WO2025123368A1

WO2025123368A1 - Wireless communication method and related devices

Info

Publication number: WO2025123368A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/139292
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yiwei DENG
Original assignee: Shenzhen TCL New Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen TCL New Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-12-15
Filing date: 2023-12-15
Publication date: 2025-06-19
Anticipated expiration: 2026-06-15

Abstract

A wireless communication method and related devices such as a user equipment (UE) and a base station (BS) (e.g., a gNB) are provided. The wireless communication method, performed by a UE, including, transmitting Msg5 PUSCH with repetition, wherein the repetition of Msg5 PUSCH is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values. With this method, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction in the random access procedure can be expected.

Description

WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD AND RELATED DEVICES

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to wireless communication technologies, and more particularly, to a wireless communication method and related devices.

BACKGROUND ART

Wireless communication systems, such as the third-generation (3G) of mobile telephone standards and technology are well known. Such 3G standards and technology have been developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . The 3rd generation of wireless communications has generally been developed to support macro-cell mobile phone communications. The 3GPP has developed the so-called Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system, namely, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunication System Territorial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) , for a mobile access network where one or more macro-cells are supported by base station known as an eNodeB or eNB (evolved NodeB) . LTE is evolving further towards the so-called 5G or NR (new radio) systems where one or more cells are supported by base stations known as a next generation Node B called gNodeB (gNB) .

In cellular wireless communication systems of 5G NR, user equipment (UE) is connected by a wireless link to a radio access network (RAN) . The RAN includes a set of base stations (BSs) which provide wireless links to the UEs located in cells covered by the base stations, and an interface to a core network (CN) which provides overall network control. The RAN and CN each conducts respective functions in relation to the overall network.

The 5G NR standard will support a multitude of different services each with very different requirements. These services include Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) for high data rate transmission, Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) for devices requiring low latency and high link reliability and Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC) to support a large number of low-power devices for a long life-time requiring highly energy efficient communication.

Coverage is one of key factors that an operator considers when commercializing cellular communication networks due to its direct impact on service quality as well as CAPEX and OPEX. Despite the importance of coverage on the success of 5G NR commercialization, a thorough coverage evaluation and a comparison with legacy radio access technologies (RATs) considering all NR specification details have not been done up to now.

Compared to LTE, 5G NR is designed to operate at much higher frequencies such as 28GHz or 39GHz in FR2. Furthermore, many countries are making available more spectrums on FR1, such as 3.5GHz, which is typically in higher frequencies than that for LTE or 3G. Due to the higher frequencies, it is inevitable that the wireless channel will be subject to higher path-loss, making it more challenging to maintain an adequate quality of service that is at least equal to that of legacy RATs. One mobile application of particular importance is voice service for which a typical subscriber will always expect a ubiquitous coverage wherever s/he is.

For FR1, NR can be deployed either in newly allocated spectrums, such as 3.5GHz, or in a spectrum re-farmed from a legacy network, e.g., 3G and 4G. In either case, coverage will be a critical issue considering the fact that these spectrums will most likely handle key mobile services such as voice and low-rate data services. For FR2, coverage was not thoroughly evaluated during the self-evaluation campaign towards IMT-2020 submission and not considered in 3GPP Release 16 enhancements. In these regards, a thorough understanding of NR coverage performance is needed while taking into account the support of latest NR specification.

The objective of coverage enhancement is to study potential coverage enhancement solutions for specific scenarios for both FR1 and FR2. Some potential methods for coverage enhancement have been discussed in 3GPP meetings; however, there are still some improvements that need to be enhanced.

SUMMARY

The objective of the present application is to provide a wireless communication method and related devices, for achieving coverage enhancement for uplink and/or downlink transmissions.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method including: in response to reception of a Msg4, feeding back hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4 with repetition, wherein the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method including: obtaining a beam for being used for repetition of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4, wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method including: transmitting Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with repetition, wherein the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method including: obtaining a beam for being used for repetition of Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission or the beam is a better beam or the best beam indicated which is indicated by a network device, wherein a better beam or the best beam means the beam which is with a better array gain or the best array gain..

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method including: receiving hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4 with repetition, wherein the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method including: indicating a terminal device of a beam used for repetition of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4, wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission or the beam is a better beam or the best beam indicated which is indicated by a network device, wherein a better beam or the best beam means the beam which is with a better array gain or the best array gain..

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method including: receiving Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with repetition, wherein the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method including: indicating a terminal device of a beam used for repetition of Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission or the beam is a better beam or the best beam indicated which is indicated by a network device, wherein a better beam or the best beam means the beam which is with a better array gain or the best array gain

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a user equipment (UE) , including a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute any of the methods of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a base station (BS) , including a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute any of the methods of the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium provided for storing a computer program, which enables a computer to execute the method of any of the first aspect to the eighth aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes computer program instructions enabling a computer to execute the method of any of the first aspect to the eighth aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, when running on a computer, enabling the computer to execute the method of any of the first aspect to the eighth aspect.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or related art, the following figures that will be described in the embodiments are briefly introduced. It is obvious that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present application, a person having ordinary skill in this field can obtain other figures according to these figures without paying the premise.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a 4-step contention-based RA procedure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating timing for a random access procedure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an initial random access procedure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a terminal device and a network device of wireless communication in a communication controlling system according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating radio protocol architecture within gNB and UE.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a gNB further including a centralized unit (CU) and a plurality of distributed unit (DUs) .

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a wireless communication method according to a first embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a wireless communication method according to a second embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of redefined beam indication determined based on frequency domain resources according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of redefined beam indication determined based on time domain resources according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of redefined beam indication determined based on time and frequency domain resources according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a wireless communication method according to a third embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a wireless communication method according to a fourth embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the application are described in detail with the technical matters, structural features, achieved objects, and effects with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows. Specifically, the terminologies in the embodiments of the present application are merely for describing the purpose of the certain embodiment, but not to limit the application.

In this document, the term "/" should be interpreted to indicate "and/or. " A combination such as “at least one of A, B, or C, ” “one or more of A, B, or C, ” “at least one of A, B, and C, ” “one or more of A, B, and C, ” or “A, B, and/or C” may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and 30 C, B and C, or A and B and C, where any combination may contain one or more members of A, B, or C.

In 3GPP Release 17, coverage enhancement for PUSCH, PUCCH and Msg3 has been standardized. In 3GPP Release 18, coverage enhancement for PUSCH and PRACH are discussed. However, there are still some channels that have not been discussed yet, such as HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. According to the evaluation of PUCCH with HARQ-ACK Msg4, this channel is a coverage bottleneck. Coverage enhancement for HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 needs to be achieved. Reasons for this are provided below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a 4-step contention-based RA procedure. As shown in FIG. 1, the UE transmits a PRACH preamble, also known as Msg1 (Step ①) . After detecting the preamble, the gNB responds with a random-access response (RAR) , also known as Msg2 (Step ②) . The RAR includes an uplink grant for scheduling a PUSCH transmission from the UE known as Msg3. In response to the RAR, the UE transmits Msg3 including an ID for contention resolution (Step ③) . Upon receiving Msg3, the network transmits a contention resolution message, also known as Msg4, with the contention resolution ID (Step ④) . After receiving the contention resolution (Msg4) , if the UE finds its contention-resolution ID, the UE needs to feed back an acknowledgment (e.g., HARQ-ACK) . More specifically, in response to the PDSCH reception with the UE contention resolution identity, the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information on a PUCCH, and the PUCCH transmission is in a same active uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) as the previous PUSCH transmission.

A minimum time period between the last symbol of the PDSCH reception and the first symbol of corresponding PUCCH transmission with the HARQ-ACK information is equal to N_T, 1+0.5 msec, where N_T, 1 is a time duration of N₁ symbols corresponding to PDSCH processing time for UE processing capability 1 when additional PDSCH DM-RS is configured. In 5G NR, for subcarrier spacing of 15KHz (i.e., μ=0) , N_1, 0=14, as defined in TS 38.214.

If the gNB detects the HARQ-ACK correctly, the gNB knows the UE receives a corresponding Msg4 correctly (it means the Msg4 indicates the UE is correctly identified) , and the gNB can configure subsequent RRC signaling to the UE. If the gNB doesn’t detect the HARQ-ACK correctly, the gNB will know the UE does not receive the Msg4 correctly. As a result, the subsequent RRC signalling will not configured to the UE. From the perspective of UE, re- attempt for RACH procedure may be needed, and this will cause large latency. The timing for the random access procedure is referred to FIG. 2.

In R-17, the following channels have been evaluated as coverage bottleneck channels: PUSCH, PUCCH, Msg3, PRACH, Msg5 PUSCH-1 (HARQ-ACK PUCCH for Msg4) , Msg5 PUSCH and broadcast PDCCH. PUSCH, PUCCH, Msg3 have been standardized in R-17, while PRACH repetition, power domain and waveform dynamic switch of PUSCH have been standardized in R-18. The coverage capability of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4, which has not been standardized, is very important during the initial access. Therefore, coverage enhancement for HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 needs to be achieved. To achieve this, repetition, redefined beam and power domain for HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg5 are considered in this application.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an initial random access procedure. Referring to FIG. 3, after the UE receives system information in Step 0, the UE needs to perform an initial random access procedure. Firstly, the UE chooses a RACH sequence and transmits the RACH sequence on a RACH occasion (RO) based on a better/the best synchronization signal block (SSB) in Step 1. Then, the UE receives a random access response (RAR) from the gNB in Step 2. In Step 3, the UE transmits Msg3 including an ID for contention resolution, and a RRC Connection Request is involved in this step. In Step 4, the UE receives Msg4 for contention resolution. If the UE finds its contention-resolution ID in Msg4 (the Msg4 would be called a correct Msg4) , UE needs to feed back HARQ-ACK of Msg4 over a common PUCCH in Step 5. The UE receives PDCCH scheduling Msg5 PUSCH in Step 6. In Step 7, the UE may transmit Msg5 PUSCH upon reception of the scheduling PDCCH in Step 6.

In Rel-17, Msg3 PUSCH is identified as a coverage bottleneck channel. It would be appreciated that Msg5 PUSCH is also a bottleneck channel during the initial access. Therefore, coverage enhancement for Msg5 PUSCH needs to be achieved.

In addition, repetition for Msg5 PUSCH would be an approach to improve the coverage capability. However, since UE-dedicated RRC signalling has not been configured now, corresponding repK for the repetition or aggregation factor K has not been configured for the UE at this time. Therefore, how to support repetition of Msg5 PUSCH should be studied.

In short, HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 and Msg5 PUSCH transmissions are very important for initial access. Despite having been identified as bottleneck channels, HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 and Msg5 PUSCH coverage enhancement have not been addressed. To achieve better coverage performance, some enhancements on these channel will be needed. This disclosure proposes some approaches for HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 and Msg5 PUSCH coverage enhancement. Better coverage for uplink channel and latency improvement in the random access procedure can be expected.

FIG. 4 illustrates that, in some embodiments, one or more terminal device (e.g., user equipments (UEs) ) 10 and a network device (e.g., a base station (e.g., gNB or eNB) ) 20 for wireless communication in a communication network system 30 according to an embodiment of the present application are provided. The communication network system 30 includes the one or more terminal devices 10 and the network device 20.

The network device (e.g., base station) 10 can be an entity which is used to transmit or receive information, such as gNB. The network device 20 can also be eNodeB, transmission reception point (TRP) , NodeB in next generation communication or access point in WIFI.

The terminal device (e.g., UE) 10 is an entity which is used to transmit or receive information on the user side, such as a cell phone. The UE can also be called a terminal, UE, mobile station, mobile terminal. The UE can be a mobile phone, pad, VR, AR, wireless terminal of industrial control, wireless terminal of self-driving, wireless terminal of remote medical surgery, wireless terminal of smart grid, wireless terminal of transport safety, wireless terminal of smart city, wireless terminal of smart home, etc.

Furthermore, the terminal device 10 and the network device 20 can be deployed in land, including indoor, outdoor, handheld, on-board. They can also be deployed in other environments, including water, air, plane, drone or satellite.

The one or more terminal devices 10 may include a memory 12, a transceiver 13, and a processor 11 coupled to the memory 12 and the transceiver 13. The network device 20 may include a memory 22, a transceiver 23, and a processor 21 coupled to the memory 22 and the transceiver 23. The processor 11 or 21 may be configured to implement proposed functions, procedures and/or methods described in this description. Layers of radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 is operatively coupled with the processor 11 or 21 and stores a variety of information to operate the processor 11 or 21. The transceiver 13 or 23 is operatively coupled with the processor 11 or 21, and the transceiver 13 or 23 transmits and/or receives a radio signal. The network device 20 and a next generation core network (5GCN) may also communicate with each other either wirelessly or in a wired way. When the communication network system 30 complies with the New Radio (NR) standard of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) , the next generation core network is a backend serving network system and may include an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) , User Plane Function (UPF) , and a Session Management Function (SMF) . In one aspect, the terminal device 10 can include almost any consumer electronic device or appliance that can connect to a radio access network and a core network for the releases of 3GPP and further, such as, but not limited to NR networks.

The processor 11 or 21 may include application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , other chipset, logic circuit and/or data processing device. The memory 12 or 22 may include read-only memory (ROM) , random access memory (RAM) , flash memory, memory card, storage medium and/or other storage device. The transceiver 13 or 23 may include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The modules can be stored in the memory 12 or 22 and executed by the processor 11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 can be implemented within the processor 11 or 21 or external to the processor 11 or 21 in which case those can be communicatively coupled to the processor 11 or 21 via various means as is known in the art.

In a case that the terminal device 10 is a UE and the network device 20 is a gNB, the user plane radio protocol architecture within the gNB and UE is shown in FIG. 5, which includes optional Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) , Radio Link Control (RLC) , Medium Access Control (MAC) . In RAN functional split, a gNB further includes a centralized unit (CU) and a plurality of distributed unit (DUs) as shown in FIG. 6. The protocol stack of CU includes an RRC layer, an optional SDAP layer, and a PDCP layer, while the protocol stack of DU includes an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The F1 interface between the CU and DU is established between the PDCP layer and the RLC layer.

This disclosure proposes approach (es) to enhance the capacity of coverage of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 with repetition of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH. The repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is an integer or a set of integer values. For example, candidate values of the repetition number of HARQ-ACK of Msg4 can be a combination of {1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 16} or {2, 4, 8} . In this way, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction during UL access procedure can be achieved.

In current specification, when a terminal device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) receives the contention resolution (Msg4) correctly (it means reception of a correct Msg4 indicating the UE is correctly identified) , the UE needs to feed back HARQ-ACK of Msg4 after a certain time point. After a network device (e.g., gNB) detects the HARQ-ACK correctly, the gNB knows the UE receives a corresponding Msg4 correctly and the gNB can configure subsequent RRC signaling to the UE. However, if the gNB doesn’t detect the HARQ-ACK correctly, the gNB will know the UE does not receive the Msg4 correctly. As a result, the subsequent RRC signaling will not be configured to the UE. From the perspective of UE, re-attempt for RACH procedure may be needed, and this will cause large latency. Thus, the capability of coverage of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is very important during the initial access procedure.

If the RRC connection is not established yet during the initial access procedure, UE-dedicated configurations (and UE-dedicated PUCCH resources) will not be configured. For example, if the UE is not configured with a set of dedicated PUCCH resources, provided by PUCCH-ResourceSet in PUCCH-Config, a PUCCH resource set may be provided by pucch-ResourceCommon through an index corresponding to a row of a table for transmission of HARQ-ACK information on PUCCH in an initial UL BWP ofPRBs. For operations in FR2-2, pucch-ResourceCommon can also provide a number of N_RB RBs for the PUCCH resource set; otherwise, N_RB=1. In other words, during the initial access procedure, a common PUCCH (cell-specific) for HARQ-ACK of Msg4 can be used. How to enable or indicate the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 should be studied, and the following approaches can be considered.

FIG. 7 illustrates a wireless communication method according to a first embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 7 in conjunction with FIG. 4, the method 100 includes the followings. In Step 110, in response to reception of a Msg4, the terminal device 10 feeds back (or the network device 20 receives) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4 with repetition, wherein the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values. With the method 100, the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is carried out, and therefore better coverage for uplink channel and latency improvement in the random access procedure can be expected.

In an embodiment, the repetition (s) number is indicated by an information element (IE) of a common configuration of PUCCH, and/or a system information block (SIB) , and/or a master information block (MIB) . In another embodiment, the repetition (s) number is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or the repetition number of Msg3, or the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is based on an offset value and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, or the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is based on the offset value and the repetition number of Msg3. In still another embodiment, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by an index in a table of PUCCH resource sets. In yet another embodiment, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by the Msg4 or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the Msg4. In the case of the scheduling DCI of the Msg4, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 may be indicated via a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) .

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by a DCI via a modulation coding scheme (MCS) field or a downlink assignment index (DAI) field. Alternatively, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Msg4. In addition, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 may be related to a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg4. In this way, no additional signaling overhead will be caused and the corresponding repetition number (s) is/are indicated.

Further details on the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 are described as follows.

In a first possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is configured by an information element (IE) of a PUCCH common configuration (e.g., PUCCH-ConfigCommon) and/or indicated via a system information block (e.g., SIB1 or other system information (SIBx) ) or a master information block (MIB) . The repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is an integer or a set of integer values. The candidate values of the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK of Msg4 can be a combination of {1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 16} or {2, 4, 8} . For example, a parameter (e.g. pucch-RepetitionNrofSlots-r19) can be configured within the IE of PUCCH-ConfigCommon, where the parameter of pucch-RepetitionNrofSlots-r19 is used to indicate the repetition number or candidates of the repetition number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4, as shown below.

PUCCH-ConfigCommon information element

In a second possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3 representative of a radio resource control (RRC) connection request. In an embodiment, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is equal to the number of multiple PRACH transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3. In another embodiment, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is based on an offset value ( “delta” ) , and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3. In this way, the current number of multiple PRACH transmissions and/or the repetition number of Msg3 can be reused, thus, the signalling overhead will be saved.

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is based on the number of multiple PRACH transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3, and an offset value, wherein the offset value between the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions/the repetition number of Msg3 is fixed or pre-defined (the offset value is denoted as “delta” ) , and the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is equal to the delta plus the number of multiple PRACH transmissions/the repetition number of Msg3.

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is based on the number of multiple PRACH transmissions and an offset value. Specifically, the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is equal to a delta value plus the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, wherein the delta values for different PRACH formats may be different. A pre-defined table can be used, as shown in Table 1 below.

Table1. Delta value for different PRACH formats

Note: Format X means a PRACH format, and Deltax means a delta value and the delta value can be a positive value
or negative value.

In a third possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH is indicated by an index in a table of PUCCH resource sets before dedicated PUCCH resource configuration, and a column of the table can be used to indicate the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH for various PUCCH resource sets, as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2: PUCCH resource sets before dedicated PUCCH resource configuration

In a fourth possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH can be indicated by the Msg4 or the scheduling DCI of Msg4.

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH can be indicated by the scheduling DCI of Msg4. Specifically, the repetition (s) number of Msg4 HARQ-ACK PUCCH can be jointly coded with a default time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for downlink or uplink transmission, wherein the default TDRA table may be defined in TS 38.214, such as Default PDSCH time domain resource allocation A for normal cyclic prefix (CP) , Default PDSCH time domain resource allocation A for extended CP, Default PDSCH time domain resource allocation B, Default PDSCH time domain resource allocation C, Default PUSCH time domain resource allocation A for normal CP or Default PUSCH time domain resource allocation A for extended CP. Taking the Default PDSCH time domain resource allocation A for normal CP for example, a column is added in the table for the Default PDSCH time domain resource allocation A for normal CP. The column is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4, as shown in Table 3 below. Tables for other types of TDRA can be made in a similar fashion. In this way, the signaling overhead can be saved.

Table 3. A column of a table for default TDRA is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 can be indicated by a fall-back DCI via a MCS field. The repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 may also be indicated via a downlink assignment index (DAI) field. The MCS field in the fall-back DCI can be split into two parts, one of the two parts of the MCS field is used to indicate the MCS of data, and the other one of the two parts of the MCS field is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. In this way, the current field within DCI can be re-used to indicate the repetition number, thus, the signalling overhead can be saved.

In a fifth possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling PDCCH (e.g. CORESET and/or control channel element (CCE) and/or search space of the PDCCH) of Msg4, or the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is related to a CCE aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg4. Different time and/or frequency locations of PDCCH can be used to indicate for different repetition numbers of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. Different CCE aggregation levels of PDCCH of Msg4 can be used to indicate for different repetition numbers of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. For example, a relationship between the CCE aggregation level related to the scheduling PDCCH of Msg4 and the repetition (s) number of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 can be defined or configured, and each CCE aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg4 is related to one of the repetition numbers of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4.

In a sixth possible implementation, more than one ra-contentionresolution timers and/or power boosting of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 can be used. More than one ra-contentionresolution timers can be configured by gNB via SIB1 or MIB or other system information. If an Msg4 is received during any of the ra-contentionresolution timers, the UE needs to feed back a HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. Power boosting of a HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 can be used based on a previous HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. The value of power boosting can be fixed or pre-defined or configured.

This disclosure proposes approaches to enhance the capacity of coverage of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. A refined beam at the terminal device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) side can be used. During the initial access procedure, multiple PRACH transmissions with more than one beams or Msg3 repetition transmissions with more than one beams can be used. The network device (e.g., gNB) needs to indicate a refined beam to UE for being used for the repetition of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4, wherein the refined beam is one of a set of beams that have been used by the UE. In this way, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction during UL access procedure can be achieved.

In current specification, multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 have been standardized. To improve the coverage capacity, multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 with more than one beams can be used. When it is enabled multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 with more than one beams, for the later transmission, i.e., HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4, it can be used a better/the best beam, indicated by the gNB, from the beams which are used for multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 to improve the coverage. The better/best beam can lead to a better gain or effect on the reception and/or transmission. However, how does the UE know the best/better beam is a problem. The following approaches to indicate a beam to UE by gNB can be considered.

FIG. 8 illustrates a wireless communication method according to a second embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 8 in conjunction with FIG. 4, the method 200 includes the followings. In Step 210, the terminal device 10 obtains a beam for being used for repetition of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4, wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission. The beam may be a better or best beam indicated by a network device. The better beam or the best beam means the beam can yield a better array gain or the best array gain. Correspondingly, the network device 20 indicates the terminal device 10 of this beam. With the method 200, the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 can be performed by using a better or best beam, and therefore better coverage for uplink channel and latency improvement in the random access procedure can be expected.

In the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam may be indicated via a random access response (RAR) or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the Msg3 or RAR. In the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam may be indicated via at least one of the followings: a field in RAR; a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of RAR; or/and time domain resource allocation (TDRA) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) . In the case that the beam may be one of more than one beams used for the Msg3 repetition transmission, the beam is indicated via the Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg4. In some embodiments, an indication of the beam is determined based on frequency domain resources and/or time domain resources of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .

Further details on the indication of the beam for the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 are described as follows.

In a first possible implementation, multiple PRACH transmissions are transmitted with more than one beams, and a refined beam (e.g., beam index) of the beams at UE side is indicated by gNB via random access response (RAR) or a scheduling DCI of Msg3. For example, a field in RAR can be used to indicate the refined beam of UE, or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of RAR can be used to indicate the refined beam of UE, or time domain resource allocation (TDRA) of a default physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) can be used to indicate the refined beam of UE.

In a second possible implementation, Msg3 repetition transmissions are transmitted with more than one beams, and a refined beam (e.g., beam index) of the beams at UE side can be indicated by gNB via Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of Msg4. In this case, each repetition of Msg3 or each set of repetitions of Msg3 use a beam to transmit, and there are at least two beams used for different repetitions of Msg3 or different sets of repetitions of Msg3 are different.

The beam or a beam index is related to the repetition index of Msg3 or location of Msg3. The refined beam (e.g., the beam index) can be indicated via a field of Msg4, or the redefined beam (e.g. the beam index) can be indicated via a field of DCI of Msg4. Alternatively, the redefined beam (e.g. the beam index) can be determined based on time or frequency or time and frequency domain resources of PDCCH which is used to schedule Msg4, as shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, respectively. It means time and/or frequency resource location of PDCCH (used to schedule Msg4) can be used to determine the refined beam of UE. In some embodiments, a mapping rule between the UE’s beams and the time and/or frequency resource location of PDCCH (used to schedule Msg4) can be defined.

This disclosure proposes approach (es) to enhance the capacity of coverage of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4. Power boosting can be used, and the transmission power of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 can be improved. A parameter for the power boosting can be introduced, as shown in the following formula. In this way, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction during UL access procedure can be achieved. The UE transmits a PUCCH on an active UL BWP b of carrier f in a primary cell c using a PUCCH power control adjustment state with index l. The UE determines the PUCCH transmission power P_{PUCCH, b, f, c} (i, q_u, q_d, l) in PUCCH transmission occasion i as:

where the parameter of P_pb1 is the power boosting value of HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4, and the definition of the parameters except P_pb1 within the formula can be referred to TS 38.213. The value of P_pb1 can be pre-defined or indicated by gNB.

This disclosure proposes approach (es) to enhance the capacity of coverage of Msg5 PUSCH, where the Msg5 PUSCH can be regarded as a PUSCH transmission during an RRC connection establishing procedure. Repetition of Msg5 PUSCH can be considered. The repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is an integer or a set of integer values. For example, candidate values of the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH can be a combination of {1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 16} or {2, 4, 8} or an integer.

When Msg5 PUSCH repetition is enabled, candidate redundancy version (RV) for the Msg5 PUSCH repetition can be pre-defined or indicate by SIB1 or other system information, the candidate RV sequence can be {0, 2, 3, 1} or {0, 3, 0, 3} or {0, 0, 0, 0} . The RV cycling for the Msg 5 PUSCH repetition is based on available slots or unavailable slots. In this way, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction during UL access procedure can be achieved. In addition, the ambiguity for RV between gNB and UE can be avoided.

In current specification, when a terminal device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) receives the contention resolution (Msg4) correctly (it means reception of a correct Msg4 indicating the UE is correctly identified) , the UE needs to feed back HARQ-ACK of Msg4 after a certain time point. After a network terminal (e.g., gNB) detects the HARQ-ACK correctly, the gNB knows the UE receives a corresponding Msg4 correctly and the gNB can configure subsequent RRC signaling to the UE for data radio bearer (DRB) and/or signaling radio bearer (SRB) to be established. However, during the RRC connection procedure, the RRC connection is not established completely, and UE-dedicated configurations are not configured at this time (such as Repk and/or aggregation factor of PUSCH, etc. ) . As a result, how to enable the repetition of Msg5 PUSCH and indicate the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH should be studied. The following approaches can be considered.

FIG. 12 illustrates a wireless communication method according to a third embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 12 in conjunction with FIG. 4, the method 300 includes the followings. In Step 310, the terminal device 10 transmits (or the network device 20 receives) Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with repetition, wherein the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values. With the method 300, the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH is carried out, and therefore better coverage for uplink channel and latency improvement in the random access procedure can be expected.

In an embodiment, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Msg5 PUSCH. Each of different repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH may correspond to a different time and/or frequency location of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.

In another embodiment, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is related to a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH. Each of different repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH may correspond to a different CCE aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.

In still another embodiment, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or the repetition number of Msg3, or the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on an offset value and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, or the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on an offset value and the repetition number of Msg3. The offset value may depend on PRACH format and/or the Msg5 PUSCH.

In yet another embodiment, one repetition number or a set of candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH are indicated by an information element (IE) which is a bandwidth part (BWP) -related IE or an IE including a PUSCH-related parameter, and/or a system information block (SIB) , and/or a master information block (MIB) . The candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH may be configured by the BWP-related IE and/or indicated via the SIB or the MIB, and/or the repetition number of the Msg5 PUSCH or one of the candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH is notified via a field of a downlink control information (DCI) . In this way, the flexibility of indication can be achieved.

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by at least one field in a DCI. In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg5 PUSCH. In the case of the scheduling DCI of the Msg5 PUSCH, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH may be indicated via a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) . In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by a DCI via a modulation coding scheme (MCS) field, and the MCS field is split into two parts, a first part of the two parts is used to indicate MCS of data, and a second part of the two parts is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH. In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is configured by a TDRA table related to a DCI format.

Further details on the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH are described as follows.

In a first possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling PDCCH (e.g., CORESET and/or control channel element (CCE) and/or search space of the PDCCH) of Msg5 PUSCH, or the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is related to a CCE aggregation level of scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH. Different time and/or frequency locations of PDCCH can be used to indicate different repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH. Different CCE aggregation levels of PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH can be used to indicate for different repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH. For example, a relationship between the CCE aggregation level (related to the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH) and the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH can be defined or configured, and each CCE aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH is related to one of the repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH.

In a second possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3 representative of a radio resource control (RRC) connection request. In an embodiment, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH equal to the number of multiple PRACH transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3. In another embodiment, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is based on an offset value ( “delta” ) , and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3.

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is based on the number of multiple PRACH transmissions or the repetition number of Msg3, and an offset value, wherein the offset value between the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH and the number of multiple PRACH transmission/the repetition number of Msg3 is fixed or pre-defined (the offset value is denoted as “delta” ) , and the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is equal to the delta plus the number of multiple PRACH transmissions/the repetition number of Msg3.

In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is based on the number of multiple PRACH transmissions and an offset value. Specifically, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is equal to a delta value plus the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, wherein the delta values for different PRACH formats may be different. A pre-defined table can be used, and this table is similar to that shown in Table 1.

In a third possible implementation, a repetition number or a set of candidate repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH can be configured by an information element (e.g., BWP-UplinkCommon IE) and/or indicated to UE via a system information block (e.g., SIB1 or other system information (SIBx) ) or a master information block (MIB) . A field of a DCI can be used to indicate the repetition number of Msg5 PUSCH. In some embodiments, the DCI is scrambled by C-RNTI and/or the DCI format can be DCI format 0_0 or 0_1 or 1_0.

BWP-UplinkCommon information element

In some embodiments, the set of candidate repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH can be configured by the BWP-UplinkCommon IE or other parameters related to PUSCH, and one of the set of repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH is indicated to UE via SIB1 or MIB or other system information.

In some embodiments, the candidate repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH can be configured within PUSCH-ConfigCommon IE and/or indicated to UE via SIB1 or other systems information or MIB, then a field of a DCI can be used to indicate one of the candidate repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH. The candidate field of the DCI can be at least one of the following:

√ Modulation and coding scheme (MSC) ;

√ Time domain resource assignment (TDRA) ;

√ Frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA) ;

√ Transmit power control (TPC) command for scheduled PUSCH;

√ ChannelAccess-CPexT;

√ HARQ process number;

√ New data indicator (NDI) .

Taking HARQ field for example, when the number of candidate repetition of Msg5 PUSCH is N, lowest ceil (log2 (N) ) bits in the HARQ field can be used to indicate the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH transmission. If the candidate number repetition of Msg5 PUSCH is {1, 2, 4, 8} , the lowest 2 bits in the HARQ field is used, where “00” is used to indicate one repetition of Msg5 PUSCH, “01” is used to indicate two repetitions of Msg5 PUSCH, “10” is used to indicate four repetitions of Msg5 PUSCH, and “11” is used to indicate eight repetitions of Msg5 PUSCH.

PUSCH-ConfigCommon information element

In some embodiments, the set of candidate repetition numbers of Msg5 can be configured within PUSCH-ConfigCommon IE or other parameter related to PUSCH, and one of the set of repetition numbers of Msg5 PUSCH is indicated to UE via SIB1 or MIB or other system information.

In a fourth possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH can be jointly coded with a default time domain resource allocation (TDRA) (e.g. Default PUSCH time domain resource allocation A for normal CP or Default PUSCH time domain resource allocation A for extended CP) of PUSCH. A column of a TDRA table can be used to indicate the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH, as shown in Table 4 (by taking Default PUSCH time domain resource allocation A for normal CP for example) below. Then, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH is indicated to UE via a DCI, which is used to schedule the transmission of Msg5 PUSCH. The DCI is scrambled by C-RNTI and/or the DCI format can be DCI format 0_0. In this way, the repetition number of Msg5 PUSCH can be indicated dynamically. In addition, the overhead of DCI does not increase.

Table 4: Repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH indicated by the default PUSCH time domain resource allocation A for normal CP

In a fifth possible implementation, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH can be indicated by the Msg4 or the scheduling DCI of Msg5. In some embodiments, the repetition (s) number of Msg5 can be indicated by a fall-back DCI via a MCS field. The repetition (s) number of Msg5 PUSCH may also be indicated via a downlink assignment index (DAI) field. The MCS field in fall-back DCI can be split into two parts, one of the two parts of the MCS field is used to indicate the MCS of data, and the other one of the two parts of the MCS field is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of Msg5.

In a sixth possible implementation, a TDRA table related to a DCI format can be configured, for example, pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListDCI-0-0-r19 or pdsch-TimeDomainAllocationListDCI-1-0-r19 can be configured in PUSCH-Config IE or PUSCH-ConfigCommon IE or BWP-UplinkCommon IE or BWP-DplinkCommon IE and is indicated to UE via SIB1 or other system information or RRC. A column or a parameter in the TDRA is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of Msg5. In some embodiments, the DCI is scrambled by C-RNTI and/or the DCI format can be DCI format 0_0/1_0.

This disclosure propose approach (es) to enhance the capacity of coverage of Msg5 PUSCH. A refined beam at the terminal device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) side can be used. The network device (e.g., gNB) needs to indicate a refined beam to UE for being used for the repetition of Msg5 PUSCH, wherein the refined beam is one of a set of beams that have been used by the UE. In this way, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction during UL access procedure can be achieved.

In current specification, multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 have been standardized. To improve the coverage capacity, multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 with more than one beams can be used. When it is enabled multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 with more than one beams, for the later transmission, i.e., Msg5, it can be used a best/better beam from the beams which are used for multiple PRACH transmissions and/or repetition of Msg3 transmission to improve the coverage. The better/best beam can lead to a better gain or effect on the reception and/or transmission. However, how does UE know the best/better beam is a problem. The following approaches can be considered.

FIG. 13 illustrates a wireless communication method according to a fourth embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 13 in conjunction with FIG. 4, the method 400 includes the followings. In Step 410, the terminal device 10 obtains a beam for being used for repetition of Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission. The beam may be a better or best beam indicated by a network device. The better beam or the best beam means the beam can yield a better array gain or the best array gain. Correspondingly, the network device 20 indicates the terminal device 10 of this beam. With the method 400, the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 can be performed by using a better or best beam, and therefore better coverage for uplink channel and latency improvement in the random access procedure can be expected.

In the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam may be indicated via a random access response (RAR) or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the Msg3 or RAR. In the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam may be indicated via at least one of the followings: a field in RAR; a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of RAR; or/and time domain resource allocation (TDRA) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) . In the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the Msg3 repetition transmission, the beam may be indicated via a Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg4, or/and a scheduling DCI of the Msg5 PUSCH. In some embodiments, an indication of the beam is determined based on frequency domain resources and/or time domain resources of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .

Further details on the indication of the beam for the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH is described as follows.

In a second possible implementation, Msg3 repetition transmissions are transmitted with more than one beams, and a refined beam (e.g., beam index) of the beams at UE side can be indicated by gNB via Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of Msg4, or a scheduling DCI of Msg5 PUSCH. In this case, each repetition of Msg3 or each set of repetitions of Msg3 use a beam to transmit, and there are at least two beams used for different repetitions of Msg3 or different sets of repetitions of Msg3 are different.

The beam or a beam index is related to the repetition number of Msg3 or location of Msg3. The refined beam (e.g., the beam index) can be indicated via a field of Msg4/Msg5, or the redefined beam (e.g. the beam index) can be indicated via a field of DCI of Msg4/Msg5. Alternatively, the redefined beam (e.g. the beam index) can be determined based on time or frequency or time and frequency domain resources of the PDCCH which is used to schedule Msg4/Msg5, as shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 respectively. It means time and/or frequency resource location of PDCCH (used to schedule Msg4 or Msg5 PUSCH) can be used to determine the refined beam of UE. In some embodiments, a mapping rule between UE’s beams and the time and/or frequency resource location of PDCCH (used to schedule Msg4 or Msg5 PUSCH) can be defined.

This disclosure proposes approach (es) to enhance the capacity of coverage of Msg5 PUSCH. Power boosting can be used, and the transmission power of Msg5 PUSCH can be improved. A parameter for the power boosting can be introduced, as shown in the following formula. In this way, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction during UL access procedure can be achieved. The UE transmits a PUSCH on an active UL BWP b of carrier f of a serving cell c using a parameter set configuration with index j and a PUSCH power control adjustment state with index l. The UE determines the PUSCH transmission power P_{PUSCH, b, f, c} (i, j, q_d, l) in PUSCH transmission occasion i as:

where the parameter of P_pb2 is the power boosting value of Msg5 PUSCH, and the definition of the parameters except P_pb2 within the formula can be referred to TS 38.213. The value of P_pb2 can be pre-defined or indicated by gNB.

This disclosure propose approach (es) to enhance the capacity of coverage of Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or a PDSCH transmission scheduled by a DCI which is scrambled by TC-RNTI. Repeating the Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH can be considered, and the repetition number of Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH is an integer or a set of integer values. Candidate values of the repetition number of the Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH can be a combination of {1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 16} or {2, 4, 8} or an integer. When Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH repetition is enabled, candidate redundancy version (RV) for the repetition of the Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH can be pre-defined or indicate by SIB1 or other system information. The candidate RV sequence can be {0, 2, 3, 1} or {0, 3, 0, 3} or {0, 0, 0, 0} . The RV cycling for the Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH repetition is based on available slots or unavailable slots, where the available slots for the Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH are related to location of SSB and/or actual SSB (for example, which is provided by ssb-PositionsInBurst ) and/or location of RACH occasions (ROs) and/or tdd -UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon. In this way, better coverage for uplink channel and latency reduction during UL access procedure can be achieved. In addition, the ambiguity for RV between gNB and UE can be avoided.

In some embodiments, the repetition of Msg2 and/or Msg4 and/or broadcast PDCCH is based on available slots/symbols/repetition, where the available slots/symbols/repetitions are related to at least one of location of SSB, tdd -UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, location of valid RO and frame structure configuration.

For Msg2 and Msg4 repetition, the following approaches can be used to indicate the repetition number:

In a first possible implementation, a set of candidate values of the repetition number of Msg2/4 are indicated by SIB1 or MIB or other system information, and a field within a DCI which is scrambled by TC-RNTI or RA-RNTI or MsgB-RNTI is used to indicate the repetition number of Msg2/4. Taking two bits for example, “00” is used to indicate a first candidate value of the repetition number, “01” is used to indicate a second candidate value of the repetition number, “10” is used to indicate a third candidate value of the repetition number, and “11” is used to indicate a fourth candidate value of the repetition number.

In some embodiments, the DCI format can be format 1_0, and the DCI is scrambled by TC-RNTI or RA-RNTI or MsgB-RNTI.

In some embodiments, when the DCI is scrambled by RA-RNTI, the field within a DCI can have at least one of the following parameters or a combination of at least two of the following parameters:

· Frequency domain resource assignment;

· Time domain resource assignment;

· Modulation and coding scheme;

· TB scaling;

· LSB of SFN;

· Reserved bits.

In some embodiments, when the DCI is scrambled by TC-RNTI, the field within a DCI can have at least one of the following parameters or a combination of at least two of the following parameters:

· Frequency domain resource assignment;

· Time domain resource assignment;

· Modulation and coding scheme;

· New data indicator (NDI) ;

· HARQ process number;

· Downlink assignment index;

· TPC command for scheduled PUCCH;

· PUCCH resource indicator;

· PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator;

· ChannelAccess-CPext;

· Reserved bits.

In a second possible implementation, the repetition number of Msg2/4 is indicated by the TDRA field of a DCI which scrambled by TC-RNTI or RA-RNTI or MsgB-RNTI, where the DCI can be DCI format 1_0 or other formats. In this case, a column of TDRA table can be used to indicate the repetition number of Msg2/4.

In a third possible implementation, the repetition number of Msg2/4 is based on a scheduling DCI, and at least one of the following parameters can be considered to indicate the repetition number of Msg2/4: repetition number of PDCCH, the frequency and/or time resource of the PDCCH and the CCE aggregation level of the PDCCH.

For the broadcast PDCCH repetition, the following approaches can be used to indicate the repetition number:

In a first possible implementation, the repetition number of broadcast PDCCH is indicated by SIB1 or MIB or other system information.

In a second possible implementation, candidate values of the repetition number of broadcast PDCCH is indicate by SIB1 or MIB or other system information, and then the repetition number that is actually used is related to the reference signal received power (RSRP) or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of SSB.

In a third possible implementation, the repetition number of broadcast PDCCH is related to the number of multiple PRACH transmissions. For example, the repetition number of broadcast PDCCH is equal to the number of multiple PRACH transmissions.

In a fourth possible implementation, the repetition number of broadcast PDCCH is related to the resource of RACH. For example, at least one of the followings or a combination of at least two of the followings: the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, time/frequency resource of RO (RA) and the RACH preamble, is considered.

In some embodiments, when Msg2 repetition is enabled, the starting of Msg3 is based on the last repetition of Msg2 or the last available repetition of Msg2 or the last actual repetition of Msg2.

In some embodiments, when broadcast PDCCH repetition is enabled, the starting of Msg2/Msg4 is based on the last repetition of PDCCH or the last available repetition of PDCCH or the last actual repetition of PDCCH or any one PDCCH which is indicated by RRC or SIB1 or other system information or a corresponding PDCCH (e.g., DCI) .

In some embodiments, when Msg4 repetition is enabled, the time location or processing timeline of a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback or PUCCH which is used for HARQ-ACK feedback is based on the last (available) repetition of Msg4 for one (available) repetition of Msg4, where the one repetition of Msg4 is indicated by base station via system information or SIB1.

Commercial interests for some embodiments are as follows. 1. Solving issues in the prior art. 2. Achieving coverage enhancement. 3. Improving the latency. 4. Reducing signaling overhead. 5. Achieving high reliability. 6. Providing a good communication performance. Some embodiments of the present application are used by 5G-NR chipset vendors, V2X communication system development vendors, automakers including cars, trains, trucks, buses, bicycles, moto-bikes, helmets, and etc., drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) , smartphone makers, communication devices for public safety use, AR/VR device maker for example gaming, conference/seminar, education purposes. Some embodiments of the present application are a combination of “techniques/processes” that can be adopted in 3GPP specification to create an end product. Some embodiments of the present application could be adopted in the 5G NR unlicensed band communications. Some embodiments of the present application propose technical mechanisms.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program. The computer readable storage medium enables a computer to execute corresponding processes implemented by the UE/BS in each of the methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details will not be described herein again.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product including computer program instructions. The computer program product enables a computer to execute corresponding processes implemented by the UE/BS in each of the methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details will not be described herein again.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program. The computer program enables a computer to execute corresponding processes implemented by the UE/BS in each of the methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details will not be described herein again.

The non-transitory computer readable medium may include at least one from a group consisting of: a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a Read Only Memory, a Programmable Read Only Memory, an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, EPROM, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory and a Flash memory. In an embodiment where the elements are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer-readable medium and loaded into computing system using, for example, removable storage drive. A control module (in this example, software instructions or executable computer program code) , when executed by the processor in the computer system, causes a processor to perform the functions of the invention as described herein.

Furthermore, the inventive concept can be applied to any circuit for performing signal processing functionality within a network element. It is further envisaged that, for example, a semiconductor manufacturer may employ the inventive concept in a design of a stand-alone device, such as a microcontroller of a digital signal processor (DSP) , or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and/or any other sub-system element.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, units and algorithm steps may be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on particular applications and design constraint conditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use different approaches to implement the described functions for each particular application, but it should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond the scope of the present application.

While the present application has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that the present application is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

A wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method comprising:

in response to reception of a Msg4, feeding back hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4 with repetition, wherein the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.
The method of claim 1, wherein the repetition (s) number is indicated by an information element (IE) of a common configuration of PUCCH, and/or a system information block (SIB) , and/or a master information block (MIB) .
The method of claim 1, wherein the repetition (s) number is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or the repetition number of Msg3, or the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is based on an offset value and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, or the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is based on the offset value and the repetition number of Msg3.
The method of claim 1, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by an index in a table of PUCCH resource sets.
The method of claim 1, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by the Msg4 or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the Msg4.
The method of claim 5, wherein in the case of the scheduling DCI of the Msg4, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated via a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) .
The method of claim 1, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by a DCI via a modulation coding scheme (MCS) field or a downlink assignment index (DAI) field.
The method of claim 1, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Msg4.
The method of claim 8, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is related to a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg4.
A wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method comprising:

obtaining a beam for being used for repetition of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4, wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission.
The method of claim 10, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via a random access response (RAR) or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the RAR.
The method of claim 10, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via at least one of the followings:

a field in RAR;

a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of RAR; or/and

time domain resource allocation (TDRA) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) .
The method of claim 10, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the Msg3 repetition transmission, the beam is indicated via the Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg4.
The method of claim 10, wherein an indication of the beam is determined based on frequency domain resources and/or time domain resources of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .
A wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method comprising:

transmitting Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with repetition, wherein the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.
The method of claim 15, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 16, wherein each of different repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH corresponds to a different time and/or frequency location of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 15, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is related to a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 18, wherein each of different repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH corresponds to a different CCE aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 15, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or the repetition number of Msg3, or the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on an offset value and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, or the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on the offset value and the repetition number of Msg3.
The method of claim 15, wherein one repetition number or a set of candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH are indicated by an information element (IE) which is a bandwidth part (BWP) -related IE, and/or a system information block (SIB) , and/or a master information block (MIB) .
The method of claim 21, wherein the candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH are configured by the BWP-related IE and/or indicated via the SIB or the MIB, and/or the repetition number of the Msg5 PUSCH or one of the candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH is notified via a field of a downlink control information (DCI) .
The method of claim 15, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by at least one field in a DCI, and the at least one field is selected from the following:

modulation and coding scheme (MCS) ;

time domain resource assignment (TDRA) ;

frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA) ;

transmit power control (TPC) command for scheduled PUSCH;

ChannelAccess-CPexT;

HARQ process number; and

new data indicator (NDI) .
The method of claim 15, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 15, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by a DCI via a modulation coding scheme (MCS) field, and the MCS field is split into two parts, a first part of the two parts is used to indicate MCS of data, and a second part of the two parts is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 15, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is configured by a TDRA table related to a DCI format.
A wireless communication method, performed by a terminal device, the method comprising:

obtaining a beam for being used for repetition of Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission.
The method of claim 27, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via a random access response (RAR) or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the RAR.
The method of claim 27, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via at least one of the followings:

a field in RAR;

a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of RAR; or/and

time domain resource allocation (TDRA) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) .
The method of claim 27, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the Msg3 repetition transmission, the beam is indicated via a Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg4, or/and a scheduling DCI of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 27, wherein an indication of the beam is determined based on frequency domain resources and/or time domain resources of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .
A wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method comprising:

receiving hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) -acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4 with repetition, wherein the repetition of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.
The method of claim 32, wherein the repetition (s) number is indicated by an information element (IE) of a common configuration of PUCCH, and/or a system information block (SIB) , and/or a master information block (MIB) .
The method of claim 32, wherein the repetition (s) number is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or the repetition number of Msg3, or the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is based on an offset value and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, or the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg 4 is based on the offset value and the repetition number of Msg3.
The method of claim 32, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by an index in a table of PUCCH resource sets before dedicated PUCCH resource configuration.
The method of claim 32, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by the Msg4 or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the Msg4.
The method of claim 36, wherein in the case of the scheduling DCI of the Msg4, the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated via a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) .
The method of claim 32, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is indicated by a DCI via a modulation coding scheme (MCS) field or a downlink assignment index (DAI) field.
The method of claim 32, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Msg4.
The method of claim 39, wherein the repetition (s) number of the HARQ-ACK PUCCH of Msg4 is related to a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg4.
A wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method comprising:

indicating a terminal device of a beam which is used for repetition of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) - acknowledgement (ACK) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of Msg4, wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission.
The method of claim 41, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via a random access response (RAR) or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the RAR.
The method of claim 41, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via at least one of the followings:

a field in RAR;

a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of RAR; or/and

time domain resource allocation (TDRA) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) .
The method of claim 41, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the Msg3 repetition transmission, the beam is indicated via the Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg4.
The method of claim 41, wherein the indication of the beam is determined based on frequency domain resources and/or time domain resources of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .
A wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method comprising:

receiving Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with repetition, wherein the repetition of the Msg5 PUSCH is determined by repetition (s) number, and the repetition (s) number is an integer or a set of integer values.
The method of claim 46, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is related to time and/or frequency location of a scheduling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 47, wherein each of different repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH corresponds to a different time and/or frequency location of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 46, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is related to a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 49, wherein each of different repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH corresponds to a different CCE aggregation level of the scheduling PDCCH of Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 46, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on the number of multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or the repetition number of Msg3, or the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on an offset value and the number of multiple PRACH transmissions, or the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is based on the offset value and the repetition number of Msg3.
The method of claim 46, wherein one repetition number or a set of candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH are indicated by an information element (IE) which is a bandwidth part (BWP) -related IE and/or a system information block (SIB) , and/or a master information block (MIB) .
The method of claim 52, wherein the candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH are configured by the BWP-related IE and/or indicated via the SIB or the MIB, and/or the repetition number of the Msg5 PUSCH or one of the candidate repetition numbers of the Msg5 PUSCH is notified via a field of a downlink control information (DCI) .
The method of claim 46, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by at least one field in a DCI, and the at least one field is selected from the following:

modulation and coding scheme (MCS) ;

time domain resource assignment (TDRA) ;

frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA) ;

transmit power control (TPC) command for scheduled PUSCH;

ChannelAccess-CPexT;

HARQ process number; and

new date indicator.
The method of claim 46, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 46, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is indicated by a DCI via a modulation coding scheme (MCS) field, and the MCS field is split into two parts, a first part of the two parts is used to indicate MCS of data, and a second part of the two parts is used to indicate the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 46, wherein the repetition (s) number of the Msg5 PUSCH is configured by a TDRA table related to a DCI format.
A wireless communication method, performed by a network device, the method comprising:

indicating a terminal device of a beam which is used for repetition of Msg5 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , wherein the beam is one of more than one beams used for multiple physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions and/or Msg3 repetition transmission.
The method of claim 58, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via a random access response (RAR) or a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) of the RAR.
The method of claim 58, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the multiple PRACH transmissions, the beam is indicated via at least one of the followings:

a field in RAR;

a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of RAR; or/and

time domain resource allocation (TDRA) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) .
The method of claim 58, wherein in the case that the beam is one of more than one beams used for the Msg3 repetition transmission, the beam is indicated via a Msg4 or a scheduling DCI of the Msg4, or/and a scheduling DCI of the Msg5 PUSCH.
The method of claim 58, wherein the indication of the beam is determined based on frequency domain resources and/or time domain resources of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .
A terminal device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 1 to 9.
A terminal device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 10 to 14.
A terminal device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 15 to 26.
A terminal device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 27 to 31.
A network device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 32 to 40.
A network device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 41 to 45.
A network device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 46 to 57.
A network device, comprising a processor, configured to call and run program instructions stored in a memory, to execute the method of any of claims 58 to 62.