition, and the invalid first-RO resource refers to the first-RO resource not satisfying the first condition.

[0524] Specifically, the above validity duration includes but is not limited to at least one of:

[0525] (1) the validity duration comprises a predetermined time duration;

[0526] Wherein, outside the time period, the first-RO resource, which is indicated to be activated by the first indication, is deactivated by default; that is, the validity duration is defined as a predetermined time duration.

[0527] Optionally, the time period may be one or more first-periods, or one or more default paging cycles.

[0528] In an example, the starting of the validity duration is the location that satisfies a first predetermined interval after the UE receives the first-downlink control information, or the starting of the validity duration is the starting of the first available RO after satisfying the first predetermined interval after the UE receives the first-downlink control information, where the first available RO refers to the first available RO among the activated first-RO resource.

[0529] (2) the validity duration includes a first predetermined number of consecutive ROs;

[0530] Wherein the activated first-RO resource indicated by the first indication is deactivated by default after the first predetermined number of consecutive first-ROs;

[0531] Optionally, the first first-RO among the above consecutive first-ROs is the first available RO satisfying a second predetermined interval after the UE receives the first-downlink control information.

[0532] (3) the validity duration includes a second predetermined number of consecutive periods of the first-RO resource;

[0533] Wherein the first-RO resource, which is indicated to be activated by the first indication, is deactivated by default after a second predetermined number of consecutive periods of the first-RO resource;

[0534] In an example, the period of the first-RO resource is 20ms and the second predetermined number is 2, then the time duration of the validity duration is 20ms*2 = 40ms;

[0535] Optionally, the first-RO in the consecutive periods of the first-RO resource is the first available RO after satisfying a third predetermined interval after the UE receiving the first-downlink control information.

[0536] (4) the validity duration includes a third predetermined number of consecutive mapping cycles of SSB-first-RO;

[0537] Wherein the first-RO resource, which is indicated to be activated by the first indication, is deactivated by default after the third predetermined number of consecutive mapping cycles of SSB-first-RO;

[0538] Optionally, the first-RO in the above consecutive mapping cycles of SSB-first-RO is the first available RO after satisfying a fourth predetermined interval after the UE receives the first-downlink control information.

[0539] (5) the validity duration includes a fourth predetermined number of consecutive association periods of SSB-first-RO;

[0540] Wherein, after a fourth predetermined number of consecutive association periods of SSB-first-RO, the first-RO resource indicated to be activated by the first indication is deactivated by default;

[0541] In an example, the association period of SSB-first-RO is 80ms, the fourth predetermined number is 1, then the time duration of the validity duration is 80ms*1 = 80ms;

[0542] Optionally, the first-RO in the above consecutive association periods of SSB-first-RO is the first available RO after satisfying a fifth predetermined interval after the UE receives the first-downlink control information.

[0543] (6) the validity duration includes a fifth predetermined number of consecutive association pattern periods of SSB-first-RO;

[0544] Wherein the first-RO resource, which is indicated to be activated by the first indication, is deactivated by default after the fifth predetermined number of consecutive associated pattern periods of SSB-first-RO;

[0545] In an example, the associated pattern period of SSB-first-RO is 160ms and the fifth predetermined number is 2, then the time duration of the validity duration is 160ms*2 = 320ms;

[0546] Optionally, the first-RO in the above consecutive associated pattern periods of SSB-first-RO is the first available RO after satisfying a sixth predetermined interval after the UE receives the first-downlink control information.

[0547] (7) the validity duration includes a predetermined maximum number of PRACH preamble transmissions;

[0548] Wherein, after the number of times the UE transmits PRACH preambles based on an activated first-RO resource reaches the predetermined maximum number, the PRACH resource set is deactivated by default.

[0549] Optionally, the above validity duration is preconfigured to the UE through higher-layer signaling, such as RRC signaling; alternatively, it is determined by the second indication included in the first-downlink control information, for example, according to the second indication included in the first-downlink control information.

[0550] Optionally, the first predetermined number of consecutive first-ROs included in the validity duration is preconfigured through higher layer signaling, or indicated through the first-downlink control information.

[0551] Optionally, the second predetermined number of consecutive periods of first-RO resource included in the validity duration is preconfigured through higher-layer signaling, or indicated through the first-downlink control information.

[0552] Optionally, the third predetermined number of consecutive mapping cycles of SSB-first-RO included in the validity duration is preconfigured through higher-layer signaling, or indicated through the first-downlink control information.

[0553] Optionally, the fourth predetermined number of consecutive association periods of SSB-first-RO included in the validity duration is preconfigured through higher-layer signaling, or indicated through the first-downlink control information.

[0554] Optionally, the fifth predetermined number of consecutive association pattern periods of SSB-first-RO included in the validity duration is preconfigured through higher-layer signaling, or indicated through the first-downlink control information.

[0555] Optionally, the predetermined maximum number of PRACH preamble transmissions included in the validity duration is preconfigured through higher-layer signaling; alternatively, the predetermined maximum number of PRACH preamble transmissions included in the validity duration is indicated by the first-downlink control information;

[0556] Optionally, the field related to the validity duration in the first-downlink control information is valid only when the UE is configured with the first-RO resource, that is, when the UE is not configured with the first-RO resource, the field related to the validity duration in the first-downlink control information is ignored, wherein the field related to the validity duration includes at least one of: the first predetermined number, the second predetermined number, the third predetermined number, the fourth predetermined number, and the fifth predetermined number.

[0557] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE may randomly select a first-RO from the activated first-RO resources to initiate a random access procedure; alternatively, the UE needs to randomly select a valid first-RO resource among the activated first-RO resources to initiate a random access procedure; alternatively, the UE needs to randomly select a first-RO resource mapped to an SSB index among the activated first-RO resources to initiate a random access procedure.

[0558] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the available first-RO selected by the UE for random access satisfies at least one of the following conditions:

[0559] (1) the first-RO activated according to the first-downlink control information;

[0560] (2) a valid first-RO, i.e., a first-RO satisfying the first condition;

[0561] (3) a first-RO mapped to an SSB index;

[0562] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-RO selected by the UE to initiate random access is related to the time location at which the first-downlink control information is received.

[0563] In an implementation, the time interval between the first symbol of the first-RO selected by the UE and the last symbol for receiving the first-downlink control information is greater than or equal to or not less than a first time interval. The beneficial effect is that the processing time after the UE receives the first-downlink control information is considered, so that the UE may have sufficient time to select a RO to initiate random access after decoding the first-downlink control information.

[0564] In another embodiment, the first-RO selected by the UE is after starting of a validity duration of the first-RO resource. Wherein, when the interval between the starting of the validity duration of the first-RO resource and the last symbol for receiving the above-mentioned first-downlink control information is less than the first time interval, the time interval between the first symbol of the first-RO selected by the UE and the last symbol for receiving the above-mentioned first-downlink control information is greater than or equal to or not less than the first time interval; when the interval between the starting of the validity duration of the first-RO resource and the last symbol for receiving the first-downlink control information is not less than or greater than or equal to the first time interval, the first-RO selected by the UE is the first available first-RO after the starting of the validity duration. By considering the processing time after the UE receives the first-downlink control information, the UE may have sufficient time to select a RO to initiate random access after decoding the first-downlink control information.

[0565] In an implementation, the above-mentioned first time interval may be: N_(T, 2) + T_BWPswitchDelay +┐_Delay milliseconds, where:

[0566] - N_(T, 2) is the time duration of the number of symbols N_2, which is equivalent to the PUSCH preparation time for UE processing capability 1, assuming μ corresponds to the minimum SCS configuration between the SCS configuration of the first-downlink control information and the SCS configuration of the corresponding PRACH transmission;

[0567] - T_BWPswitchDelay = 0, if the active UL BWP has not changed, or if the cell indicator field in the first-downlink control information indicates a non-serving cell, otherwise T_BWPswitchDelay may be equal to a value other than 0;

[0568] - Delay = 0.5 milliseconds (FR1) and _Delay = 0.25 milliseconds (FR2);

[0569] In another implementation, the above-mentioned first time interval may be: N_(T, 2) + T_BWPswitchDelay+ _Delay + T_switch + T_SSB+ _(RF / BB preparation) milliseconds, where:

[0570] - T_switch is the time duration of a switching gap;

[0571] - T_SSB = 0, if the cell indicator field in the first-downlink control information indicates a serving cell or the cell indicator field is absent, otherwise T_SSB may be equal to a value other than 0;

[0572] - _(RF / BB preparation) = 0, if the cell indicator field in the first-downlink control information indicates the serving cell or the cell indicator field is absent, otherwise _(RF / BB preparation) may be equal to a value other than 0;

[0573] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-RO selected by the UE for initiating random access is a valid first-RO, wherein the first-RO resource is determined to be the valid first-RO according to a first condition, the first condition comprising:

[0574] (1) for paired spectrum or supplementatry uplink band, all first-ROs are valid.

[0575] (2) for unpaired spectrum, if the UE is not provided with tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, a first-RO is valid if the first-RO does not precede the SSB in the PRACH slot and starts at least N_gap symbols after a last SSB reception symbol, where N_gap is related to the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the PRACH preamble. If the UE is provided with UE tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, a first-RO in the PRACH slot is valid if

[0576] - the first-RO is within an UL symbol, or

[0577] - the first-RO does not precede an SSB in the PRACH slot and starts at least N_gap symbols after a last downlink symbol, at least N_gap symbols after the last SSB symbol.

[0578] Wherein, the candidate SSB index of the SSB corresponds to the SSB Block index provided by ssb-PositionsInBurst in SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon;

[0579] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-RO selected by the UE for initiating random access is a valid first-RO to which the SSB index may be mapped, for example, an association period starting from frame 0 for mapping the SSB index to the first-RO, is a smallest number among a set of integers determined by a first-random access resource configuration period (which may be determined according to time domain related configuration information of first-ROs in the first configuration information) such that N_Tx ^ SSB SSB indexes are mapped to the first-ROs within an association period at least once, wherein the first-ROs are all valid ROs satisfying the first condition, and the UE may obtain N_Tx ^ SSB from a SSB-PositionsInBurst value in SIB1 or ServingCellConfigCommon. If there exists a set of first-ROs not mapped to N_Tx ^ SSB SSB indexes (referred to herein as third ROs or first-ROs without SSB mapping) or PRACH preambles after an integer number of mapping cycles of SSB indexes to first-ROs during the association period, no SSB index will be mapped to the set of first-ROs or PRACH preambles. An association pattern period includes one or more association periods and is determined to repeat a pattern between a first-RO and an SSB index at most once every 160 milliseconds. If present, the first-RO that is not associated with an SSB index after an integer number of association periods, referred to herein as the fourth RO or the first-RO without SSB mapping, is not used for PRACH transmission.

[0580] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE receives information related to activation of the first-random access resource, such as a first indication, the first indication is used to indicate that the preconfigured first-RO resource is fully activated or partially activated, wherein the UE has received the first configuration information before receiving the first indication, that is, the UE has been preconfigured with the first-RO resource.

[0581] In an implementation, the first-RO resources indicated by the first indication are first-RO resources determined according to the first configuration information, i.e., the first-RO resources may include the first-ROs satisfying a first condition (i.e., valid first-ROs) and the ROs not satisfying the first condition (i.e., invalid first-ROs). In this way, whether the preconfigured first-RO resources are activated may be notified through simple signaling, with small signaling overhead.

[0582] In an implementation, the first-RO resources indicated by the first indication are all valid first-RO resources, i.e. the first-RO resources indicated by the first indication are all first-RO resources satisfying a first condition (i.e. valid first-ROs). In this way, the UE may directly determine the valid first-ROs according to the first indication, avoiding the need to additionally determine the validity of the indicated ROs, and reducing the random access delay of the UE.

[0583] Wherein, the valid first-ROs may be mapped with an SSB index, or not mapped with an SSB index.

[0584] In an implementation, the first-RO resources indicated by the first indication are valid first-ROs to which an SSB index is mapped, i.e., the first-RO resources indicated by the first indication are valid ROs, the first-ROs, and there is an SSB index mapped to the first-ROs. Herein, the valid first-RO refers to a first-RO satisfying a first condition. The beneficial effect of this is that the UE may directly determine the valid first-RO available for random access based on the first indication, avoiding the need to additionally determine the validity of the indicated ROs and reducing the delay of random access by the UE.

[0585] Optionally, the SSB index and the period of the first-RO resources indicated by the first indication may be a combination of at least one or more of:

[0586] (1) one or more first-random access resource periods;

[0587] (2) one or more SSB-first-RO mapping cycles;

[0588] (3) one or more SSB-first-RO association periods;

[0589] (4) one or more SSB-first-RO association pattern periods;

[0590] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the maximum number of PRACH preambles transmitted by the UE according to the activated first-RO resource may be determined according to the validity duration of the first-RO resource. The UE determines the maximum number of times that the PRACH preamble may be transmitted on the activated first-RO resource (that is, the maximum number of random access procedures that may be initiated) based on the validity duration of the activated first-RO resource. For example, the maximum number of times that the PRACH preamble may be transmitted is determined based on the validity duration according to a predetermined formula, and the predetermined formula may be: round (validity duration / a predetermined value), where round (.) is a rounding function, or floor (validity duration / a predetermined value), where floor (.) is a floor function, and the above predetermined value may be a value preconfigured by the base station through a system message and / or indicated through the first-downlink control information.

[0591] Optionally, when the validity duration determined by the UE based on the received first-downlink control information or the PDCCH that transmits the first-downlink control information is greater than the first-period, the UE may receive other first-downlink control information or PDCCH that transmits the first-downlink control information within the validity duration.

[0592] Optionally, the UE expects that at least two or more first-downlink control information will not be received before the above validity duration ends, wherein the multiple first-downlink control information provide availability information of different first-RO resources. That is, the UE expects the availability information of the first-RO resources included in the multiple first-downlink control information received before expiration of the validity duration to be consistent. For example, the first-downlink control information received by the UE at time location 1 provides the information related to activation of first-RO resources (Information 1), and the first-downlink control information received by the UE at time location 2 provides the information related to activation of first-RO resources (Information 2), where Information 1 and Information 2 are the same, and the time difference between the above time location 2 and time location 1 is not greater than or less than the validity duration of the first-RO resources. Alternatively, the first-downlink control information received by the UE at time location 3 provides information related to activation of the first-RO resources (Information 3), and the first-downlink control information received by the UE at time location 4 provides information related to activation of the first-RO resources (Information 4), where Information 3 and Information 4 are different, and the time difference between the above time location 3 and time location 4 is greater than or not less than the validity duration of the first-RO resources.

[0593] Starting of validity duration

[0594] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the starting of the validity duration of the activated first-RO resources may be determined by at least one of the following implementations.

[0595] In an implementation, the starting of the validity duration of the activated first-RO resources may be determined by a reference point, wherein the location of the reference point may include at least one of:

[0596] (1) end of the current first-period where the UE receives the first-downlink control information (the end of the last radio frame in the first-period (including 32 radio frames) shown in FIG. 6, for example, the first time location as shown in the figure);

[0597] Note: the above-mentioned end of the current first-period where the UE receives the first-downlink control information may also be considered as the starting of the next first-period.

[0598] Note: the last radio frame mentioned above may be the first-radio frame or the non-first-radio frame.

[0599] Wherein, the end of the first-period may refer to the start or end of the last radio frame in the current first-period in which the first-downlink control information is received.

[0600] In an implementation, the SFN of the last radio frame satisfies the formula: SFN mod T = T-1, where T is the first-period.

[0601] In another implementation, the SFN of the last radio frame satisfies the formula: (SFN + 1) mod T = 0, where T is the first-period.

[0602] Optionally, the end of the first-period may also refer to the start or end of the k-th last radio frame in the current first-period in which the first-downlink control information is received.

[0603] In an implementation, the SFN of the k-th last radio frame in the first-period satisfies the formula: SFN mod T = T-k, where T is the first-period, k = 1, 2,..., T. Specifically, when k = 1, the corresponding SFN is the SFN of the last radio frame in a first-period.

[0604] In another implementation, the SFN of the last radio frame satisfies the formula: (SFN + k) mod T = 0, where T is the first-period and k = 1, 2,..., T. Specifically, when k = 1, the corresponding SFN is the SFN of the last radio frame in a first-period.

[0605] The above implementation may allow as many UEs as possible to monitor the first-occasions to receive the first-downlink control information at least once in the current first-period, improve the utilization of the first-RO resource, and reduce the time for the base station to monitor the PRACH resource, conducive to network energy saving.

[0606] (2) start or end of the last first-radio frame in the current first-period in which the UE receives the first-downlink control information (the SFN of the last first-radio frame in the first-period (including 32 radio frames) shown in FIG. 7 is 16, and the second time location in the figure is the end of the first-radio frame);

[0607] In an implementation, the SFN of the last first-radio frame may be determined in the following manner: if the radio frame offset F_offset is not equal to 0, the SFN of the last first-radio frame satisfies the formula (SFN + F_offset) mod T = 0; if the radio frame offset F_offset is equal to 0, the SFN of the last first-radio frame satisfies the formula SFN mod T = T / N*(N-1), where F_offset is the radio frame offset, T is the first-period, and N is the number of first-radio frames included in one first-period.

[0608] The above implementation may make the calculated first-radio frame be the last first-radio frame in a first-period, so that as many UEs as possible may have at least one chance to monitor the first-occasions to receive the first-downlink control information in the current first-period, which improves the utilization of the first-RO resource, reduces the time for the base station to monitor the PRACH resource, is beneficial to network energy saving, and the first-RO resource may be used to initiate random access before the end of the first-period, reducing the delay of the random access of the UE.

[0609] (3) start or end of the last first-occasion associated with the last first-radio frame in the current first-period in which the UE receives the first-downlink control information (the third time location shown in FIG. 8 is the end of the second first-occasion of the two first-occasions associated with the last first-radio frame);

[0610] As mentioned above, the first-occasion associated with the first-radio frame may be within the first-radio frame or within other radio frames. In the example case shown in FIG. 7, the first-radio frame with SFN = 16 is associated with 2 first-occasions, the first first-occasion being within the first-radio frame and the second first-occasion being within the radio frame with SFN = 17. In this case, the starting of the validity duration is determined as the end of the second first-occasion.

[0611] Wherein, the index of the second first-occasion (or the indicator of the index of the first-occasion) of the two first-occasions associated with the last first-radio frame may be determined by the method described above, and will not be described again here.

[0612] Preferably, the end of the first-occasion may be the end of the last symbol of the last PDCCH monitoring occasion included in the first-occasion;

[0613] (3) SFN of the first first-radio frame in the current first-period in which the UE receives the first-downlink control information;

[0614] In an implementation, starting from the end of a first-radio frame, the SFN of the first-radio frame is determined by (SFN + PF_offset) modT = 0, and the SFN corresponds to a frame within the first-period including a PDCCH providing DCI format 2_7 or DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI, the PDCCH carrying the first-downlink control information, where T is the first-period, the first-period may be a default paging cycle (defaultPagingCycle).

[0615] (4) starting or end of the n-th first-radio frame in the current first-period in which the UE receives the first-downlink control information; for example, the n-th first-radio frame may be predetermined or obtained by the UE based on configuration, and the n-th first-radio frame may be the same as or different from the radio frame used by the UE to monitor paging-related control information, or the n-th first-radio frame may be used for UEs belonging to different paging groups or paging subgroups in the cell to which the UE belongs to monitor the first-DCI. Among them, the paging group refers to the group to which a group of UEs that monitor paging DCI in the identical or the same paging frame belongs. This group may include single or multiple UEs; a paging subgroup refers to a group to which a group UEs that monitor paging DCI at the identical or the same paging occasion belongs. This group may be a single or multiple UEs.

[0616] In addition, in an implementation, the n-th first-radio frame may also be multiple first-radio frames. For example, multiple first-radio frames may be predetermined or configured for monitoring the first-DCI. These multiple first-radio frames may be the same as or different from the radio frames used by the UE to monitor paging-related control information, or the multiple first-radio frames may be used by UEs belonging to different paging groups or paging subgroups in the cell to which the UE belongs to monitor the first-DCI. In this case, starting of the validity duration may be set to the start or end of the last first-radio frame among the multiple first-radio frames.

[0617] For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the first indication is transmitted in the third first-radio frame in the first-period, and the first indication is not transmitted in other first-radio frames. The UE and other UEs in the cell may monitor the first-DCI or the first indication in the third first-radio frame. It may be understood that setting the third first-radio frame to transmit the first indication in FIG. 9 is only exemplary, and more than one first-radio frame may also be set to transmit the first indication.

[0618] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the location where the UE monitors the first-occasion carrying the first-downlink control information may be configured. For example, one or more first-occasions of Ns first-occasions may be determined by second information indicating a part of first-occasions, and the UE monitors the first-downlink control information at the one or more first-occasions. The benefit is that all UEs in the cell may monitor the first-downlink control information at the first-occasion(s), preventing the base station from transmitting multiple first-downlink control information at different first-occasions, which is beneficial to energy saving of the base station;

[0619] In this case, the UE considers that the time location where the first-downlink control information takes effect is the start or end of the first-occasion(s);

[0620] Wherein, n or the above-mentioned multiple first-radio frames may be determined by a third indication, where the third indication is used to indicate the n-th radio frame or multiple first-radio frames in the first-period, and the first-period includes N first-radio frames, where n = 0, 1, 2..., N-1, N is the number of first-radio frames included in a first-period, and this number is a positive integer not equal to zero. Optionally, the third indication may be included in the downlink control information. In addition, the third indication may also indicate a radio frame, such as the SFN or other index related information of the radio frame.

[0621] The third indication may be configured through higher layer signaling (such as RRC signaling), for example, included in a system message.

[0622] In an implementation, the SFN of the above mentioned n-th first-radio frame satisfies the formula (SFN + F_offset) mod T = T / N*(n-1), where n = 1, 2, 3,..., N-1.

[0623] (5) the SFN or starting of the first first-radio frame of the next period of the current first-period in which the UE receives the first-downlink control information;

[0624] (6) starting of the next third-period, or the next complete random access-related period (the third-period) of the current random access-related period (called the third-period) in which the UE receives the first-downlink control information;

[0625] Wherein, the boundary of the third-period may be defined by SFN. For example, the SFN of the radio frame where the boundary of the third-period is located (for example, the start and / or end radio frame) satisfies: SFN mod T3 = 0, where T3 is the third-period (or the number of radio frames included in the third-period)

[0626] For example, the third-period may be an association pattern period of SSB-first-RO, and the association pattern period may satisfy that the mapping pattern of SSB and first-RO remain repeated for a period of time, and avoid possible inconsistencies during the mapping of SSB-first-RO by the UE and the base station to cause the UE to fail in random access, which is beneficial to the efficiency of monitoring random access resource by the base station and reduces power consumption.

[0627] For example, the third-period may also be an SSB-first-RO association period, and the association period may satisfy the completion of the mapping of all SSBs to the first-RO at least once, and the time duration of the association period is shorter than the association pattern period. Therefore, the UE may more quickly select the available first-RO resource to initiate the random access procedure, reducing the random access delay.

[0628] Optionally, the third-period may also be the SSB-first-RO mapping cycle or the period of the first-RO resource. This has the beneficial effect that compared with the association period or the association pattern period, the time duration of the mapping cycle or the period of the first-RO resource may ensure that the UE may more quickly select the available first-RO resource to initiate the random access procedure, thereby reducing the random access delay.

[0629] FIG. 10 illustrates the time location where the first-downlink control information takes effect, such as the fourth time location in the figure. Specifically, the UE receives activation indication (such as the first indication) of the first-RO resource in the first-radio frame (SFN = 2) in the first-period. The first indication is used to indicate the first-RO resource in the third-period related to a random access resource period (for example, the third-period is the SSB-first-RO association pattern period of 160ms) is currently activated (the first-RO resource is mapped with SSB # 0, 1, 2, and 3 respectively), the UE considers that the information of the first indication takes effect after the fourth time location (i.e., after starting of the # 3 third-period in FIG. 10), that is, the UE may select the available first-RO resource after the fourth time location to initiate the random access procedure.

[0630] Wherein, in a possible implementation, the fourth time location corresponds to the start or end of a radio frame, and the SFN of the radio frame satisfies: SFN mod (T3*N_ra) = 0, where T3 is the number of radio frames included in the third-period, for example, 16 radio frames, N_ra is a multiple, for example, N_ra = 2; alternatively, SFN mod N_rr = 0, where N_rr is a multiple, and the unit of the multiple is the third-period. For example, in the figure, N_rr is 2, that is, two third-periods (T3*N_rr = 16*2 = 32 radio frames), where T3 and / or N_ra and / or N_rr may be predetermined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling (such as RRC signaling).

[0631] Optionally, in a possible implementation, the fourth time location is the starting of the first third-period after the end of the first-period in which the first-downlink control information is currently received, wherein the SFN of the radio frame corresponding to the starting of the first third-period satisfies: SFN mod T3 = 0.

[0632] (7) a second-period configured according to higher layer RRC signaling, the second-period may be a multiple of time duration of multiple default paging cycles, optionally, the second-period is aligned with the start or end of a validity duration; optionally, the second-period may be the same as the modification period related to system information change.

[0633] The boundary of the second-period may be determined by the SFN value, where SFN mod m = 0, where m is the number of radio frames included in a second-period, which may be configured by the system information; optionally, the above-mentioned second-period may also be a default paging cycle (defaultPagingCycle);

[0634] The UE may repeatedly receive the above-mentioned first-downlink control information in a first-period, and the UE considers that at the start point of the next second-period, the first-RO indicated by the indication information is activated, and the UE may initiate random access on the activated first-RO.

[0635] It should be understood that although the technical solutions in the present disclosure are described in conjunction with "starting", "end", SFN, etc., the technical solutions of the present disclosure may also cover the cases where corresponding technology includes a certain offset is added on basis of "starting" or "end" or the SFN. All of these are not described in detail for convenience of description, but are also included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0636] Behavior description of UE in different states

[0637] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first-RO resource may be used for the adaptation mechanism of the PRACH resource to achieve network energy saving. For the UE that supports the first-RO resource configuration and receives the first downlink information for determining whether the first-RO resource is activated, it may be one of the following three states: RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE), RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE) and RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED).

[0638] The UE may receive the first-downlink control information in the RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE states to determine whether the preconfigured first-RO resource is activated. Optionally, the UE may receive the above-mentioned first-downlink control information in the RRC_CONNECTED state to determine whether the preconfigured first-RO resource is activated. Using the first-downlink control information to determine whether the first-RO resource is activated allows the first-RO to be activated according to the network load, avoiding waste of PRACH resources, reducing network power consumption, and achieving efficient utilization of PRACH resources.

[0639] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the configuration of the first-RO resource is provided in the system information, UEs in the RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE state (except UEs that expect MBS group notification) that supports determining whether the first-RO resource is activated according to the first-downlink control information, may monitor the first-downlink control information using the second configuration information in the system information according to the procedure described below.

[0640] For example, when in the RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE states and the small data transmission (SDT) process is not in progress, the UE that supports the first-RO resource configuration and / or supports determining whether the first-RO resource is activated according to the first-downlink control information may monitor the first-downlink control information in the first-occasion according to the configuration related to the first-DCI monitoring. When in the RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE that supports the configuration of the first-RO resource and / or supports determining whether the first-RO resource is activated according to the first-downlink control information, if the UE is provided a search space for monitoring the first-downlink control information on the active downlink BWP for monitoring the first-downlink control information, including paging search space (pagingSearchSpace), SIB1-related search space (searchSpaceSIB1), paging early indication search space (peiSearchSpace), other system information-related search space (searchSpaceOtherSystemInformation), and / or the UE is configured with the first-RO resource on the active downlink BWP, the UE may monitor the first-DCI according to the method described in the embodiment of the present disclosure, and the specific method is as described above.

[0641] For another example, when in the RRC_INACTIVE state and the small data transmission (SDT) process is in progress, the UE that supports the first-RO resource configuration and / or supports determining whether the first-RO resource is activated according to the first-downlink control information, if the initial downlink BWP in which the SDT process is in progress is associated with a cell-defining SSB (CD-SSB), the UE may monitor the first-DCI according to the method described in the embodiment of the present disclosure, and the specific method is as described above.

[0642] Behavior of initiating random access after receiving the first-downlink control information

[0643] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the behavior of the UE after receiving the first downlink information may be predetermined, for example, and may be one of the following solutions.

[0644] In an implementation, if the first-RO resource is activated, the UE may randomly select a RO and its corresponding PRACH preamble from the activated first-RO resource to initiate a random access procedure;

[0645] In an implementation, if the first-RO resource is preconfigured by the higher layer (for example, through RRC higher layer signaling), but the UE does not receive the first indication (the first indication may be included in the first-downlink control information), the UE may only randomly select a RO from the second-ROs and its corresponding PRACH preamble to initiate the random access procedure.

[0646] In another implementation, if the first-RO resource is activated, the UE may randomly select a RO and its corresponding PRACH preamble from the union of the activated first-RO resource and the second-RO resource to initiate the random access procedure.

[0647] In another implementation, if the first-RO resource is activated, the UE may select, according to a fifth indication, to randomly select a RO and its corresponding PRACH preamble only from the first-RO resource to initiate the random access procedure; or select a RO only from the second-RO resource and its corresponding PRACH preamble to initiate the random access procedure. The above-mentioned fifth indication is used to indicate the type of RO resource selected when the UE initiates random access, for example, indicated through a 1-bit indication, "1" indicates that the UE may only initiate random access from the first-RO resource, and "0" indicates that the UE may only initiate random access from non-first-RO resource or only from the second-RO resource or may initiate random access on the union of the first-RO and the second-RO resource. Note that the indication information corresponding to the above bit states "1" and "0" is merely as an example, and the indication information corresponding to the above bit states "1" and "0" may be interchanged, and will not be described again here.

[0648] If random access initiate on the first-RO is unsuccessful

[0649] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the random access being not successful may be, but is not limited to, at least one of the following cases:

[0650] (1) the RAR corresponding to the PRACH preamble transmitted by the UE on the second-RO or the first-RO (activated first-RO) is not monitored by the UE in Msg2 of the random access procedure;

[0651] (2) the Msg4 of the random access procedure is not monitored by the UE, or the UE monitors the Msg4 of the random access procedure;

[0652] (3) the contention in random access procedure is unsuccessful, and the random access procedure has reached the maximum number of times allowed (PRACH preambles are transmitted up to the maximum number).

[0653] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for certain predetermined types of UEs and / or UEs that support certain predetermined capabilities, the UEs cannot use the second-RO to initiate the random access procedure, and can only prioritize using the first-RO to initiate the random access procedure. So the UEs need to receive the first-downlink control information to determine the activated first-RO; for other UEs, the UEs may directly use the second-RO to initiate the random access procedure. For example, the predetermined type of UE may be an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, and the UE that support a certain predetermined capability may be a UE that supports the first-RO resource configuration.

[0654] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for the case where the random access procedure is initiated according to the union of the second-RO and the activated first-RO, optionally, the probabilities that the second-RO and the activated first-RO are selected are respectively configured or predetermined by the protocol. In an example, the probability of the UE selecting the second-RO to initiate the random access procedure and the probability of selecting the activated first-RO to initiate the random access procedure are the same, that is, the probability of both is 0.5; in another example, the probability that the UE selects activated first-RO to initiate the random access procedure and the probability that the UE selects the second-RO to initiate the random access procedure may be different, that is, the activated first-RO and the second-RO may correspond to different weighting coefficients. For example, the probabilities of the two may correspond to 0.7 and 0.3 through preconfigured weighting coefficients.

[0655] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the random access is not successful after the validity duration ends, initiating the random access procedure according to the second-RO; for example, if the random access is not successful after the number of transmitting PRACH preambles on the activated first-RO determined based on the first-downlink control information reaches the maximum predetermined number, initiating the random access procedure based on the second-RO; for another example, if the UE still does not win the contention for access after the number of initiating the random access procedure by the UE on the activated first-RO reaches the maximum number allowed (such as reaching the maximum number preconfigured by the base station or the calculated maximum number), that is, after the number of transmitting PRACH preambles on the activated first-RO by the UE reaches the maximum number, then the UE initiates a random access procedure on the second-RO.

[0656] For example, the UE first initiates random access according to the second-RO. During the initiated random access procedure, the Msg2 or paging message received by the UE may include information indicating whether the first-RO is activated (for example, through Msg2-related PDCCH, or MAC subheader indication in RAR PDU, or paging message-related PDCCH). If the first-RO is indicated to be activated and the contention of the random access procedure is unsuccessful, the UE randomly selects from the activated first-ROs a RO and a PRACH preamble to initiate the random access procedure, or the UE randomly selects from the total set of activated first-ROs and second-ROs a RO and a PRACH preamble to initiate random access.

[0657] In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a method performed by a base station. The steps of the method performed by the base station are corresponding to the method performed by the UE. Their implementation principles are similar and have corresponding technical effects, so they will not be described again.

[0658] FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment 1100 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 11, the user equipment 1100 includes a transceiver 1101 and a controller 1102. The transceiver 1101 is configured to transmit data or signals and to receive data or signals. The controller 1102 is coupled with the transceiver 1101 and configured to perform control such that the user equipment 1100 performs a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the user equipment 1100 may also include a memory (not shown) on which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed by the controller 1102, the user equipment 1100 may perform at least one method corresponding to the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0659] FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a base station 1200 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 12, the base station 1200 includes a transceiver 1201 and a controller 1202. The transceiver 1201 is configured to transmit data or signals and to receive data or signals. The controller 1202 is coupled with the transceiver 1201 and configured to perform control such that the base station 1200 performs a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the base station 1200 may also include a memory (not shown), on which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed by the controller 1202, the base station 1200 may perform at least one method corresponding to the above embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0660] The above description is only an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

[0661] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above illustrative embodiments are described herein and are not intended to be limiting. It should be understood that any two or more of the embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in any combination. Additionally, other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, may be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.

[0662] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and steps described herein may be implemented as hardware, software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such design decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

[0663] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0664] The steps of a method or algorithm described herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor may read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0665] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer process from one place to another. Storage media may be any available media that may be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

[0666] The above descriptions are only exemplary embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention, which is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1.A method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising:receiving, from a base station (BS), information related to resources for transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH);identifying valid PRACH occasions based on the information related to resources for transmitting the PRACH;receiving, from the BS, a downlink control information (DCI), via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), indicating available PRACH occasions based on the valid PRACH occasions;identifying the available PRACH occasions based on the DCI;transmitting, to the BS, the PRACH in the available PRACH occasions;wherein the available PRACH occasions are indicated as available for a duration, starting from first frame of a modification period,wherein the modification period includes a monitoring occasion of the PDCCH,2.The method of claim 1, wherein the DCI is in a DCI format 1_0 scrambled by a P-RNTI.3.The method of claim 1, wherein time unit of the duration is a duration of the modification period.4.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the BS, information including an index indicating one or more association periods(APs) per K association pattern periods(APPs) for transmitting the PRACH,wherein the one or more APs are first consecutive APs in K APPs,wherein the available PRACH occasions are in the one or more APs.5.A method performed by a base station (BS), the method comprising:transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), information related to resources for transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH);transmitting, to the UE, a downlink control information (DCI), via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), indicating available PRACH occasions based on valid PRACH occasions, wherein the valid PRACH occasions are identified based on the information related to resources for transmitting the PRACH;receiving, from the UE, the PRACH in the available PRACH occasions;wherein the available PRACH occasions are indicated as available for a duration, starting from first frame of a modification period,wherein the modification period includes a monitoring occasion of the PDCCH,6.The method of claim 5, wherein the DCI is in a DCI format 1_0 scrambled by a P-RNTI.7.The method of claim 5, wherein time unit of the duration is a duration of the modification period.8.The method of claim 5, further comprising:transmitting, to the UE, information including an index indicating one or more association periods(APs) per K association pattern periods(APPs) for transmitting the PRACH,wherein the one or more APs are first consecutive APs in K APPs,wherein the available PRACH occasions are in the one or more APs.9.A user equipment (UE), comprising:a transceiver configured to transmit or receive signals;a controller configured to control the UE to:receive, from a base station (BS), information related to resources for transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH);identify valid PRACH occasions based on the information related to resources for transmitting the PRACH;receive, from the BS, a downlink control information (DCI), via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), indicating available PRACH occasions based on the valid PRACH occasions;identify the available PRACH occasions based on the DCI;transmit, to the BS, the PRACH in the available PRACH occasions;wherein the available PRACH occasions are indicated as available for a duration, starting from first frame of a modification period,wherein the modification period includes a monitoring occasion of the PDCCH,10.The UE of claim 9, wherein the DCI is in a DCI format 1_0 scrambled by a P-RNTI.11.The UE of claim 9, wherein time unit of the duration is a duration of the modification period.12.The UE of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to control the UE to:receive, from the BS, information including an index indicating one or more association periods(APs) per K association pattern periods(APPs) for transmitting the PRACH,wherein the one or more APs are first consecutive APs in K APPs,wherein the available PRACH occasions are in the one or more APs.13.A base station (BS), comprising:a transceiver configured to transmit or receive signals;a controller configured to control the BS to:transmit, to a user equipment (UE), information related to resources for transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH);transmit, to the UE, a downlink control information (DCI), via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), indicating available PRACH occasions based on valid PRACH occasions, wherein the valid PRACH occasions are identified based on the information related to resources for transmitting the PRACH;receive, from the UE, the PRACH in the available PRACH occasions;wherein the available PRACH occasions are indicated as available for a duration, starting from first frame of a modification period,wherein the modification period includes a monitoring occasion of the PDCCH,14.The BS of claim 13, wherein the DCI is in a DCI format 1_0 scrambled by a P-RNTI.15.The BS of claim 13, wherein time unit of the duration is a duration of the modification period.

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