Detailed Description
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to facilitate a thorough understanding of the various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. The description includes various specific details to facilitate understanding but should be considered exemplary only. Accordingly, one 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.
The terms and phrases used in the following specification and claims are not limited to their dictionary meanings, but are used only by the inventors to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are provided for illustration only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
It should 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 such surfaces.
The terms "comprises" or "comprising" may refer to the presence of a corresponding disclosed function, operation or component that may be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than to the presence of one or more additional functions, operations or features. Furthermore, the terms "comprises" or "comprising" may be interpreted as referring to certain features, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof, but should not be interpreted as excluding the existence of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof.
The term "or" as used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure includes any listed term and all combinations thereof. For example, "a or B" may include a, may include B, or may include both a and B.
Unless defined differently, all terms (including technical or scientific terms) used in this disclosure have the same meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. The general terms as defined in the dictionary are to be construed to have meanings consistent with the context in the relevant technical field, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal manner unless expressly so defined in the present disclosure.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The text and drawings are provided as examples only to assist the reader in understanding the present disclosure. They are not intended, nor should they be construed, to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. While certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure that variations can be made to the embodiments and examples shown without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
Fig. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 in accordance with 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 this disclosure.
The wireless network 100 includes a gndeb (gNB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103.gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. The gNB 101 is also in communication with at least one Internet Protocol (IP) network 130, such as the Internet, a private IP network, or other data network.
Other well-known terms, such as "base station" or "access point," can be used instead of "gNodeB" or "gNB," depending on the network type. For convenience, the terms "gNodeB" and "gNB" are used in this patent document to refer to the network infrastructure components that provide wireless access for remote terminals. Also, other well-known terms, such as "mobile station", "subscriber station", "remote terminal", "wireless terminal" or "user equipment", can be used instead of "user equipment" or "UE", depending on the type of network. For convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this patent document to refer to a remote wireless device that wirelessly accesses the gNB, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile phone or smart phone) or a fixed device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine) as is commonly considered.
The gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of User Equipment (UEs) within the coverage area 120 of the gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes UE 111, which may be located in a Small Business (SB), UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E), UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi Hotspot (HS), UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R), UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R), and UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cellular telephone, wireless laptop, wireless PDA, etc. The gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within the coverage area 125 of the gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes UE 115 and UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 are capable of communicating with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G, long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A, wiMAX, or other advanced wireless communication technologies.
The dashed lines illustrate the approximate extent of coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for illustration and explanation purposes only. It should be clearly understood that coverage areas associated with the gnbs, such as coverage areas 120 and 125, can have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on the configuration of the gnbs and the variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.
As described in more detail below, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 includes a 2D antenna array as described in embodiments of the 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.
Although fig. 1 shows one example of a wireless network 100, various changes can be made to fig. 1. For example, the wireless network 100 can include any number of gnbs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, the gNB 101 is capable of communicating directly with any number of UEs and providing those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 is capable of communicating directly with the network 130 and providing direct wireless broadband access to the network 130 to the UE. Furthermore, the gnbs 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).
Fig. 2a and 2b illustrate example wireless transmit and receive paths according to this disclosure. In the following description, transmit path 200 can be described as implemented in a gNB (such as gNB 102), while receive path 250 can be described as implemented in a UE (such as UE 116). However, it should be understood that the receive path 250 can be implemented in the gNB and the transmit path 200 can be implemented in the UE. In some embodiments, receive path 250 is configured to support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure.
The transmit path 200 includes a channel coding and modulation block 205, a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 210, an inverse N-point fast fourier transform (IFFT) block 215, a parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 220, an add cyclic prefix block 225, and an up-converter (UC) 230. The receive path 250 includes a down-converter (DC) 255, a remove cyclic prefix block 260, a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 265, an N-point Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 270, a parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 275, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 280.
In transmit path 200, a channel coding and modulation block 205 receives a set of information bits, applies coding, such as Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding, and modulates input bits, such as with Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), to generate a sequence of frequency domain modulation symbols. A serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 210 converts (such as demultiplexes) the serial modulation symbols into parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is the number of IFFT/FFT points used in the gNB 102 and UE 116. The N-point IFFT block 215 performs an IFFT operation on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time-domain output signal. Parallel-to-serial block 220 converts (such as multiplexes) the parallel time-domain output symbols from N-point IFFT block 215 to generate a serial time-domain signal. The add cyclic prefix block 225 inserts a cyclic prefix into the time domain signal. Up-converter 230 modulates (such as up-converts) the output of add cyclic prefix block 225 to an RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal can also be filtered at baseband before being converted to RF frequency.
The RF signal transmitted from the gNB 102 reaches the UE 116 after passing through the wireless channel, and an operation inverse to that at the gNB 102 is performed at the UE 116. Down-converter 255 down-converts the received signal to baseband frequency and remove cyclic prefix block 260 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time domain baseband signal. Serial-to-parallel block 265 converts the time-domain baseband signal to a parallel time-domain signal. The N-point FFT block 270 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency domain signals. Parallel-to-serial block 275 converts the parallel frequency domain signals into a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 280 demodulates and decodes the modulation symbols to recover the original input data stream.
Each of the gnbs 101-103 may implement a transmit path 200 that is similar to transmitting to UEs 111-116 in the downlink and may implement a receive path 250 that is similar to receiving from UEs 111-116 in the uplink. Similarly, each of the UEs 111-116 may implement a transmit path 200 for transmitting to the gNBs 101-103 in the uplink and may implement a receive path 250 for receiving from the gNBs 101-103 in the downlink.
Each of the components in fig. 2a and 2b can be implemented using hardware alone, or using a combination of hardware and software/firmware. As a specific example, at least some of the components in fig. 2a and 2b may be implemented in software, while other components may be implemented by configurable hardware or a mixture of software and configurable hardware. For example, the FFT block 270 and IFFT block 215 may be implemented as configurable software algorithms, wherein the value of the point number N may be modified depending on the implementation.
Further, although described as using an FFT and an IFFT, this is illustrative only and should not be construed 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 appreciated that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of the variable N may be any integer (such as 1,2,3, 4, etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of the variable N may be any integer that is a power of 2 (such as 1,2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).
Although fig. 2a and 2b show examples of wireless transmission and reception paths, various changes may be made to fig. 2a and 2b. For example, the various components in fig. 2a and 2b can be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components can be added according to particular needs. Also, fig. 2a and 2b are intended to illustrate examples of the types of transmit and receive paths that can be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture can be used to support wireless communications in a wireless network.
Fig. 3a shows an example UE 116 according to this 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, the UE has a variety of configurations, and fig. 3a does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular embodiment of the UE.
UE 116 includes an antenna 305, a Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver 310, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 315, a microphone 320, and Receive (RX) processing circuitry 325.UE 116 also includes speaker 330, processor/controller 340, input/output (I/O) interface 345, input device(s) 350, display 355, and memory 360. Memory 360 includes an Operating System (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362.
RF transceiver 310 receives an incoming RF signal from antenna 305 that is transmitted by the gNB of wireless network 100. The RF transceiver 310 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an Intermediate Frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is sent to RX processing circuit 325, where RX processing circuit 325 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and/or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuit 325 sends the processed baseband signals to a speaker 330 (such as for voice data) or to a processor/controller 340 (such as for web-browsing data) for further processing.
TX processing circuitry 315 receives analog or digital voice data from microphone 320 or other outgoing baseband data (such as network data, email, or interactive video game data) from processor/controller 340. TX processing circuitry 315 encodes, multiplexes, and/or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. RF transceiver 310 receives outgoing processed baseband or IF signals from TX processing circuitry 315 and up-converts the baseband or IF signals to RF signals for transmission via antenna 305.
Processor/controller 340 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute OS 361 stored in memory 360 to control the overall operation of UE 116. For example, processor/controller 340 may be capable of controlling the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by RF transceiver 310, RX processing circuit 325, and TX processing circuit 315 in accordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, processor/controller 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.
Processor/controller 340 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in memory 360, such as operations for channel quality measurement and reporting for systems having 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. Processor/controller 340 is capable of moving data into and out of memory 360 as needed to perform the process. In some embodiments, the processor/controller 340 is configured to execute the application 362 based on the OS 361 or in response to a signal received from the gNB or operator. The processor/controller 340 is also coupled to an I/O interface 345, where the I/O interface 345 provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as laptop computers and handheld computers. I/O interface 345 is the communication path between these accessories and processor/controller 340.
The processor/controller 340 is also coupled to an input device(s) 350 and a display 355. An operator of UE 116 can input data into UE 116 using input device(s) 350. Display 355 may be a liquid crystal display or other display capable of presenting text and/or at least limited graphics (such as from a website). Memory 360 is coupled to processor/controller 340. A portion of memory 360 can include Random Access Memory (RAM) and another portion of memory 360 can include flash memory or other Read Only Memory (ROM).
Although fig. 3a shows one example of UE 116, various changes can be made to fig. 3 a. For example, the various components in FIG. 3a can be combined, further subdivided, or omitted, and additional components can be added according to particular needs. As a particular example, the processor/controller 340 can be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs) and one or more Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Moreover, although fig. 3a shows the UE 116 configured as a mobile phone or smart phone, the UE can be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.
Fig. 3b shows an example gNB 102 in accordance with the present disclosure. The embodiment of the gNB 102 shown in fig. 3b is for illustration only, and other gnbs of fig. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, the gNB has a variety of configurations, and fig. 3b does not limit the scope of the disclosure to any particular embodiment of the gNB. Note that gNB 101 and gNB 103 can include the same or similar structures as gNB 102.
As shown in fig. 3b, the gNB 102 includes a plurality of antennas 370a-370n, a plurality of RF transceivers 372a-372n, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 374, and Receive (RX) processing circuitry 376. In certain embodiments, one or more of the plurality of antennas 370a-370n comprises a 2D antenna array. The gNB 102 also includes a controller/processor 378, a memory 380, and a backhaul or network interface 382.
The RF transceivers 372a-372n receive incoming RF signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs or other gnbs, from antennas 370a-370 n. The RF transceivers 372a-372n down-convert the incoming RF signals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signal is sent to RX processing circuit 376, where RX processing circuit 376 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and/or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuit 376 sends the processed baseband signals to a controller/processor 378 for further processing.
TX processing circuitry 374 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, network data, email, or interactive video game data) from controller/processor 378. TX processing circuitry 374 encodes, multiplexes, and/or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceivers 372a-372n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signals from the TX processing circuitry 374 and up-convert the baseband or IF signals to RF signals for transmission via the antennas 370a-370 n.
The controller/processor 378 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, controller/processor 378 may be capable of controlling the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals via RF transceivers 372a-372n, RX processing circuit 376, and TX processing circuit 374 in accordance with well-known principles. The controller/processor 378 is also capable of supporting 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 by a BIS algorithm and decode the received signal from which the interference signal is subtracted. Controller/processor 378 may support any of a variety of other functions in gNB 102. In some embodiments, controller/processor 378 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.
Controller/processor 378 is also capable of executing programs and other processes residing in memory 380, such as a basic OS. Controller/processor 378 is also capable of supporting channel quality measurements and reporting for systems having 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. Controller/processor 378 is capable of moving data into and out of memory 380 as needed to perform the process.
The controller/processor 378 is also coupled to a backhaul or network interface 382. The backhaul or network interface 382 allows the 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 through any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as one supporting 5G or new radio access technologies or NR, LTE, or LTE-a), the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gnbs over wired or wireless backhaul connections. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow the 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, such as an ethernet or RF transceiver, that supports communication over a wired or wireless connection.
A memory 380 is coupled to the controller/processor 378. A portion of memory 380 can include RAM and another portion of memory 380 can include flash memory or other ROM. In some embodiments, a plurality of instructions, such as BIS algorithms, are stored in memory. The plurality of instructions are configured to cause the controller/processor 378 to perform a BIS process and decode the received signal after subtracting the at least one interfering signal determined by the BIS algorithm.
As described in more detail below, the transmit and receive paths of the gNB 102 (implemented using the RF transceivers 372a-372n, TX processing circuitry 374, and/or RX processing circuitry 376) support aggregated communications with FDD and TDD cells.
Although fig. 3b shows one example of the gNB 102, various changes may be made to fig. 3 b. For example, the gNB 102 can include any number of each of the components shown in FIG. 3 a. As a particular example, the access point can include a number of backhaul or network interfaces 382, and the controller/processor 378 can support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another particular example, while shown as including a single instance of TX processing circuitry 374 and a single instance of RX processing circuitry 376, the gNB 102 can include multiple instances of each (such as one for each RF transceiver).
With the continuous development of wireless communication systems, in order to obtain higher data rates, networks need to use more antennas, more bandwidth and more frequency bands, and energy overhead is becoming one of the difficulties that plague operators. Meanwhile, in order to support a wider transmission bandwidth for the purpose of improving the throughput of a single ue in a wireless network, two or more component carriers (component carrier, CC) are allocated to the same ue for data transmission, and the aggregation of such component carriers is called carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA). The multiple component carriers are in the same frequency band and their frequency spectrums are continuous, which is called intra-band continuous carrier aggregation (intra-band contiguous CA), the multiple component carriers are in the same frequency band and their frequency spectrums are separated by a certain interval, which is called intra-band non-continuous carrier aggregation (intra-band CA), and the multiple component carriers are in different frequency bands, which is called inter-band carrier aggregation (inter-band CA). The cells combined together by the carrier aggregation CA technology form a Cell group, a Cell used for initiating initial access in the Cell group is a primary Cell (PRIMARY CELL, PCELL) or a special Cell (SPECIAL CELL, SPCELL), and other cells in the Cell group except for the primary Cell PCell or the special Cell SpCell are Secondary cells (scells).
The energy consumed by the network device for uplink reception is only 0.2 to 0.5 of the energy consumed by downlink transmission, so that for some scenes needing more uplink services, such as remote driving, machine vision, factory video monitoring and the like, the aim of saving energy of the network can be considered by using only uplink transmission for the SCell off downlink transmission. How to ensure that uplink transmission can be correctly performed while saving energy of the network is a concern. The present disclosure proposes a concept that ensures that uplink transmission can be performed correctly while saving energy in the network. In particular, according to the concepts of the present disclosure, at least a user equipment, a method performed by a user equipment, a network node and a method performed by a network node are provided. The concept of the present disclosure can be at least applied to realizing network energy saving in a carrier aggregation scenario and ensuring that uplink transmission can be performed correctly.
Hereinafter, the concept of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to fig. 4 to 12.
Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to fig. 4, in step S410, information indicating a timing offset between a reference cell and a secondary cell transmitted by a network node is received. As an example, the user equipment may receive first information sent by the network node, where the first information may include information indicating a timing offset between the reference cell and the secondary cell.
According to an embodiment, the reference cell is determined based on information received from the network node indicating the reference cell, or based on at least one of a frequency interval between the secondary cell and a serving cell of the user equipment, a relative frequency interval between the secondary cell and the serving cell, a signal strength of the serving cell, the reference cell being determined from the serving cell, wherein the serving cell comprises a primary or a special cell and an active secondary cell carrying a synchronization signal block.
In the present disclosure, the information for indicating the reference cell may be referred to as "second information". For example, there may be three alternatives how to select the reference cell:
in a first aspect, the user equipment determines a reference cell based on second information received from the network node. For example, the user equipment may obtain from the network node through the second information which active cell is the reference cell of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal.
In a second aspect, a reference cell is determined from a serving cell of the user equipment based on at least one of a frequency interval between the secondary cell and the serving cell, a relative frequency interval between the secondary cell and the serving cell, and a signal strength of the serving cell. Hereinafter, determining a reference cell from the serving cell based on at least one of the above information is also referred to as determining a reference cell based on a first rule. For example, determining a reference cell based on the frequency separation between the secondary cell and the serving cell of the user equipment may comprise selecting the serving cell with the smallest frequency separation as the reference cell, or selecting the serving cell with a frequency separation greater than a first threshold as the reference cell, wherein the first threshold is a network node configured or predefined threshold. For example, determining a reference cell based on the frequency interval relative to the frequency interval between the secondary cell and the serving cell of the user equipment comprises selecting the serving cell with the smallest relative frequency interval as the reference cell, or selecting the serving cell with a relative frequency interval greater than a second threshold as the reference cell, wherein the second threshold is configured or predefined by the network node. For example, determining the reference cell according to the signal strength of the serving cell includes selecting the serving cell with the largest signal strength as the reference cell, or selecting the serving cell with the signal strength greater than a third threshold as the reference cell, wherein the third threshold is configured by a network node or is a predefined threshold. For example, the user equipment may select a reference cell for an SCell that does not carry a downlink signal among active cells of the current cell group based on at least one of the above information. For example, an active cell with the minimum carrier frequency interval and/or the minimum relative frequency interval in the same cell group as the SCell which does not carry the downlink signal is selected as a reference cell, or the reference cell is selected according to the principle that the signal strength (such as RSRP/SINR/RSRQ) is maximum, or the reference cell is selected according to a predefined threshold, and the active cell carrying the SSB meeting the requirement of the predefined threshold is selected as the reference cell.
In a third aspect, the user equipment determines the reference cell based on second information and at least one of a frequency interval between the secondary cell and a serving cell of the user equipment, a relative frequency interval between the secondary cell and the serving cell, and a signal strength of the serving cell. For example, the user equipment may first determine a reference cell from the network node via the second information, and then the user equipment may perform the reference cell change according to a change of an active cell within the cell group based on at least one of a frequency interval between the secondary cell and a serving cell of the user equipment, a relative frequency interval between the secondary cell and the serving cell, and a signal strength of the serving cell.
The reference cell may provide a reference for a secondary cell that does not carry downlink signals to properly perform activation, deactivation, and uplink transmission on the secondary cell. For example, the information of the reference cell may include uplink timing synchronization information and/or uplink power control information of the reference cell. The user equipment may use the information of the reference cell to provide a reference for uplink timing synchronization and/or uplink power control information for the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal to perform activation, deactivation and/or uplink transmission on the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal. Optionally, in addition to providing a reference for the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal to correctly perform activation, deactivation and uplink transmission on the secondary cell by means of the information of the reference cell, activation, deactivation and uplink transmission on the secondary cell may be performed further in combination with the first information sent from the network node on this basis. Or the activation, deactivation and/or uplink transmission on the secondary cell may be performed using only the first information.
According to an embodiment, the first information may comprise at least one of information indicating a timing offset between the secondary cell and the reference cell and/or information indicating a power offset between the secondary cell and the reference cell, timing offset information and/or power offset information of the secondary cell. For example, if the first information includes information indicating a timing deviation between the secondary cell and the reference cell and/or information indicating a power deviation between the secondary cell and the reference cell, activation, deactivation and/or uplink transmission on the secondary cell may be performed using the information of the reference cell together with the first information. For another example, if the first information includes timing offset information and/or power offset information of the secondary cell, activation, deactivation, and/or uplink transmission on the secondary cell may be performed using only the first information.
As an example, the first information may be RRC or MAC-CE or DCI signaling.
In step S420, uplink transmission is performed on the secondary cell. According to an embodiment, in case the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the transmission time of the uplink frame may be related to the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell and the timing offset.
According to the method performed by the user equipment in the embodiment of the disclosure, since the user equipment receives the information indicating the timing deviation between the reference cell and the secondary cell from the network node, and in the case that the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the transmission time of the uplink frame is related to the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell and the timing deviation, it is possible to ensure that the uplink transmission on the secondary cell is correctly performed while the network is saving energy.
Optionally, the method shown in FIG. 4 may further comprise reporting capability information to the network node. As an example, the network node may be any network device (e.g., a base station device, a bypass device, etc.), or a network functional entity. According to an embodiment, the capability information is used to indicate that the user equipment supports a secondary cell (SCell) not to carry downlink signals. According to an embodiment, the SCell may be a cell other than the PCell or the SpCell in a group of cells combined together by carrier aggregation CA technology. As an example, the capability information may include at least one of first capability information indicating that the user equipment supports that the secondary cell does not carry downlink signals in any carrier aggregation scenario, wherein the any carrier aggregation scenario includes an in-band carrier aggregation scenario and an inter-band carrier aggregation scenario, second capability information indicating that the user equipment supports that the secondary cell does not carry downlink signals only in an in-band continuous carrier aggregation scenario, third capability information indicating that the user equipment supports that the secondary cell does not carry downlink signals only in an in-band carrier aggregation scenario, wherein the in-band carrier aggregation scenario includes an in-band continuous carrier aggregation scenario and an in-band discontinuous carrier aggregation scenario, fourth capability information indicating that the user equipment supports that the secondary cell does not carry downlink signals only in an inter-band carrier aggregation scenario, and fifth capability information indicating that the user equipment supports that the secondary cell does not carry downlink signals with a frequency interval and/or a relative frequency interval with respect to the reference cell satisfying the first condition. Here, if the ue reports the fifth capability information, the ue is instructed to support the secondary cell whose frequency interval and/or relative frequency interval meet the first condition with the reference cell does not carry the downlink signal, and the ue supports the secondary cell whose frequency interval and/or relative frequency interval meet the first condition with the reference cell does not carry the downlink signal, which may implicitly instruct the ue to support the secondary cell not to carry the downlink signal in the carrier aggregation scenario. Here, the frequency interval and/or the frequency interval with the reference cell, and the first condition may be predefined.
For example, the frequency interval with the reference cell may be defined as a frequency interval between the SCell CC and the reference cell CC, or a frequency interval of a frequency band in which the SCell CC and the reference cell CC are located. The frequency interval between the SCell CC and the reference cell CC may be defined as one of a difference between an upper frequency limit of the SCell CC and a lower frequency limit of the reference cell CC, a difference between a center frequency of the SCell CC and a center frequency of the reference cell CC, a difference between an upper frequency limit of the SCell CC and an upper frequency limit of the reference cell CC, a difference between a lower frequency limit of the SCell CC and a lower frequency limit of the reference cell CC, and a difference between a lower frequency limit of the SCell CC and an upper frequency limit of the reference cell CC. If the SCell CC and the reference cell CC are in the same frequency band, the frequency interval between the frequency bands of the SCell CC and the reference cell CC may be defined as one of the difference between the upper frequency limit of the CC with the highest frequency and the lower frequency limit of the CC with the lowest frequency in the same frequency band, the difference between the center frequency of the CC with the highest frequency and the center frequency of the CC with the lowest frequency in the same frequency band, the difference between the upper frequency limit of the CC with the highest frequency and the upper frequency limit of the CC with the lowest frequency in the same frequency band, the difference between the lower frequency limit of the CC with the highest frequency and the lower frequency limit of the CC with the lowest frequency in the same frequency band, and the difference between the lower frequency limit of the CC with the highest frequency and the upper frequency limit of the CC with the lowest frequency. If the SCell CC and the reference cell CC are in different frequency bands, the frequency interval between the frequency band of the SCell CC and the frequency band of the reference cell CC may be defined as one of a difference between an upper frequency limit of the frequency-highest CC in the frequency-highest frequency band and a lower frequency limit of the frequency-lowest CC in the frequency-lowest frequency band, a difference between a center frequency of the frequency-highest CC in the frequency-highest frequency band and a center frequency of the frequency-lowest CC in the frequency-lowest frequency band, a difference between an upper frequency limit of the frequency-highest CC in the frequency-highest frequency band and a lower frequency limit of the frequency-lowest CC in the frequency-highest frequency band, a difference between a lower frequency limit of the frequency-highest CC in the frequency-highest frequency band and a lower frequency limit of the frequency-lowest CC in the frequency-lowest frequency band, and a difference between a lower frequency limit of the frequency-highest CC in the frequency-highest frequency band and a lower frequency-lowest CC.
For example, the relative frequency interval with the reference cell may be defined as one of a frequency upper limit or center frequency or frequency lower limit of a CC of the SCell divided by the frequency interval between the SCell and the reference cell, a frequency upper limit or center frequency or frequency lower limit of a CC of the SCell with the highest or lowest frequency in the frequency band in which the SCell is located, a frequency interval between the SCell and the reference cell divided by a frequency upper limit or center frequency or frequency lower limit of a CC of the SCell with the highest or lowest frequency in the frequency band in which the reference cell is located, but not limited thereto.
For example, the first condition may include at least one of a frequency interval of an SCell not carrying a downlink signal from a reference cell being within a certain range, a relative frequency interval being within a certain ratio range, but is not limited thereto.
According to an embodiment, the capability information may be reported per component carrier CC, or may be reported per multiple CC combinations, or may be reported per user equipment. If the capability information is reported according to the component carrier CC, the user equipment is indicated that the secondary cell is supported on the component carrier and does not carry downlink signals. And if the capability information is reported according to the CC combination, indicating that the user equipment supports the secondary cell to not carry the downlink signal on the CC combination. And if the capability information is reported according to the user equipment, indicating that the user equipment supports the secondary cell to not carry downlink signals on any CC and any CC combination.
According to an embodiment, the network node may not send a downlink signal to the secondary cell according to the capability information. According to an embodiment, in the case that the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the following three schemes may be used to determine uplink timing synchronization information of the secondary cell:
According to the first scheme, the uplink timing synchronization information of the auxiliary cell is determined according to the uplink timing synchronization information of the reference cell. For example, the uplink timing synchronization information of the reference cell may include uplink timing advance NTA information of the reference cell and a fixed timing advance offset NTA_offset of the secondary cell. In this case, the uplink timing synchronization information of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal may be determined directly by using the uplink timing advance NTA information of the reference cell and combining the fixed timing advance deviation NTA_offset of the secondary cell. For example, the uplink timing advance NTA of the reference cell is directly used as the uplink timing advance of the SCell not carrying the downlink signal, the fixed timing advance deviation NTA_offset of the secondary cell is used as the fixed timing advance deviation of the SCell not carrying the downlink signal, and then the uplink timing synchronization information of the SCell not carrying the downlink signal is determined according to the determined uplink timing advance and fixed timing advance deviation of the SCell not carrying the downlink signal.
And according to the uplink timing synchronization information of the reference cell and the information about the timing deviation between the auxiliary cell and the reference cell, which is included in the first information, determining the uplink timing synchronization information of the auxiliary cell. For example, by using the information of the uplink timing advance NTA of the reference cell, in combination with the fixed timing advance offset NTA_offset of the secondary cell, and in combination with the timing offset deltaT included in the first information, uplink timing synchronization information of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal is determined together, where deltaT describes the timing offset between the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal and the reference cell.
And thirdly, determining uplink timing synchronization information of the auxiliary cell according to timing deviation information about the auxiliary cell, which is included in the first information. In the third aspect, the network node may directly indicate, through the first information, timing offset information required for determining uplink timing synchronization information of the secondary cell.
The specific implementation of the first, second, or third scheme may depend on whether there is the first information or the content included in the first information. If the user equipment does not receive the first information from the network node, the uplink timing synchronization information of the secondary cell which does not carry the downlink signal can be determined according to the uplink timing synchronization information of the reference cell. If the user equipment receives first information from the network node and the first information comprises information about a timing offset between a secondary cell that does not carry downlink signals and a reference cell, the uplink timing synchronization information of the secondary cell may be determined from the uplink timing synchronization information of the reference cell and the first information. If the user equipment receives the first information from the network node and the first information includes timing offset information about a secondary cell that does not carry a downlink signal, uplink timing synchronization information of the secondary cell may be determined from the first information without using information of a reference cell.
According to the second scheme, when the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the transmission time of the uplink frame may be related to the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell and the timing deviation between the reference cell and the secondary cell.
According to an embodiment, the transmission time of the uplink frame is related to the timing deviation and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell, including that the transmission time of the uplink frame meets the requirement that the transmission of the uplink frame should occur at a time before the first detectable diameter in the time domain where the corresponding downlink frame is received from the reference cell, said time being related to the timing deviation and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell.
For example, when uplink transmission is performed on the secondary cell, the transmission time of the uplink frame should meet the requirement that if the user equipment has the capability of supporting SCell indicated by any one of the capability information and does not carry downlink signals, the transmission of the uplink frame should occur at a time before the first detectable path in the time domain of receiving the corresponding downlink frame from the reference cell, for example, the time is (NTA+NTA_offset)×Tc, when the user equipment uses the uplink transmission timing advance NTA of the reference cell as the uplink reference transmission timing advance of the secondary cell, for example, the time is (NTA+NTA_offset+deltaT)×Tc, when the user equipment uses the uplink transmission timing advance NTA of the reference cell as the uplink reference transmission timing advance of the secondary cell and uses the timing deviation deltaT indicated in the first information, and further for example, the time is (NTA_NEW+NTA_offset)×Tc, when the user equipment uses the timing deviation information (indicated as NTA_NEW) of the secondary cell in the first information as the uplink transmission timing advance of the secondary cell, for example, where NTA_offset is the secondary cell, and the time deviation is the fixed time unit of the secondary cell.
According to an embodiment, when uplink transmission is performed on the secondary cell in step S420, the uplink timing requirement for the secondary cell may include at least one of an initial transmission timing control requirement of the ue and a minimum transmission timing error requirement that the secondary cell should meet, but is not limited to.
Optionally, the method shown in fig. 4 may further include determining a reference point for the initial transmission timing control requirement, wherein the reference point is determined based on the downlink timing of the reference cell, the timing deviation, and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell. According to an embodiment, the downlink timing of the reference cell may be a first time, where the first time corresponds to a receiving time of a first path in a time domain of a downlink frame, and the first time is received from the reference cell at an antenna of a user equipment and is used for the user equipment to determine the downlink timing. For example, if the ue has the capability of supporting SCell without downlink signal indicated by any of the foregoing capability information, after obtaining the information of the reference cell, for example, the ue may use the uplink transmission timing advance NTA of the reference cell as the uplink reference transmission timing advance of the SCell without downlink signal, use the fixed timing advance offset NTA_offset of the secondary cell as the reference fixed timing advance offset of the SCell without downlink signal, and further use the timing offset deltaT indicated in the first information if the foregoing first information is available to determine the reference point of the initial transmission timing control requirement of the ue for the SCell without downlink signal. For example, if the ue receives the first information from the network node and the first information includes the above-mentioned timing offset deltaT, the reference point may be the downlink timing of the reference cell minus (NTA+NTA_offset+deltaT)×Tc, where Tc is a basic time unit, and the downlink timing is defined as a first time instant, which is a reception time instant of the first path in the time domain of the corresponding downlink frame, and the first time instant is a downlink timing received from the reference cell at the ue antenna for the ue to decide. And if the user equipment does not receive the first information, delatT =0 in (NTA+NTA_offset +deltat) above. As another example, if the user equipment receives the first information from the network node and the first information includes timing offset information (denoted as NTA_NEW) of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal, the reference point may be determined using the timing offset NTA_NEW of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal and the fixed timing advance offset NTA_offset of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal, e.g., the reference point may be the downlink timing subtraction (NTA_NEW+NTA_offset)×Tc) of the reference cell. for another example, when the ue does not obtain reference cell information of an SCell that does not carry a downlink signal or does not meet the reference cell selection threshold requirement, a PCell or a SpCell may be used as its reference cell.
According to an embodiment, the secondary cell should meet a minimum transmission timing error requirement, and ensure that a transmission timing error between the secondary cell and a reference timing is not exceeding a timing error limit value, where the reference timing is a second time before a downlink timing of the reference cell, and the second time is determined based on the timing deviation and an uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell. For example, the SCell should meet the minimum transmission timing error requirement, ensure that the transmission timing error between the SCell and the reference timing does not exceed ±te, and adjust the transmission timing error between the SCell and the reference timing to within ±te when the transmission timing error between the SCell and the reference timing exceeds ±te, so that the ue can transmit the uplink signal on the SCell, where Te is a timing error limit value. The reference timing is a second time before the downlink timing of the reference cell, for example, the second time is (NTA+NTA_offset)×Tc), where the ue uses the uplink transmission timing advance NTA of the reference cell as the uplink reference transmission timing advance of the secondary cell, for example, the second time is (NTA+NTA_offset+deltaT)×Tc), where the ue uses the uplink transmission timing advance NTA of the reference cell as the uplink reference transmission timing advance of the secondary cell, and uses the timing offset deltaT indicated in the first information, and for example, the second time is (NTA_NEW+NTA_offset)×Tc), where the ue uses the timing offset information (denoted as NTA_NEW) of the secondary cell in the first information as the uplink transmission timing advance of the secondary cell. Wherein NTA_offset is a fixed timing advance offset of the secondary cell, and Tc is a basic time unit.
Optionally, the method of fig. 4 may further include determining uplink power control information of the secondary cell according to uplink power control information of the reference cell and a power offset between the secondary cell configured by the network node and the reference cell. For example, the network node may configure the power offset between the secondary cell and the reference cell by the first information mentioned above. As mentioned above, the first information may include at least one of information indicating a timing deviation between the secondary cell and the reference cell and/or information indicating a power deviation between the secondary cell and the reference cell, timing deviation information and/or power deviation information of the secondary cell.
And determining the uplink power control information of the auxiliary cell according to the uplink power control information of the reference cell and the power deviation between the auxiliary cell and the reference cell configured by the network node, wherein the uplink power control information of the auxiliary cell is a scheme for determining the uplink power control information of the auxiliary cell. The determination of the uplink power control information of the secondary cell is not limited to this scheme but may alternatively be other schemes.
For example, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the following three schemes may be used to determine the uplink power control information of the secondary cell:
According to the first scheme, the uplink power control information of the auxiliary cell is determined according to the uplink power control information of the reference cell. For example, the uplink power control information of the reference cell may be borrowed, the path loss difference between the SCell not carrying the downlink signal and the reference cell may be calculated through the respective carrier frequencies of the reference cell and the SCell not carrying the downlink signal, the path loss compensation factor may be optionally adjusted, and finally the uplink power control information of the reference cell and the path loss difference and/or the adjusted path loss compensation factor may be used to determine the uplink power control information of the SCell not carrying the downlink signal.
And according to the uplink power control information of the reference cell and the information about the power deviation between the auxiliary cell and the reference cell, which is included in the first information, determining the uplink power control information of the auxiliary cell. For example, the uplink power control information of the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal is determined by using the uplink power control information of the reference cell and simultaneously using the power offset deltaP indicated in the first information, where deltaP describes the uplink path loss offset of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal and the reference cell estimated from the network device.
And thirdly, determining uplink power control information of the auxiliary cell according to the power deviation information about the auxiliary cell included in the first information. In the third aspect, the network node may directly indicate, through the first information, power offset information of the secondary cell required for determining uplink power control information of the secondary cell.
The specific adoption of the first scheme, the second scheme, or the third scheme may depend on whether there is the first information or the information content included in the first information. If the user equipment does not receive the first information from the network node, the uplink power control information of the secondary cell which does not carry the downlink signal can be determined according to the uplink power control information of the reference cell. If the user equipment receives first information from the network node and the first information comprises information about a power offset between a secondary cell that does not carry downlink signals and a reference cell, uplink power control information of the secondary cell may be determined from uplink power control information of the reference cell and the first information. If the user equipment receives the first information from the network node and the first information includes power offset information of a secondary cell that does not carry a downlink signal, uplink power control information of the secondary cell may be determined according to the first information without using information of a reference cell.
According to an embodiment, optionally, in case that uplink timing synchronization information and/or uplink power control information of the secondary cell are determined, activation, deactivation and/or uplink transmission of the secondary cell may be performed based on the uplink timing synchronization information and/or the uplink power control information of the secondary cell.
Optionally, the present disclosure further proposes that activation and/or deactivation of a secondary cell that does not carry a downlink signal may be initiated by the user equipment, thereby solving the problem that the network equipment may not decide when the SCell that does not carry a downlink signal is initiated to activate and/or deactivate. For example, there may be two schemes for initiating activation and/or deactivation of a secondary cell by the user equipment that does not carry a downlink signal. One solution is that the user equipment first sends a notification to the network node that the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal needs to be activated and/or deactivated, and then activates and/or deactivates the secondary cell according to signaling received from the network node for notifying it to activate and/or deactivate the secondary cell. Alternatively, the ue directly informs the network node that the ue will activate and/or deactivate the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal at a predetermined time, in which case the ue does not need to receive signaling from the network node to inform the ue to activate and/or deactivate the secondary cell.
To achieve both solutions, although not shown, the method shown in fig. 4 may optionally further include sending a notification to the network node that the secondary cell needs to be activated or deactivated, receiving a command sent by the network node to activate or deactivate the secondary cell according to the command, or sending a notification to the network node to activate or deactivate the secondary cell, activating or deactivating the secondary cell at a predetermined time, where the predetermined time is included in the notification, or the predetermined time is a predefined value or a network high-layer configuration value.
For example, the user equipment may send third information to the network node, and receive signaling sent by the network node for activating or deactivating the secondary cell, where the third information is used to notify the network node that the secondary cell needs to be activated or deactivated. Or the user equipment may send third information to the network node, where the third information is used to notify activation or deactivation of the secondary cell, and the third information includes information of a predetermined time for activating or deactivating the secondary cell, and then the user equipment may activate or deactivate the secondary cell at the predetermined time. Or the user equipment may send third information to the network node, where the third information is used to inform to activate or deactivate the secondary cell, and then the user equipment may activate or deactivate the secondary cell at a predefined value or a network higher layer configuration value time. As an example, the third information may be radio resource Control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) information or medium access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) information.
For example, the ue determines according to the uplink data service condition, when the SCell needs to be added to share the uplink data service, the ue may notify, through the PCell or the SpCell or the reference cell, that the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal needs to be activated by using the third information, and then the ue may notify, through the MAC-CE signaling, the ue to activate the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal. For another example, when the ue determines that the SCell needs to be added to share the uplink data service according to the uplink data service condition, the ue may notify, by using the PCell or the SpCell or the reference cell, that the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal will be activated in the n+k time slot, where n is the current time slot, and k may be a predefined value or a network high layer configuration value, or k may be included in the third information.
By initiating activation and/or deactivation of the secondary cell which does not carry the downlink signal by the user equipment, the method not only solves the problem that the network equipment can not judge when the SCell which does not carry the downlink signal is activated and/or deactivated, but also is beneficial to reducing network delay and improving system throughput.
According to embodiments, the activation or deactivation latency requirements of the secondary cell may include, but are not limited to, requirements regarding a reception timing offset between the secondary cell and a reference cell, a reception timing offset (RECEIVE TIMING DIFFERENCE, RTD), and/or requirements regarding a reception power difference between the secondary cell and a reference cell. According to an embodiment, the requirement for the reception timing offset and/or the requirement for the reception power difference may be determined based on the capabilities of the user equipment. For example, if the user equipment has a stronger capability to support SCell not carrying downlink signals, the requirements regarding the reception timing offset and/or the requirements regarding the reception power difference may be wider, whereas the user equipment has a weaker capability to support SCell not carrying downlink signals, the requirements regarding the reception timing offset and/or the requirements regarding the reception power difference may be more stringent. By determining the requirement on the reception timing deviation and/or the requirement on the reception power difference according to the capability of the user equipment, and respectively making the activation or deactivation delay requirement for the user equipment with different capabilities, unnecessary waiting time can be avoided, and the purposes of reducing network delay, improving system throughput and realizing network energy saving can be better achieved.
As an example, the above-mentioned requirements may be minimum requirements, but are not limited thereto. According to embodiments, the capabilities of different user equipments may correspond to different minimum requirements of reception timing offset and/or reception power difference. In addition, the requirement on the RTD and/or the requirement on the reception power difference may affect the activation delay Tactivation_time of the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal, or may not affect the activation delay Tactivation_time of the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal.
According to an embodiment, if the activated SCell belongs to FR1 and has a reference cell in an activated state, if the SCell does not carry a downlink signal and there is no SSB measurement timing configuration (SS/PBCH block measurement timing configuration, SMTC), the user equipment has a capability of supporting that the SCell does not carry a downlink signal as indicated in any one of the foregoing capability information, and when the following condition is satisfied, the activation delay Tactivation_time of the SCell is X, and the value of X has a plurality of possibilities, for example 3ms:
-when the SCell and the reference cell belong to a frequency interval and/or the relative frequency interval is within a certain range, or when the user equipment has different capabilities of supporting that the SCell does not carry downlink signals, their receiving timing deviation (RECEIVE TIMING DIFFERENCE, RTD) is within a Y range, and different values are possible for different frequency intervals and/or the relative frequency interval range Y, such as ±260ns, such as ±min (cyclic prefix length, 3 μs), where a cyclic prefix is a cyclic prefix corresponding to the maximum subcarrier interval of the SCell and the reference cell, such as ± (3μs+y1), and multiple values of Y1 are possible. And
The reception power difference between the SCell and the reference cell is within the range Z, and the value of Z is possible, for example, 6db+z1, and the value of Z is different, for example, 0dB, for different frequency intervals and/or for a range of relative frequency intervals Z1.
Specifically, for example, if the activated SCell belongs to FR1 and has a reference cell in an activated state, if the SCell does not carry a downlink signal and does not have an SSB measurement timing configuration (SS/PBCH block measurement timing configuration, SMTC), the ue has a capability of supporting the SCell to not carry a downlink signal as indicated in any one of the foregoing capability information, and when the following condition is satisfied, the activation delay Tactivation_time of the SCell is X1, and the value of X1 has various possibilities, for example, 3ms:
-when the SCell and the reference cell belong to a frequency interval and/or a relative frequency interval is within a certain range, or when the user equipment has different capabilities for supporting that the SCell does not carry downlink signals, their reception timing offset (RECEIVE TIMING DIFFERENCE, RTD) is within a range of Y, Y has different values, such as ± 260ns, and
The reception power difference between the SCell and the reference cell is within the range Z, and the value of Z is possible, for example, 6db+z1, and the value of Z is different, for example, 0dB, for different frequency intervals and/or for a range of relative frequency intervals Z1.
For another example, if the activated SCell belongs to FR1 and has a reference cell in an active state, if the SCell does not carry a downlink signal and there is no SSB measurement timing configuration (SS/PBCH block measurement timing configuration, SMTC), the ue has a capability of supporting that the SCell does not carry a downlink signal as indicated in any one of the foregoing capability information, and when the following condition is satisfied, the activation delay Tactivation_time of the SCell is X2, and the value of X2 has a plurality of possibilities, for example, 3ms:
-when the SCell and reference cell belong to a frequency interval and/or the relative frequency interval is within a certain range, or when the user equipment has different capabilities of supporting that the SCell does not carry downlink signals, their reception timing offset (RECEIVE TIMING DIFFERENCE, RTD) is within a range of Y, Y has different values, such as ± min (cyclic prefix length, 3 μs), where the cyclic prefix is the cyclic prefix corresponding to the maximum subcarrier interval of the SCell and reference cell, and
The reception power difference between the SCell and the reference cell is within the range Z, and the value of Z is possible, for example, 6db+z1, and the value of Z is different, for example, 0dB, for different frequency intervals and/or for a range of relative frequency intervals Z1.
For another example, if the activated SCell belongs to FR1 and has a reference cell in an active state, if the SCell does not carry a downlink signal and there is no SSB measurement timing configuration (SS/PBCH block measurement timing configuration, SMTC), the ue has a capability of supporting that the SCell does not carry a downlink signal as indicated in any one of the foregoing capability information, and when the following condition is satisfied, the activation delay Tactivation_time of the SCell is X3, and the value of X3 has a plurality of possibilities, for example, 3ms:
-when the SCell and the reference cell belong to a frequency interval and/or the relative frequency interval is within a certain range, or when the user equipment has different capabilities of supporting no downlink signal carried by the SCell, their reception timing offset (RECEIVE TIMING DIFFERENCE, RTD) is within a range of Y, Y has different values, such as ± (3 μs+y1), Y1 has multiple possibilities, and
The reception power difference between the SCell and the reference cell is within the range Z, and the value of Z is possible, for example, 6db+z1, and the value of Z is different, for example, 0dB, for different frequency intervals and/or for a range of relative frequency intervals Z1.
In the above examples, the values of X1, X2, and X3 may be different or the same.
According to an embodiment, the method shown in fig. 4 may optionally further comprise receiving a command for activating or deactivating the secondary cell at time slot n, performing an action corresponding to the command at a third time instant, the third time instant being determined based on a first offset and an activation or deactivation delay, wherein the first offset is related to a delay time, wherein the delay time is a predetermined value or is determined based on information of a reference cell. According to an embodiment, the delay time may comprise a first delay time and/or a second delay time. For example, the first delay time may be a delay time determined based on a time difference between downlink data transmission and acknowledgement of the reference cell, e.g., may be equal to a hybrid automatic repeat request (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ) acknowledgement reporting period of the reference cell. For example, the second delay time may be a delay time determined based on the information of the reference cell, for example, may be a delay time determined based on a channel state information reporting period of the reference cell, and for example, may be equal to the channel state information reporting period of the reference cell. For example, when the activated SCell is an SCell that does not carry a downlink signal, if an activation command of the SCell that does not carry a downlink signal is received in time slot n, the user equipment should be able to be in no later time slot than the time slotPerforming a first action and/or performing a related action corresponding to the SCell activation command not carrying the downlink signal, wherein Tactivation_time is a SCell activation delay in milliseconds, Tduration1 is a first delay time (e.g. in milliseconds), e.g. THARQ;Tduration2 of a reference cell is a second delay time (e.g. in milliseconds), e.g. TCSI_reporting of the reference cell, NR slot length is a time slot length in milliseconds corresponding to the activated SCell NR mode numerology (e.g. mode 0 corresponds to 1ms, mode 1 corresponds to 0.5ms, mode 2 corresponds to 0.25ms, mode 3 corresponds to 0.125ms, etc.). The first behavior includes, but is not limited to, the reference cell transmitting a valid CSI report to the reference cell.
Above, a method performed by a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described with reference to fig. 4 in conjunction with an example, according to which network power saving can be achieved while ensuring that uplink transmission can be performed normally.
To facilitate an understanding of the above method, two examples of methods performed by a user equipment according to embodiments of the present disclosure are briefly described below with reference to fig. 5 and 6. However, the method performed by the user equipment is not limited to the examples of fig. 5 and 6, but many possible variations are possible.
Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a first example of a method performed by a user device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to fig. 5, in step S510, the user equipment reports capability information to the network node. The capability information is used for indicating that the user equipment supports the secondary cell to not carry downlink signals.
Next, in step S520, the user equipment obtains information of the reference cell based on the first rule and/or the second information received from the network node. For example, the user equipment selects the reference cell based on the first rule and/or the second information received from the network node, thereby obtaining information of the reference cell.
Subsequently, in step S530, the ue determines uplink timing synchronization information and/or uplink power control information of the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal according to the information of the reference cell and/or the first information received from the network node.
Finally, in step S540, the ue performs activation, deactivation, and/or uplink transmission on the secondary cell based on the uplink timing synchronization information and/or the uplink power control information. For example, when uplink transmission is performed on the secondary cell, in the case that the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the transmission timing of the uplink frame may be related to the timing offset between the secondary cell and the reference cell indicated in the first information and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell.
Details concerning the above steps are mentioned in the description concerning fig. 4, and thus, are not repeated here.
Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a second example of a method performed by a user device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to fig. 6, in step S610, a user equipment reports capability information to a network node. The capability information is used for indicating that the user equipment supports the secondary cell to not carry downlink signals.
Next, in step S620, the user equipment obtains information of the reference cell based on the first rule and/or the second information received from the network node. For example, the user equipment selects the reference cell based on the first rule and/or the second information received from the network node, thereby obtaining information of the reference cell.
Subsequently, in step S630, the ue determines uplink timing synchronization information and/or uplink power control information of the secondary cell that does not carry the downlink signal according to the information of the reference cell and/or the first information received from the network node.
In step S640, the user equipment transmits third information to the network device. For example, the third information is used to inform the network node that a secondary cell that does not carry a downlink signal needs to be activated and/or deactivated, or the third information is used to inform the network node that the secondary cell will be activated and/or deactivated at a predetermined time.
Finally, in step S650, the ue performs activation, deactivation, and/or uplink transmission on the secondary cell based on the uplink timing synchronization information and/or the uplink power control information. For example, when uplink transmission is performed on the secondary cell, in the case that the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the transmission timing of the uplink frame may be related to the timing offset between the secondary cell and the reference cell indicated in the first information and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell.
Details concerning the above steps are mentioned in the description about fig. 4, and thus, are not repeated here.
The method performed by the user equipment has been described above with reference to fig. 4 to 6, and the method performed by the network node will be described below with reference to fig. 7. In the present disclosure, a network node may be any network device (e.g., a base station device, a bypass device, etc.), or a network functional entity.
Referring to fig. 7, in step S710, information indicating a timing offset between a reference cell and a secondary cell is transmitted to a user equipment. For example, the network node may send first information to the user equipment, wherein the first information may comprise information indicating a timing offset between the reference cell and the secondary cell.
According to an embodiment, the reference cell may be determined based on information received from the network node indicating the reference cell, or based on at least one of a frequency interval between the secondary cell and a serving cell of the user equipment, a relative frequency interval between the secondary cell and the serving cell, a signal strength of the serving cell, from which the reference cell is determined, wherein the serving cell comprises a primary cell or a special cell and an active secondary cell carrying a synchronization signal block.
In step S720, an uplink transmission is received on the secondary cell. According to an embodiment, in case the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the transmission instant of the uplink frame is related to the timing offset and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell. For example, the transmission time of the uplink frame is related to the timing deviation and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell, including that the transmission time of the uplink frame satisfies the requirement that the transmission of the uplink frame should occur at a time before the first detectable diameter in the time domain where the corresponding downlink frame is received from the reference cell, the time being related to the timing deviation and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell.
Alternatively, according to an embodiment, the reference point of the initial transmission timing control requirement of the uplink transmission may be determined based on the downlink timing of the reference cell, the timing deviation, and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell. For example, the downlink timing of the reference cell is a first time, where the first time corresponds to a receiving time of the first path in a time domain of the downlink frame, and the first time is received from the reference cell at an antenna of the user equipment and is used for the user equipment to determine the downlink timing.
Optionally, the secondary cell should meet the requirement of minimum transmission timing error, and ensure that the transmission timing error between the secondary cell and the reference timing does not exceed the timing error limit value, where the reference timing is a second time before the downlink timing of the reference cell, and the second time is determined based on the timing deviation and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell.
As mentioned above, the activation or deactivation of the secondary cell may optionally be initiated by the user equipment. In this case, the method shown in fig. 7 may optionally further include receiving a notification from the user equipment that the secondary cell needs to be activated or deactivated, transmitting a command for activating or deactivating the secondary cell to the user equipment, or receiving a notification from the user equipment that the secondary cell is activated or deactivated, wherein information of a predetermined time for the user equipment to activate or deactivate the secondary cell is included in the notification, or the predetermined time is a predefined value or a network high-layer configuration value. The activation or deactivation delay requirements for the secondary cell have been described above and are not described in detail herein.
Optionally, the method shown in fig. 7 may further comprise sending a command to the user equipment for activating or deactivating the secondary cell in time slot n, wherein the user equipment performs an action corresponding to the command at a third time instant, the third time instant being determined based on a first offset and an activation or deactivation delay, wherein the first offset is related to a delay time, wherein the delay time is a predetermined value or is determined based on information of a reference cell. For example, the delay time includes a first delay time and/or a second delay time, where the first delay time is a delay time determined based on a time difference between downlink data transmission and acknowledgement of the reference cell, and the second delay time is a delay time determined based on a channel state information reporting period of the reference cell.
Optionally, the method shown in fig. 7 may further include transmitting information indicating a power offset between the secondary cell and the reference cell to the user equipment, wherein the uplink power control information of the secondary cell is determined based on the power offset and the uplink power control information of the reference cell.
Optionally, the method shown in FIG. 7 may further include receiving capability information reported by the user equipment. According to an embodiment, the capability information may be used to indicate that the user equipment supports that the secondary cell does not carry downlink signals. The capability information has been described in the above description about fig. 4, and the above description about the capability information is applicable to the method shown in fig. 7, so that a detailed description thereof is omitted herein. According to the capability information, the network node may not send a downlink signal to the secondary cell.
According to the method shown in fig. 7, since the network node sends the information indicating the timing deviation between the reference cell and the secondary cell to the user equipment, and in the case that the secondary cell does not have a downlink signal, the transmission time of the uplink frame is related to the timing deviation and the uplink transmission timing advance of the reference cell, so that it is possible to ensure that uplink transmission is correctly received on the secondary cell while the network is energy-saving.
Fig. 8-10 are diagrams illustrating examples of communications between a user equipment and a network node according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
In order to facilitate a more intuitive understanding of the disclosed concept, an example of communication between a user equipment and a network node is briefly described below with reference to fig. 8 to 10. However, it should be understood that fig. 8-10 are merely examples and do not indicate that communication between a user equipment and a network node can only be performed in the flow shown in fig. 8-10.
Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first example of communication between a user equipment and a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
As shown in fig. 8, first, the user equipment may report the capability information as described above to a network node (e.g., a base station device). The network node may then instruct the addition/modification/release of scells via RRC reconfiguration message. Through the RRC reconfiguration message, the user equipment knows which or which scells need to be added/modified/released, and after the addition/modification/release is completed, the user equipment may send an RRC reconfiguration complete response to the network node. Next, the network node may send the second information and the first information to the user equipment. For example, the second information may be information indicating a reference cell. For example, the first information may be used to indicate a timing offset and/or a power offset between the SCell and the reference cell. Further, the network node may send a MAC-CE message to the user equipment informing the user equipment which SCell or scells to activate. Then, the user equipment may perform activation of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal according to the message.
Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second example of communication between a user equipment and a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
As shown in fig. 9, first, the user equipment may report the capability information as described above to a network node (e.g., a base station device). The network node may then instruct the addition/modification/release of scells via RRC reconfiguration message. Through the RRC reconfiguration message, the user equipment knows which or which scells need to be added/modified/released, and after the addition/modification/release is completed, the user equipment may send an RRC reconfiguration complete response to the network node. Next, the network node may send the second information and the first information to the user equipment. For example, the second information may be information indicating a reference cell. For example, the first information may be used to indicate a timing offset and/or a power offset between the SCell and the reference cell. The user equipment may then send third information to the network node. In the example of fig. 9, the third information is used to inform the network node that scells that do not carry downlink signals need to be activated and/or deactivated. After receiving the third information, the network node may send a MAC-CE message to the user equipment to inform the user equipment to activate and/or deactivate the SCell. The user equipment may then perform activation and/or deactivation of the SCell according to the message.
Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a third example of communication between a user equipment and a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
As shown in fig. 10, first, the user equipment may report the capability information as described above to a network node (e.g., a base station device). The network node may then instruct the addition/modification/release of scells via RRC reconfiguration message. Through the RRC reconfiguration message, the user equipment knows which or which scells need to be added/modified/released, and after the addition/modification/release is completed, the user equipment may send an RRC reconfiguration complete response to the network node. Next, the network node may send the second information and the first information to the user equipment. For example, the second information may be information indicating a reference cell. For example, the first information may be used to indicate a timing offset and/or a power offset between the SCell and the reference cell. The user equipment may then send third information to the network node. In the example of fig. 10, the third information is used to inform the network node that scells that do not carry downlink signals will be activated and/or deactivated at a predetermined time. Thereafter, at the predetermined time, the user equipment may directly perform activation and/or deactivation of the SCell that does not carry the downlink signal.
It should be noted that, although the second information, the first information, the MAC-CE message, and the third information are illustrated as being transmitted in a certain order in the examples of fig. 8 to 10, the second information, the first information, the MAC-CE, and the third information are not transmitted in a fixed order, and the second information and the first information may be transmitted either before the third information and/or the MAC-CE message or after the third information and/or the MAC-CE message. In addition, the second information and the first information are sent in no fixed sequence, the second information can be sent first and then the first information can be sent first and then the second information can be sent, or the second information and the first information can be sent together.
In addition, it should be noted that, although only the activation or deactivation of the SCell is illustrated in the examples of fig. 8 to 10, which is performed in the case where the SCell does not have a downlink signal, it should be understood that the basic communication flow between the user equipment and the network node in fig. 8 to 9 is also applicable to uplink transmission on the SCell in the case where the SCell does not have a downlink signal.
Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a user device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 11, the user equipment 1100 may comprise a transceiver 1101 and a processor 1102, wherein the processor 1102 is coupled to the transceiver 1101 and configured to perform the method performed by the user equipment described above.
By way of example, the user device may be a PC computer, tablet, personal digital assistant, smart phone, or other device capable of executing the above-described set of instructions. Furthermore, the user equipment need not be a single user equipment, but may be any device or collection of circuits capable of executing instructions (or sets of instructions) individually or in combination. The user device may also be part of an integrated control system or system manager, or may be any portable electronic device.
In a user device, the processor 1102 may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processor (GPU), a programmable logic device, a special purpose processor system, a microcontroller or microprocessor, or the like. By way of example, and not limitation, processors may also include analog processors, digital processors, microprocessors, multi-core processors, processor arrays, and the like.
Fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 12, a network node 1200 may include a transceiver 1201 and a processor 1202, wherein the processor 1202 is coupled to the transceiver 1201 and configured to perform the method performed by the network node described above. As an example, a network node may be any network entity (e.g., a base station device, a bypass device, etc.), or a network functional entity.
Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, there may be provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform any one of the methods mentioned above. Examples of computer readable storage media herein include read-only memory (ROM), random-access programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), static random-access memory (SRAM), flash memory, nonvolatile memory, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD + R, CD-RW, CD+RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD + R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-R LTH, BD-RE, blu-ray or optical disk memory, hard Disk Drive (HDD), solid State Disk (SSD), card memory (such as a multimedia card, secure Digital (SD) card or ultra-fast digital (XD) card), magnetic tape, floppy disk, magneto-optical data storage device, hard disk, solid state disk, and any other device configured to non-temporarily store a computer program and any associated data, data files and data structures and to cause the computer program and any associated data, data file and data structures to be provided to a processor or processor to execute the computer program. The instructions or computer programs in the computer-readable storage media described above can be run in an environment deployed in a computer device, such as a client, host, proxy device, server, etc., and further, in one example, the computer programs and any associated data, data files, and data structures are distributed across networked computer systems such that the computer programs and any associated data, data files, and data structures are stored, accessed, and executed in a distributed fashion by one or more processors or computers.
Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any adaptations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.