Patent Application
20250227768
The present disclosure relates to the field of communication systems, and more particularly, to a wireless communication method and a user equipment (UE), which can provide a good communication performance and/or high reliability.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In a legacy new radio (NR) system, a base station such as a gNB periodically transmits a synchronization signal block (SSB) in the system as well as a system information block type 1 (SIB1) system information. This may increase a network power consumption. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus (such as a UE and/or a base station) and a method of wireless communication, which can reduce the network power consumption.
In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless communication method by a UE includes detecting, by the UE, a first signal transmitted by a base station, wherein the first signal is used for the UE to determine a cell for accessing; and/or transmitting, by the UE, a second signal to the base station before performing a random access channel (RACH) procedure.
In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless communication method by a base station includes transmitting, by the base station, a first signal to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first signal is used for the UE to determine a cell for accessing; and/or detecting, by the base station, a second signal transmitted by the UE before controlling the UE to perform a random access channel (RACH) procedure.
In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to perform the method in the first aspect.
In order to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related art more clearly, the following figures will be described in the embodiments are briefly introduced. It is obvious that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, a person having ordinary skill in this field can obtain other figures according to these figures without paying the premise.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with the technical matters, structural features, achieved objects, and effects with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows. Specifically, the terminologies in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for describing the purpose of the certain embodiment, but not to limit the disclosure.
In a legacy new radio (NR) system, a base station such as a gNB periodically transmits a synchronization signal block (SSB) in the system as well as a system information block type 1 (SIB1) system information, which are used for an idle UE to select a cell for accessing. More specifically, the idle UE detects firstly the SSB and according to the received signal strength, the UE decides to access to the base station corresponding to the detected SSB. An SSB is composed of four symbols, which include primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). For PBCH symbols, the PBCH includes demodulation reference signal (DMRS). More details for the SSB can be found in TS38.211 and TS38.213. For example, cell search is the procedure for a UE to acquire time and frequency synchronization with a cell and to detect the physical layer Cell ID of the cell. A UE receives the following synchronization signals (SS) in order to perform cell search: the PSS and SSS as defined in [4, TS 38.211]. A UE assumes that reception occasions of a PBCH, a PSS, and a SSS are in consecutive symbols, as defined in [4, TS 38.211], and form a SS/PBCH block. An SSB burst contains maximum L SSB, with L value depends on the subcarriers spacing. Each SSB has a dedicated symbol location within a 5 ms half frame and a dedicated SSB index. Once the UE detects an SSB and determines the SSB index, the UE can also determine the symbol location within the half frame. Moreover, the PBCH contains master information block (MIB) information, which further provides the UE with the necessary information for the UE to determine a control resource set (coreset) 0 location and a type0 physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) search space set location.
In a future greenfield network, which intends to reduce a network power consumption may avoid transmitting periodically the SSB and/or the SIB1. Instead, the base station may transmit the SSB and/or the SIB1 only when it is needed. For example, when there is at least one idle UE who requires the base station to transmit. In some embodiments of this disclosure, the proposed exemplary method allows the base station to reduce the SSB and/or SIB1 transmission when the transmission is not needed in order to reduce the network power consumption.
The processor 11 or 21 may include application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipset, logic circuit and/or data processing device. The memory 12 or 22 may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, memory card, storage medium and/or other storage device. The transceiver 13 or 23 may include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The modules can be stored in the memory 12 or 22 and executed by the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 can be implemented within the processor 11 or 21 or external to the processor 11 or 21 in which case those can be communicatively coupled to the processor 11 or 21 via various means as is known in the art.
In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to detect a first signal transmitted by the base station 20, wherein the first signal is used for the processor 11 to determine a cell for accessing; and/or the transceiver 13 is configured to transmit a second signal to the base station 20 before the processor 11 performs a random access channel (RACH) procedure. Optionally, the system information includes a system information block type 1 (SIB1) system information. This can reduce a network power consumption, allow the base station to avoid transmitting a synchronization signal block (SSB) and/or a system information periodically, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide a high reliability.
In some embodiments, the transceiver 23 is configured to transmit a first signal to the UE 10, wherein the first signal is used for the UE 10 to determine a cell for accessing; and/or the processor 21 is configured to detect a second signal transmitted by the UE 10 before controlling the UE 10 to perform a random access channel (RACH) procedure. Optionally, the system information includes a system information block type 1 (SIB1) system information. This can reduce a network power consumption, allow the base station to avoid transmitting a synchronization signal block (SSB) and/or a system information periodically, provide a good communication performance, and/or provide a high reliability.
The examples given in this disclosure can be applied for internet of things (IoT) device or narrowband-internet of things (NB-IoT) UE in non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems, but the method is not exclusively restricted to NTN system nor for IoT devices or NB-IoT UE. The examples given in this disclosure can be applied for NR systems, LTE systems, or NB-IoT systems. Further, some examples in the present disclosure can be applied for NB-IoT system, physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is equivalent to NB-PDCCH (NPDCCH) and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is equivalent to NB-PDSCH (NPDSCH).
In some examples, after the UE transmitting the second signal, the UE may assume that the base station may transmit the SSB and/or the SIB1 in a time interval, where the start location of the time interval is relevant to the transmitted second signal location or to the detected first reference signal location. In some examples, the time interval starts from the next 5 ms half frame after the transmitted second signal. In some examples, the time interval duration may be multiple of 5 ms.
In some examples, after the UE transmits the second signal, the UE starts a window/timer for receiving the SSB and/or the system information transmitted by the base station. In some examples, if the UE does not receive the SSB and/or the system information transmitted by the base station in the window/timer, the UE retransmits the second signal or restarts the window/timer. In some examples, after the UE transmits the second signal or the UE transmits the second signal plus a delay, the UE expects to receive the SSB and/or the system information transmitted by the base station. In some examples, the delay is pre-defined, 5 ms, or multiple of 5 ms.
In some embodiments, if the UE intends to access to the cell of the base station, the second signal is used for the base station to assume that there is a need for transmitting a synchronization signal block (SSB) and/or a system information. In some embodiments, the method further includes assuming, by the UE, that the UE is configured to receive from the base station the SSB and/or the system information after the UE transmitting the second signal. Optionally, the system information includes a system information block type 1 (SIB1) system information. In some embodiments, the first signal is transmitted by the base station with a first periodicity, and the SSB and/or the system information is transmitted by the base station with a second periodicity, and the first periodicity is less than or equal to the second periodicity. In some embodiments, the first signal includes a first reference signal and/or a second reference signal. In some embodiments, the first reference signal corresponds to a first index, and/or the second reference signal corresponds to a second index.
In some embodiments, the first reference signal and the second reference signal are not overlapped in time domain. In some embodiments, the first index is relevant to a first SSB index, and/or the second index is relevant to a second SSB index. In some embodiments, the first reference signal is quasi-co-located (QCL'ed) with an SSB associated with the first SSB index, and/or the second reference signal is QCL'ed with an SSB associated with the second SSB index. In some embodiments, the first reference signal and/or the second reference signal corresponds to a first index, and the first index is relevant to a first SSB index. In some embodiments, the first reference signal and/or the second reference signal is QCL'ed with an SSB associated with the first SSB index. In some embodiments, the first reference signal corresponds to a first index and a second index, the first index is relevant to a first SSB index, and the second index is relevant to a second SSB index; and/or the second reference signal corresponds to a third index and a fourth index, the third index is relevant to a third SSB index, and the fourth index is relevant to a fourth SSB index.
In some embodiments, the first reference signal is QCL'ed with SSBs associated with the first SSB index and the second SSB index, and the second reference signal is QCL'ed with SSBs associated with the third SSB index and the fourth SSB index. In some embodiments, the first reference signal and/or the second reference signal includes one or more symbols, and the one or more symbols includes a first symbol and/or a second symbol. In some embodiments, the first symbol of the first reference signal and/or the second reference signal has a pre-defined location. In some embodiments, the pre-defined location is relevant to a primary synchronization signal (PSS) location of an SSB. In some embodiments, a location of the first symbol of the first reference signal is the same as the PSS location of the SSB of the first SSB index. In some embodiments, a location of the first symbol of the second reference signal is the same as the PSS location of the SSB of the second SSB index.
In some embodiments, the location of the second symbol is relevant to the location of the first symbol. In some embodiments, the first symbol and the second symbol are consecutive in time domain or non-consecutive in time domain. In some embodiments, the first symbol and/or the second symbol includes a PSS. In some embodiments, one of the first symbol and the second symbol includes a first sequence, and the other of the first symbol and the second symbol includes a second sequence. In some embodiments, the first sequence or the second sequence includes a PSS or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). In some embodiments, the first sequence or the second sequence is selected from a set of candidate sequences. In some embodiments, resource blocks (RBs) of a bandwidth of the first sequence and the second sequence in frequency domain are aligned. In some embodiments, an index of the first reference signal or the second reference signal is determined based on the second sequence. In some embodiments, a sequence of the set of candidate sequences is associated with an index.
In some embodiments, the second sequence of the first reference signal is different from the second sequence of the second reference signal. In some embodiments, a location of the second signal is determined based on the first signal or the index of the first signal, or the location of the second signal is pre-defined. In some embodiments, the location of the second signal is next to a location of the first signal. In some embodiments, the location of the second signal is shifted from the location of the first signal by an offset. In some embodiments, the offset is known to the UE, or the offset is pre-defined. In some embodiments, a resource of the second signal is overlapped or partially overlapped with an SSB symbol location in time domain. In some embodiments, when the UE transmits the second signal, the UE assumes a value for NTA, offset of a timing advance offset for the cell of the base station. In some embodiments, NTA is equal to 0, and/or Noffset is pre-defined.
In some embodiments, the value of NTA, offset is determined based on the first symbol and/or the second symbol of the first signal. In some embodiments, a first resource of the second signal is associated with the first reference signal, and a second resource of the second signal is associated with the second reference signal. In some embodiments, when the UE detects the first reference signal and intends to send the second signal, the UE transmits the second signal in the first resource. In some embodiments, when the UE detects the second reference signal and intends to send the second signal, the UE transmits the second signal in the second resource. In some embodiments, after the UE transmits the second signal, the UE assumes that the base station transmits the SSB and/or the system information in a time interval, where a start location of the time interval is relevant to a transmitted second signal location or a detected first reference signal location. In some embodiments, the time interval starts from the next 5 ms half frame after the transmitted second signal. In some embodiments, a duration of the time interval is multiple of 5 ms.
In some embodiments, after the UE transmits the second signal, the UE starts a window/timer for receiving the SSB and/or the system information transmitted by the base station. In some embodiments, if the UE does not receive the SSB and/or the system information transmitted by the base station in the window/timer, the UE retransmits the second signal or restarts the window/timer. In some embodiments, after the UE transmits the second signal or the UE transmits the second signal plus a delay, the UE expects to receive the SSB and/or the system information transmitted by the base station. In some embodiments, the delay is pre-defined, 5 ms, or multiple of 5 ms.
Commercial interests for some embodiments are as follows. 1. Reducing a network power consumption. 2. Allowing the base station to avoid transmitting a synchronization signal block (SSB) and/or a system information periodically. 3. Providing a good communication performance. 4. Providing a high reliability. 5. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are used by 5G-NR chipset vendors, V2X communication system development vendors, automakers including cars, trains, trucks, buses, bicycles, moto-bikes, helmets, and etc., drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), smartphone makers, communication devices for public safety use, AR/VR device maker for example gaming, conference/seminar, education purposes. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are a combination of “techniques/processes” that can be adopted in 3GPP specification to create an end product. Some embodiments of the present disclosure could be adopted in 5G NR licensed and non-licensed or shared spectrum communications. Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose technical mechanisms.
The baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry may handle various radio control functions that enables communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.
In various embodiments, the baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a baseband frequency. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediate frequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency. The RF circuitry 710 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 710 may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in a radio frequency. For example, in some embodiments, RF circuitry may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediate frequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.
In various embodiments, the transmitter circuitry, control circuitry, or receiver circuitry discussed above with respect to the user equipment, eNB, or gNB may be embodied in whole or in part in one or more of the RF circuitry, the baseband circuitry, and/or the application circuitry. As used herein, “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the electronic device circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry, the application circuitry, and/or the memory/storage may be implemented together on a system on a chip (SOC). The memory/storage 740 may be used to load and store data and/or instructions, for example, for system. The memory/storage for one embodiment may include any combination of suitable volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), and/or non-volatile memory, such as flash memory.
In various embodiments, the I/O interface 780 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. User interfaces may include, but are not limited to a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, a speaker, a microphone, etc. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power supply interface. In various embodiments, the sensor 770 may include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and/or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to, a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may also be part of, or interact with, the baseband circuitry and/or RF circuitry to communicate with components of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite.
In various embodiments, the display 750 may include a display, such as a liquid crystal display and a touch screen display. In various embodiments, the system 700 may be a mobile computing device such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, an AR/VR glasses, etc. In various embodiments, system may have more or less components, and/or different architectures. Where appropriate, methods described herein may be implemented as a computer program. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium, such as a non-transitory storage medium.
A person having ordinary skill in the art understands that each of the units, algorithm, and steps described and disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are realized using electronic hardware or combinations of software for computers and electronic hardware. Whether the functions run in hardware or software depends on the condition of application and design requirement for a technical plan. A person having ordinary skill in the art can use different ways to realize the function for each specific application while such realizations should not go beyond the scope of the present disclosure. It is understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art that he/she can refer to the working processes of the system, device, and unit in the above-mentioned embodiment since the working processes of the above-mentioned system, device, and unit are basically the same. For easy description and simplicity, these working processes will not be detailed.
It is understood that the disclosed system, device, and method in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be realized with other ways. The above-mentioned embodiments are exemplary only. The division of the units is merely based on logical functions while other divisions exist in realization. It is possible that a plurality of units or components are combined or integrated in another system. It is also possible that some characteristics are omitted or skipped. On the other hand, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communicative coupling operate through some ports, devices, or units whether indirectly or communicatively by ways of electrical, mechanical, or other kinds of forms.
The units as separating components for explanation are or are not physically separated. The units for display are or are not physical units, that is, located in one place or distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units are used according to the purposes of the embodiments. Moreover, each of the functional units in each of the embodiments can be integrated in one processing unit, physically independent, or integrated in one processing unit with two or more than two units.
If the software function unit is realized and used and sold as a product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium in a computer. Based on this understanding, the technical plan proposed by the present disclosure can be essentially or partially realized as the form of a software product. Or, one part of the technical plan beneficial to the conventional technology can be realized as the form of a software product. The software product in the computer is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of commands for a computational device (such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to run all or some of the steps disclosed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a floppy disk, or other kinds of media capable of storing program codes.
While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/IB2022/000613, filed Sep. 26, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/IB2022/000613 | Sep 2022 | WO |
| Child | 19089607 | US |
