PSCell Activation Using Beam Failure Detection During Deactivation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies lack defined activation delay requirements for deactivating and activating a primary secondary cell group (PSCell) due to uncertainties in TCI state and cell status, leading to prolonged activation times and potential inability to deactivate PSCells effectively.
Innovation Solution
Implementing Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) and Beam Failure Detection (BFD) on deactivated PSCells to determine known or unknown TCI states, allowing for tailored activation delays based on UE measurements and reporting, thereby reducing activation times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If PSCell is deactivated without defined activation delay requirements, then PSCell can be deactivated to save resources, but activation time becomes prolonged and uncertain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by maintaining RLM and BFD capabilities in the deactivated PSCell state, allowing the cell to pre-monitor link status and beam conditions. This enables the network to quickly reactivate the PSCell without requiring full re-measurement and re-establishment procedures, thus reducing activation time while maintaining energy savings from the deactivated state.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the UE continuously reports RLM and BFD status to the network node even when the PSCell is deactivated. This feedback loop allows the network to make informed decisions about reactivation timing and conditions, enabling faster activation by leveraging existing link quality information without requiring complete re-assessment.
2Ease of operation
If PSCell deactivation is implemented without known TCI state requirements, then PSCell can be deactivated effectively, but TCI state uncertainty causes prolonged activation delays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by maintaining TCI state information and beam failure detection capabilities during the deactivated state. The network node retains knowledge of the last known TCI state and the UE maintains BFD monitoring, so when reactivation is needed, the system can quickly resume without requiring complete TCI state re-determination, thereby reducing activation delay while preserving deactivation effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter state of TCI information from completely unknown to partially maintained. By defining that the network node retains the last known TCI state and the UE maintains BFD status during deactivation, the system transforms the TCI state from an uncertain parameter to a partially known parameter, enabling faster reactivation while maintaining the ability to deactivate for energy savings.
3Reliability
If UE performs full link recovery procedures upon PSCell activation, then connection reliability is ensured, but activation time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by implementing selective link recovery procedures rather than requiring full recovery. The UE performs link recovery only when BFD indicates beam failure or RLM shows link degradation, rather than performing complete recovery procedures on every activation. This partial approach maintains connection reliability when needed while significantly reducing unnecessary activation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback-based conditional recovery where the UE continuously monitors BFD and RLM status and reports to the network node. This feedback mechanism enables the system to determine whether link recovery is actually needed before initiating full recovery procedures, thus maintaining connection reliability when problems exist while avoiding time-consuming recovery operations when the link is healthy.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for enhanced activation of primary secondary cell are provided. For example, a method can include performing, by a user equipment, at least one of beam failure detection or radio link monitoring on a deactivated secondary cell; receiving, from a network node, an activation command for the deactivated secondary cell; determining whether at least one of the deactivated secondary cell or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state is known based on at least one of a status of the beam failure detection or a status of the radio link monitoring of the deactivated secondary cell; and determining an activation delay for activation of the deactivated secondary cell based on a result of the determination of whether the secondary cell or the TCI state is known.