WO2024113692A1

WO2024113692A1 - Timing-advance-related information measurement and reporting

Info

Publication number: WO2024113692A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/094335
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaolong Guo; Bo Gao; Yang Zhang; Ling Yang; Ke YAO
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2023-05-15
Filing date: 2023-05-15
Publication date: 2024-06-06
Anticipated expiration: 2025-11-15
Also published as: CN120982191A

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus for wireless communication are described. A wireless communication method includes receiving, by a wireless node, a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter. The method further includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the first and second sets of downlink reference signals, a first timing of a first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a second timing of a second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter. The method further includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the first timing and the second timing, a timing offset value between the first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and the second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter.

Description

TIMING-ADVANCE-RELATED INFORMATION MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent document is directed generally to wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

Mobile telecommunication technologies are moving the world toward an increasingly connected and networked society. In comparison with the existing wireless networks, next-generation systems and wireless communication techniques will need to support a much wider range of use-case characteristics and provide a more complex and sophisticated range of access requirements and flexibilities.

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless communication for mobile devices and data terminals developed by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . LTE Advanced (LTE-A) is a wireless communication standard that enhances the LTE standard. The 5th generation of wireless system, known as 5G, advances the LTE and LTE-A wireless standards and is committed to supporting higher data rates, large number of connections, ultra-low latency, high reliability, and other emerging business needs.

SUMMARY

Techniques are disclosed for measuring timing-advance-related information, such as timing offset values among different transmission parameters. Techniques are also disclosed for reporting timing-advance-related information, such as based on a timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or a network message.

A first example wireless communication method includes receiving, by a wireless node, a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter. The method further includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the first and second sets of downlink reference signals, a first timing of a first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a second timing of a second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter. The method further includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the first timing and the second timing, a timing offset value between the first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and the second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter.

A second example wireless communication method includes receiving, by a wireless node, a timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or a network message. The method further includes transmitting, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or the network message, timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter.

A third example wireless communication method includes receiving, by a wireless node, a timing-advance-related message associated with a transmission parameter. The method further includes terminating, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance measurement procedure and/or a timing advance reporting procedure associated with the transmission parameter.

A fourth example wireless communication method includes performing, by a wireless node, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with a transmission parameter. The method further includes determining, by the wireless node and based on a priority rule, a transmission power of the PRACH transmission, where a total transmission power of the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions is not greater than a power limitation value.

A fifth example wireless communication method includes transmitting, by a network node, a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter. The method further includes receiving, by the network node and based on the first and second sets of downlink reference signals, a first timing of a first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a second timing of a second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter. The method further includes receiving, by the network node and based on the first timing and the second timing, a timing offset value between the first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and the second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter.

A sixth example wireless communication method includes transmitting, by a network node, a timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or a network message. The method further includes receiving, by the network node and based on the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or the network message, timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter.

A seventh example wireless communication method includes transmitting, by a network node, a timing-advance-related message associated with a transmission parameter. The method further includes terminating, by the network node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance measurement procedure and/or a timing advance reporting procedure associated with the transmission parameter.

An eighth example wireless communication method includes receiving, by a network node, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with a transmission parameter. The method further includes determining, by the network node and based on a priority rule, a transmission power of the PRACH transmission, where a total transmission power of the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions is not greater than a power limitation value.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a device that is configured or operable to perform the above-described methods is disclosed. The device may include a processor configured to implement the above-described methods.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, the above-described methods are embodied in the form of processor-executable code and stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The code included in the computer readable storage medium when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement the methods described in this patent document.

The above and other aspects and their implementations are described in greater detail in the drawings, the descriptions, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates exemplary timing-advance-related information measurement and reporting.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary flowchart for determining a timing offset value.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart for transmitting timing-advance-related information.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart for terminating a timing advance measurement or reporting procedure.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart for performing a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart for receiving a timing offset value.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary flowchart for receiving timing-advance-related information.

FIG. 8 is another exemplary flowchart for terminating a timing advance measurement or reporting procedure.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart for receiving a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a hardware platform that may be a part of a network node or a wireless node.

FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary wireless communication including a Base Station (BS) and User Equipment (UE) based on some implementations of the disclosed technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The example headings for the various sections below are used to facilitate the understanding of the disclosed subject matter and do not limit the scope of the claimed subject matter in any way. Accordingly, one or more features of one example section can be combined with one or more features of another example section. Furthermore, 5G terminology is used for the sake of clarity of explanation, but the techniques disclosed in the present document are not limited to 5G technology only and may be used in wireless systems that implemented other protocols.

I. Introduction

In long-term evolution (LTE) and new radio (NR) systems, uplink synchronization is to ensure the arrival time of transmissions from multiple user equipments (UEs) can be within an acceptable range, and the demodulation at the network side can be reliable. Uplink synchronization can be based on an indication message from a network or a measurement at the UE side. The indication message is determined at the base station side based on uplink channels/signals from a UE, e.g., Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) . The measurement at the UE side is based on the reception time of downlink signals/channels. When uplink synchronization for multiple candidate cells or multiple transmit-receive points (TRPs) are required to be performed, timing advance values associated with each of the cells/TRPs need to be determined.

Normally a UE acquires a timing advance value based on a random access procedure and a timing advance command message from a network. Both the UE and the network side can identify the timing advance value used by the UE in such a case.

A UE may determine a timing advance value for a cell based on the measurement of downlink reference signals or downlink frames by assuming that the difference between the downlink timings of two cells can be used to determine the difference between the uplink timings of the two cells. By this method, if the timing advance value of one cell has already been determined by the UE, the UE can determine the timing advance value of the other cell based on the measurement and the timing advance value of the first cell. This patent document discloses detailed methods for the measurement, including the period of the measurement, the configuration, etc.

When a UE determines a timing advance value by itself, e.g., based on a measurement at the UE side, the network cannot identify the timing advance value used by the UE if the UE does not report the corresponding value to the network. If the timing advance value determined by the UE is not accurate enough, it is impossible for the network to indicate an adjustment value to modify the timing advance value without the knowledge of the timing advance value determined by the UE. This patent document further discloses methods of UE reporting of the timing-advance-related information.

Downlink and uplink synchronization are necessary steps for ensuring reliable wireless communication in LTE and NR wireless systems. The downlink synchronization is realized by receiving a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) , and the uplink synchronization is realized by a random access procedure and an uplink timing alignment maintenance.

The value of the uplink transmission timing advance is related to N_TA, offset determined by the Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling and the Timing Advance Command (TAC) included in the Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) . Normally, the network configures multiple Time Alignment Groups (TAG) to indicate timing advance for multiple serving cells and each TAG includes one or more serving cells. A base station transmits a TAC associated with a TAG, and a UE applies the TAC to determine timing advance for all serving cells in the TAG. For N_TA, offset, a UE expects that the same value is configured for all the serving cells in the same TAG.

A UE receives a TAC in a random access response to determine the initial timing advance value, and then the UE receives a TAC in the TAC MAC CE to update the timing advance value.

The uplink frame transmission is in advance of the reception of the first detected path (in time) of the corresponding downlink frame from the reference cell, where the amount of the advance value is based on the timing advance value. For serving cell (s) in a primary Time Alignment Group (pTAG) , a UE shall use the special cell (SpCell) as the reference cell for deriving the UE transmit timing for cells in the pTAG. For serving cell (s) in a secondary Time Alignment Group (sTAG) , a UE shall use any of the activated secondary cells (SCells) as the reference cell for deriving the UE transmit timing for the cells in the sTAG.

In this patent document, a transmission parameter may include at least one of a transmit-receive point (TRP) , a base station, a set of panels of a base station, a cell, or a physical cell. Furthermore, the transmission parameter includes at least one of an information grouping of one or more reference signals, a reference signal resource set, a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource set, a search space, panel-related information, a sub-array, an antenna group, an antenna port group, a group of antenna ports, a beam group, a physical cell index (PCI) , TRP-related information, a CORESET, a CORESET pool, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a serving cell, an additional PCI, a candidate cell, a candidate cell group, a TAG, a UE capability value, or a UE capability set.

In this patent document, information/identity of the transmission parameter may include at least one of a control resource set (CORESET) index, a CORESET pool index, a Synchronization Signal (SS) /Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) index, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state index, a PCI, a reference signal (RS) set index, a search space identity, a SRS resource set index, a spatial relation index, a power control parameter set index, a panel index, a beam group index, a sub-array index, an index of code division multiplexing (CDM) group of Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) ports, a group index of Channel Status Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) resources, a channel measurement resource (CMR) set index, a TAG index, a candidate cell index, or a candidate cell list.

Note that, in this patent document, an uplink resource can be a PUCCH or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) .

Note that, in this patent document, an uplink transmission includes at least one of a PUSCH transmission, a PUCCH transmission, a PRACH transmission, or a SRS transmission.

Note that, in this patent document, a slot is equivalent to a sub-slot, a frame, or a sub-frame.

In this patent document, a cell switch command indicates UE information/identities of a target cell during a cell switch procedure, a handover procedure, or an inter-cell mobility procedure.

In this patent document, a timing advance measurement is equivalent to a measurement used for determining a timing advance value or is equivalent to determination of a timing advance value based on a measurement.

In this patent document, a timing-advance-related message can include at least one of: a cell index, a time alignment group (TAG) index, a timing advance command, or a timing advance offset.

In this patent document, a UE can report to the network a capability of maximum number of timing advance values stored/maintained/memorized by the UE. The number of transmission parameters that are configured/indicated/enabled/informed to perform timing advance measurement is not greater than the capability.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a UE receives downlink reference signals from two Cells/TRPs, respectively, and determines downlink timing of the two Cells/TRPs according to the measurement of the downlink reference signals. The UE determines a difference/offset value between the downlink timing of the two Cells/TRPs based on the measurement. The UE can maintain a timing advance value associated with Cell/TRP 1, and the UE can determine a timing advance value associated with Cell/TRP 2 based on the timing advance value associated with Cell/TRP 1 and the difference/offset value. After determining the timing advance value, the UE generates and transmits a timing-advance-related information report to either Cell/TRP 1 or Cell/TRP 2.

Transmission parameter in Embodiments 1-3 can be considered as, but not limited to, a cell, a TRP, a panel, or a beam group.

II. Embodiment 1

Embodiment 1 is to specify the UE determining timing advance values based on the measurement of downlink reference signals.

In some embodiments, the UE receives a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and receives a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter. The UE determines a first timing of the downlink frames associated with the first transmission parameter and determines a second timing of the downlink frames associated with the second transmission parameter. The UE determines a timing difference/offset value between frames associated with the first transmission parameter and the second transmission parameter.

The UE may further receive a timing-advance-related message associated with the first transmission parameter and determine a timing advance value associated with the first transmission parameter based on the timing-advance-related message.

The UE determines a timing advance value associated with the second transmission parameter based on the timing advance value associated with the first transmission parameter and the difference/offset value.

In some embodiments, the determining of the timing advance value associated with the first or the second transmission parameter is further based on one or more timing-advance-related values configured by the network.

In some embodiments, prior to the UE determining the timing difference/offset value between a frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a frame associated with the second transmission parameter, the UE receives a configuration of timing advance measurement.

The configuration of timing advance measurement can include at least one of: a time period of timing advance measurement, a time duration of timing advance measurement, or information/index/identity of downlink reference signals for timing advance measurement. The downlink reference signals can be Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) or CSI-RS.

The downlink reference signals associated with the first or the second transmission parameter can be associated with the downlink reference signals for timing advance measurement.

The configuration of timing advance measurement can be associated with a transmission parameter specifically or be associated with multiple transmission parameters commonly.

In some embodiments, the timeline of a timing advance measurement corresponding to a transmission parameter is determined based on at least one of: a reception time of the downlink reference signal (DL-RS) associated with the measurement, a predefined value, or a configured value, where the predefined value or the configured value is in unit of millisecond or slot.

In some embodiments, the UE performs a timing advance measurement or performs the determining of a timing difference/offset value in the time period (in unit of slot, frame, millisecond) configured in the configuration of timing advance measurement.

In some embodiments, the UE performs a timing advance measurement or performs the determining of a timing difference/offset value based on the reception of downlink reference signals for timing advance measurement.

In an example, the UE is configured with a time period of timing advance measurement, the UE performs timing advance measurement based on a DL reference signal that is received most recently at a time point within the time period.

In an example, the UE is configured with one or more DL reference signals for timing advance measurement, and the UE performs timing advance measurement when any one of the DL reference signals is received.

In some embodiments, the UE performs a timing advance measurement for one or more transmission parameters, where the one or more transmission parameters include the transmission parameters configured/enabled/indicated by the timing advance measurement configuration, or the transmission parameters indicated by a message from the network. The message can be a cell switch command, a MAC CE for timing-advance-related information reporting, or a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format. The message indicates information/identities of one or more transmission parameters.

III. Embodiment 2

Embodiment 2 is to specify the UE reporting timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter.

In some embodiments, the UE is indicated/informed/configured/enabled to report timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter.

In some embodiments, prior to the timing-advance-related information reporting, the UE receives a configuration of timing-advance-related information reporting, where the configuration includes at least one of: information of uplink resource for the timing-advance-related information reporting, a time period of reporting, information of slot/frame for the timing-advance-related information reporting.

In some embodiments, the timing-advance-related information report is transmitted in MAC CE or PUCCH.

In some embodiments, the timing-advance-related information to be reported includes at least one of: information/identity of a transmission parameter, a timing advance value, a timing difference/offset value or a timing advance offset value. Timing advance offset value of a transmission parameter is the difference/offset of timing advance values between the transmission parameter and a reference transmission parameter, where the reference transmission parameter can be SpCell, PTAG, serving cell, CORESETs with CORESETPoolIndex = 0 or TAG with lowest TAG ID, or a transmission parameter associated with a Type-1 common search space (CSS) .

In some embodiments, the UE preforms timing-advance-related information reporting based on the configuration of timing-advance-related information reporting. The UE performs timing-advance-related information reporting for one or more transmission parameters that are configured with the configuration of timing-advance-related information reporting. The UE generates a timing-advance-related information report associated with the transmission parameter and transmits the timing-advance-related information report in an uplink resource.

In some embodiments, the UE performs timing-advance-related information reporting after receiving a message from the network, where the message can be a cell switch command, a MAC CE for timing-advance-related information reporting, or a DCI format. The message indicates information/identities of one or more transmission parameters.

In response to receiving the message from the network, the UE generates a timing-advance-related information report associated with at least one of the one or more transmission parameters indicated by the message, and transmits the timing-advance-related information report in an uplink resource.

In some embodiments, prior to the generation and transmission of the timing-advance-related information report, the UE transmits a scheduling request (SR) to the network.

In some embodiments, the information of the uplink resource can be indicated by the cell switch command and/or determined by predefined rules or RRC signaling. The information of the uplink resource can include at least one of the following: a subcarrier spacing (SCS) , a frequency hopping, a bandwidth part indicator, a time domain resource assignment (TDRA) , a frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA) , a number of slots for a PUSCH transmission repetition or a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) value.

In some embodiments, the UE transmits the uplink resource carrying the timing-advance-related information on

(1) an uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier of the SpCell associated with the transmission parameter indicated by the message.

(2) an uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier of any one of the SCells associated with the transmission parameter indicated by the message.

(3) an uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier of the SpCell associated with one of the transmission parameters indicated by the message. Or

(4) an uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier of any one of the SCells associated with one of the transmission parameters indicated by the message.

In some embodiments, the UE transmitting the uplink resource carrying the timing-advance-related information based on one of the above options are indicated/configured by the network.

IV. Embodiment 3

Embodiment 3 is to specify the UE stopping/canceling/completing timing advance measurement and/or timing-advance-related information report.

In some embodiments, the UE initiates a random access procedure triggered by a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) order from the network, or the UE initiates a random access procedure triggered by the upper layers at the UE side, or the UE receives a timing-advance-related message, where the random access procedure or the timing-advance-related message is associated with a transmission parameter.

In some embodiments, the UE receives a timing-advance-related message during a random access procedure.

In some embodiments, in response to the initiation of a random access procedure or the reception of a timing-advance-related message, the UE stops/cancels/completes triggered/running/valid/ongoing timing advance measurement procedure and/or timing advance reporting procedure associated with the corresponding transmission parameter.

In some embodiments, in response to the initiation of a random access procedure or the reception of a timing-advance-related message, the UE determines a timing advance value associated with the corresponding transmission parameter based on the timing-advance-related message, and the timing advance value determined based on timing advance measurement is invalidated/dropped/cleared.

In some embodiments, after transmission of a timing-advance-related information report associated with a transmission parameter, the UE clears/drops/deletes/removes the corresponding timing-advance-related information memorized/stored/maintained by the UE.

In some embodiments, UE transmits PRACH in response to the initiation of a random access procedure associated with the transmission parameter and determines transmission power of the PRACH transmission. UE allocates transmission power for the PRACH transmission according to a priority rule to satisfy a condition, where the condition includes that the total transmission power for one or more uplink transmissions on one or more transmission parameters (e.g., serving cell, carrier, cell group) is not greater than a power limitation value, where the priority includes at least one of the following:

(1) PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has the highest priority.

(2) PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has the priority only lower than that of PRACH transmission on PCell.

(3) PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter and PUCCH/PUSCH transmission with a larger priority index have the same priority order.

(4) PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter and PUCCH/PUSCH transmission with specific uplink control information have the same priority order, where the specific uplink control information includes at least one of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, a SR, or a link recovery request (LRR) .

(5) PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has a priority not lower than the lowest one.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary flowchart for determining a timing offset value. Operation 202 includes receiving, by a wireless node, a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter. Operation 204 includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the first and second sets of downlink reference signals, a first timing of a first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a second timing of a second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter. Operation 206 includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the first timing and the second timing, a timing offset value between the first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and the second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 1. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

In some embodiments, the method further includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the timing offset value and a first timing advance value associated with the first transmission parameter, a second timing advance value associated with the second transmission parameter.

In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, by the wireless node, a timing advance measurement configuration. In some embodiments, the timing advance measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: a time period of a timing advance measurement, a duration of a timing advance measurement, and a downlink reference signal for a timing advance measurement.

In some embodiments, determining the timing offset value includes determining the timing offset value in the time period configured by the timing advance measurement configuration, where the time period is in the unit of slot, frame, or millisecond. In some embodiments, determining the timing offset value includes determining the timing offset value based on a reception of the downlink reference signal for the timing advance measurement.

In some embodiments, the first and second sets of downlink reference signals are associated with the downlink reference signal for the timing advance measurement. In some embodiments, the timing advance measurement configuration is associated with the first transmission parameter specifically or the second transmission parameter specifically. In some embodiments, the timing advance measurement configuration is associated with the first and second transmission parameters commonly.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first and second transmission parameters is configured by the timing advance measurement configuration or indicated by a network message. In some embodiments, the network message includes at least one of the following: a cell switch command, a media-access-control control element for timing-advance-related information reporting, and a downlink control information format, where the network message indicates identities of the first and second transmission parameters.

In some embodiments, a timeline of a timing advance measurement corresponding to the first and second transmission parameters is determined based on at least one of the following: a reception time of a downlink reference signal associated with the timing advance measurement, a predefined value, or a configured value.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart for transmitting timing-advance-related information. Operation 302 includes receiving, by a wireless node, a timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or a network message. Operation 304 includes transmitting, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or the network message, timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 2. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

In some embodiments, the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration includes at least one of the following: uplink resource information for timing-advance-related information reporting, a time period for timing-advance-related information reporting, slot information for timing-advance-related information reporting, and frame information for timing-advance-related information reporting.

In some embodiments, the transmission parameter is configured with the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration. In some embodiments, the timing-advance-related information includes at least one of the following: an identity of the transmission parameter, a timing advance value, a timing offset value, and a timing advance offset value. In some embodiments, the timing advance offset value is a difference between a time advance value of the transmission parameter and a time advance value of a reference transmission parameter, where the reference transmission parameter includes at least one of the following: a special cell (SpCell) , a primary time alignment group (PTAG) , a serving cell, a control resource set with a zero-value pool index, a TAG with a lowest TAG identification number, and a transmission parameter associated with a Type-1 CSS.

In some embodiments, the network message includes at least one of the following: a cell switch command, a media-access-control control element for timing-advance-related information reporting, and a downlink control information format.

In some embodiments, the method further includes generating, by the wireless node, a timing-advance-related information report associated with the transmission parameter configured with the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or indicated by the network message. In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the wireless node, a scheduling report before transmitting the timing-advance-related information.

In some embodiments, transmitting the timing-advance-related information includes transmitting the timing-advance-related information in an uplink resource, where information of the uplink resource is indicated by at least one of the following: a cell switch command, a predefined rule, and the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration. In some embodiments, the information of the uplink resource includes at least one of the following: a subcarrier spacing, a frequency hopping, a bandwidth part indicator, a time domain resource assignment, a frequency domain resource assignment, a number of slots for a physical uplink shared channel transmission repetition, and a modulation and coding scheme value. In some embodiments, the uplink resource is transmitted on an uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier of a special cell (SpCell) or a secondary cell associated with the transmission parameter indicated by the network message.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart for terminating a timing advance measurement or reporting procedure. Operation 402 includes receiving, by a wireless node, a timing-advance-related message associated with a transmission parameter. Operation 404 includes terminating, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance measurement procedure and/or a timing advance reporting procedure associated with the transmission parameter. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 3. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

In some embodiments, the method further includes determining, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance value associated with the transmission parameter. In some embodiments, the method further includes overwriting, by the wireless node, a previous timing advance value associated with the transmission parameter and determined by the timing advance measurement procedure.

In some embodiments, terminating the timing advance measurement procedure and/or the timing advance reporting procedure is further in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with the transmission parameter.

In some embodiments, the method further includes removing, by the wireless node, timing-advance-related information associated with the transmission parameter stored on the wireless node.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart for performing a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission. Operation 502 includes performing, by a wireless node, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with a transmission parameter. Operation 504 includes determining, by the wireless node and based on a priority rule, a transmission power of the PRACH transmission, where a total transmission power of the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions is not greater than a power limitation value. In some embodiments, the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions can be on one or more serving cells. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 3. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

In some embodiments, the priority rule includes at least one of the following: the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has a highest priority, the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has a priority only lower than a priority of a PRACH transmission on a primary cell (PCell) , the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has a priority not lower than a lowest priority, the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) /physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with a larger priority index have a same priority order, and the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter and a PUCCH/PUSCH transmission with specific uplink control information have a same priority order, where the specific uplink control information includes at least one of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, a scheduling request (SR) , or a link recovery request (LRR) .

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart for receiving a timing offset value. Operation 602 includes transmitting, by a network node, a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter. Operation 604 includes receiving, by the network node and based on the first and second sets of downlink reference signals, a first timing of a first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a second timing of a second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter. Operation 606 includes receiving, by the network node and based on the first timing and the second timing, a timing offset value between the first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and the second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 1. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

The embodiments performed by the wireless node in method 200 can also be performed by the network node in method 600.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary flowchart for receiving timing-advance-related information. Operation 702 includes transmitting, by a network node, a timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or a network message. Operation 704 includes receiving, by the network node and based on the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or the network message, timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 2. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

The embodiments performed by the wireless node in method 300 can also be performed by the network node in method 700.

FIG. 8 is another exemplary flowchart for terminating a timing advance measurement or reporting procedure. Operation 802 includes transmitting, by a network node, a timing-advance-related message associated with a transmission parameter. Operation 804 includes terminating, by the network node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance measurement procedure and/or a timing advance reporting procedure associated with the transmission parameter. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 3. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

The embodiments performed by the wireless node in method 400 can also be performed by the network node in method 800.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart for receiving a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission. Operation 902 includes receiving, by a network node, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with a transmission parameter. Operation 904 includes determining, by the network node and based on a priority rule, a transmission power of the PRACH transmission, where a total transmission power of the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions is not greater than a power limitation value. In some embodiments, the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions can be on one or more serving cells. In some embodiments, the method can be implemented according to Embodiment 3. In some embodiments, performing further steps of the method can be based on a better system performance than a legacy protocol.

The embodiments performed by the wireless node in method 500 can also be performed by the network node in method 900.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary block diagram of a hardware platform 1000 that may be a part of a network node (e.g., base station, or transmission parameter) or a wireless node (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) . The hardware platform 1000 includes at least one processor 1010 and a memory 1005 having instructions stored thereupon. The instructions upon execution by the processor 1010 configure the hardware platform 1000 to perform the operations described in FIGS. 1 to 9 and in the various embodiments described in this patent document. The transmitter 1015 transmits or sends information or data to another device. For example, a network node transmitter can send a message to a user equipment. The receiver 1020 receives information or data transmitted or sent by another device. For example, a user equipment can receive a message from a network note. For example, a UE or a network node, as described in the present document, may be implemented using the hardware platform 1000.

The implementations as discussed above will apply to a wireless communication. FIG. 11 shows an example of a wireless communication system (e.g., a 5G or NR cellular network) that includes a base station 1120 and one or more user equipment (UE) 1111, 1112 and 1113. In some embodiments, the UEs access the BS (e.g., the network) using a communication link to the network (sometimes called uplink direction, as depicted by dashed arrows 1131, 1132, 1133) , which then enables subsequent communication (e.g., shown in the direction from the network to the UEs, sometimes called downlink direction, shown by arrows 1141, 1142, 1143) from the BS to the UEs. In some embodiments, the BS send information to the UEs (sometimes called downlink direction, as depicted by arrows 1141, 1142, 1143) , which then enables subsequent communication (e.g., shown in the direction from the UEs to the BS, sometimes called uplink direction, shown by dashed arrows 1131, 1132, 1133) from the UEs to the BS. The UE may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, a mobile computer, a machine to machine (M2M) device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, and so on. The UEs described in the present document may be communicatively coupled to the base station 1120 depicted in FIG. 11. The UEs can also communicate with BS for CSI communications.

It will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the present document discloses methods of timing-advance-related information measurement and reporting. More specifically, the patent document defines timing advance value determination based on measurement, methods of timing advance value reporting, and conditions to cancel the timing-advance-related information measurement and reporting.

Some of the embodiments described herein are described in the general context of methods or processes, which may be implemented in one embodiment by a computer program product, embodied in a computer-readable medium, including computer-executable instructions, such as program code, executed by computers in networked environments. A computer-readable medium may include removable and non-removable storage devices including, but not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM) , Random Access Memory (RAM) , compact discs (CDs) , digital versatile discs (DVD) , etc. Therefore, the computer-readable media can include a non-transitory storage media. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-or processor-executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent examples of program code for executing steps of the methods disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executable instructions or associated data structures represents examples of corresponding acts for implementing the functions described in such steps or processes.

Some of the disclosed embodiments can be implemented as devices or modules using hardware circuits, software, or combinations thereof. For example, a hardware circuit implementation can include discrete analog and/or digital components that are, for example, integrated as part of a printed circuit board. Alternatively, or additionally, the disclosed components or modules can be implemented as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and/or as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device. Some implementations may additionally or alternatively include a digital signal processor (DSP) that is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the operational needs of digital signal processing associated with the disclosed functionalities of this application. Similarly, the various components or sub-components within each module may be implemented in software, hardware or firmware. The connectivity between the modules and/or components within the modules may be provided using any one of the connectivity methods and media that is known in the art, including, but not limited to, communications over the Internet, wired, or wireless networks using the appropriate protocols.

While this document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of an invention that is claimed or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in this document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination. Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.

Only a few implementations and examples are described and other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this disclosure.

Claims

A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a wireless node, a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter;

determining, by the wireless node and based on the first and second sets of downlink reference signals, a first timing of a first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a second timing of a second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter; and

determining, by the wireless node and based on the first timing and the second timing, a timing offset value between the first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and the second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter.
The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the wireless node and based on the timing offset value and a first timing advance value associated with the first transmission parameter, a second timing advance value associated with the second transmission parameter.
The method of any of claims 1 or 2, further comprising receiving, by the wireless node, a timing advance measurement configuration.
The method of claim 3, wherein the timing advance measurement configuration comprises at least one of the following: a time period of a timing advance measurement, a duration of a timing advance measurement, and a downlink reference signal for a timing advance measurement.
The method of claim 4, wherein determining the timing offset value comprises determining the timing offset value in the time period configured by the timing advance measurement configuration, and wherein the time period is in the unit of slot, frame, or millisecond.
The method of claim 4, wherein determining the timing offset value comprises determining the timing offset value based on a reception of the downlink reference signal for the timing advance measurement.
The method of claim 4, wherein the first and second sets of downlink reference signals are associated with the downlink reference signal for the timing advance measurement.
The method of claim 3, wherein the timing advance measurement configuration is associated with the first transmission parameter specifically or the second transmission parameter specifically.
The method of claim 3, wherein the timing advance measurement configuration is associated with the first and second transmission parameters commonly.
The method of claim 3, wherein at least one of the first and second transmission parameters is configured by the timing advance measurement configuration or indicated by a network message.
The method of claim 10, wherein the network message comprises at least one of the following: a cell switch command, a media-access-control control element for timing-advance-related information reporting, and a downlink control information format, and wherein the network message indicates identities of the first and second transmission parameters.
The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein a timeline of a timing advance measurement corresponding to the first and second transmission parameters is determined based on at least one of the following: a reception time of a downlink reference signal associated with the timing advance measurement, a predefined value, or a configured value.
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a wireless node, a timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or a network message; and

transmitting, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or the network message, timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter.
The method of claim 13, wherein the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration comprises at least one of the following: uplink resource information for timing-advance-related information reporting, a time period for timing-advance-related information reporting, slot information for timing-advance-related information reporting, and frame information for timing-advance-related information reporting.
The method of claim 13, wherein the transmission parameter is configured with the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration.
The method of claim 13, wherein the timing-advance-related information comprises at least one of the following: an identity of the transmission parameter, a timing advance value, a timing offset value, and a timing advance offset value.
The method of claim 16, wherein the timing advance offset value is a difference between a time advance value of the transmission parameter and a time advance value of a reference transmission parameter, and wherein the reference transmission parameter comprises at least one of the following: a special cell (SpCell) , a primary time alignment group (PTAG) , a serving cell, a control resource set with a zero-value pool index, a TAG with a lowest TAG identification number, and a transmission parameter associated with a type-1 common search space (CSS) .
The method of claim 13, wherein the network message comprises at least one of the following: a cell switch command, a media-access-control control element for timing-advance-related information reporting, and a downlink control information format.
The method of claim 13, further comprising generating, by the wireless node, a timing-advance-related information report associated with the transmission parameter configured with the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or indicated by the network message.
The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting, by the wireless node, a scheduling report before transmitting the timing-advance-related information.
The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting the timing-advance-related information comprises transmitting the timing-advance-related information in an uplink resource, and wherein information of the uplink resource is indicated by at least one of the following: a cell switch command, a predefined rule, and the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration.
The method of claim 21, wherein the information of the uplink resource comprises at least one of the following: a subcarrier spacing, a frequency hopping, a bandwidth part indicator, a time domain resource assignment, a frequency domain resource assignment, a number of slots for a physical uplink shared channel transmission repetition, and a modulation and coding scheme value.
The method of claim 21, wherein the uplink resource is transmitted on an uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier of a special cell (SpCell) or a secondary cell associated with the transmission parameter indicated by the network message.
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a wireless node, a timing-advance-related message associated with a transmission parameter; and

terminating, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance measurement procedure and/or a timing advance reporting procedure associated with the transmission parameter.
The method of claim 24, further comprising:

determining, by the wireless node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance value associated with the transmission parameter; and

overwriting, by the wireless node, a previous timing advance value associated with the transmission parameter and determined by the timing advance measurement procedure.
The method of claim 24, wherein terminating the timing advance measurement procedure and/or the timing advance reporting procedure is further in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with the transmission parameter.
The method of claim 24, further comprising removing, by the wireless node, timing-advance-related information associated with the transmission parameter stored on the wireless node.
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

performing, by a wireless node, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with a transmission parameter; and

determining, by the wireless node and based on a priority rule, a transmission power of the PRACH transmission, wherein a total transmission power of the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions is not greater than a power limitation value.
The method of claim 28, wherein the priority rule comprises at least one of the following: the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has a highest priority, the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has a priority only lower than a priority of a PRACH transmission on a primary cell (PCell) , the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter has a priority not lower than a lowest priority, the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) /physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with a larger priority index have a same priority order, and the PRACH transmission associated with the transmission parameter and a PUCCH/PUSCH transmission with specific uplink control information have a same priority order, wherein the specific uplink control information comprises at least one of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, a scheduling request (SR) , or a link recovery request (LRR) .
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

transmitting, by a network node, a first set of downlink reference signals associated with a first transmission parameter and a second set of downlink reference signals associated with a second transmission parameter;

receiving, by the network node and based on the first and second sets of downlink reference signals, a first timing of a first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and a second timing of a second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter; and

receiving, by the network node and based on the first timing and the second timing, a timing offset value between the first downlink frame associated with the first transmission parameter and the second downlink frame associated with the second transmission parameter.
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

transmitting, by a network node, a timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or a network message; and

receiving, by the network node and based on the timing-advance-related information reporting configuration and/or the network message, timing-advance-related information corresponding to a transmission parameter.
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

transmitting, by a network node, a timing-advance-related message associated with a transmission parameter; and

terminating, by the network node and based on the timing-advance-related message, a timing advance measurement procedure and/or a timing advance reporting procedure associated with the transmission parameter.
A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a network node, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission in response to an initiation of a random access procedure associated with a transmission parameter; and

determining, by the network node and based on a priority rule, a transmission power of the PRACH transmission, wherein a total transmission power of the PRACH transmission and other uplink transmissions is not greater than a power limitation value.
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to implement a method recited in any one or more of claims 1 to 33.
A computer readable program storage medium having code stored thereon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a method recited in any one or more of claims 1 to 33.