WO2025111954A1

WO2025111954A1 - Methods and apparatuses for msg5 pusch repetition

Info

Publication number: WO2025111954A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/135529
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chunxuan Ye; Jie Cui; Wei Zeng; Dawei Zhang; Hong He; Chunhai Yao; Sigen Ye
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2023-11-30
Filing date: 2023-11-30
Publication date: 2025-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 2026-05-30

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for performing Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes triggering use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions; determining a repetition factor indicating a number of PUSCH repetitions for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission; and sending the Msg5 PUSCH transmission with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MSG5 PUSCH REPETITION

FIELD OF INVENTION

Embodiments disclosed herein relates generally to wireless technology and more particularly to a UE using Msg5 PUSCH repetition in new radio (NR) .

BACKGROUND

Fifth generation mobile network (5G) is a wireless standard that aims to improve upon data transmission speed, reliability, availability, and more. This standard, while still developing, includes numerous details relating to various aspects of wireless communication, for example, NR and NR in a spectrum greater than 52.6 GHz.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

In some embodiments, a baseband processor is configured to perform operations that include triggering use of Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions; determining a repetition factor indicating a number of PUSCH repetitions for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission; and sending the Msg5 PUSCH transmission with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor.

In some embodiments, a UE is configured to perform operations that include triggering use of Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions; determining a repetition factor indicating a number of PUSCH repetitions for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission; and sending the Msg5 PUSCH transmission with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor.

In some embodiments, a method for use by a base station includes generating configuration information for configuring a user equipment (UE) prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions, wherein the configuration information specifies the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition; and sending the configuration information to the UE use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information.

In some embodiments, a baseband processor is configured to perform operations that include generating configuration information for configuring a user equipment (UE) prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions, wherein the configuration information specifies the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition; and sending the configuration information to the UE use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information.

In some embodiments, a base station is configured to perform operations that include generating configuration information for configuring a user equipment (UE) prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions, wherein the configuration information specifies the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition; and sending the configuration information to the UE use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information.

Other methods and apparatuses are also described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a base station (BS) in communication with a user equipment (UE) device according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a BS according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process for configuring the network for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.

FIG. 7A illustrates some embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

FIG. 7B illustrates some embodiments of a process for periodic scheduling of different numbers of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions using Msg5 PUSCH repetition number autonomous cycling.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of some embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of some other embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of some other embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and apparatus of a device that determines downlink resources is described. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide thorough explanation of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and “connected, ” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two or more elements, which may or may not be in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, co-operate or interact with each other. “Connected” is used to indicate the establishment of communication between two or more elements that are coupled with each other.

The processes depicted in the figures that follow, are performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc. ) , software (such as is run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine) , or a combination of both. Although the processes are described below in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.

The terms “server, ” “client, ” and “device” are intended to refer generally to data processing systems rather than specifically to a particular form factor for the server, client, and/or device.

A method and apparatus of a device that performs Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition is described. In some embodiments, the device is a user equipment (UE) that has a wireless link with a base station. In some embodiments, the wireless link is a fifth generation (5G) link. In some embodiments, the UE triggers PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions prior to being configured with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions and sends those transmissions a number of PUSCH repetitions according to a repetition factor. In some embodiments, the UE is configured with the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor indicating the number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions to perform for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions, as well as the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold that triggers the use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified example wireless communication system, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system of FIG. 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and that features of this disclosure may be implemented in any of various systems, as desired.

As shown, the example wireless communication system includes a base station 102A which communicates over a transmission medium with one or more user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE) . Thus, the user devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

The base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site (a “cellular base station” ) and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with the UEs 106A through 106N.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a “cell. ” The base station 102A and the UEs 106 may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs) , also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces) , LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , 5G new radio (5G NR) , HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD) , etc. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’ . Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternately be referred to as ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’ .

As shown, the base station 102A may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN) , and/or the Internet, among various possibilities) . Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communication between the user devices and/or between the user devices and the network 100. In particular, the cellular base station 102A may provide UEs 106 with various telecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/or data services.

Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B ... 102N) operating according to the same or a different cellular communication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs 106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

Thus, while base station 102A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs 106A-N as illustrated in FIG. 1, each UE 106 may also be capable of receiving signals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or more other cells (which might be provided by base stations 102B-N and/or any other base stations) , which may be referred to as “neighboring cells” . Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communication between user devices and/or between user devices and the network 100. Such cells may include “macro” cells, “micro” cells, “pico” cells, and/or cells which provide any of various other granularities of service area size. For example, base stations 102A-B illustrated in FIG. 1 might be macro cells, while base station 102N might be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB” . In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs) . In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

Note that a UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc. ) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces) , LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD) , etc. ) . The UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS) , one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H) , and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

FIG. 2 illustrates user equipment 106 (e.g., one of the devices 106A through 106N) in communication with a base station 102, according to some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with cellular communication capability such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE 106 may include a processor that is configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that is configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT/1xEV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio and/or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc. ) , or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing) . Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radios which are shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios which are used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 might include a shared radio for communicating using either of LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1xRTTor LTE or GSM) , and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

FIG. 3-Block Diagram of a UE

FIG. 3 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a communication device 106, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the communication device of FIG. 3 is only one example of a possible communication device. According to embodiments, communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device) , a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communication device 106 may include a set of components 300 configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC) , which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components 300 may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for the various purposes. The set of components 300 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device 106.

For example, the communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash 310) , an input/output interface such as connector I/F 320 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; dock; charging station; input devices, such as a microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices, such as speakers; etc. ) , the display 360, which may be integrated with or external to the communication device 106, and cellular communication circuitry 330 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 (e.g., Bluetooth^TM and WLAN circuitry) . In some embodiments, communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown) , such as a network interface card, e.g., for Ethernet.

The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 and 336 as shown. The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 may also couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337 and 338 as shown. Alternatively, the short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas 335 and 336 in addition to, or instead of, coupling (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas 337 and 338. The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 and/or cellular communication circuitry 330 may include multiple receive chains and/or multiple transmit chains for receiving and/or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration.

In some embodiments, as further described below, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple radio access technologies (RATs) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR) . In addition, in some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a single transmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to specific RATs. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g., LTE, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radio that may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 5G NR, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and the shared transmit chain.

The communication device 106 may also include and/or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of various elements, such as display 360 (which may be a touchscreen display) , a keyboard (which may be a discrete keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touchscreen display) , a mouse, a microphone and/or speakers, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and/or any of various other elements capable of providing information to a user and/or receiving or interpreting user input.

The communication device 106 may further include one or more smart cards 345 that include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC (s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card (s) ) cards 345.

As shown, the SOC 300 may include processor (s) 302, which may execute program instructions for the communication device 106 and display circuitry 304, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display 360. The processor (s) 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor (s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry 304, short range wireless communication circuitry 229, cellular communication circuitry 330, connector I/F 320, and/or display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as a portion of the processor (s) 302.

As noted above, the communication device 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. The communication device 106 can be configured to perform Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition. In some embodiments, the UE can trigger PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions prior to being configured with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions and send those transmissions a number of PUSCH repetitions according to a repetition factor. In some embodiments, the UE is configured with the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor indicating the number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions to perform for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions, as well as the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold that triggers the use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition. The UE can report its capability of performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition and/or a request to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition to a communication network (e.g., gNB, a base station, etc. ) . The network can dynamically indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE indicating the number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions.

As described herein, the communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for performing Msg5 repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions. The processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) . Alternatively (or in addition) , processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) . Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 302 of the communication device 106, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor 302 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor 302 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor 302. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processor (s) 302.

Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry 330 and short range wireless communication circuitry 329 may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry 330 and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in short range wireless communication circuitry 329. Thus, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry 330. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry 230. Similarly, the short-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may include one or more ICs that are configured to perform the functions of short-range wireless communication circuitry 32. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of short-range wireless communication circuitry 329.

FIG. 4-Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a base station 102, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of FIG. 4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include processor (s) 404 which may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor (s) 404 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor (s) 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory (ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to the telephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices serviced by the cellular service provider) .

In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB” . In such embodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs) . In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the base station 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 may include an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE as well as a 5G NR radio for performing communication according to 5G NR. In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable of performing communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc. ) .

As described further subsequently herein, the BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting implementation of features described herein. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) . Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) , or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 404 of the BS 102, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor (s) 404 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor (s) 404. Thus, processor (s) 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor (s) 404. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processor (s) 404.

Further, as described herein, radio 430 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio 430. Thus, radio 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of radio 430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of radio 430.

FIG. 5 -Block Diagram of Cellular Communication Circuitry

FIG. 5 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of FIG. 5 is only one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to embodiments, cellular communication circuitry 330 may be include in a communication device, such as communication device 106 described above. As noted above, communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device) , a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 a-b and 336 as shown (in FIG. 3) . In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR) . For example, as shown in FIG. 5, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a modem 510 and a modem 520. Modem 510 may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, and modem 520 may be configured for communications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as 5G NR.

As shown, modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and a memory 516 in communication with processors 512. Modem 510 may be in communication with a radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 and transmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 532 may be in communication with downlink (DL) front end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335a.

Similarly, modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory 526 in communication with processors 522. Modem 520 may be in communication with an RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry 544. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 542 may be in communication with DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335b.

In some embodiments, a switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 534 to uplink (UL) front end 572. In addition, switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 544 to UL front end 572. UL front end 572 may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Thus, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmit according to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 510) , switch 570 may be switched to a first state that allows modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry 534 and UL front end 572) . Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmit according to the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 520) , switch 570 may be switched to a second state that allows modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry 544 and UL front end 572) .

As described herein, the modem 510 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features or for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetitions for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors 512 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) . Alternatively (or in addition) , processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) . Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 512, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors 512 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors 512 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors 512. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processors 512.

As described herein, the modem 520 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetitions for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors 522 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) . Alternatively (or in addition) , processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) , or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) . Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 522, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors 522 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors 522. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc. ) configured to perform the functions of processors 522.

Msg5 PUSCH Repetition

The use of repetition for certain types of cellular transmissions is well-known. For example, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for Msg3 is supported for Msg3 transmissions as defined in Release 17 NR. In this case, a UE determines Msg3 PUSCH repetition is needed when the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of the downlink pathloss reference is low. The UE uses a separate preamble with a shared Random Access Channel (RACH) occasions and/or separate RACH occasions for requesting Msg3 PUSCH repetition. The base station decides whether to schedule Msg 3 PUSCH repetition upon determining it has been requested by the UE. In order to signal the indication of Msg3 PUSCH repetition to the UE, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information field is used. Specifically, two most significant bits (MSBs) of the MCS field are used to select one repetition factor from an SIB1 configured set with four candidate values or two least significant bits (LSBs) of the MCS field are used to select one MCS value from the SIB1 configured set with the candidate values.

In Release 17 NR, Msg3 repetition occasion availability is determined by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and ssb-PositionsInBurst. If a symbol for Msg3 repetition occasion overlaps with SSB transmission or DL symbol, then the occasion is not counted toward number of Msg3 repetitions. Also, flexible symbols can be considered as available symbols for Msg3 PUSCH repetition. For Msg3 PUSCH collision handling, the Msg3 PUSCH collision handling rules that are specified in Releases 15 and 16 NR are reused for transmission of Msg3 PUSCH repetition in an available slot. For Msg3 redundancy version (RV) determination, the RV of the first repetition is RV 0 and a fixed RV sequence [0 2 3 1] is used for repetition of Msg3 repetition transmissions. RV cycling for Msg3 PUSCH repetition is based on transmission occasions. Also, Msg3 PUSCH repetition with frequency hopping is supported but only inter-slot frequency hopping, based on a UL Random Access Response (RAR) grant.

Msg4 PUCCH repetition is supported in Release 18 NR non-terrestrial networks (NTN) . FIG. 6 illustrates the process for configuring the network for Msg4 PUCCH repetition. Referring to RIG. 6, for Msg4 PUCCH repetition, base station (gNB) 630 sends an SIB to UE 620 that includes a configuration for PUCCH repetition for Msg4 HARQ-ACK (601) . In response to the SIB, UE 620 determines whether to indicate a capability for or a request to use PUCCH repetition for Msg4 HARQ-ACK (610) . After determining whether to indicate a capability for or a request to use PUCCH repetition for Msg4 HARQ-ACK, UE 620 sends the physical random access channel (PRACH) (602) to base station 630, which in turn sends Msg2 Random Access Response (RAR) 602 to UE 620. After receiving the Msg2 RAR 602, UE 620 sends Msg3 PUSCH (604) to indicate PUCCH repetition for Msg4 HARQ-ACK to base station 630. In response to Msg3 PUSCH (604) , base station 630 determines the repetition factor of PUCCH for Msg4 HARQ-ACK (611) and then sends DCI scheduling Msg4 PDSCH (605) to indicate the repetition factor for Msg4 HARQ-ACK to UE 620. UE 620 receives DCI scheduling Msg4 PDSCH (605) and applies the PUCCH repetition factor. Base station 630 also applies the PUCCH repetition factor.

For Release19 NR NTN, the topic of Msg5 PUSCH repetition has been proposed. Specifically, as mentioned in RAN #101 meeting, RP-232610 (Moderator's summary for REL-19 RAN2 topic NTN for NR) , the use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition was proposed as an uplink (UL) enhancement to increase UL coverage.

There are problems with implementing Msg5 PUSCH repetition. The UE can be in connected mode without a dedicated PUSCH configuration such that resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions have not been allocated. In other words, the UE can be operating when PUSCH-Config is not available in the UE side. This is problematic if the UE wants to utilize Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions in NTN (when PUSCH-Config is not available) . In other words, there are situations where resources haven’t been allocated to the UE for PUSCH transmissions, and in such a case, there is no existing way for the UE to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition. The reason for this problem is that the UE specific configuration set forth in PUSCH-Config indicates PUSCH time domain resources in PUSCH Time Domain Allocation List (e.g., PUSCH-TimeDomainAllocationListDCI-0-1-r16, PUSCH-TimeDomainAllocationListDCI-0-2-r16, etc. ) , which supports PUSCH repetition (e.g., via PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocationList-r16) . However, in this case, the UE can use a cell-specific configuration as indicated by PUSCH-ConfigCommon that indicates PUSCH time domain resources in the PUSCH Time Domain Allocation List (e.g., pusch- TimeDomainAllocationList, etc. ) , but does not support PUSCH repetition. Therefore, when PUSCH-Config is not available at Msg5 PUSCH, then “PUSCH-ConfigCommon” is used for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions and PUSCH repetition is not supported. Thus, there is a need to enable a UE to uses Msg5 PUSCH repetition when operating in connected mode prior to a dedicated PUSCH configuration with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions being specified via PUSCH-Config.

In some embodiments, in such cases, the UE can be configured for Msg5 PUSCH repetition. The configuration of Msg5 PUSCH repetition can be in a number of different forms and can be accomplished in a number of ways and using a number of different mechanisms. Various embodiments will be described below.

The UE can be configured to use different numbers of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions. When configuring the UE, the number of repetitions chosen for Msg5 PUSCH repetitions can be selected from a set. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to use a number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions that is chosen from a set consisting of 1, 2, 4, or 8 repetitions. In some other embodiments, the UE is configured to use a number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions that is chosen from a set a set consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 16 repetitions.

In some embodiments, the UE is triggered to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions based on a RSRP threshold. To determine whether to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition, the UE obtains an RSRP measurement and compares it to the RSRP threshold, and if the RSRP measured value is below the RSRP threshold, then the UE invokes use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the UE does not need to utilize additional signaling to identify the RSRP threshold that it is to use. For example, in some embodiments, the UE uses the same RSRP threshold for triggering Msg5 PUSCH repetition that it uses for Msg3 PUSCH repetition. In some other embodiments, the UE uses the same RSRP threshold for triggering Msg5 PUSCH repetition that it uses for Msg4 PUCCH repetition. In yet some other embodiments, the UE uses the same RSRP threshold for triggering Msg5 PUSCH repetition that it uses for PRACH repetition. In still some other embodiments, the UE uses an absolute RSRP threshold for triggering Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

In some embodiments, additional signaling is used to provide the UE with the RSRP threshold that it used to trigger the use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to use a relative RSRP threshold for Msg5 PUSCH repetition. One reason for using a relative RSRP threshold in place of the actual RSRP is that the payload size of the Msg5 PUSCH transmissions is larger than that of other Msg transmissions (e.g., larger than the Msg3 payload size) . Thus, the relative RSRP threshold for triggering the use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition depends on, but is not equal to, that of a RSRP threshold of another Msg and its channel. In some embodiments, the relative RSRP threshold is based on the RSRP threshold for Msg3 PUSCH repetition. In some other embodiments, the relative RSRP threshold is based on the RSRP threshold for Msg4 PUCCH repetition. In yet some other embodiments, the relative RSRP threshold is based on the RSRP threshold for PRACH repetition. For example, the full range to specify the RSRP threshold for Msg3 PUSCH repetition is 7 bits to indicate a value between up to -6dBm, and thus a relative RSRP threshold has less than 7 bit, e.g., 4 bits to indicate the value between 0 and 15 dBm. In some embodiments, an actual RSRP threshold used by the UE to trigger Msg5 PUSCH repetition equals the RSRP threshold for Msg3 or Msg4 minus a relative RSRP threshold. These RSRP thresholds used to set the relative RSRP threshold for Msg5 PUSCH repetition are signaled to the UE.

In some embodiments, the signaling for the RSRP and/or the possible of number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions is performed using system information block (SIB) 1. In some embodiments, the signaling for the RSRP and/or the possible of number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions is performed using SIB 19. In yet some embodiments, the signaling for the RSRP and/or the possible of number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions is performed using another SIB (e.g., a newly-defined SIB, etc. ) .

In some embodiments, the UE reports its capability to the base station for, or a request for the use of, Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In some embodiments, this comes up in a number of cases. In a first case where a RSRP threshold (either absolute or relative as defined above) is configured, the UE reports its capability or request of Msg5 PUSCH repetition if it has the capability of Msg5 PUSCH repetition and its RSRP measurement is below the configured or predefined RSRP threshold. In some embodiments, the RSRP measurement can be based on one of the following RSRPs: PSBCH-RSRP, Msg4 PDSCH-RSRP, Msg4 PDCCH-RSRP, Msg2 PDSCH-RSRP, Msg2 PDCCH-RSRP. In a second case where a RSRP threshold is not configured, the UE reports its capability of Msg5 PUSCH repetition if it has the capability of Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In this case, the base station would still need to schedule the Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

In some embodiments, the UE uses signaling to reports its capability for Msg5 PUSCH repetition to the base station. At this point in time, there is no associated request to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition since the UE does not know whether Msg5 PUSCH repetition will be required without an RSRP threshold to use to check. In some embodiment, the UE uses dedicated RACH occasions or dedicated PRACH preambles to indicate its capability for Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In some other embodiments, the UE uses one reserved bit in a MAC sub-header in Msg3 PUSCH to indicate its capability for Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In some embodiments, for the one reserved bit, the UE uses the same reserved bit that is used to indicate UE capability for both Msg4 PUCCH repetition and Msg5 PUSCH repetition capability. That is, the UE signals its Msg5 PUSCH repetition capability with one reserved bit that provides a joint indication of both Msg5 PUSCH repetition and Msg4 PUCCH repetition capability. In another example, the UE uses one or more reserved bits that are different than the reserved bit that indicates the UE has both Msg4 PUCCH repetition and Msg5 PUSCH repetition capabilities. In some embodiments, the UE uses reserved LCID (logical channel ID) code points in Msg3 PUSCH to indicate its capability for Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

Note that if an RSRP threshold is configured, when the UE uses signaling to reports its capability for Msg5 PUSCH repetition to the base station, such as by using any one of the previously described embodiments for indicating its Msg5 PUSCH repetition capabilities, then in some embodiments the signaling also includes a request to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition along with its capability indication. For example, if an RSRP threshold is configured, then the UE uses dedicated RACH occasions or dedicated PRACH preambles to indicate both its Msg5 PUSCH repetition capability and its request to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition. This implies that if the UE does not have capability, but has the request, then the UE does not use dedicated RACH occasions or dedicated PRACH preambles, and also implies that if the UE has capability, but does not have the request, then it does not use dedicated RACH occasions or dedicated PRACH preambles.

FIG. 7A illustrates some embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition. Referring to FIG. 7A, UE 701 determines whether to indicate its capability of and/or make a request for use of, to the base station (gNB) 702, Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions (711) . When the UE 701 determines to provide such an indication, UE 701 reports capability or request of PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmission (e.g., using dedicated RACH occasions or dedicated PRACH preambles, reserved bit in MAC sub headers in Msg3 PUSCH, reserved LCID code points in Msg3 PUSCH, etc. ) (721) .

In some embodiments, the base station dynamically indicates to the UE to use a particular Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor. In some embodiments, the base station provide explicit indication (e.g., information) to the UE to indicate to the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE. In this case, the base station dynamically generates information indicative of the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor (e.g., configuration information) and sends this information to the UE. In response to the information, the UE configures itself to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor. In some embodiment, the base station provides the information using DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0 for Msg5 PUSCH to indicate to the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor. For example, the base station can use a new field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor. As another example, the base station uses reinterpreted MSB or LSB bits in Modulation and coding scheme field to indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE. As yet another example, the base station uses reinterpreted MSB or LSB bits in 2nd downlink assignment index field to indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE. As still yet another example, the base station uses reinterpreted MSB or LSB bits in MSB or LSB bits in HARQ process number field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE.

In some embodiments, the base station provides the explicit indication (e.g., information) to the UE to indicate to the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor using a Msg4 Physical Data Shared Channel (PDSCH) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) . In some embodiments, the MAC CE can be a newly-defined MAC CE to indicate the number of repetitions for Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

In some embodiments, the base station provides the explicit indication (e.g., information) to the UE to indicate to the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor using DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH. In some embodiments, the base station uses a downlink assignment index field (e.g., reinterpreted downlink assignment index field) to indicate to the UE to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In some other embodiments, the base station uses MSB or LSB bits in Modulation and coding scheme field (e.g., reinterpreted MSB or LSB bits in Modulation and coding scheme field) to indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE. In yet some other embodiments, the base station uses MSB or LSB bits in HARQ process number field (e.g., reinterpreted MSB or LSB bits in MSB or LSB bits in HARQ process number field) to indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE.

In some embodiments, the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor is implicitly indicated to the UE. In such a case, the UE is configured to enable it to have the implicit indication or the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor is predefined. For example, in some embodiments, the UE uses (e.g., is configured to use) the same number of repetitions for Msg5 PUSCH repetition as used for Msg4 PUCCH repetition. In some embodiments, the UE use (e.g., is configured to use) the same number of repetitions for Msg5 PUSCH repetition as used for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.

In some embodiments, the base station implicitly indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE using a mapping between the Msg4 PUCCH repetition number and the Msg5 PUSCH repetition number. Thus, in some embodiments, the UE is configured to use a Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that is based on the Msg4 PUCCH and Msg5 PUSCH repetition numbers. In some embodiments, the base station implicitly indicates Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to the UE using a mapping between the Msg3 PUSCH and Msg5 PUSCH repetition numbers. As an example of the mapping, if Msg3 PUSCH repetition number is X, then in some embodiments, the Msg5 PUSCH repetition number is 2*X (or some other multiple of X (e.g., 3, 4, 5, etc. ) ) . Other mappings can be used. In some embodiments, these mappings are either pre-defined or configured via an SIB.

Referring back to FIG. 7A, base station 702 determines the repetition factor of PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmission (712) and then sends information that explicitly or implicitly indicates Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions (722) . The determination of the repetition factor can be made after or before the UE indicates its capability for Msg5 PUSCH repetition. The information provide by base station 702 can explicitly indicate the repetition factor or implicitly indicate the repetition factor as set forth above. Thereafter, UE 701 applies the indicated PUSCH repetition factor (713) and base station 702 applies the indicated PUSCH repetition factor (714) .

In some other embodiments, the base station dynamically indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor using autonomous cycling. The autonomous cycling involves periodic scheduling of the use of different numbers of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions. For example, the base station can have the UE use a first number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions, followed by a second number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions, followed by a third number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions, etc., and one or more of the first, second, third numbers of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions are different.

In some embodiments, a certain pattern of different numbers of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions is used for Msg5 PUSCH repetitions. For example, the pattern can specify that the UE uses a first number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions (e.g., 1 Msg5 PUSCH repetition) , followed by a second number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions (e.g., 2 Msg5 PUSCH repetitions) , followed by the same number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions (e.g., 2 Msg5 PUSCH repetitions ) . Other pattens would be understood by those skilled in the art.

FIG. 7B illustrates some embodiments of a process for periodic scheduling of different numbers of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions to be used for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions using autonomous cycling. Referring to FIG. 7B, UE 731 sends Msg1: PRACH (741) , which base station 732 receives. In response to PRACH (741) , base station 732 sends Msg2: RAR (742) . After receiving RAR (742) , UE 731 sends Msg3: RRC Setup Request (743) to base station 732, which receives the request. In response to the request, base station 732 sends Msg4: RRC Setup (744) , which is received by UE 731 and to which UE 731 sends ACK for Msg4 (745) . At this point, base station 732 starts to use periodic scheduling of different numbers of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions.

More specifically, base station 732 sends a DCI 0_1/C_RNTI as part of PDCCH to UE 731 that includes a first Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor (e.g., 1 repetition) for UE 731 to use (746) . In response, UE 731 configures itself to use the specified Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor and notifies base station 732 that its set up is complete with a Msg5: RRC Setup Complete for the 1 repetition (747) . Thereafter, UE 731 uses Msg5 PUSCH repetition with 1 repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission. Subsequently, base station 732 sends another DCI 0_1/C_RNTI as part of PDCCH to UE 731 that includes a second Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor (e.g., 2 repetitions) for UE 731 to use (748) . In response, UE 731 configures itself to use the specified Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor and notifies base station 732 that its set up is complete with a Msg5: RRC Setup Complete for the 2 repetition (749) . Thereafter, UE 731 uses Msg5 PUSCH repetition with 2 repetitions for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission. Thereafter, base station 732 again sends DCI 0_1/C_RNTI as part of PDCCH to UE 731 that includes a second Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor (e.g., 2 repetitions) for UE 731 to use (750) . In response, UE 731 configures itself to use the specified Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor and notifies base station 732 that its set up is complete with a Msg5: RRC Setup Complete for the 2 repetition (751) . Thereafter, UE 731 uses Msg5 PUSCH repetition with 2 repetitions for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission. This pattern of using 1 petition, then 2 repetitions, and then 2 repetitions for Msg5 PUSCH transmission forms a pattern is repeated periodically.

In some embodiments, the UE decides which Msg5 PUSCH grant to use, depending on the number of repetitions in a Msg5 PUSCH grant. For example, if the base station indicates that a UE is to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition with a Msg5 PUSCH repetition number of 4, then the UE finds the grant for Msg5 PUSCH with 4 repetitions and uses that grant. In FIG. 7B, base station 732 will indicate the Msg5 PUSCH repetition number to UE 731 before sending the DCI 0_1/C_RNTI as part of PDCCH (746) to UE 731 that includes a first Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor. Based on the indicated number, UE 731 selects the Msg5 PUSCH resources between signaling (747) , (749) and (751) . UE 731 only transmits Msg5 PUSCH in one of signaling (747) , (749) and (751) .

In some embodiments, the UE is allowed to continue to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition during the period before the UE has received a specific PUSCH-Config configuration. In this case, in some embodiments, the UE uses the same number of Msg5 PUSCH repetitions to the PUSCH transmissions that follow when PUSCH-Config is not provided. In some embodiments, the feature of being able to continue to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition is configurable. In some embodiments, this feature is enabled/disabled in a SIB. If not enabled, then the UE does not use PUSCH repetition between Msg5 transmission and the receipt of PUSCH-Config. In some embodiments, this feature is autonomously applied.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of some embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions. The process is performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (circuitry, dedicated logic, etc. ) , software (e.g., software running on a chip, software run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine, etc. ) , firmware, or a combination of the three. In one embodiment, the operations in the process are performed by a UE in a 5G NR communication system. In one embodiment, the operations in the process are performed by baseband processor in a 5G NR communication system.

Referring to FIG. 8, the process begins by processing logic identifying a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold for triggering use of Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmissions (processing block 801) . In some embodiments, processing logic identifies this RSRP threshold by receiving it from a base station. In some embodiment, the RSRP threshold is received from the base station in a system information block (SIB) from a base station. In some embodiments, the SIB comprises SIB 1, SIB 19 or a newly-defined SIB.

Subsequently, processing logic triggers the use of Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions (processing block 802) . In some embodiments, this occurs prior to “PUSCH-Config” while the UE is in connected mode without a dedicated PUSCH configuration.

In some embodiments, triggering use of PUSCH repetition occurs in response to a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold being met. In some embodiments, the RSRP threshold is equal to one of the following: an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering dedicated physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, and an RSRP threshold for Msg4 PUSCH repetition.

In some other embodiments, the RSRP threshold is relative to one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 PUCCH repetition, and an RSRP threshold for triggering PRACH repetition. For example, in some embodiments, the RSRP threshold is indicated by a number of bits that is relative to bits indicating one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 PUSCH repetition, and an RSRP threshold for triggering PRACH repetition includes being relative in a number of bits used to indicate represent the RSRP threshold.

Once triggered, processing logic determines a repetition factor indicating a number of PUSCH repetitions for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission (processing block 803) . In some embodiments, processing logic determines the repetition factor by accessing it from a memory of the UE. The repetition factor could have been explicitly provided to the UE by a base station. Alternatively, the repetition factor could have been implicitly provided to the UE. In some embodiments, the number of PUSCH repetitions is from a set of candidate numbers of PUSCH repetitions that includes 1, 2, 4, and 8 repetitions. In some other embodiments, the number of PUSCH repetitions is from a set of candidate numbers of PUSCH repetitions that includes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12 and 16 repetitions.

Using the repetition factor, processing logic sends the Msg5 PUSCH transmission with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor (processing block 804) .

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of some other embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions. The process is performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (circuitry, dedicated logic, etc. ) , software (e.g., software running on a chip, software run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine, etc. ) , firmware, or a combination of the three. In one embodiment, the operations in the process are performed by a UE in a 5G NR communication system. In one embodiment, the operations in the process are performed by baseband processor in a 5G NR communication system.

Referring to FIG. 9, the process begins by processing logic reporting, to a base station, UE capability of Msg5 PUSCH repetition (processing block 901) . In some embodiments, reporting, to the base station, the UE capability for or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition is triggered in response to a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement meeting an RSRP threshold and the UE having the UE capability for Msg5 repetition. The RSRP measurement can be based on one of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) -RSRP, a Msg4 Physical Data Shared Channel (PDSCH) -RSRP, a Msg4 Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) -RSRP, a Msg2 PDSCH-RSRP, or a Msg2 PDCCH-RSRP.

Processing logic receives, from a base station, information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition and configures the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information (processing block 902) .

In some embodiment, the base station explicitly provides the repetition factor. For example, in some embodiments, the base station explicitly provides an indication of the Msg5 repetition factor to use by sending Downlink Control Information (DCI) with DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0. Within this DCI, the base station can specify the repetition factor using one of the following: a field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate one of the configured number of Msg5 PUSCH repetition, most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a second downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field in DCI format 0_1. Other fields can be used as well.

In some other embodiments, the base station explicitly provides an indication of the Msg5 repetition factor to use with the information specified in a MAC control element (CE) carried by Msg4 PDSCH and indicates the number of repetitions.

In yet some other embodiments, the base station explicitly provides an indication of the Msg5 repetition factor to use via DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH. Within this DCI, the base station can specify the repetition factor using one of the following: most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field.

In some embodiment, the repetition factor can be implicitly provided. In such case, the base station can explicitly provide information from which the UE derives or otherwise determines the repetition factor. The UE can be predefined or otherwise configured to operation in this way. For example, in some embodiments, the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg4 PUCCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition or the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg3 PUSCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In some other embodiment, the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor that is based on a mapping to the Msg4 PUCCH repetition factor or a mapping to the Msg3 PUSCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor.

Subsequently, processing logic triggers the use of Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions (processing block 903) , determines its repetition factor indicating the number of PUSCH repetitions for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission upon being triggered (processing block 904) , and sends the Msg5 PUSCH transmission with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor (processing block 905) . In some embodiments, these operations are performed as described above in Figure 8 as well as in other portions of the description above.

In some embodiments, after using Msg5 repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission, processing logic sends the one or more additional Msg5 PUSCH transmissions with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions upon determining the UE is enabled do so (processing block 906) . The UE can receive, receiving, from a base station, configuration information indicating whether the UE is enabled to send one or more additional Msg5 PUSCH transmissions with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the configuration information comprises information in an SIB.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of some other embodiments of a process for performing Msg5 PUSCH repetition for Msg5 PUSCH transmissions. The process is performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (circuitry, dedicated logic, etc. ) , software (e.g., software running on a chip, software run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine, etc. ) , firmware, or a combination of the three. In one embodiment, the operations in the process are performed by a base station in a 5G NR communication system. In one embodiment, the operations in the process are performed by baseband processor in a 5G NR communication system.

Referring to FIG. 10, the processing begins by processing logic generating configuration information for configuring a user equipment (UE) prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions, wherein the configuration information specifies the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition (processing block 1001) .

In some embodiments, the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes Downlink Control Information (DCI) with DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0 indicating the UE is to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition. In DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0, the information can be specified in one of a group consisting of: a field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate one of the configured number of Msg5 PUSCH repetition, most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a second downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field in DCI format 0_1.

In some other embodiments, the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor is specified in a MAC control element (CE) carried by Msg4 PDSCH and indicates the number of repetitions.

In some embodiments, the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor is specified in DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH. In DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH, the information can be specified in one of a group consisting of: most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field.

After generating the configuration information, processing logic sends the configuration information to the UE use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information (processing block 1002) .

In some embodiments, the information provided by the base station is specified in DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0 and causes the UE to use the repetition factor used for Msg4 PUCCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and the UE sets the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition. In some other embodiments, the information provided by the base station causes the UE to use the repetition factor that is used for Msg3 PUSCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein and the UE sets the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.

In yet some other embodiments, the information provided by the base station causes the UE to use a repetition factor that is based on a mapping to the Msg4 PUCCH repetition factor, and the UE sets the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition. In still some other embodiments, the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor that is based on a mapping to the Msg3 PUSCH repetition factor, and the UE sets the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.

There are a number of example embodiments described herein.

Example 1 is method performed by a user equipment (UE) , the method comprising: triggering use of Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions; determining a repetition factor indicating a number of PUSCH repetitions for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission; and sending the Msg5 PUSCH transmission with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor.

Example 2 is the method of example 1 that may optionally include that triggering use of PUSCH repetition occurs in response to a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold being met.

Example 3 is the method of example 2 that may optionally include that the RSRP threshold is equal to one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering dedicated physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, and an RSRP threshold for Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

Example 4 is the method of example 2 that may optionally include that the RSRP threshold is relative to one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 PUCCH repetition, and an RSRP threshold for triggering PRACH repetition.

Example 5 is the method of example 4 that may optionally include that the RSRP threshold is indicated by a number of bits that is relative to bits indicating one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 PUSCH repetition, and an RSRP threshold for triggering PRACH repetition includes being relative in a number of bits used to indicate represent the RSRP threshold.

Example 6 is the method of example 2 that may optionally include receiving the RSRP threshold in a system information block (SIB) .

Example 7 is the method of example 6 that may optionally include that the SIB comprises SIB 1 or SIB 19.

Example 8 is the method of example 1 that may optionally include that the number of PUSCH repetitions is selected from a set of candidate numbers of PUSCH repetitions that includes 1, 2, 4, and 8 repetitions.

Example 9 is the method of example 1 that may optionally include that the number of PUSCH repetitions is selected from a set of candidate numbers of PUSCH repetitions that includes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12 and 16 repetitions.

Example 10 is the method of example 1 that may optionally include reporting, to a base station, UE capability of Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

Example 11 is the method of example 10 that may optionally include that reporting, to the base station, the UE capability for or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition is triggered in response to a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement meeting an RSRP threshold and the UE having the UE capability for Msg5 repetition.

Example 12 is the method of example 11 that may optionally include that the RSRP measurement is based on one of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) -RSRP, a Msg4 Physical Data Shared Channel (PDSCH) -RSRP, a Msg4 Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) -RSRP, a Msg2 PDSCH-RSRP, or a Msg2 PDCCH-RSRP.

Example 13 is the method of example 10 that may optionally include that reporting, to the base station, the UE capability for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition is triggered in response to the UE having the UE capability for Msg5 repetition.

Example 14 is the method of example 10 that may optionally include that reporting, to a base station, the UE capability for or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition comprises signaling the UE capability or the request using dedicated random access channel (RACH) occasions or PRACH preambles.

Example 15 is the method of example 10 that may optionally include that reporting, to a base station, the UE capability for or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition comprises signaling the UE capability or the request using a reserved bit in a Medium Access Control (MAC) sub header in Msg3 PUSCH.

Example 16 is the method of example 15 that may optionally include that the reserved bit indicates both UE capability of Msg4 PUCCH repetition and Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

Example 17 is the method of example 16 that may optionally include that signaling the UE capability or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition using the reserved bit is as part of a Msg4 PUCCH repetition capability report.

Example 18 is the method of example 15 that may optionally include that signaling the UE capability or the request using a reserved bit that is different than a reserved bit that indicates UE capability of Msg4 PUCCH repetition or Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

Example 19 is the method of example 10 that may optionally include that reporting, to a base station, the UE capability for or the request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition comprises signaling the UE capability or the request using a reserved Logical Channel ID (LCID) code points in a Msg3 PUSCH.

Example 20 is the method of example 1 that may optionally include receiving, from a base station, information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition; and configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information.

Example 21 is the method of example 20 that may optionally include that the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes Downlink Control Information (DCI) with DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0 indicating the UE is to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

Example 22 is the method of example 21 that may optionally include that the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: a field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate one of the configured number of Msg5 PUSCH repetition, most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a second downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field in DCI format 0_1.

Example 23 is the method of example 21 that may optionally include that the information is specified in a MAC control element (CE) carried by Msg4 PDSCH and indicates the number of repetitions.

Example 24 is the method of example 20 that may optionally include that the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH.

Example 25 is the method of example 24 that may optionally include that the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field.

Example 26 is the method of example 20 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg4 PUCCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.

Example 27 is the method of example 20 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg3 PUSCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.

Example 28 is the method of example 20 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor that is based on a mapping to the Msg4 PUCCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.

Example 29 is the method of example 20 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor based on a mapping to the Msg3 PUSCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.

Example 30 is the method of example 20 that may optionally include that the information indicates the UE is to use a periodic schedule of a pattern of Msg5 PUSCH repetition factors.

Example 31 is the method of example 1 that may optionally include receiving, from a base station, configuration information indicating whether the UE is enabled to send one or more additional Msg5 PUSCH transmissions with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions; and sending the one or more additional Msg5 PUSCH transmissions with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions upon determining that the UE is enabled.

Example 32 is the method of example 31 that may optionally include that the configuration information comprises information in an SIB.

Example 33 is a baseband processor configured to perform any one of the operations of examples 1-32.

Example 34 is a user equipment configured to perform any one of the operations of examples 1-32.

Example 35 is a method for use by a base station, where the method comprises: generating configuration information for configuring a user equipment (UE) prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions, wherein the configuration information specifies the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition; and sending the configuration information to the UE use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information.

Example 36 is the method of example 35 that may optionally include that the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes Downlink Control Information (DCI) with DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0 indicating the UE is to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition.

Example 37 is the method of example 36 that may optionally include that the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: a field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate one of the configured number of Msg5 PUSCH repetition, most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a second downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field in DCI format 0_1.

Example 37 is the method of example 36 that may optionally include that the information is specified in a MAC control element (CE) carried by Msg4 PDSCH and indicates the number of repetitions.

Example 38 is the method of example 35 that may optionally include that the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH.

Example 39 is the method of example 38 that may optionally include that the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field.

Example 40 is the method of example 35 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg4 PUCCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.

Example 41 is the method of example 35 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg3 PUSCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.

Example 42 is the method of example 35 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor that is based on a mapping to the Msg4 PUCCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.

Example 43 is the method of example 35 that may optionally include that the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor based on a mapping to the Msg3 PUSCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.

Example 44 is a baseband processor configured to perform any one of the operations of examples 35-43.

Example 45 is a base station configured to perform any one of the operations of examples 35-43.

Portions of what was described above may be implemented with logic circuitry such as a dedicated logic circuit or with a microcontroller or other form of processing core that executes program code instructions. Thus processes taught by the discussion above may be performed with program code such as machine-executable instructions that cause a machine that executes these instructions to perform certain functions. In this context, a “machine” may be a machine that converts intermediate form (or “abstract” ) instructions into processor specific instructions (e.g., an abstract execution environment such as a “virtual machine” (e.g., a Java Virtual Machine) , an interpreter, a Common Language Runtime, a high-level language virtual machine, etc. ) , and/or, electronic circuitry disposed on a semiconductor chip (e.g., “logic circuitry” implemented with transistors) designed to execute instructions such as a general-purpose processor and/or a special-purpose processor. Processes taught by the discussion above may also be performed by (in the alternative to a machine or in combination with a machine) electronic circuitry designed to perform the processes (or a portion thereof) without the execution of program code.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purpose, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs) , RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer) . For example, a machine readable medium includes read only memory ( “ROM” ) ; random access memory ( “RAM” ) ; magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc.

An article of manufacture may be used to store program code. An article of manufacture that stores program code may be embodied as, but is not limited to, one or more memories (e.g., one or more flash memories, random access memories (static, dynamic or other) ) , optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or other type of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Program code may also be downloaded from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a propagation medium (e.g., via a communication link (e.g., a network connection) ) .

The preceding detailed descriptions are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the tools used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be kept in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “selecting, ” “determining, ” “receiving, ” “forming, ” “grouping, ” “aggregating, ” “generating, ” “removing, ” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the operations described. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be evident from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

The foregoing discussion merely describes some exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, the accompanying drawings and the claims that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

A method performed by a user equipment (UE) , the method comprising:

triggering use of Msg5 Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition for a Msg5 PUSCH transmission prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions;

determining a repetition factor indicating a number of PUSCH repetitions for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission; and

sending the Msg5 PUSCH transmission with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor.
The method of claim 1 wherein triggering use of PUSCH repetition occurs in response to a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold being met.
The method of claim 2 wherein the RSRP threshold is equal to one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering dedicated physical random access channel (PRACH) repetition, and an RSRP threshold for Msg5 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 2 wherein the RSRP threshold is relative to one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 PUCCH repetition, and an RSRP threshold for triggering PRACH repetition.
The method of claim 4 wherein the RSRP threshold is indicated by a number of bits that is relative to bits indicating one of a group consisting of an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg3 PUSCH repetition, an RSRP threshold for triggering Msg4 PUSCH repetition, and an RSRP threshold for triggering PRACH repetition includes being relative in a number of bits used to indicate represent the RSRP threshold.
The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving the RSRP threshold in a system information block (SIB) .
The method of claim 6 wherein the SIB comprises SIB 1 or SIB 19.
The method of claim 1 wherein the number of PUSCH repetitions is selected from a set of candidate numbers of PUSCH repetitions that includes 1, 2, 4, and 8 repetitions.
The method of claim 1 wherein the number of PUSCH repetitions is selected from a set of candidate numbers of PUSCH repetitions that includes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12 and 16 repetitions.
The method of claim 1 further comprising:

reporting, to a base station, UE capability of Msg5 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 10 wherein reporting, to the base station, the UE capability for or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition is triggered in response to a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement meeting an RSRP threshold and the UE having the UE capability for Msg5 repetition.
The method of claim 11 wherein the RSRP measurement is based on one of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) -RSRP, a Msg4 Physical Data Shared Channel (PDSCH) -RSRP, a Msg4 Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) -RSRP, a Msg2 PDSCH-RSRP, or a Msg2 PDCCH-RSRP.
The method of claim 10 wherein reporting, to the base station, the UE capability for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition is triggered in response to the UE having the UE capability for Msg5 repetition.
The method of claim 10 wherein reporting, to a base station, the UE capability for or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition comprises signaling the UE capability or the request using dedicated random access channel (RACH) occasions or PRACH preambles.
The method of claim 10 wherein reporting, to a base station, the UE capability for or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition comprises signaling the UE capability or the request using a reserved bit in a Medium Access Control (MAC) sub header in Msg3 PUSCH.
The method of claim 15 wherein the reserved bit indicates both UE capability of Msg4 PUCCH repetition and Msg5 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 16 wherein signaling the UE capability or a request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition using the reserved bit is as part of a Msg4 PUCCH repetition capability report.
The method of claim 15 wherein signaling the UE capability or the request using a reserved bit that is different than a reserved bit that indicates UE capability of Msg4 PUCCH repetition or Msg5 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 10 wherein reporting, to a base station, the UE capability for or the request for use of Msg5 PUSCH repetition comprises signaling the UE capability or the request using a reserved Logical Channel ID (LCID) code points in a Msg3 PUSCH.
The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from a base station, information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition; and

configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information.
The method of claim 20 wherein the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes Downlink Control Information (DCI) with DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0 indicating the UE is to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 21 wherein the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: a field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate one of the configured number of Msg5 PUSCH repetition, most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a second downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field in DCI format 0_1.
The method of claim 21 wherein the information is specified in a MAC control element (CE) carried by Msg4 PDSCH and indicates the number of repetitions.
The method of claim 20 wherein the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH.
The method of claim 24 wherein the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field.
The method of claim 20 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg4 PUCCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.
The method of claim 20 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg3 PUSCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 20 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor that is based on a mapping to the Msg4 PUCCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.
The method of claim 20 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor based on a mapping to the Msg3 PUSCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 20 wherein the information indicates the UE is to use a periodic schedule of a pattern of Msg5 PUSCH repetition factors.
The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, from a base station, configuration information indicating whether the UE is enabled to send one or more additional Msg5 PUSCH transmissions with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions; and

sending the one or more additional Msg5 PUSCH transmissions with the number of PUSCH repetitions according to the repetition factor prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions upon determining that the UE is enabled.
The method of claim 31 wherein the configuration information comprises information in an SIB.
A baseband processor configured to perform any one of the operations of claims 1-32.
A user equipment configured to perform any one of the operations of claims 1-32.
A method for use by a base station, the method comprising:

generating configuration information for configuring a user equipment (UE) prior to configuring the UE with resource allocations for PUSCH transmissions, wherein the configuration information specifies the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition that the UE is to use for Msg5 PUSCH repetition; and

sending the configuration information to the UE use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition in response to receiving the information.
The method of claim 35 wherein the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes Downlink Control Information (DCI) with DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_0 indicating the UE is to use Msg5 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 36 wherein the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: a field in DCI format 0_1 to indicate one of the configured number of Msg5 PUSCH repetition, most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a second downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field in DCI format 0_1.
The method of claim 36 wherein the information is specified in a MAC control element (CE) carried by Msg4 PDSCH and indicates the number of repetitions.
The method of claim 35 wherein the information that indicates the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor that the UE is to use includes DCI format 1_0 for Msg4 PDCCH.
The method of claim 38 wherein the information is specified in one of a group consisting of: most significant bits (MSBs) or least significant bits (LSBs) in a Modulation and coding scheme field, a downlink assignment index field, or MSB or LSB bits in a HARQ process number field.
The method of claim 35 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg4 PUCCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.
The method of claim 35 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor used for Msg3 PUSCH repetition as the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor for Msg5 PUSCH repetition, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to be equal to a number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.
The method of claim 35 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor that is based on a mapping to the Msg4 PUCCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg4 PUCCH repetition.
The method of claim 35 wherein the information causes the UE to use a repetition factor based on a mapping to the Msg3 PUSCH repetition factor, and wherein configuring the UE to use the Msg5 PUSCH repetition factor in response to receiving the information includes setting the repetition factor for the Msg5 PUSCH transmission to a number mapped to the number of repetitions used by the UE for Msg3 PUSCH repetition.
A baseband processor configured to perform any one of the operations of claims 35-43.
A base station configured to perform any one of the operations of claims 35-43.